Merry Christmas, my wonderful supporters! It's so wonderful to be writing to you all on Christmas morning here in Tokyo! Indeed, YWAM Sendai is taking a Christmas and New Years break, and I am spending a week of it here at the YWAM Tokyo Base, who've generously allowed me to stay here for the holiday! We've had a few parties, starring a very special person as good Ol' Saint Nick:
Seriously. One of the guys pulled me aside, handed me this entire Santa outfit and asked me to try it on. Naturally, the costume took over, and Santa appeared in person!
On a more serious note, one week ago, me and my fellow teammates, Janet and Chrissy, went to red light district, Kokubuncho, to do the gift bag handout, filled with bible tracts, candy, contact info, etc, and it was a complete success! Usually, there are some slick, shady-looking guys who stand outside the clubs and restaurants, enticing pedestrians to patronize their establishments. Thanks to Chrissy's boldness, she marched up to them, handing over the gift bags in mass. To my surprise, the men, while laughing and joking about, took the gifts immediately without question, even encouraging their nearby friends to grab a bag. We had over 30 giftbags and in less than 30 minutes, we had handed out every single one! Praise God!
I must confess: when I first walked through that district, I felt nothing but disdain for these guys, who may or may not be working for some less than reputable organizations, supporting an industry based on exploitation and prostitution. I easily judged them as being irredeemable scumbags. However, when I saw how they immediately accepted our gifts, while joking around of course, it made me think of all the tax collectors and "sinners" Jesus met and broke bread with. It humbled me how I was having "pharisee"-like thoughts about these guys, and not loving them as God does, but immediately labeling and judging them. He doesn't lift up the proud, outwardly righteous, and socially upstanding citizens to fill His kingdom: He lifts up those who accept Him, no matter where they've come from and what they've done. Lord, forgive me for judging those you love as lesser beings and let me see them as you see them. Amen.
I look forward to reporting more of my ministries and adventures to you all as 2019 comes to a close and 2020 just around the bend! May the Lord bless this year and open the hearts of the Japanese to recive Him! Thank you all so much for your support and prayers, and have yourselves a most Merry Christmas!
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