We had a great finish to the 10 days in Japan.

On Wednesday, we spent the morning and early afternoon passing out tracts. On the week we passed out a little over 6,500 tracts. Join us in praying for the gospel to be saturated to many homes and apartments through these tracts.

In the early evening, we practiced 5 Minute English again outside of Nagoya Station, a busy train and subway station. The team did 5 Minute English 3 times during the week, all in the same place and at the same time. This way, we met some of the same people all 3 times. Below is a picture of me with a Japanese young man who I saw all 3 times and at the last encounter expressed interest in learning more about Christ but also some fear of Christianity.

In one of the conversations that I had, in this instance with a young woman, I asked if she regularly visited a Shinto Shrine or Buddhist Temple. She said only on special occasions. I then asked if anyone had ever told her about Jesus Christ. This young woman, a Japanese student, had never heard of Jesus.

Never heard of Jesus. Ever. In her life.

This is not her fault.

For her, and those like her, is why every Christian must live their life on mission and go to places where people have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ.

On Thursday we went to a suburb of Nagoya to Hirabari Baptist Church. In the morning, Denise shared a devotional with a Moms group and her boys played with the little ones. Jeff, Jake, the pastor Sito-sensai, and I pulled weeds in the church garden and prayer walked the neighborhood.

Jake with Pastor Sito-sensai.

Sito-sensai speaks excellent English have spent 5-6 years in the U.S. 5 years as a kid as his dad went to Southern Seminary and 1 year as an adult interning at a church.

In the afternoon each team member shared about an American holiday for a beginners English class. Here is Tyler Andruss sharing about Halloween.

On Friday we traveled to a High School in another suburb and spoke about various components of American culture and American places (I of course spoke about Texas since Texas > America). We shared with one 12th grade class, one 11th grade class and two 10th grade classes. The students were arranged in stations and our team heard about various components of Japan and Japanese culture from the students as well.

In the 10th graded classes, I spoke about going to church including what happens in a worship service and in small groups. The students were eager to hear, leaning in when I spoke and played a Chris Tomlin song on my iPhone.

The Japanese girls were enamored with the cute Andruss boys and constantly asked for their pictures.

We had a great time in Japan. Please join with us in praying for the 100 million + in Japan that have not heard or accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We’ve enjoyed a couple more fruitful days here in Japan.

On Sunday morning, we visited the Atsuta Shrine, a Shinto shrine in the heart of Nagoya. Shintoism is one of the 2 major religions of Japan, although it is seen as more a way of life than a religion.

At the shrine, we witnessed a few wedding parties getting ready for their ceremony and one actual ceremony. Several families were present to dedicate their children.

Many Japanese practice both Shinto and Buddhism without problems of congruence. Shinto deals with the details of life whereas Buddhism deals primarily with death and the afterlife.

What confuses me in the relationship between Buddhism, a seemingly atheistic religion, and Shinto, a pantheistic religion. For example, in the picture below, this 1,000 year old tree lives in the shrine grounds and is believed to house a god. How the Japanese resolve this conflict is a mystery to me.

On Monday, we started the day by passing out tracts. We did this for a couple hours and passed out close to 2,000 by placing them in mailboxes.

The area we tracted is near the home of a couple who recently moved from Hiroshima to Nagoya, Matt and Misty Sargent. Here is a pic of Matt passing out tracts.

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After lunch we visited a Japanese cemetery. Heart breaking to think of how many people died without the opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We finished the day with another round of “5 Minute English”, where we stand outside a busy train/subway station offering to help Japanese practice their English. The goal of the conversation is to meet as many people as possible, attempt to transition to the gospel, and if not, give them a tract or a card with our testimonies on them in English and Japanese. In this picture I am posing with a couple young men.

Tuesday morning we passed out tracts. At lunchtime we met Tacuo-son and his young family. Tacuo is a Christian who works at an electronics factory. He feels called to ministry.

Today we will be tracting and doing 5 Minute English.

Join with me in praying for the lostness of Japan. 130 million with 99% non-Christian. Nagoya is 18 million strong, also with 99% non-Christian.

Pray for the missionaries here and Japanese Christians as they share the gospel with family and friends. Pray for an amazing harvest!