With Love From Nippon

Izumi is a young Japanese missionary who arrived in Bangkok shortly after I did. She has gone on many of the same trips I have and is a wonderful young lady. This week, here parents came to visit for a week. Her father pastors a Baptist church in Japan.

Izumi. Think about this. Japan is around 1% Christian, and Thailand 4%. She

has given up a year of her life to come to Thailand as a missionary to this country.

There's a real need for American believers to do more.

Izumi and her folks. They will leave Thailand this week tired, but

deeply encouraged by the level of commitment and energy they

saw in the church here.

Izumi's father spoke at the Friday evening prayer meeting.

He talked about how Americans brought the gospel to Japan

after World War II, and that the church grew rapidly in

those days. As Japan grew more prosperous, the people began to

feel they didn't need God, and the church has struggled

much in recent years. He says that there are few young

believers, and little energy in the church today. Maybe the

current economic issues facing the world will shake people's

false sense of security and result in a new openness to the

gospel.