NEW WAYS TO REACH JAPAN!--By Maria--Pray for Supporters & Reach the English Speakers!--Maria No.90 DO 2406 12/87
--PART 1!
1. I don't understand why in such a rich country as Japan where people are looking for something to invest in, why the Family there can't get clubs, store fronts & thousands of Dollars for "helping get your Japanese kids off drugs & away from crime & showing them a worthwhile way of life" etc.! It just seems crazy that there's so much there & yet the Family is piddling along hand-to-mouth & nobody has any money & nobody can even do their job because they're so hampered for finances! It's just crazy! There've got to be people there who are willing to support us!
2. The language, of course, is a big barrier. But there must be some groups who speak English.--What about the banking community & the import-export people & clubs that Japanese English-speakers frequent, for example? Dear Family in Japan, why don't you start trying to find the people who do speak English? (Peter: And pray for people that speak English!) Like the first night Marianne went to the Club, she prayed to meet an English speaker, & there he was, a real potential fellow fluent in English, a real miracle because she prayed!
3. What is wrong there? What are they doing? I think if nothing else they'd get so desperate that they'd cry out to the Lord for what they need!--You see your kids not having their needs & being neglected, & you don't have your visa money, wouldn't it make you get desperate enough that you'd really really pray & get down to business with the Lord & really do something about your problems?
4. What's wrong with you people? What are you doing? I understand that it must be very difficult to learn Japanese & you can't witness or follow up well if you haven't, which probably takes at least a couple of years to learn, but why not find some Japanese who can speak English?--Or French or whatever your language is! There must be an awful lot of people in Japan who speak English or French or German. Why can't you find them?--English speakers whom you can get saved & follow up on & who can become donors, people who will be willing to sponsor you & support you, at least one family, if not an entire Home, or a Teen Home or the School or whatever!
5. There are millions of people in Japan!--So many good people! They want to do good & they're righteous & they want to help people. They see their kids going rotten & I'm sure they're desperate to do something about them, if we would convince them that we are the answer!
6. You who are there have so many problems, & one of the biggest is financial, because if you had the money you could open Homes in good areas. If you had money for transportation you could go out & you could burn free & witness & go wherever you wanted to go! If you didn't have the pressure of having to get out enough Tapes & Posters every day to take care of your needs for the next day, plus your rent & your visa money, you could spend much more time personally witnessing & following up & winning disciples.
7. You have to have money! Your rent has to be paid, your transportation, your food & all the thousands of Dollars that it costs to live there, plus money for very costly visa renewal trips if you haven't found a sponsor or some way to stay in the country. You're so busy trying to raise money, you don't have time to spend witnessing! You've become businessmen, not witnessers! You've been trying to carry huge financial burdens that the Lord wanted donors & supporters to take care of!
8. Some of you have been there for years & you still haven't done that much! There are a few who have found a sponsor & somebody who helps them financially occasionally, but are you getting any kind of regular support? In all the time some of you have been there, many who even speak Japanese, it seems you would have found a lot more helpers & supporters! What are you doing? You old-timers who speak Japanese don't have any excuse! You who can't speak Japanese, I can see that that could be a very difficult problem, but it's still not a good enough excuse! (Peter: They might say, "Well, we were too busy being leaders.") Well, if that's the case, you got too much into being shepherds of the flock that was already in the fold, & neglected all those that were lost in the brambles out in the field!
AIRPORT MINISTRIES!
9. It seems like you just ought to go all-out! I have a vision for Airport Ministries! I don't know if they'd work, but it wouldn't hurt to try. There must be many national businessmen at the international airports in the Eastern countries who speak English, because how are Japanese, Chinese, Thais & even Indonesians going to travel if they don't know something other than their language?
10. There you could catch all the English speakers & the top echelon too, the ones who are going out of the country, if you can manage to get'm while they're waiting for planes, & get their card.--Because usually they don't go out very long, they're just going on business & you could follow-up on them when they get back. An airport is a wonderful place, because people are just sitting there & usually don't have anything to do. Of course, it might be a problem to get into the departure lounges, but I'm sure the Lord would make a way to witness somehow.
THE SOLUTION TO THE LANGUAGE PROBLEM!
11. But to have your one or two poor nationals in the Home have to do everything--all the phone work, all the business, all the personal witnessing (if your Home does any), all the follow-up (if your Home does any), is putting way too much responsibility on one person, a poor babe usually!
12. Unless they put a whole lot of time into it, most foreigners can't expect to learn enough Japanese or Chinese or Thai even in a few years to really get that deep with people.--Unless you attend intensive language courses, which maybe you should, but you haven't gotten good enough donor support to be able to afford it, & you can't attend school because you're so busy out tapenessing all day to pay your next day's bills!
13. So you'll just have to get around the problem! Time's so short now, I don't even know if you have time to learn the language fluently, although you should certainly try to learn some. But just like Dad said about going to the cities & reaching the progressive educated people so they in turn can go into the boonies & witness to the people who speak the dialects, it's the same principle!
14. You'll just have to find the people that can speak your language, & witness to them, & make teachers of them, & they'll go out & get the people that you can't talk to, which are most of them! And the ones that speak English are undoubtedly going to be the more financially well off. You need to go to where the English speakers are & reach the ones who are really well-educated & probably have even been outside the country. You've got to do something!
15. But you don't even have the money to go out & find the people who speak English! You don't even have the money to go out & witness to them! But you'll have to break out of this vicious cycle some time or other & go by faith & just do it no matter what sacrifices you have to make! (Peter: They just have to take the step.--Even if they have to take their food money to do it & fast for three days, only feeding the kids.) If you just even can go out with a national long enough to get around & to find the people who speak English, then you could take over!
16. Japanese English speakers are priceless, & when you find one, even if you just bump into one on the street, you ought to just grab on to them & say, "Wait, wait, what's your name? Can you help me?" You could make a contact right there, just somebody you meet on the street. Certainly you must have things like that happen, where you find such people in department stores or on trains or buses.
17. Someone sent us a picture of one man at a Meaningful Meeting whom they had just met on the street & he fell in love with the kids, I think he was a doctor. The Lord can have you meet them anywhere, & you should seize those opportunities! Just run after them & say, "Wait, I want to get to know you!" I think they'd be glad to practice their English with you.
FOREIGNERS CAN REACH THE TOP!
18. I think you need to try to get to the top! But sometimes, like we said, if you reach the middlemen & they get saved, they can be real good helpers. And if each of our Family Homes had three or four friends like that, you could probably be well taken care of, have a sponsor or guarantor so you wouldn't have to make costly visa trips, & somebody to pay the rent, too, if you could get at least a few thousand Dollars a month from donors, from kings. It sounds like a lot, but there's so much there if you just really have the faith for it.
19. With our Tape & Poster distribution decreasing Worldwide due to our getting off the streets & doing more restricted witnessing, getting support this way will be more time-consuming, since you're not going to be able to get out so much so quickly, you're not going to be able to rely on that any more. But if you can have the faith to get donors, English-speaking or not, who can support you, then you can just burn free, then you can witness & you don't have to be worried all the time about whether you're going to be able to buy your food, not to speak of your toilet paper & your Kotex!
20. The rich in Japan have so much money, they've bought up all they can in Japan & they're going outside buying up the rest of the World! It's hard to reach the top there, but it's a lot easier for the foreigners to reach it. Like the people there have said, they expect foreigners to break protocol & to do all kinds of strange & unusual & untraditional things, & they don't think too much of it. In fact, it really gets their attention! They're not so offended as when the Japanese do it.
21. I understand that it is pretty difficult for a Japanese of a lower social or working class to try to jump those barriers & barge in on somebody important. It's not even a question of having faith, it's a question of courtesy & consideration, they're offended if their own people don't stick to the rules. However, they might even admire the foreigners for it, admire the courage of those who are brave enough to stand out among the robotic masses.
22. They expect foreigners not to know the rules & not to even abide by them! So it's a lot easier for the foreigners to reach the real rich. In all of those countries, the foreigners can go right to the top (it takes some work, of course), especially in the Eastern countries. Of course, you need to be able to find the ones who speak English, but most of the very rich & the top people do speak English.
23. I wish we could hear some good testimonies of people who have done it, to inspire the faith of others! There must be some!--Even if the NOs themselves have to take a week off & go out & find somebody whom they can talk to who's willing to "help support the teen work" or "to help the Japanese Youth" or "help our School" or whatever it is! "Are you willing to donate? We're trying to set up a coffee house, we're trying to set up a School, can you help us?" Just meet'm, give'm Jesus, then get'm to help! Do something! You need somebody who will go out & do it & can then say, "Okay, here's what we did, you can do it too!" You have to have somebody to lead the way!
24. You've got to dispel all the excuses! You've gotta take somebody like Marianne or Jo or Christian & have them go out & do it & be able to say to the Family, "We just got here & we don't speak any Japanese & we already have a fulltime job for the Lord! Look what the Lord did, because we prayed desperately!"--Have some kind of sample to show it can be done!
25. Maybe the leadership will have to get out & provision, get out & make contacts, lead the Homes by showing them all the things that they think they can't do, really can be done! It's too bad our leadership has to take time from shepherding you sheep to do you sheep's work, but you sheep haven't been doing it, or at least not much of it, so the Shepherds are going to have to lead the way. And if you sheep feel neglected for awhile, that's the sacrifice you'll have to make to save the Work & help you to stay in the country & continue to preach the Gospel!
26. (Prays:) Lord, do give them faith! There's so much there, Lord, there's so much potential! There are so many people that You want to reach, not only the rich but those whom the rich can help us reach, like their own young people, so many, & yet our people are so strapped & bound & hindered by lack of finances! Lord, money should be the least of their problems, You've got so much of it & You own it all, Lord, & control all those people. All that wealth, Lord, is Yours, & You can use it for Your Glory!
27. So do help our people to have faith! Help them to get out there! Help them to have faith for You to open the doors & send the finances in that they need, Lord. They just really are almost destitute in that country that's so expensive to live in, to even buy their three meals a day, Lord! They've got to have money to do the job & to do their ministries. So please give them the faith to ask You & to seek, Lord, for supporters & donors & kings who can help them with their food & their rent & their transportation, all these things that they need to be able to get out on the field & witness! Even if they could just find one donor who could support them while they can minister to him, it would be worth it, Lord. So please help them to do it, Lord!
28. Help them to get desperate, help them to really believe & have the faith to take that step & ask, & You said we will receive, & seek, & You said we'd find, & knock, & You said the door would be opened!--Mat.7:7,8. So help them, Lord, to look in the right places & we know You will open the doors! We know You will if we ask it! We don't know why they're not asking, but help them to, Lord! Help them to start right now & to do it, in Jesus' name! TYL!
DRASTIC CHANGES NEEDED NOW!
29. It's going to take something drastic to reach Japan & to help the Family to stay there to do it! It's going to take a miracle, the Lord's intervention, when you who are there realise the need & get desperate enough to claim the land! Street work has to be stopped because it's too open, door-to-door by foreigners is usually not well accepted by the Japanese, & office-to-office is very difficult.
30. If your present methods aren't fruitful in both souls & finances, then you have to change them! I think you've just got to try to find English-speaking Japanese to minister to! You've got to pray for English speakers, instead of just trying to go around door-to-door doing your little spiel in the few words of Japanese you know. How can you really minister to the people that way? So you sell a few tapes, great, you got a little support, but then what are you going to do to minister to them? You can send them some follow-up literature, but how do you know how it's affecting them? The one national in the Home can't be running around taking care of everybody!
31. There must be thousands of English speakers in Japan--you just have to go to the people that you can speak to! Remember what Dad said when the Lord told him to go to the Lands of the Rising Sun? (ML#1283) Dad said, "But we don't speak their language." And the Lord said, "They speak yours!"--Not talking about just Singapore or Australia or the Philippines or Hong Kong, but all the Lands of the Rising Sun! There are many people in Japan who must speak fluent English, the university people, the international company people, a lot of people! You just have to search them out. They may be like needles in the haystack, but there are a lot of haystacks, so there are going to be a lot of needles! You need to pray & you need to find out who the English speakers are, where they are, where they congregate!--Universities, clubs, language schools, international businesses.
32. If your Home could get even one or two people who could really help support you, whom you could minister to, even if you couldn't go anywhere else, even if you didn't have time to do anything else, you could pour into those one or two people, & those people with their circle of influence could win others!
33. There are millions of people in Japan & the Lord is in control & you Family there are in a position to reach them if you really want to, to be able to minister to them where they can understand, & really talk to them. You can't expect the nationals to win the whole country!
34. What is the Family in Japan accomplishing? It seems as though you're just existing & making a little bit hand-to-mouth just so you can stay in the country & say you're witnessing to the Japanese by giving out a few Posters a day & a few Tapes. But what is that to what the need is? That's not accomplishing much at all!
35. There must be an answer! The Family needs to stay in Japan because the potential is there! Investment in the Japanese will reap great dividends! They're leaders of the World now, & they're going to be leaders in the Millennium! Like Dad says, it's the most potential country in the World! We don't want you all to go off somewhere else because you can't make ends meet in Japan & because it's cheaper to live in the Philippines or it's cheaper to witness in Indonesia!
36. If the Lord wants you there, He will supply your needs!--He's promised to!--And He must want you there with all the emphasis He's putting on Japan & because of how potential it is! So there must be a solution! Your present methods are not working & the Lord is not blessing. But we know He always blesses financially when we do the job He wants us to. Even getting out Tapes & Posters is not God's entire Will & plan, unless we're winning souls & teaching converts as well!
37. So there's got to be some solution, there's got to be a solution to the financial problems that will enable you to stay there! So what is it? The System's got the money, we've got to get it! You know it's available. But you've got to witness personally & talk to people & make friends if you expect them to support you & sponsor you. They can give you their material help in exchange for your spiritual blessing. If you faithfully sow unto them spiritual things, it is no great thing if you reap their carnal things!--That's what the Bible says!--1Cor.9:11.
38. You need to get out & talk to them! Give'm Jesus! Give their kids Jesus! Tell them, "Look at your kids, they're on drugs, unhappy, suicidal, pressured, they need help, & we're here to help them! Don't you want to sponsor our family to help? We can't reach very many, but we can reach a few, & they in turn can reach others, & we get them turned on, give them happiness! Look, here's a sample!"--And trot out your kids or some sample or some pictures or videos or something.
39. I know it's possible, I know the Lord can do it! He's done it with the King & Queen of the School there, that's a good example. They aren't anybody that unusual in Japanese society.--If He did it with them, He certainly can do it with others!
40. Japan's got millions of people, billions of Dollars, & yet you're struggling & hardly able to feed your families because you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing! You're not really ministering to people! We've got the most important Message in the World & we're the most valuable thing that ever came to Japan, but they don't even know about us because we're so busy being salesmen, not of the Gospel, but of Tapes & Posters only, intent not on winning souls, but only on making enough Yen to buy food for the next day!
41. I really feel bad about Japan! Every day is so important, every day is so precious, & yet our whole Family there is trying to make a few Yen from 5-10 Tapes a day if you get out that much, & a few Posters, & who's that reaching? You know a few phrases in Japanese, "Wouldn't you like to buy a Tape?", with no follow-up & not much that lasts to show for it, really!
42. You've got to change your methods drastically! You have years & years of instruction in the Word & in the Lord, & you could minister to those Japanese people in English, but because you're not doing it, you are in danger of losing your place in Japan altogether, because you have no sponsors or donors to help you stay in the country! Think how sad the Lord must be!--Seeing the potential of Japan & knowing that you're not doing it, you're not reaching them!--A big portion of our Family is there, yet you're doing very very little comparatively speaking to what you could be doing!
43. Somebody's gotta have the faith to do the job! Look how many your one King & Queen there are supporting!--One good solid king really hooked on the Family & the Letters could support whole Homes! Just get'm saved & get'm doing what they're supposed to! LHU!
44. I wonder if you have contacts that you're slipping up on, contacts that you have sitting on the shelf somewhere that you haven't done anything with, provisioning contacts or other business people whom you've met & you've had something to do with who have liked you & maybe bought a Tape & expressed some interest, but that you haven't cultivated, you haven't done anything with?
45. Like one doctor we heard of recently, he was really hurt because the Family members he'd helped hadn't contacted him again! Sad to say, too often with our people it's, "When I need you I'll get in touch." You may have kings like that who are just sitting there waiting for you! "What is that in thy hand?"--Maybe they're right there, maybe you've already met them & you just need to follow up on them!
YOU'VE GOT TO REACH THE ENGLISH-SPEAKERS!
46. But I'd say you've got to reach English-speaking Japanese for the most part. You can't depend on nationals who are young in the Lord & the Family to do all the follow-up on those people & to really feed them.--They may get sucked in themselves unless they're well overseen, fed, strengthened & instructed! But of course, if you already have precious friends & contacts you're responsible for, your nationals will have to follow up on the only-Japanese-speaking contacts, with lots of supervision & help from the rest of the Home.
47. You've got to search for the English-speakers! If you're going to really make friends, you've gotta speak, you have to communicate.--And if you only speak English fluently you'll have to do it in English! Of course, with the king & queen at the School they've done reasonably well doing it through translators, but they have a lot of fellowship & they have a lot of nationals who take care of them, overseen by good top leaders who are even needed elsewhere. But normally you don't have all that personnel available. And to get really close to somebody you have to be able to communicate in their language, & it's going to take a lot of time.
48. Even if you spend all your time ministering to only one or two kings who are supporting you, at least you're pouring into them. If you're going to spend hours & hours pouring into somebody, then they should be really getting strong & learning to support & tithe, so it's worth it. And if it doesn't take all your time, then you have the rest of your time in which you can go out & reach the young people!
49. First of all, pray the Lord will lay it on their hearts to give, & then "ask & ye shall receive"! After these people are saved, you can approach them with something like: "Now that you're saved you can lay up treasures in Heaven! You can't take any of these riches with you when you die, but you can send souls ahead by supporting God's Work!" You can present this to them as their opportunity to make the greatest investment of their lives!
50. The Family is done in Japan if you don't do that! With the World situation the way it is, help from WS is going down, not up, & many of you will have to leave Japan just because you can't support yourselves.--So Lord help us to do something quick!
51. Now that you have started gaining victories in your personal lives & have started trying to straighten up your Home situations & clean them up & are hopefully in better spiritual condition, maybe now you can work on your faith & your kings! You can't stay in Japan without support! But you can't get support without ministering, & you can't minister effectively without communication in a language you both can speak well.
52. Start winning people now & really getting them close to the Family & saved & getting them to tithe & support you! You're just going to have to do it! Pray!--And do it God's way! Marianne prayed for somebody who spoke English to minister to in the Club & she got somebody who spoke fluent English! That's a miracle, but that shows how the Lord can do it!
53. What are you girls going to do in Japanese clubs when you can't speak Japanese?--Pray for people who can speak English, of course! "They speak your language!" It's not going to be enough just to smile & look pretty & hand them a DF in Japanese or something, or memorising a few little phrases. Fine, that makes the initial contact, that attracts them to you, but it stops there. You've got to minister to people in a common language, you can't do it all through interpreters & translators! In a pinch it will work once in awhile, but you can't do it really heart to heart.
54. If you've got to pull in an interpreter every time you want to say something, it takes two people's time, plus often they may not even get what you're saying right or they may add to it or subtract from it, or maybe the interpreter doesn't get along well with you or she doesn't like the person you're talking to or whatever, & they may mess it all up!
55. The Family there has to learn a little Japanese, of course, if you're going to live there, to shop & to say hello to your neighbours, the basic necessities. But if you haven't learned it yet, it would take you way into the Millennium to learn enough to communicate effectively & deeply with people, to really witness to them, to talk to them about their problems & get them to open up.
56. That's a large part of follow-up. Even if you can read them the Salvation prayer, who's going to follow up on them? You can give them the Posters, but a whole lot of follow-up is talking to people, answering their questions & helping them with all the problems & doubts they have, having them pour out their hearts to you so that you know what answers to give them.
57. You may be able to speak enough to get people saved, but that isn't enough. The follow-up is equally important, & I don't see how you can do that very effectively unless both of you speak a common language. No wonder you haven't reached very many people--you have only one or two nationals at the most in most Homes, if you have that, who have to take care of all the business, do all the follow-up, answer the phone & stay at home for all the callers, & go out & do all your provisioning! And then those poor nationals, God bless'm, don't have time for the Word, therefore they remain spiritually weak, & maybe even end up backsliding!
58. So we've got to do something about Japan, because it's a really desperate situation! It gets more desperate the more we hear of it! It's been desperate quite awhile, & it keeps looking more desperate all the time, & if you don't break this terrible cycle you're going to really be out, you're going to be in Indonesia or the Philippines or Thailand or maybe back in the States if you don't hurry up & do something!
59. Of course, Thailand & Indonesia are in some ways in the same shape if you don't reach the English speakers. But I want to see us win these battles for Japan because that's where there's the greatest potential, & I'd like to see the Family stay there, & minister to the people.
60. Whatever country it is, we have to reach the English-speakers! Dad's said that time & time again: Go to the universities, go to the cities, go to the people that can speak your language & they in turn can reach those who can't! (See Nos. 1418, 927.) Of course you're not supposed to live long in a country without learning a little of the language, or what kind of sample is that, to show such a lack of interest in the country & its people? But the basics are all that you can learn, unless you're going to spend all your time in a language school, & then you're not going to be getting the job done!
61. Dad's said it time after time after time: Get the English-speakers! (Peter: It comes back to the same thing over & over again: While they're out finding the English speakers, they've got a home of 25, 15 of them are kids, they've got to feed them, they've got to eat, & it costs a fortune! So they've got to have the faith to pull out, even if they have to stop everything else & get out & provision, meet people & minister to them. They've just got to step out by faith, there's no other way!)
62. You've got to be desperate! You've got to read the Word to increase your faith! You've got to show the Lord you're really desperate & you really mean business! (Peter: Maybe they can fast for a day or two or three!) Tell the Lord, "We're not going to eat until You bless us! We want to do the job here, & we've got to have the help, & a lot of it!"--Then put feet to your prayers & go out & find the kings, supporters & helpers that God has for you!
63. I would think that you could have more faith for going out & finding kings & donors who speak English & can help you, than to go door-to-door to unreceptive people who won't even come to the door, just speak through an intercom & say no, where you have to drag your poor little kids around in the cold trying to get people to take a Tape or a Poster!--Whose attitude is, "We don't want you, we don't understand what you're about, you're foreigners & you can't speak our language!"
64. Personally, I think I'd have more faith to get the thousands of Dollars per month that it costs for a large Home to operate in Japan from some donor who speaks English whom I can talk to than I would dragging my poor little kids around in the cold getting out only five tapes a day, going to door after door!
65. If you keep that up, your children are going to be sick of witnessing & turned off to it! Because it's true what people say, they're just being used!--And getting so much antagonism & such a lack of response, our poor kids can get really discouraged! It's really sad!--And not getting any schooling, not getting any excitement, just having to be dragged around by you parents from house to house, most of which you can't even go into, the door's slammed in your face, you can't speak to the people, you can't even sing to them because they don't understand your songs! Think of what it's doing to your children! Think how discouraging it is to everyone!--You poor people!
66. There must be many people in Japan who speak English, German, French etc., for Japan does business with all the countries of the World & they don't do it in Japanese, that's for sure, because hardly anybody else in the World knows Japanese except the people in Japan!
THE DESPERATE NEED FOR KINGS!
67. You've got to stop what is not fruitful! You've got to start getting kings & donors & people who speak your language whom you can really get turned on, & then who will help you to get in to distribute the lit, to sell it under their patronage, into their Lions' Clubs, hospitals or whatever. Those kings can say, "OK, these are my friends, now take these tapes", or maybe they will distribute them for you themselves! We still need to get the Word out, but look how much more you could get out through these friends! Look at our major king in Japan, he was the lit shiner of the month! That's a perfect example!
68. Our Family can't even get the lit out sufficiently in that crazy country! You've gotta have kings who can do it for you!--Not only whom you can feed & who can support you, but who can also get the lit out for you, who can witness, in other words. (Peter: Or at least open the doors for us to go where we can get it out!) Those kings can say, "Okay, these are my friends, they're going to distribute these Tapes & Posters--buy'm!"--Like your major king does at his clubs! "Will you please buy them to help their cause?"
69. It's very difficult trying to distribute lit in that country door-to-door. --Or even store-to-store, they don't want you, & even office-to-office. But if that's the best you can do, thank God for you who try! God bless you! I really admire you for your courage! In that kind of system, when they go to work, they go to work, & to try to disturb them & barge in on those big important people who have high-pressure appointments & engagements where they have big million-Dollar business deals that they're maybe involved in at the moment, they don't appreciate it!
70. For the Filipinos, for example, it was a great time to sit back & take a little rest, have a little entertainment! But in Japan I don't think they like that & that's not their style. They're workaholics, they don't want to take any time off to do anything, & they don't appreciate foreigners barging in without an appointment & trying to disrupt their work day!
71. It's ridiculous for you poor families there to have to spend hours & hours every day, all day long, just trying to get out a few Tapes & Posters, five to ten Tapes or maybe less! Look how many man-hours you spend on getting out maybe five Tapes!--Two adults & two children spending six hours getting out five tapes--really a total of 24 man-hours for five tapes--almost five hours per tape at an average of 3,000 Yen per Tape--15,000 Yen for those five tapes--the equivalent of only $120! At least you've been able to raise enough support through it to stay there!--But barely! But where is the lasting fruit in souls & disciples? You've won some souls, but it's nothing compared to what it could be & what it should be & what obviously the Lord must want it to be!
72. Postering & Tapenessing has been fruitful in India & other places, but it doesn't seem like it's working very well for Japan. Even in the places where it works great, it still isn't fully supporting people, you still need kings! Dad's been talking about that for years & years! In Japan it's a necessity, it's imperative that you have kings there! (Peter: If some of those people had kings to support them & take care of them, they could have gone to language school, gotten a visa to stay in the country, learned the language & still done the job of witnessing & winning disciples! It doesn't take ten years to find a king who will help you, it just takes going out & praying desperately & the Lord could turn them up for every Home in the country if you'd pray!)--Amen!
73. Look how many nationals you could be winning if you had the money so that you didn't have to worry about all the day-to-day problems & needs, & you could go out & win the kids at the universities or wherever they congregate!
74. There are lots of things you could do! At least you could learn to say, "Do you speak English?" to every Japanese you meet, & the ones that really speak it fluently will be happy to say they speak it! The other ones that don't speak very well will say no, even if they speak a little bit. We're looking for the fluent ones. So if everybody learns to say that phrase, you can ask it of every Japanese wherever you are, or go where you want to meet them & ask them. Don't try to converse with them all in your broken Japanese, try to see if they speak English first.
75. (Prays:) Lord, You said that if we desperately call on You with our whole heart that You'll answer!--Jer.29:13; 33:3. You said You'll supply all our need according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus! Lord, You've certainly got a lot of riches in Japan, & You said You'd supply all our need & there's a big need there, Lord, & it's not being supplied, but we know it's not Your fault! We know it's because they're not doing something right, & probably because they're not witnessing as they should.
76. Help our poor people there to really look to You & to ask You, to claim Your promises & to seek for Your answers, Lord! You said when we seek we will find, & when we knock the door will be opened. So they must not be doing it, Lord! Give them the faith, help them to see the need & understand that all they have to do is receive, Lord. You said ask & they will receive, that You're more willing to give than they are to receive, & they're just crawling along on the ice when they could be running, Lord! They could be doing so much more! They're just feebly doing a little bit that they can manage with their few little Yen when You have millions of Yen You could be giving them so they could do the job!
77. Lord, You're more interested in getting it done than they are, so You'll certainly supply & You'll certainly bring in the money! It's all Yours! You own the cattle on a thousand hills! You own all the people there & all the banks!
78. Please, Lord, help them to get desperate! We can't imagine why they haven't become desperate before now, but Lord, something's been wrong, so now the Enemy's really working to defeat them & really get them out of Japan so they won't have any influence & they won't have any witness! Help them to go on the attack & win people to You, our first priority, the people who can speak their language, & the people who have the money to help, the people who can get saved & tithe & love the Family & love You, Lord, & Your Word, just like their major kings, Lord, that can give so much.
79. That's what You made the Kings' ministry, Lord. You have them sitting there & undoubtedly You caused them to be rich & helped them to have those jobs in preparation for using them in Thy Work! But Lord, the Family is neglecting them & they're letting these opportunities slip by! Those people that You want to win & You want to use, they're not reaching & they're not looking for & they're not seeking! They're just getting neglected, Lord, getting passed by because of the Family's lack of faith!
80. So Lord, do help! Do something to set the Family in Japan on fire, to get them going & desperate & looking for answers to their problems!--Not feeling they just have to suffer & sacrifice & scrape by day-by-day in the cold & with unresponsive people, Lord, but You have so much more that You want to do for them & with them! It's such a wonderful country, Lord, such a potential country!
81. We know You didn't take them there just to let them exist & their children to be neglected & the whole Family to have to go without! Lord, there's so much there, please help them to ask! They've gone there & they want to do the job, so Lord help them not to go in their own strength, but just to look to You & get desperate with You & let You lead them & have the faith that You're going to do it because You want the job done! Jesus, please help them!
82. Please do something in that country, Lord, do something to help our precious Family! Our Family are the most valuable people there & they're a wonderful gift that You've placed in their midst, but Lord, unless they're able to let their light shine, the people are not going to be able to see it! When they're so burdened with everyday financial needs, food & clothing & housing, they can't really be the witnesses You want them to be, Lord!
83. So please, Jesus, wake our Family up & get them desperate & help them to find the people that You have waiting to receive the Word & receive the Light, & to in turn be a help to Your Work! Jesus, prepare their hearts! Prepare these kings that You have just waiting to be a blessing! Prepare them to receive our Family, Lord, & give the Family the faith to give them You, Jesus, & to ask, & You said they will receive! So do something, Lord, help them, in Jesus' name, before it's too late! TYL!--In Jesus' name, Amen.
84. You'd better do something now!--Wouldn't it be sad to lose Japan?
TO BE CONTINUED!
--Don't miss the exciting answer, what to do about the problem, continued on the next page (record)!
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NEW WAYS TO REACH JAPAN!--By Maria--PART 2!
THE ANSWER!
85. After giving the above talk, "New Ways to Reach Japan" (#2406), we sent it to the NOs & other Family members in Japan, & received in return the following amazing information: That in that strange country with a strange culture & a difficult-to-reach populace, one thing that almost all of them want that we have is to learn English! Astonishingly enough, practically everybody in that country of 185 million people is clamouring to speak English! Housewives, students, businessmen, politicians, tourists, technicians etc.--people in all walks of life are in a mad rush to learn to converse in English!
86. The "Help Wanted" columns in the newspapers are full of appeals for native English teachers, as well as positions that require Japanese nationals with a working knowledge of conversational English, so the foreign language schools are doing a thriving business! The demand for native English speakers to teach in these schools is far greater than the supply, & for that reason many schools & companies are willing to accept teachers who have no degrees & no previous experience! Competition for English teachers is so great that some language schools, high schools, colleges & companies offer good wages, working visas, free Japanese classes & free or very reasonable accommodations to teachers whom they hire!
87. We further learned that the big craze in clothing is for jackets & tee-shirts with English wording printed on them, crazy stuff, some of which doesn't even make sense, but it doesn't seem to matter, just so it's in English! The restaurants & radios play almost nothing but Western music. Many of the Japanese executives read the English language newspapers, of which there are 3 or 4, & the key to advancement in the business World is to be able to speak English!
88. The demand for English teachers is phenomenal! Overseas work opportunities are increasing daily & Japanese tourism is on a sharp upswing because of the strength of the Yen. Many Japanese take their earnings & retire to overseas climes where their money stretches much further than in their own very high-priced country, & where a knowledge of English or the foreign language of their residence is essential. There are many international companies & foreigners in Japan, & the Japanese of course find it definitely advantageous to be able to communicate with them in the English language.
89. Moreover, we've now learned that this amazing country actually requires its students from junior high on up to study English! However, this has turned out to be almost exclusively writing & reading of English, with almost no conversational knowledge, because the Japanese teachers who teach English are themselves unable to speak English, although they can teach reading & writing of it. So even after the Japanese student has graduated from high school or college with 6 to 10 years of mandatory English, he still has almost no practice & no ability to speak a language he has studied for so many years & can often read almost fluently.
90. The Japanese have recognised their weakness & handicap in this area & are now doing everything they can to remedy it by even importing thousands of student teachers from the U.S. to come in to the high schools as assistants to the Japanese English teachers & work right along with them to teach the students conversation.
91. One Family member gave her testimony of teaching English in a high school several years ago: "The reason I taught was basically for support & also to witness. I taught at a Japanese High School, one of the best schools in the city. It was a school that the students who were hoping to get into the top University in the area tried to attend, a senior class, 17 & 18-year-olds.
92. "I wasn't looking for this job, but there was an American there who used to teach at the school but was going back to the States, so they were looking for a replacement & just asked me if I was interested. There weren't any real requirements for the job other than to be a native English speaker. I told the faculty at the school that I had never been to college but they didn't seem to mind. TYJ!
93. "The whole purpose of the class was to give the students practice in hearing English, so I didn't have to worry about teaching grammar or even reading comprehension or writing. It was really quite easy to teach in that sense. I was paid 7,000 Yen an hour ($56.00). I taught three hours a week, one hour on each of three different days.
94. "I was allowed quite a lot of freedom when it came to choosing what kind of materials to use. I used Family materials, stories, anecdotes, simple MO Letters etc., & then I used the last third of the class time (20 minutes) for a question-&-answer time where the students had to think of a question to ask me, & I would also ask them questions. This is how I found it easiest to witness, because to answer their questions I was able to be honest & explain why I was in Japan, what I did daily (witnessing), what I believed in, my goals in life etc.
95. "I would then ask them similar questions & would be able to see who was sheepy so I could further witness to them. There were about 50 to 60 students in each class, so I would walk up & down the aisles sometimes to get a closer look at them & sometimes talk to the students after class. I also taught a much smaller English-speaking club there at the High School once a week where only about 15 students came. All the students that came there got saved & some of them would come over to our house for more personal witnessing! TYJ!" Another Family member found that one of the best ways to reach the parents is to offer to teach their children English.
96. From Marianne & her Home we heard the interesting news that when men in the clubs meet them they prefer to try to speak in their broken English in order to be able to practice it with someone qualified to help them. In fact--& there's another piece of amazing information!--the high class clubs in Japan are begging for foreign hostesses who can speak not only English, but French, German, Spanish & other languages as well. On TV you can even find classes in all of these languages as well as others. There are also many English conversational lounges where Japanese & foreigners can meet informally to get acquainted & to speak English together. Sample ads:
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CONVERSATION LOUNGES
The Corn Popper International (715-4473) 3 min. from Ebisu Sta. Your home away from home. Make new friends with people from all over the World in an informal English speaking environment. (All ladies half price. Members--Y350/hr., non-members--Y700/hr, non-Japanese Y350/all day.) FREE freshly made popcorn, coffee, tea (o-cha), all you can eat & drink! Never closed! Open daily from 5 pm to midnight & weekends from 1 pm to midnight. Beer, hot dogs, ice cream. FREE paperback book exchange shelf, bulletin board, FREE post box service for your mail & messages. FREE bi-lingual TV, laser disc movies, darts, chess, shogi, go. Pick up our monthly schedule of parties & FREE movies. "Weekender" every Friday. "Tokyo Journal" monthly. Also, daytime space available on hourly basis at reasonable rates for your business meetings, demonstration classes, music sessions, dance practice, etc. Part-time & full-time bilingual staff wanted. See Ebisu Station map for directions.
COM'INN (710-7063) 3 min. from Ebisu Sta. Enjoy talks in English with various types of people. Y700 per hour (non-members), Y550 per hour (members), Y350 per visit (foreigners). Arai Bldg., 5F,1-3 Minami Ebisu.
WENSDAY (0422-49-1742) 1 min. from Kichijoji Sta. Casual, nice atmosphere. Enjoy conversation Y300 a visit (foreigners) Y500/hr (Japanese). Closed Mon. Party first Sat. of each month.
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97. We would suggest that another opportunity of employment for our women there would therefore be club work, since the demand is so great, the requirements are minimal & often the clubs will accept women who have little or no knowledge of Japanese, just so they can speak fluent English or other languages with their customers.
98. Marianne in her experimental work in the clubs is certainly proving that it pays in fruitfulness of witnessing & many are very receptive to listening to what we have to say, especially since it helps them at the same time to practice their English. It seems like they are able to accept anything if it comes in the form of a free English class! One of the girls made the subject of Salvation & how to receive it a little English class that was well-received in this form, helping the man to pronounce the words "Jesus", "Salvation", "free gift" & filling-in-the-blanks exercises & repeating the little prayer!
99. One Family member who was employed by a Japanese club several years ago wrote us of her experience: "I wanted to do this kind of work as a way to witness. It was a small Members' Club in downtown Osaka. A new disciple who had just joined our Home had worked in the clubs before as a waiter, so he knew a lot of people in that kind of work, managers etc. So he took Claire & me to meet some of the people he knew, & that's how we looked for a job. One person led us to another & we finally chose a place we thought looked nice & where the management was pretty friendly.
100. "We received about 15,000-20,000 Yen a night for four hours! ($120-$160!) Transportation costs were not included since we got the last subway home at about 11:40, but the fare was only 140 Yen. I only worked 3 days a week but Claire worked 5 days a week, 4 hours each day. In my case it was parttime, but Claire's was considered fulltime.
101. "There were no real difficult requirements for the job other than that we were fairly attractive, would be pleasant & smile & talk to the customers & have at least a few changes of dresses. That was actually the only pressure we felt from the management, that they wanted us to have nice clothes, which we couldn't really afford. The Lord worked it out though, because right about that time we had to make a visa trip to Korea so we got some cheap dresses there just in time! TYL! The club owner didn't really care about what kind of visa you had, & in fact, never even asked.
102. "As far as witnessing goes, we were able to witness fairly freely. We started out with a light witness & then gradually worked up to Salvation if they were interested. Some souls were saved but not every night. We didn't have any problems with the management or customers as long as we dropped the subject if they didn't want to talk about it.
103. "Most of the other girls seemed real shallow so we didn't witness to them right away, we didn't know how the management would feel about it either, but after awhile the other girls found out what our motives were & would sometimes tease us that we were "religious" etc., but it wasn't really a problem. The management liked us just because we were good to the customers & fairly popular & were good for their business, but they weren't receptive to our Message.
104. "It was a good experience in that we met & witnessed to a lot of men whom we probably couldn't have met otherwise. We certainly could have borne a lot more fruit if we had gone about our witnessing approach like is brought out in the DFing testimonies. We didn't have any really bad experiences. Occasionally a customer who had drunk too much would get a little rowdy or be kind of rude, but the manager would keep an eye on us & transfer us to another table if it looked like there was a problem. They were real helpful in that respect, so it's definitely a good idea to try to be friendly to the manager so he'll treat you nicely."
105. For foreigners, it would seem that English teaching & club work would be the two major job opportunities which they could fill in Japan, both of which should provide excellent opportunities to reach English speakers with our witness, as well as an added means of support.--And for the more enterprising there are even other jobs that might be available, although requiring more specialised talent, such as for musicians, artists, editors etc. We understand that some of the Family & their children even did some modelling in the past in Japan at very good rates & short hours!
106. None of these above-mentioned jobs, with the exception of a few English teaching jobs, would automatically provide visas, however, but if it's the Lord's Will, if the Lord has laid upon your heart to stay in Japan, we're sure the Lord will provide as you cultivate kings & supporters, & we're sure that He could provide even through some of these employment opportunities by giving you friends that you will meet through these jobs who may be willing to help you.
107. The opportunities seem endless in Japan or elsewhere for the man or woman of faith & vision, the one who refuses to give up, & who is determined to go God's way & do it His way, making witnessing their priority job in whatever way the Lord leads! We believe you should certainly pray that if the Lord wants you to take on one of those System jobs, that He will open up the one for you that will be the most fruitful in witnessing as well as in support, & the one least demanding in hours, subject matter & other requirements.
108. In any job which our Family enters, we believe that we should definitely pray for freedom in witnessing, making it a means to do our job for the Lord instead of just a dead-end for support only. Don't be misled into thinking that just because you can go to Japan, get a job, use it as a means to witness & make good support, that this will be enough.
109. The cost of living is very high in Japan, the highest in the World, in fact, & compared to a fairly large Home in Indonesia, for example, where it would cost $4,000 or less a month to live, a similar Home of the same size in Japan would cost four times that, or $16,000! Therefore it would require several people in the Home to not only be working at jobs, but working very hard at other supporters as well.
110. So it's tough going in Japan, but for the brave pioneers & the people who really want to win the Japanese & feel called to Japan, it will be a thrilling challenge! Living in Japan will continue to be a battle, but with putting witnessing first & being willing to do whatever is necessary to reach the top, we know the Lord will bless & make a way for you to continue in what can be a very fruitful field!--Amen?--Are you game?--GBAKY witnessing!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family