05 Mar SPRING!

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It is March! I enjoy march so march! HAHAHA
In Japan Spring is very eventful!
Graduations for all of those who attend Japanese school and new start of school/work in April.
March 3rd: We have "hinamatsuri" (doll festival in English I think). It is a celebration for girls and prayer that they will grow healthy.
March14th: We have White Day! It is month after valentines because in Japan girls give out chocolates to boys on Valentine's Day, and guys give chocolates to girls on March 14th.
It is also the season to see cherry blossoms; right now we see ume flowers (plum?)! It is going to be beautiful! 
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09 Dec The Enduring Vision for a Ship Ministry in Japan

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Ever since working on the Youth With A Mission medical mercy ship ANASTASIS in the 1980’s, John Somers-Harris and I have had a persistent vision to see a group of people raised up to bless to the nations by way of a ship based in Japan.  I met my Japanese wife Sachiko on the ship during her on-board Discipleship Training School in 1987. We named our son Noah, because we met on the ship. John's wife also worked on the ship as a teacher.
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01 Dec Their True Inheritance

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I have been reading God on Campus by Trent Shepherd. I walk away from every session of reading realizing more and more that God has radical plans for the university and college campuses of the nations in this generation. Most excitingly for me is that I am certain this is true of Japan. In his book Trent shares about an experience a friend of his named Pete Greig who founded the 24/7 prayer ministry that has spread all over the world.
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26 Nov For Christ’s Love Compels Us

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A month or so ago I found myself at International Christian University High School (ICUHS) during lunch, awkwardly trying to strike up a conversation with a group of Japanese students during their lunch break. I had been invited by my pastor at my church, who...

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17 Nov The Privilege of Living as a Community

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There are several reasons to live with someone. One of the biggest reasons is the house rental fee. It costs a lot of money, so if you find a housemate your house fee is lower than what you expect. But that is not the ONLY benefit. Living as a community has many advantages. First of all, you can learn from each other. You can discover good things that they have you don't. You can also help others if you are able. It builds our lives up together.
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10 Nov And this house shall be called a house of prayer

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The Lord is good. What an awesome God we have that He has made a way for prayer to be a blessing, a joy and a treasure! And all that beyond the fact that it is the way to get closest to His heart and closest to Himself! He has issued us an invitation to seek Him and to find Him and we are moving into part of what that looks like as we pursue building the altar of worship by establishing a prayer room at our base!  It has been an exciting time of exploring what that means and looks like for us!  One of the best parts for me has been seeing the way that the Lord is responding to the hearts of those who are stepping out to lead in the prayer room!  He is calling so many different things up and out of them, bringing up passions and and dreams they hadn't realized they carried!  He is not only focused on getting our worship or our prayer but He loves to see us released into who we are in the process!
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03 Nov Sakura Season (Cherry Blossom)

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One of my favorite seasons in Japan is spring. Why? I am from a tropical weather country (El Salvador) and I lo……..ve it.  In Japan the weather starts to warm up and the flowers and trees start to blossom.  Early March the temperatures are around 10 °C (50° F) with warmer weather in the 20 °C (67 °F) range. Sakura season (Cherry Blossom). Beautiful trees with pink and round-shaped flowers with different peak and full bloom dates for around one week. The blossoms are said to be the most beautiful in the final stage as the white and pink petals gently float to the ground. 
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20 Oct Preparing the Way

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I feel challenged when I read about John the Baptist. This was a very radical man, whose speaking shook and challenged the people. His birth was prophesied (Luke 1:8-17), and his role given before he was born! This was a man that religious leaders of the day surely would have raised up, trained, and invited to speak in the temple. He would have been a great teacher; he was anointed by the Lord to preach. But that didn't happen. He spent his time in the wilderness. He was a man on fire for God.
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