The Legacy of Jacob - Moriel Ministries

moriel japan
News from the
Far East
September Report
2011
K
Konnichiwa,
2012 is the year of the dragon here in Asia.
2013 will be the year of the serpent. A sign
of things to come But to us who believe, it
is the year of our LORD. God is in control.
We watched in the last few weeks the death
of Kim Jong Il and the stage show of his
“mourning.” They celebrated the New Year
with another missile over the Sea of Japan.
For Christians just a few hours away from
here by boat, death is the only way to practice
and share their faith. Yet even there, God is
in control. They are going through their “10
days” of persecution, and one day we will
face ours. In the meantime let’s all be faithful
in the situation in which God has placed us.
The Ohm (Buddhist) cult who poisoned the
people on the subways in Tokyo have most
people in the country terrified of thinking
about religion. Amazingly, one of them turned
himself in to the police the other day, so it is all
over the news again. I now understand why so
many young people on the streets say, “That’s
is scary!” when we offer them a gospel tract
or ask them a question related to the bible.
The Japanese send each other New Year
cards, usually with a picture of the zodiac
animal of the year. Most had oriental looking
dragons this year. We tried putting a very
stegosaurus looking dragon from Angkor Wat
on our New Year card. I often ask them why
Geoff Toole
there should be 11 real animals in their zodiac
and only one mythical one. I show them other
evidences of dinosaurs in recorded history.
Amazingly, more and more people try to say
the dragon is just a sea horse. It opens up room
for discussion though, and that is the point.
We were happy to see a few more faces at
our teaching sessions here and there last year.
People are noticing the website and we are
receiving encouraging reports. Last month in
Kobe and Tokyo, Peter and Jeanette Danzey
visited us. Peter preached on creation and
prophecy. Japanese people tend not to clearly
define what they believe, yet Peter’s message
pulled the rug from under the atheists and the
agnostics feet. It is not an easy job to reason
with people who are not used to thinking
deeply about their faith (or belief). Peter explained
the various positions of the atheist, the
materialist, the agnostic. Then using prophecy
and creation he demonstrated the reasonableness
of the Gospel message. It was a powerful
message and one which we hope to expound
on more, giving Christians more witnessing
tools as they reason with their non-Christian
friends. One Chinese scientist listened intently.
Jenny, her Christian friend, bought her
a Chinese bible after that. We pray that God
would speak to her while her heart is open.
Last week we had a great time of fellowship
and teaching in Tokyo as we studied the
midrash of Genesis Ch 1, the 70 weeks prophecy
of Daniel and the two witnesses of Revelation.
We have now completed our Basics
of Prophecy series on Daniel, which is available
on the internet for anyone to get a grip
on Daniel’s visions which are so foundational
to other prophecy. I was very encouraged by
the active participation of the listeners (miraculous
in Japan) and their eagerness to learn
more. I was also encouraged to find a 24-hour
Denny’s restaurant right near the hall we use.
Tokyo may never sleep, but it doesn’t wake
up early either. My bus always arrives at 6 in
the morning and it is usually hard to find a
place to kill 6 hours before the meetings begin.
Praise the Lord for every blessing. A new
baby was born on Dec 25th to Yuto and Akiko
in our own fellowship, and Daisuke and Jean
are expecting their first baby this year, too.
Daisuke’s job contract is up now. Please pray
with us that the Lord will provide a suitable
job to support his growing family and ministry.
A growing work in the Philippines
In this Quarterly, I would
like to introduce our friend
from the Philippines, Hope
Falculan.
For the last two years, as
well as pastoring his local
church, Hope has worked hard
to promote Moriel’s message
in his part of the Philippines
(Romblon, Mindoro and Palawan). Hope and
his family live in a rural part of a small but
beautiful island in the geographical center of
the Philippines. In the last two years he has
made numerous tiring trips to many places,
Moriel Japan
looking for anyone who might be interested in
learning more about midrash and biblical discernment.
Hope introduces groups of pastors,
churches or other Christians to the Hebrew
way of reading the Bible. Moriel wishes to
assist Hope more and more as he travels from
place to place, arranging Bible studies, distributing
books and newsletters and spreading
the word. We need God’s wisdom as we
consider how to expand the work and support
there. Please pray for Hope, and the wellbeing
of his wife Gina and their four children
Nadine, Miqvey, Elpis and Espoire.
Thanks to the grace of God and the tireless
efforts of Hope and other other faithful
ministers, the number of churches interested
in Moriel teachings is growing and growing.
Pastor Hope and his other companions
are effectively introducing the ideas of the
Hebraic background to the Bible, beginning
with an introduction to midrash, and of
course, lots of biblical discernment. Wherever
they go, believers are eager to read books and
messages on these topics. Grain for the Famine
and Jacob’s other early books have been
greatly appreciated.
Philippino people have an open heart to the
message of the Word, but the conditions are
hard for an itinerant ministry. Typhoons often
see ferries canceled and you could easily be
stranded on some island for days. Travel is
hard on the windy mountain roads and transport
is expensive on a local budget. Delivering
the newsletters there is much more than a
trip to the post office!
We appreciate David Lister and Margret
Godwin, and Moriel in Australia, who have
actively helped to fund and support a “Filipino
style” Moriel outreach. We are still praying
about and considering how best to work
there. Your prayers for wisdom, open doors
and adequate distribution of newsletters and
Jacob’s books are greatly appreciated.
Lord willing, this coming April my family
and I will visit the Philippines again. It
will take about one month to make a round
of the different churches. We hope to visit the
Islands of Mindoro, Tablas, Sibuyan, Bohol
and of course the main island of Luzon. For
many people it will be the first time to have
a Moriel teaching day. May the Lord keep us
from every hindrance, sickness and trouble.
Just one meeting has been canceled so far.
(They thought it was a “prosperity gospel”
meeting!) Well, may the Lord prosper His
work and His people! Amen. I am particularly
excited to meet David Royale for the first time
in Manila. We plan to visit Pastor Paul and the
Olongapo family together.
Moriel Japan runs a continual appeal to provide
concordances for Filipino pastors. A concordance
in Manila costs about 30 US dollars.
God bless,
Geoff Toole
March 2012 • Moriel Quarterly 21