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Four years ago on August 5th, my Apex team and I had returned from Japan and we spent our last night together watching the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. We had an amazing six weeks in Tokyo and I came back knowing that I needed to return as a long-term missionary!
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August Ministry Update 2020
Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,
Today (8/7) would have been the last day of Olympic events and the closing ceremony would have been on Sunday. I remember around a year ago excitedly talking with my language school classmates about who had won tickets from the ticket lottery to go to the Olympics and what our plans were for the event. I didn't apply for any tickets, but I mentioned how the opening ceremony was going to be held on my birthday and how I hoped to be back in Japan. I knew I would be going back to the States, but I wasn't sure how long it would be or how it would go.
What feels like years later, the Olympics have been delayed to 2021, and I'm still in Vermont where I feel like I'm worlds away from Tokyo.
I'm still praying for an October departure, but I don't know God's timing. Instead of worrying about it though I've been challenged recently to consider what the Lord is teaching me.
The easy answer to that question is that He is teaching me to trust His timing and to trust that he will provide. Those are still things that I need to learn, but in the past month I've tried to dig deeper. I've journaled more and discussed my situation with others.
To my surprise, I realized that I was holding on to a lot of fear: fear of missing out, fear of disappointing others, fear of failure. So in the last month I've been asking myself, how can I step out in faith instead? And, what do these fears reveal about me?
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at my home church on Romans 12. Since I first memorized the chapter nearly ten years ago as part of a youth group contest I've seen it everywhere, particularly the first two verses,
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
As I studied the passage more, I was convicted again of the need to be transformed. My fears revealed that I had been conforming to the world and hadn't been allowing God to renew my mind, but I also saw how I can step out in faith by daily offering my body as a living sacrifice.
I thought as well about how this transformation is exactly what my team desires to see happen to individuals in Tokyo. In my sermon I shared my team's vision which is, "For God to transform Tokyo through an ever increasing presence and influence of people who treasure Jesus above all else."
What excites me about the Olympics is that they are an opportunity for transformation. If you read about the impact of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo you will see that they transformed the city. The olympics brought important infrastructure and technological updates that modernized Tokyo, but they also marked Japan's transition back onto the world stage after the destruction and loss caused by World War II. Yesterday (8/6) was the 85th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. So in less than 20 years, Japan went from having two atomic bombs dropped on it and losing the war, to rejoining the international community and hosting the Olympics.
What if this time when Tokyo holds the Olympics it marks not just an infrastructural or technological transformation, but a spiritual transformation as well? What if the opportunities for ministry surrounding the Olympics and the influx of Christian athletes and tourists brought about a transformation in the city that finally allows it to break through the 1% Christian statistic?
Having the Olympics delayed just gives me more time to develop ministries to impact the city as long as I can get back. I am so excited to see God work in Tokyo, and I know that He is going to do amazing things on a grand scale, but I also know that He works from the inside, out. It will take people who are transformed and treasure Jesus above all else. My responsibility right now is to make sure that I am being transformed first and then to get back to Tokyo so I can disciple others to be transformed as well.
If you are interested in learning more about the personal transformation you can experience in your own life, then you can watch my sermon below. If you are interested in how we facilitate it in Tokyo and how our ministries are aiming to bring about transformation in the city, I'd love to talk more. Email me at adam.bailey@efca.org or you can find more info on my website as well at adamintokyo.com.
Blessings,
Adam Bailey
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If you are interested in watching my sermon, you can click on the image above!
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Prayer Requests:
- Pray for God's provision: I don't know God's timing, but until he tells me otherwise, I'm going to continue to push for my October 22nd goal. Pray that God would provide the necessary partners and support before then so that I can return to Japan and that all of the details of returning would be figured out! Pray as well for peace in whatever the outcome is.
- Pray for the church in Tokyo: The churches continue to meet through Zoom, and amazingly they are growing! Be praying for the new people who have been able to join virtually over the last few months; most of them are not believers, so pray that they could come to Christ and that they would continue to come to church even after they start meeting in person.
- Pray for more partners: I've been reaching out to more churches throughout New England and hearing back from some. Please pray that the ones I haven't heard back from would contact me and that the ones I have been in contact with would be open to partnering with me or having me come speak to gain individual partners.
- Pray for the Olympics: Although they are now a year away, start praying now that the Olympics would mark a spiritual transition in Japan to become a nation that treasures Jesus above all else. Pray that ministries and the individuals who visit would have a positive Gospel impact on Tokyo and the rest of Japan.
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