July Ministry Update 2021
Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,
After the slowness of the last year through the pandemic, things have really picked up this month! I arrived here in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 1st after a relatively easy drive from Vermont. I was able to split the trip over a few days to visit a church and spend some time with one of my good friends from college. Since arriving in Michigan I've been getting settled and figuring out what life looks like here in the city.
One of the changes for me has been driving through traffic every day, but it's made me appreciate Tokyo's public transit even more! With the move, it's been a bit hard knowing that this is only another temporary placement until I get to Japan. I want to get involved here even though I don't know how long I'll be around. Thankfully, I've been able to get connected with New Heart Church in East Grand Rapids and it has been great so far. I've been learning a lot from them and they gave me some good books on ministry to be reading. I'm still not sure what things will look like in the future as I'm still trying to see how I can help them and do ministry here, but I know it will be a good growing experience either way. If you want to read more about why I moved to Michigan and what my current plan is for the future, you can read about it in last month's newsletter.
While I am adjusting to living in a new place, I am also remembering my first time living abroad for six weeks in Tokyo. Five years ago this month I was in Japan for my Apex trip which totally changed my perspective on missions and my future direction in life. It's been a crazy, unpredictable half a decade since then but I can see how God has led me through it all!
What is also fun is remembering getting back from that trip and watching the 2016 Olympics from my hotel room with my team in Minneapolis before we all went home. By then I was starting to realize that God had called me to Tokyo and thought about the possibility of being in Japan for the Olympics in 2020. I could never have guessed the series of events that would lead to the Olympics being postponed, and to my departure to Japan being delayed, but I still dreamed about the possibility and I still am now in a different way.
Even though I won't be going to the Olympics or even be in Japan at the same time as them, I am still dreaming and excited about what God is going to do through them. It's been exciting to see the attention around Japan and I'm praying that God will use it for good. There is still a huge need for the Gospel and more Christian workers in Japan. Japan is less than 1% Christian and the Japanese are the second largest unreached people group in the world. I'm praying that God would use those currently in Japan for the Olympics to reach people and that once my teammates and I can get back that He would use us as well. Can you be praying with me for these things?
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Japan is in desperate need of prayer. Without prayer and without God working in the country, the Japanese people will never see Christ or experience the freedom they can have in him. Right now, due to the number of Christian athletes attending the Olympics, there are probably more Christians in Tokyo than there ever has been in a long time. Be praying that they could have a positive impact on the Japanese who they come in contact with.
Pray that as Japan is getting all this attention that more people would be inspired to want to reach the Japanese for Christ and go to Japan as missionaries and other Christian workers.
Pray that the eyes of the Japanese would be opened to the results of their sin and their need for the Gospel. Pray that their hearts would be softened to hearing the good news from their Christian friends, neighbors, and coworkers and pray that those Christians would be bold in sharing their faith with others.
Pray for the Japanese church to be strengthened and that they could have the resources needed to reach the people in their communities.
Pray for all the ministries in Japan that are building off the excitement of the olympics to do sports and other outreach and pray that they would be successful in reaching many people.
If you are looking for something to help get you started with prayer, you can check out this website: www.japan1million.com. It has some great prayer resources and you can sign up to join others in 1 million hours of prayer for Japan. My team also started a weekly prayer ministry for Tokyo by praying for each of the major stops along the Yamanote train line which circles the center of the city. They do it in person and virtually on Tuesdays at 10am Japan Standard Time (which would be Monday night in the US). Our website has brief descriptions and prayer requests for each of the stations as well as a link to attend the virtual Zoom meeting: prayyamanote.com.
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Most of my effort recently has been to getting settled and building relationships with people in my church, but I am excited to see how I can continue support raising in Michigan. Already I've been encouraged by some people who I've met who have desired to support me or who want to connect me with different churches. I've also had a few new people join my partnership team so I am now at 64% of my monthly support. I'm hopeful that God will provide the last 36% in the coming months. My new departure goal is to leave as soon as the borders reopen in hopefully September or October.
Please be praying for a fruitful time in Michigan connecting with people who are interested in supporting the ministry in Japan and for God to give the churches I come in contact with a desire to partner with me.
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The whole process with my ministerial license has stretched on longer than I originally thought it would, but I have a more defined timeline now. I finished the first draft of my theological paper and am currently going through revisions. The plan is to continue editing it until I am satisfied with the final draft and then I will defend the paper in a council meeting sometime in October. I'm glad I have a few more months for revisions and to prepare to talk about the paper. I've learned a lot and I think it will be good for me know how to talk about my theology to a group of people. I will definitely be happy to be done though!
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I visited a Japanese garden here in Grand Rapids at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. If you are ever in the area, I definitely recommend checking it out. It was probably the best Japanese garden I've been to outside of Japan.
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Prayer Requests
- Pray for my teammates. My teammates the Nakazawas are back in Iowa for their year-long home assignment leaving only four of my team members in Tokyo. Pray for the Nakazawas as they are resting this month and next before a busy year back in the states. Pray for my teammates in Tokyo as well, Kevin, Sarah, Melanie, and Michiyo. Pray that they would get the support and encouragement they need to continue their ministries. Finally, pray for the rest of us who are in the states support raising or waiting for the borders to reopen in order to go back to Japan.
- Pray for my support. Currently I have 64% of my monthly support and about 103% of my start-up costs. I still need about $2,300 in monthly commitments to reach 100%. My goal is to have 80 partners. Right now I have 54. Pray that God would place people and churches in my path that would partner with me and that these needs would be met in miraculous ways.
- Pray for my time in Michigan. While I've adjusted well and have a good idea of what I'm doing here in Michigan, please continue praying for things to go well and for details to be worked out. Pray that I could learn a lot about ministry and church planting as well as enjoy living in Grand Rapids.
- Pray for the Olympics. The olympics begun this month in Tokyo putting Japan in the minds of many people around the world. Because of the many Christian athletes attending the games, there are currently probably more Christians in Tokyo than there have ever been. Be praying that through the Olympics and ministries surrounding it that many would come to Christ and that the Japanese people as a whole would see their need for the Gospel.
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Thanks for reading!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at adam.bailey@efca.org or by phone at 802-461-4771. You can also go to my website at adamintokyo.com. Thanks! - Adam Bailey
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