demo
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
journal: Week of July 26<br />
MYstery<br />
Known> 8/1<br />
So how do you put the truths of this week’s devotions into motion in<br />
your life?<br />
Think about what each member of the Trinity means to you. What does<br />
God the Father mean to you? What does God the Son mean to you?<br />
What does God the Holy Spirit mean to you?<br />
How are you allowing each representative of the Trinity to make<br />
Himself real to you on a daily basis?<br />
How can you explain the Trinity to those who don’t understand it?<br />
How deep is your understanding of why God chose to show Himself in<br />
this way to us?<br />
What do you need to do in order to gain a better understanding of the<br />
Trinity? What steps will you take this week to better understand?<br />
What is one way you can live out the qualities of each Person of the<br />
Trinity today?<br />
?<br />
Faith isn’t understanding every facet of<br />
God’s character. It’s believing He is who He<br />
says He is and can do what He promised.<br />
Personal Space<br />
Going Deeper<br />
To go deeper into the idea of the<br />
Trinity we studied this week, read:<br />
1 Corinthians 12:3-7<br />
2 Corinthians 13:13<br />
Ephesians 4:1-16<br />
Hebrews 9:11-14<br />
1 Peter 1:3-12<br />
Jude 20-21<br />
Prayers, thoughts,<br />
& questions:<br />
Read Through<br />
the Bible<br />
Want to know more about God<br />
in three Persons? Read His<br />
Word! Follow our plan and read<br />
the whole Bible in a year.<br />
• Job 29–Psalms 12<br />
• Acts 16:16–20:16<br />
Sharing<br />
Jesus<br />
in Japan<br />
MK uses 5-minute English<br />
lessons, park evangelism<br />
M<br />
y name is Ashley<br />
Brents. I’m 13, and I<br />
live in Tokyo, Japan. My<br />
parents and I moved to Japan when<br />
I was 8 weeks old, and my brother,<br />
Adam (12), and sister, Avery (7), were<br />
born here. My parents serve as project<br />
coordinators/volunteer mobilizers<br />
for the International Mission Board’s<br />
Tokyo team.<br />
I love the Japanese people, the<br />
culture, everything! But I love America<br />
a lot, too. My mom and I joke about<br />
where my home really is. We decided<br />
that it probably is on the airplane<br />
between the two countries.<br />
Two ministries I really enjoy are<br />
Five-Minute English and park evangelism.<br />
Five-Minute English is a tool<br />
we use to start conversations with the<br />
Japanese so we can share the gospel.<br />
We hold up signs advertising it at train<br />
stations and call out, “Five-Minute<br />
English!,” and people come up to us.<br />
We use a workbook with questions<br />
such as, “Are you a spiritually<br />
minded person and why?”<br />
Park evangelism is going to<br />
the big parks in Tokyo and trying<br />
to make friends. When people are<br />
playing games, we ask if we can play,<br />
too. We hang out with them and try<br />
to share Christ. One time I walked<br />
up to someone who was sitting on a<br />
blanket, and he asked me to tell him<br />
about Christ!<br />
Sometimes our team dresses up as<br />
clowns and gives out Bible tracts as we<br />
talk to people who are watching us. I<br />
make balloons and give them to the<br />
little kids. It can be hard because the<br />
kids speak Japanese better than I do—<br />
and I don’t know what animal they are<br />
asking me to make!<br />
I help with park evangelism in the<br />
summer and Five-Minute English<br />
year-round. I usually work with other<br />
missionaries and volunteers who<br />
come from the U.S. on mission trips.<br />
It is pretty exciting. Last summer 439<br />
volunteers came and talked to 12,201<br />
people, mostly using Five-Minute<br />
English and park evangelism. More<br />
than 1,200 Japanese heard the plan<br />
of salvation, and 88 people got saved.<br />
Isn’t that awesome? God works in<br />
totally cool ways.<br />
I believe God has a plan for the<br />
Japanese. Three summers ago,<br />
the Tokyoites seemed closed to the<br />
gospel. But today they are open and<br />
love talking to Americans. One of my<br />
missionary friends said, “The spiritual<br />
climate of Japan is changing.”<br />
We would love to have you come to<br />
Japan on a mission trip! I love volunteers<br />
and think it would be so cool if<br />
you would come! If you’re interested in<br />
learning more about work among the<br />
Japanese or how you can be involved<br />
in missions, go to http://thetask.org or<br />
http://going.imb.org. <br />
Life mk corner<br />
photos courtesy IMB<br />
fast facts<br />
Japan<br />
Mk STories • By Ashley Brents<br />
Climate: varies from tropical in south to<br />
cool temperate in north<br />
Terrain: mostly rugged and<br />
mountainous<br />
Area: 145,882 sq. miles (slightly smaller<br />
than California)<br />
Natural Resources: negligible<br />
mineral resources, fish (With virtually<br />
no energy natural resources, Japan is<br />
the world’s largest importer of coal and<br />
liquefied natural gas as well as the second<br />
largest importer of oil.)<br />
Population: 127,288,416 (July 2008 est.)<br />
Literacy: 99% of people in Japan age 15<br />
and over can read and write<br />
Ethnic Groups: Japanese—98.5%,<br />
Korean—0.5%, Chinese—0.4%, other—<br />
0.6%<br />
Religions: observe both Shinto and Buddhist<br />
84%, other 16% (including Christian<br />
0.7%)<br />
Fact List Source: The CIA Factbook, https://www.cia.<br />
gov/library/publications/the world factbook/geos/<br />
ja.html<br />
Pray<br />
• That the people we meet using Five-<br />
Minute English and park evangelism will<br />
have a hunger to know Christ.<br />
• That the pop culture in Asia will shift<br />
toward God’s truth, the only thing that<br />
can free the Japanese from sin and<br />
death.<br />
• For members of the IMB Tokyo team as<br />
they work to see house churches started<br />
in West Tokyo.<br />
54 | jul 2009 ec magazine ec magazine jul 2009 | 55