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Mark Spence

Mark Spence

Tag Archives: Missions

Wet and Wild Wednesday

24 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Mark Spence in Uncategorized

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Missions, Vancouver

Wet and Wild Wednesday

Wednesday was the first day for the Vancouver mission trip. The day was primarily comprised of traveling to Vancouver for the majority of the mission team. Since this is a bit of a “family mission trip” each group/family was responsible for the travel to Vancouver.

The flexibility of travel allowed for the Crow family to arrive last week in Canada and to see some of Caren’s Canadian family as well as for others to arrive yesterday and today.

I arrived Wednesday morning, pickled up a rental car and then picked up Jake Kuylen, a member at Cross Church, who arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday.

Jake and I ate some excellent sushi, checked into the townhome, where we are staying on the campus of Simon Fraser University (SFU), and then got our things in order.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Jake and I went to a Point Church gathering at a marine park where they ate together, worshipped together and where a young man was baptized in the Pacific Ocean by Victor Thomas, Pastor of the Point Church.

 

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We got to see Mickey Blosch, a Cross Church member, who grew up at NRHBC. Mickey is serving as a summer missionary intern with the Point Church through the North American Mission Board.

(The Point Church is a church plant of the North American Mission Board that was introduced to NRHBC through Dr. Dan Crawford, who was one of the preachers during the interim period before Pastor Scott arrived. Victor Thomas is the pastor and he is supported by a fantastic staff including Sam Kim and Kim Simpson. NRHBC and Cross Church support the Point Church and staff through the budget and through Better Together.)

After the gathering, Jake and I headed back to our townhouse and met up with the rest of the team, who arrived this afternoon and evening at SFU. At our mision team meeting, we shared travel stories, heard about the Crow’s vacation, and made plans for Thursday.

The Crows, Jake and I will be doing many different projects in the coming few days including a Texas BBQ outreach, a soccer camp, prayerwalking, acts of servant evangelism, and encouraging the leadership of the Point Church in the manner that Baptists know best – through feeding them.

Brad Jett, Worship Pastor at NRHBC, is leading a group from the worship ministry to help improve the worship experience at the Point Church – primarily through the improvement of equipment, including sound system, and through developing an easier process of setting up and tearing down the equipiment on Sunday mornings. The Point Church, similar to Cross Church, has the “blessing” of setting up and tearing down their equipment for their weekly Sunday morning worship service.

Please pray for the family mission team of the Crows, Jake and I as well as the worship mission team of the Jetts, Chris & Michelle Vlasek and Jeff Davidson.

We are excited about our week in Vancouver and know that God is using the Point Church to do great things for his kingdom.

Strong Finish to the Trip

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by Mark Spence in NRHBC

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Missions

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Catching Y’all Up on Japan

20 Monday May 2013

Posted by Mark Spence in NRHBC

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Missions

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

A Couple Days in Japan

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by Mark Spence in NRHBC

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Japan, Missions

We have been in Japan a couple days doing some exciting work, so I thought an update should be forthcoming.

On Friday, we started the day visiting Nagoya Castle, built in the 1600s.

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After the castle we stood atop an observation deck that overlooked the city. This gave us an opportunity to pray for the lost people of Nagoya. At least 98% of Nagoyans are not followers of Jesus Christ.

Next we stood outside a busy subway station holding signs offering to help people practice their English. I spoke with 3 men, the last being at least an hour long. Hyroshi is an English student who came to the University of Indiana to learn English. He was eager to practice his English and we spoke on many subjects including Japanese culture, Buddhism, American culture and Christianity.

This is my second trip to Japan and this was my first lengthy and poignant conversation about Jesus. I asked Hyroshi if he had any questions about Jesus, about whom he had a plethora. He asked about such easy topics as the relationship between Jesus and God, Christianity and Judaism, the authority of Scripture, and the difference between Protestants and Catholics.

These questions allowed me to share the gospel clearly with Hyroshi. Please pray with me that the Holy Spirit will move in Hyroshi, making sense of my jet-lag addled explanations.

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Saturday morning we hit a neighborhood passing out tracts by placing them in mailboxes (not illegal in Japan).

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Around lunchtime we visited a Buddhist temple, praying for eyes to be opened to the futility of the rituals.

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Next, we worked with a group of missionaries from Canada and a few students from a Christian HIgh School, for an outreach to homeless people. The outreach included a worship set and I led a devotional.

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We finished a long and excellent Saturday by eating sushi.

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Please pray for Hyroshi and those homeless men and women who heard the gospel.

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