Tag Archive for culture

Two very different towns with 30 miles apart

Makubetsu Office and Classes

Makubetsu Office and Classes

I used to live a small town called Makubetsu with 27,000 in population. We still have an office and classes there. We commute to this place every week for the classes and a business office time in Makubetsu town. We have students coming each week and the place is a 4 bedroom house turned into an office and classes.

When God led us to Urahoro town about 45 km (about 30 miles) from Makubetsu town, we did not know what was ahead of us. God gave me a specific house to purchase and there it was and we bought it by cash. All the money needed came in place, and we did it all by faith. Yes, there was seed money given to me from my friend in Tokyo, Japan. It was a seed money for this particular time.

When we arrived there in Urahoro, we tried to make friends and get to know people there. To our surprise, God already put key people lined up for us to meet. It was very nice to get to know some of the nicest people. Good neighbors and nice and caring people who help us although they are not Christians. One of them introduces me to others that I am a missinary and God has led him to this town with some kind of boasting fashion.

夢の村の皆さん

夢の村の皆さん

In the winter time, after the snowfall, they just come with their big dumpper to remove the snow and they just leave without saying anything. They just care for us and we receive it with joy and try to make it as another opportunity to give some present as a token of thanksgiving.

They are just nice people who retired from their work and they try to encourage this town with helping them in any way they can. They built the sign on the left piture. We were grateful about their help on this. One of the far right, Mr. Yamamoto, is an artist and he made this sign for us saying the sign should be unique and outstanding. He did the outstanding job indeed.

The way people interact is totally different in Urahoro comparing from Makubetsu. Makubetsu is like a city next to Obihiro, the biggest city in Tokachi district.

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Just like Apostle Paul as a tentmaker

Apostle Paul in his strategic missions to the gentiles, chose to be a bi-vocal missionary.

Paul Tentmaker

Tentmaker

He chose to be a tentmaker. Why? Because he wanted to model his life style to the gentiles who did not have any law or the Bible. There was no one who could show what a Christian is like. So, Apostle Paul decided to show what a Christian is like in those time.

Today, Japan is very similar. They do not understand what God had done in creation. They heard the name of Jesus, but they do not simply grasp the concept of forgiveness nor the grace.

It was the very will of God for me to be a bi-vocal missionary in Japan. It was 1996 when I was living in Sapporo, Hokkaido when God began to speak to me about business with missions. When I first heard from the Lord about this. There was struggle in my and my wife.  Our missions model was only “Faith Mission.” YWAM was where we were. At that time, it was not common even in YWAM to go this route as a tentmaker.

After about 10 years of being a tentmaker, I began to see why this was so important in Japan. First of all, Japanese value work as the most important area of life. They sacrifice everything for their work because it suppies for thier financial need. In Japanese, they say, “まじめに働きなさい” – meaing, “work faithfully.” It has conotation of seriousness in it when they say it. Everything revloves around the work they do. Therefore, business relationship is the most important relationship in life. When I began to understand this, I said to God, “You are right on this!”

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