stepping stones a prayer letter of Iwa
Transforming Ministry and Leadership in our Community
December 2001, Number 01-2

Celebrating 20 Years of the Lord’s Work
In 1981, God called together a small group of Christians, who shared a burden to relate Christ more effectively to people of Japanese ancestry around the world. In September of that year, led by Stan Inouye, Iwa was officially organized. And now, 20 years later, Iwa has much to celebrate and to thank God for.

In the early years, Iwa focused on discovering culturally significant and biblically sound insights which had strategic importance for ministry to Japanese, Japanese Americans and Asian Americans. These insights were chronicled in a quarterly journal called the kaki seed and shared at local, national, and international conferences. They gave rise to the creation of such evangelism tools as the short story, Beyond the Secret Door, and the fictional letter, Dear Tad. And they provided guidance to organizations such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and churches such as Evergreen Baptist Church which sought Iwa’s help in developing effective leadership, evangelism, and discipleship ministries for Japanese- and Asian Americans.

Beginning its second decade, Iwa focused on networking and training among local churches. The 1992 Coloring Beyond the Lines leadership conference was a groundbreaking event which brought together emerging Asian American Christian leaders from all across the country. It led to the formation of a national Board of Directors and to widespread dissemination of Iwa’s insights through workshops presented in New York, Seattle, Portland, the San Francisco Bay area, and Southern California. Through Iwa’s networking of various Christian churches and groups with a burden for reaching people of Japanese ancestry in the Portland area in 1994, a new organization called Nichibei Christian Fellowship was formed. At the same time, Iwa helped four families there plant a new Japanese American church, Morningstar Bible. In 1996, Iwa initiated a series of prayer gatherings, each hosted by a different church, to encourage the community to pray that the Lord would bring spiritual renewal for reaching the 97% of Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans who don’t yet know Him.

In the new millennium, Iwa has created new faith-sharing tools and evangelism resources; published Foundations for Asian American Ministry, a seven-unit reference book for leaders; developed networks of emerging leaders and Bay Area leaders; begun using audio-visual media for communicating Iwa’s mission and ideas; created an internet website; and conducted evangelism training for various churches and groups. Although it has maintained a very successful, long-term consulting relationship with Christian Layman Church in the Bay Area since 1992, Iwa intentionally moved away from church partnerships in the second decade in order to disseminate its insights and resources to a wider audience of churches. In the present phase of Iwa’s ministry, the Lord seems to be moving Iwa back into church partnerships. However this time, with the benefit of twenty years of wisdom and experience, Iwa can direct the implementation of the insights and resources it has developed over the years, test to see what works and what doesn’t, and create new models of ministry that can benefit other churches which are trying to reach the 97%. We look forward to seeing whether the prediction of Wayne Ogimachi, Senior Pastor of Lighthouse Christian Church in Seattle, at Iwa’s 20th Anniversary Prayer Gathering on October 12, holds true: “The best is yet to come.”

20th Anniversary Theme
The theme verse for Iwa’s 20th Anniversary is Matthew 7:24: “. . . a wise man . . . built his house on the rock.” It comes from the last passage in The Sermon on the Mount where Jesus contrasts a wise man who hears his words and acts upon them, with a foolish man who hears his words and does not act upon them. When the storm, floods, and winds come, the wise man’s house built on the rock stands firm, while the foolish man’s house built on the sand collapses.

We thought that the verse expressed what Iwa has been doing for the past 20 years, and hopes to continue to do in the future—to hear God’s voice and build Iwa’s vision, programs, and ministry on The Rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ. We thought it also reflected our hope for the “20 for the 20th” Campaign—to build a “rock-solid” foundation of support from individuals and churches in whom Christ dwells.

The “house” image seemed to capture the “family”/relational idea Iwa identifies as culturally significant, and finds particularly important for designing appropriate approaches and tools for reaching Japanese- and Asian Americans with the gospel. It can be an encouragement to us all to make Christ the foundation for a strong household, family, church, community, and nation, especially in the aftermath of the September 11th tragedy.

Funding News
With the loss of close to $30,000 in foundation grant money compared to last year, Iwa has had to seek the Lord for his provision for this year as well as for the future. Amazingly, he came through! He moved in the heart of a generous donor, who asked to remain anonymous, to offer a grant of $15,000 which would be given, if matched by new donations by the end of the year. We thank the Lord that the match was met in November. We are still, however, trying to address the long-term problem. In the summer, we launched the “20 for the 20th” Campaign through which we sought to obtain new commitments from individuals and churches for gifts totaling $20,000 per year for five years. So far, we are almost half way to our goal. We hope that more will participate in response to our year-end appeal

We have received word that two foundations will be supporting Iwa again this year: The Huston Foundation ($7,000), and Union Bank of California ($3,500). We thank the Lord, Huston and UBOC, and all of you who prayed for us, for this tremendous boost at the end of the year!

“He Makes Me Lie Down”
At the Executive Committee meeting in September, Stan Inouye shared the following devotional. During his sabbatical, he went on a silent retreat at Mt. Calvary Retreat Center. As a result of the time he spent alone with God, he rediscovered Psalm 23. This “skipped over” psalm came alive to him when, for the first time, he saw a pattern or process in which the sequence of the Shepherd’s actions held significant meaning.

The opening line in verse one is a summary statement of the whole psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” It is also an equation: The Lord is my shepherd = I shall not be in want. In other words, when the Lord is my shepherd, I have all I need. The rest of the psalm is an explanation of how the Lord becomes our shepherd so that we have all we need to survive the battle of life and be fruitful in ministry.

Stage One: Preparation.
From the outset, we are to do nothing. The whole pattern and process begins with God. He does it all. We are so insistent on doing what we think we need to survive that the first thing he does is “makes me lie down.” And he makes us rest in a “green pasture,” where we can enjoy his provision and care.

The second thing he does is “he leads me.” We follow his lead to “still waters.” The quiet waters of his Word cause us to reflect and meditate.
And the third thing only God can do is “he restores my soul.” We cannot restore our own souls.

Stage Two: Mission.
It is only after our souls are restored that he moves us to this next stage.

Here, God “guides me.” He takes us on the path that cuts through a world of unrighteous-ness, in the direction he wants us to go. And he does it “for his name’s sake.” That is our mission.

On the path, we are in ministry. We “walk” with purpose, moving one step at a time. And the place we walk is “the valley of the shadow of death.” We are the living, walking among the dead—light in the darkness. But God is right there with us—protecting, defending, and saving us. As a result, we “fear no evil” and his presence “comforts” us.

We finally reach a destination—a “table”— something that he prepares for us to enjoy. And he does it in the presence of our enemies, whom we can face without fear. He “anoints (our heads) with oil,” pouring his favor and blessing upon us, setting us apart as his own. As a result, our “cup overflows.” We have all that we need in life, and more.

The immediate outcome is lifelong—goodness and love “will follow” us “all the days” of our lives. This fruit becomes a wake which our enemies will encounter when they pursue us, and which can minister to them. The final outcome is that we “will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Like David in Psalm 27:3, we will have the one thing in life that our hearts truly seek— the Lord himself, for all eternity.

To sum it up, Stan shared: “The Lord needs to make me lie down in green pastures and guide me beside still waters so he can restore my soul. Unless that happens, I will never be able to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and face my enemies and survive, let alone be fruitful in ministry for the sake of the Lord.” He learned that he needs to plan “down time” with God, such as personal time alone with God each day, a periodic personal retreat, and an occasional prolonged sabbatical. But, sometimes God has to get his attention through suffering, difficulty, and loss, and has to “make (him) lie down.”

20th Anniversary Events
Iwa held its first 20th Anniversary event—an interchurch prayer gathering—on October 12 at Mission Valley Free Methodist Church. About 25 people came together to worship, celebrate 20 years of the Lord’s work through Iwa, and pray for pastors, leaders, and churches who are on the front lines of ministry. Over 35 churches participated by submitting three requests each which were prayed for by participants in groups of three. Pastors from six churches received prayer with the laying on of hands. Wayne Ogimachi, Senior Pastor of the new church plant Lighthouse Christian Church in Seattle, gave an inspiring message on how we receive and respond to God’s call and shared how Iwa helped in the development of his leadership and ministry over the years.

We look forward to other events next year, such as a gathering of “pacesetters” in February who will take the lead in supporting Iwa’s vision for the next five years, and the banquet which is tentatively set for March 23.

Sharing at Conferences, Teaching in Churches, and Training Leaders
Iwa had several opportunities to speak at conferences and teach evangelism classes during the summer and fall. Cyril Nishimoto gave a seminar called “Paradigm-Shifting Insights for Asian American Christians” in which he presented new perspectives on sin (the “bad news”), the gospel (the “good news”) and evangelism (sharing the news) for two summer conferences: the 52nd Annual JEMS Mt. Hermon Conference in June, and the JEMS Warm Beach Conference in Seattle in August. In the fall, he conducted Iwa’s eight-week evangelism class, “Reaching Your Japanese- and Asian American Family and Friends with the Gospel,” at three churches—Wintersburg Presbyterian Church, Gardena Valley Baptist Church, and Sierra Madre Congregational Church.

Cyril shared on the topic of “Challenges in Reaching Japanese Americans with the Gospel” at the Asian American Leaders Global Leadership Forum sponsored by the Jesus Awakening Movement for America (JAMA) in Monterey in November. Stan Inouye moderated a discussion on evangelism based on Iwa’s Foundations for Asian American Ministry Unit Four, “Cultural Dynamics,” for an invitation-only national conference of Asian American Christian leaders sponsored by the L2 Foundation in San Diego in December. He has also been asked to present the content of Foundations’ Unit Five, “Bicultural Dynamics”, at a national conference of Asian American staff of the Navigators to be held on December 28.

Foundations Now In Print
Iwa’s new seven-unit leadership reference book, Foundations for Asian American Ministry, is now in print. We are offering it for a donation of $25. If it needs to be sent by mail, we are asking for an additional $5 to cover postage. To obtain a copy, please contact us at (818) 541-9089, (818) 541-9245 (fax), or iwarock@aol.com.

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