Hi it's beland, this is an update for you

Dear You,

Konnichiwa!I could not have gone on this trip again this year to see God’s mighty work displayed if it wasn’t for your prayers and financial contribution.I am grateful that I know people like you who are mindful of world missions and God’s eternal plan for His own people.Thank you for partnering up with me for the sake of the gospel in Japan, I would like to express my appreciation to you by writing this letter to you and updating you on theministry you have been praying for.

THE FOREIGNERS

Let me start out by introducing our team.We are a team of believers from Grace Community Church, most of us are either attending UCLA or have graduated from UCLA.There a total of 8 of us, 4 guys and 4 girls.5 out of the 8 members have studied Japanese before and 6 out of the 8 are returning on this mission trip.As you might imagine, previous exposure to the Japanese language and culture perhaps made our ministry a bit smoother, and we felt confident as we re-entered the Land of the Rising Sun.Immediately, the LORD humbled us.

The Virus

One by one, each of us came down with Viral Gastroenteritis, also known as the stomach flu.Many of us were immobilized for a few days, but praise God we all recovered and were for the most part, able to minister without being physically hindered for the remainder of the trip.I did not catch the stomach flu while the rest of the team was sick, but I only had a cold that I caught while still in LA.Perhaps in some way the cold stopped the virus from attacking me at the time and I was healthy for the remainder of the trip because of that.However on the night before we returned to America, it seemed like I caught the more severe and intensified form of the stomach flu, and spent my first week back in America in bed.I am thankful to the Lord that again He taught us that He was in charge and He had plans.

THE MINISTRY

Our ministry was twofold—share the good news to the lost and encourage the Christians in Osaka.

1.THE CHURCH

The Shepherds

Hamadera Bible Church (HBC) is pastored by three men, Kondo sensei, Okada sensei, and Doi sensei.The first two men went to seminary and was trained in America.One of the team’s main purposes is to encourage these faithful pastors in the Lord and bring news and goods from home.Between the three pastors’ families are 7 children with whom we were able to play with and baby-sit while their parents labor hard in the church’s ministries.

Our partners

HBC has a college ministry of about 15 people.All of them are guys except for one girl who is just entering college.Compared to last year’s trip, we spent a lot more time together with these students this year.Even though these guys are busy with their schoolwork, they actively participated and planned most of the events that we were a part of.I had the opportunity to practice my Japanese with them while in turn they practiced their English with me; I was able to hear from them in these two languages some of their testimonies and how the Lord is growing them, it was a very encouraging experience to hear these guys speak!

The Body

HBC has around 150 members, a mega church in Japan.There are the silver-haired as well as many children running down the halls of the church every Sunday.HBC is also very unique because of its deaf ministry.There is a sign language translator present at every meeting we attended because there are many deaf members at the church who are very actively involved in the ministries at HBC, one of them is even enrolling in seminary this year to become a pastor to the deaf.

The church is also occupied by many American missionaries, most of them teach English either at the church or in schools.Aaron Bitzer, a fellow friend from UCLA, who lives at the church and teaches English there, was a very big part of our ministry this year.

Jun Minatozaki, an intern/seminary student who also lives at HBC was the ministry coordinator for our short term missions team.

Believers in HBC have encouraged us in many ways.Some invited us to their homes, some spoke encouraging words to us in Jenglish, some cooked delicious dishes for us every meal, others prayed for our ministry, etc.Christ’s love was reflected by these people and quite evident to every single one of our team members.

The Paint and The Garden

It was time for HBC’s sanctuary to be repainted and for the church’s yard to be cleaned up.Who else would be better for job than a bunch of tall and “outdoorsy” Americans?This year we had the privilege of serving HBC by repainting the interior of the sanctuary, where the worship services are held, as well as cleaning up the church’s yard/garden.We spent about a week cutting trees, killing bugs, painting the ceiling, the walls, the baptism pool, and the prayer rooms.The weather was quite hot and sticky and the constant smell of paint made some of us dizzy, but we were more than privileged to be able to serve HBC in this way.

2.THE COLLEGE EVANGELSIM

“Free Talk Time!”

We visited 3 universities in the greater Osaka area this year: Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), Momoyama/St. Andrew’s University, and for the first time, Kinki University.Our ministry was geared towards the English speakers at the university, i.e. Japanese students who have an interest in English conversation.The students we met with were all members of each school’s English Speaking Society (ESS), which is a very popular club in Japanese universities.

For the most part, we had “Free talk time” when we visited the clubs.“Free talk time” is exactly what it sounds like, each American would sit down with few or several college students depending on club size, and talk about anything anybody wanted to talk about.As you can imagine, there are tremendous opportunities for the gospel and Christ to be mentioned.Praise God, we did have many conversations about the gospel and many students showed sincere attention to what was being proclaimed even if they’ve heard it from the teams in previous years.However, our main purpose was not necessarily to pack us many gospel conversations as we can with the students during free talk times.

The Connection

Since our team was only going to be in Japan for 2.5 weeks, our job was not to conduct a “gospel drive-by” at every single ESS club we visit.Rather, our main focus was to connect the unbelieving college students to HBC, hoping that even after we depart, the church could take-over and reach out to them.We did this by inviting the students to the church meetings and special events and introducing them to the college members at HBC.

The Osaka Excursions

During the two Saturdays while we were there, we were able to go on sightseeing trips with HBC college members and the ESS students.We visited the two landmarks of Osaka City, Osaka Castle and The Tsutenkaku Tower.Due to scheduling conflicts with their school events, only few ESS students were able to show up to the trips.Despite the small number, we were able to see the HBC college members getting to know the ESS students even sharing the gospel and their testimonies. We all had a great time together visiting places and buying souvenirs, but without a doubt the greatest gain was the relationships built during these trips.

THE HEART BEHIND MISSIONS

Another Year, the same Sovereign God

God opened my eyes even more this year, not so much as to see how lost Japan is without Christ, but to see God’s faithfulness again in the work He has going on there.Yes, we know that 99% of the country is spiritually dead right now and they need Christ, but from the contact we’ve had this time with even just a few people, it’s evident that God is doing great things in Japan.God’s timing will come when He will gather those in Japan who are His, but in the meantime, the little me who cannot do anything can only pray and watch God work.And Indeed we have seem Him work: heart’s strengthened, believers encouraged, the gospel proclaimed, prayers answered, heart’s humbled, God glorified!

It’s not about what I cannot do in Japan, it’s about what God IS doing and what He promises He will do in His Word!

Missions is for every Christian

Thank you very much again for your support, your prayers and your gifts.  I would love to tell you more about how your prayers are answered and how great your money was for the purposes of God, but I’d much rather encourage you go on a mission trip and see it for yourself.  Go to a foreign country and see God’s glory in that place, whether it be a rich or poor country, “Christian” or persecuted Christians country, they all need the gospel.  The place you work at, the school you go to, your neighbors, they all need the gospel as well!  We are merely sojourners on this earth, we’re all missionaries, and our mission here on earth is to proclaim Christ and point people to worship God!  Please continue to pray for Japan and pray for the people around you who don’t know Christ.

Ray's follow up letter

7/15-7/16/05

(Warning: I’m going to do a long and unconventional follow up letter)

“One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak” - G.K. Chesterton

Lately my life has been marked with trials. When we got to the airport that Saturday morning and found out that our flight was leaving an hour earlier than what was printed on the ticket, I knew I had to be on my guard. Little did I know at that point that every single member of the team would get sick. I did not know that Dorothy and Leah go to the hospital. I did not know that Addison, Adler, Beland, Priscilla, and I would have stomach problems. I did not know that Hyo would lose her voice. I did not know that I would get both a fever and a cold and that even now I would still be coughing like General Grevious.

That was in Japan. Last weekend, while driving up to Sacramento with Beland, I got into a car accident. Around the Grapevine area my rear passenger tire blew out. We were going normal freeway speeds and I lost control of the car as I braked. The car did a 180 and we hit the concrete center divider. You can see the damage if you check out my photo website: Click to here to see damage. It might not look like much but it’s going to cost about $3000. Insurance will cover everything except the deductible. My car is still in Bakersfield being repaired even as I write this letter. I’m thankful that we didn’t hit anyone else and that no one was hurt.

My latest trial is that my employer recently informed me that I won’t be able to work full time any more when I start full time seminary. I’ll have to work part time with a lower pay rate or look for work elsewhere. Either way, I have to take out loans now, which means when I finish seminary, I won’t be able to go do missions right away. I’ll have to work until I can pay them off. People with debt don’t get sent overseas for missions.

I must admit, I’ve been feeling down lately and it has been hard to focus on the Lord. I feel like I’ve been spending all my time managing the consequences of my trials. But as the quote above implies, the valley is the place of vision and God has been using these trials to drive me back to Him. I realized that when I look down at my trials, I’m missing out on all the glory that’s around me. So with these trials, he’s been squeezing my will and desires out of me and replacing it with an attitude of surrender to Him. I must admit, it has not been an easy lesson at all.

“I would like to encourage you to stop thinking of what you’re doing as ministry…If you are a Christian, ministry is just an accident of being alive.” – Rich Mullins

One of the things I have emphasized during past Japan team training meetings is that missions is just being a Christian in another country. It is not a time to be special and go above and beyond what we do in our everyday lives. We should already be doing these things. The only thing that’s different is that the activities are concentrated into a few weeks. With that said, I’d like to give you a run down on the events that took place during our trip. I divided them up into three categories: “colleges”, “outreaches”, and “at the church.”

Colleges

This year we visited English clubs at three colleges: Osaka Prefecture University, Momoyama University, and Kinki University. We have the strongest relationship with OPU. We met many of the students in previous years and many of them have heard the gospel multiple times. We have been pretty aggressive in our gospel sharing with them and this year we received some negative feedback from the professor who is in charge of the English club. This raises an issue for the future of the trip and a prayer request for you. Some of the students complained about our evangelism and expression of our biblical views. But that’s exactly what we are there for. If we go and don’t talk about God and the Bible, why should we go? As you can see this is a pretty big issue so I humbly ask you to pray for the future of this ministry.

Momoyama is the smallest of the three schools. The English club has less than ten people and they are the least talkative of the three groups. Some of the team members have been able to develop some pretty good relationships with a couple of the students there.  I hope that these relationships can continue and the gospel will take root in the students.

This was the first year we visited Kinki University. There were almost thirty students at the meeting (OPU averaged around fifteen). Since this was our first time with them, we focused on just developing friendships with the people there. They had topics picked out for us to discuss. This group was very talkative and I feel that the meeting went very well. I hope that they will invite the Japan team back next year.

Outreaches

One of the goals of our meetings with the English clubs was to get them to come out to events that college students at Hamadera Bible Church planned. We had three main events planned: a trip to Osaka Castle (6/25), a trip to Tsutenkaku Tower (7/2), and our going away party (7/3). Only a couple of students came to our trip to Osaka Castle, a few more came to our trip to the tower, and quite a few students came to our going away party. One of the difficulties we ran into was that many of the students had debates or part time jobs that conflicted with some of the events. But regardless of the number of students that came out, I believe that the team was quite faithful to be a testimony of Christ to them. 

One of the big successes of the trip was that the many people of the church got to meet these students, which means they can continue the ministry that we began. The people at the local church are the real missionaries and we were there merely to support them.

At the church

This year we did a couple of things that we had not done in previous years. During the week, there are English classes that are taught at the church. This is one of the methods that HBC has to draw in unbelievers to their church. Almost everyday we sat in classes taught by Aaron Bitzer, my roommate of five years and fellow partner in crime. He has been there for about a year now and it was really good to see him. Back when we were living together, we constantly encouraged each other to pursue missions in Japan. He beat me to Japan but hopefully I will be able to join him sometime in the future.

The other thing was that we did some manual labor at the church. We painted the sanctuary and did some yard work. The sanctuary was in need of some painting and the yard was in some desperate need of help. The bushes were overgrown and they actually covered the sign in the parking lot. There were leaves everywhere and all the trees needed trimming. I must admit that it looks pretty good now. Also, as weird as it seems, it was really nice to do this kind of work. It reminded me of when I grew up at my parents’ home and I discovered that I actually miss doing yard work. Maybe, it’s the Adam in me that learned to enjoy earning bread by the sweat of the brow. I am the sweat mongster after all.

Click here to see my Japan trip pics.

“The way of God is a daily cross. No one has ascended into heaven through an easy life.” – Saint Isaac of Syria.

This was my fourth time going on this trip and second time leading it. The newness is definitely gone and more of the reality has sunk in. I had some good talks with Aaron during the trip and over the past year about the real cost of missions. I have come to realize that short-term trips are like going to spiritual Disneyland. You go for a few weeks, you are the center of attention, and then you leave before you can experience any real problems. Don’t get me wrong. I think short-term trips are great. However, people need to realize that going long-term is much more difficult than it may seem to be.

Here are just a few of the problems you will run into on long-term missions. There’s a language and culture barrier. We experienced some of it every year on the Japan trip. In the long-term the problems are multiplied exponentially. My last sermon for Grace on Campus was on forgiveness and I talked about how miscommunication can lead to sinning against one another. When we don’t understand another person, we tend to think of them (we would admit this if we’re honest with ourselves) as being stupid. This is an arrogant and sinful attitude. When you’re in a country you don’t understand with people who speak a language you don’t understand, the potential for this happening is very great. I can give you guys the sermon notes on this if you want. Just email me back.

Another problem is figuring out how to live every day life in a foreign country. In many countries you cannot find the same products in the store as you did in your home country. So if you got heartburn in Japan, you can’t just go to the store and buy Tums. You need to figure out alternative ways to remedy your problems. Things just work differently in other countries. You have to adapt to it because it certainly won’t adapt to you. You’ll be frustrated and you’ll feel like a kid again because you won’t know how to do a lot of things.

One last thing I’ll mention is loneliness and a lack of fellowship. Chances are, when you’re out on the mission field long-term, there will be only a few people there with you from your own country. When you go on missions you will be plucked out of your nice comfortable environment where all your friends are and placed in an environment where you won’t have the same kind of relationships with anyone. You won’t get preaching in your own language. You will have difficulty sharing your deeper thoughts with people. No one will do with you all the fun things you used to do back home (and when you do go and do them it won’t be the same). You can’t share with anyone your old inside jokes. There will be little encouragement because the Christians around you can’t express it in your language. You will probably spend much time alone and when you are with people you still might feel alone.

Do you still want to devote your life to missions? Many people even say they want to be medical missionaries. I think a lot of them just see the honor of being a doctor and a missionary and they don’t realize that medical missions is even harder than “regular” missions. Are you ready to amputate a child’s arm or leg? Are you ready to turn down hundreds of desperate people because you’re out of medicine? Are you ready to expose yourself to deformed and diseased people in unsanitary conditions? Are you ready to watch people die because you can do nothing about it? Being a medical missionary means you have to go either to a third world or a developing country. Can you live in those conditions with little or no pay? If you are, I commend you to God for the great work you will do. If not, I suggest that you stay home at least until God makes you strong enough to go.

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” – C.S. Lewis

So what’s left for the future? Even though I won’t be working full time anymore, I still intend to move on to a new ministry. I’ll be checking out Immanuel Bible Church (IBC) starting tomorrow. I’ll also be starting full time seminary on August 30. Right now I’m trying to figure out if I should work for my current employer part time or look for a new job. I’ll be doing some math later today to figure out how much in loans I need to take out. Once I get a handle on the administrative aspects of my life I’ll be spending much of my time getting my Hebrew back. It’s been a year since I took beginning Hebrew and I’ll be starting the next level in August.

When my boss told me earlier this week that they won’t be able to give me the work hours I requested, I was faced with quite a dilemma. The thought of just dropping seminary and missions crossed my mind several times. I was thinking, “Man, this is so hard. I don’t want to take out loans. I don’t want to be in debt. Life is so financially hard right now with school and the car payments. Wouldn’t it be easier and nicer if I just left all that, pursued a career, and lived a comfortable life? I would make good money, get married (and actually be able to pay for a wedding), and buy a house. Full-time ministry and especially missions is really hard anyway.” These thoughts still tempt me every day. (A disclaimer: I think I’ve said this before, but I think that everyone’s life is hard no matter how much money you make but the path of missions has its own set of problems) 

However, I know what the Word says about the life of ease (thank you Dr. Piper!) and that those things aren’t really satisfying anyway. So with RESOLVE, I will trust in my God, devote my life to Him, and continue on this path where I will get trained to serve Him in a greater capacity. I must say that I can see His sovereignty behind all these events. It is an act of grace and mercy for God to not put me through both full-time school and seminary. Also, when I’ll be working in the States to pay off my loans, He will cause me to mature and grow and I will be much more prepared for full-time missions. I am convinced that God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This is where I stand.

Father God, thank You for allowing me to go to Japan for a fourth time. You have taught me so much over these past four years during those trips. You have widened my view of Your glory. You are not the God of the United States or even the Western World but of the Universe. You understand all languages and cultures. You love every single person You created and indeed You desire all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. You even went to the extent of sending your Son to Earth to seek and save the lost. Your Son had a difficult life that ended with a death on a cross. Your Son had to suffer the wrath that I deserve to bear. That is how much You love me. May my heart beat with Yours and may I emulate your Son and continue His work with the same passion that He has. Teach me to not focus on the things of this world but to look forward to the next for that is the world I was made for.    

July 10, 2005

Dear Japan prayer-warriors,

             Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support towards my short-term missions trip to Japan!  My trip from June 20 to July 4, 2005 is very difficult to summarize in only one letter.  Nevertheless, I will attempt to give a short description of what my team did in Japan as well as the lessons the Lord has taught me during my two weeks there.

             Our main ministry was focused on connecting non-Christian college students to people at Hamadera Bible Church.  We had four meetings with OPU (Osaka Prefecture University), two meetings with MU (Momoyama University), and one meeting with KU (Kinky University).  It was very exciting to see the same students from OPU and MU from last year’s trip!  Many people on our team were returning and were able to continue relationships with them.  We all tried our best to have the unbelievers meet Japanese Christians from the church at the English talk-time meetings, various events at the church, and meetings arranged outside of official activities.   Praise God for continued contacts made with these young unbelievers!  Church members collected their contact information, so please pray that the unbelievers would continue their friendships with the Christians so that they would continue to hear the gospel, truly understand it, and repent of their sins.

             Another chunk of our time was spent with students in the English classes held at the church.  Aaron Bitzer, a UCLA and GOC alumni, teaches the adult classes which range from beginner speakers to very advanced speakers.  During our participation in class, we were able to talk about Christ and share the gospel with them.  Some were not interested in talking about our faith, but others had a genuine interest in Christianity.  One girl I had the privilege of talking to is named Ayako.  She is a high school sophomore, and her English is excellent!  Thus, it was easy to communicate with her.  Two staff members from church and I talked to her very thoroughly about the gospel.  It is very difficult for her to leave her Buddhist background to follow Christ because in her family, it is assumed that children should follow whatever her parents believe.  Please pray for Ayako’s heart – that she would seriously consider the calling to obey God’s Word!

             The rest of our ministry was spent doing yardwork and painting the worship center of the church.  It was a way for our team to serve Hamadera Bible Church in a very practical way, and I am thankful that our team had this opportunity to make some visible progress in the church building.  We also had some time to fellowship with the Grace Community Church missionary family, Daisuke and Marcia Okada with their three sons Nicki, Noah and Nathan.  It was such a blessing to spend time with them, especially with Marcia!  I observed her obedience to God in being a faithful wife and mother, and was very encouraged by her perseverance even though life is difficult in a foreign country.  The Lord blessed me even more through sweet fellowship with Amanda and Christi, two other English teachers at Hamadera.  Their focus on exalting God through their relationships with others – whether in the workplace or not – was so humbling and rebuking to me.

             The entire time our team was there, the servants of Hamadera Bible Church took care of us with so much love and kindness.  They cooked for us, drove us constantly, looked after the sick members, and more.  Just like last year, I was so thankful to God for these kind souls!  My host mother, Mrs. Takenaka, was so gracious to me and Dorothy for the two weeks.  Her faith is so deep and focused on the Word, and I praise God for people like her at Hamadera Bible Church in the midst of a dark, unbelieving country.  My heart was very encouraged from worshipping the King with these Christians.  My heart was stirred to pray even more fervently for the perseverance of this church and the ministry that God is orchestrating in it.  I would ask you to join me in praying for this church, that Hamadera would keep fighting with faith and stay close to the truth.  Please pray specifically for the pastors – Kondo-sensei, Okada-sensei, and Doi-sensei, as they continue to faithfully teach and lead the saints at Hamadera from the Bible.

             I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support for me and my team during our two weeks in Japan.  It is a great testimony of your faithfulness to Christ, and I know that God is honored in it!  If you have more questions or would like to pray more specifically for the saints and unbelievers in Japan, please contact me and I’d be happy to share more with you.  Again, praise God for all that He has done for this trip, and may He continue to glorify Himself forever and ever, amen!

 In Christ,

Hyo Suh.