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stepping
stones a prayer letter of Iwa
Transforming Ministry and Leadership in our Community
December 1997
Christmas
1997
Dear
friends and family,
When
people unite, they become a powerful force. When a united
humanity began to build the Tower of Babel that would reach
the heavens, attempting to make a name for themselves, the
Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language
they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will
be impossible for them.” That’s mighty strong language
- “nothing...will be impossible for them!”
If
human beings are so powerful when united without God, seeking
their own recognition and glory, just imagine how mighty we
who are Christians would be seeking not to build a name for
ourselves, our church, denomination or ministry organization,
but for God! We would be unstoppable! Only God could stop
us, and He wouldn’t, because He’s the one who sent
us to go and make disciples, to build, not an inanimate tower,
but a living monument - the kingdom of God, made up of transformed
lives. And when we do go, we are told, “the gates of
hell will not prevail against us!”
I’m
beginning to see the promise of tremendous things happening
in the Asian American community for Christ as our staff, Board
and support team grows and becomes a tight, functioning network
of leaders. We now have 20 Board members on our way to 36
and possibly more. As Iwa Board member Barry Deguchi, Associate
Pastor of Cerritos Baptist Church, said at our recent annual
national Board meeting, “With all the key representation
from churches, denominations and ministry organizations we
now have on Iwa’s Board, if we decide God wants to do
something big in our community and we step out in faith together,
it’s gonna be big and have a huge impact for Christ!”
As
many of you already have heard, our theme verse for this year
is Isaiah 43:19 which says, “For I am about to do a brand
new thing. See I have already begun! Do you not see it? I
will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to
come home.” Believe me, I see it! Whether in Iwa or in
the Asian American church and community as a whole, there
are a ga-zillion signs that God’s Spirit is moving in
a new way to provide a path for the 97% who are not yet Christians
to come home to our heavenly Father.
We
are so thankful for those of you who have already joined us
in our belief that the Lord will show us new ways He wants
to lead the 97% home. And we are also praying that many more
will partner with us to call upon God together, so, as it
says in Jeremiah 33:3, He will answer us and tell us “great
and unsearchable things” concerning the future of our
community. We long to hear the same words as the Lord spoke
of Judah, “I will heal My people and will let them enjoy
abundant peace and security...I will cleanse them from all
the sin they have committed against Me and forgive all their
sins of rebellion against Me” and as a result we will
bring “renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations
on earth that hear of all the good things” He has done
for us.
If
you haven’t joined us yet, will you pray about doing
so? Please consider partnering with us through your prayers,
your finances or your participation so the new thing the Lord
has begun will continue to expand and flourish - that this
upcoming new year might mean new life for many as a result
of the new birth that can be experienced only through Jesus
Christ.
I
pray you recognize the special gift the Lord wants this particular
Christmas to be for you and those you love.
Celebrating
the birth of our Lord and Savior along with you,
Stanley
K. Inouye
President
Promise
Keepers and Asian Americans
In my six months of serving as Executive Director,
the work of Iwa has taken me to Seattle, Portland, the Bay
Area, San Diego, and Chicago. I have also had the privilege
of traveling to Castro Valley, Denver, and Washington, D.C.
to participate in some significant ground-breaking events
sponsored by the national men’s ministry known as Promise
Keepers.
On
August 9, I attended the first-ever Asian American Promise
Keepers’ conference, “The Making of a Godly Asian
American Man” in Castro Valley, CA, near Oakland. Although
I was able to make myself useful by distributing Iwa’s
literature at a ministry table at the event, I felt that my
participation together with 750 other Asian American men in
worshipping the Lord, hearing His Word, and witnessing the
response of over 100 first-time commitments and 80 re-dedications
of lives to Christ was an experience that made the trip extremely
worthwhile and unforgettable. Iwa Board member and Senior
Pastor of Christian Layman Church, Wayne Ogimachi, one of
seven speakers, gave a very insightful and highly relevant
message on “Self-Esteem.” The coming together of
so many Asian American men seeking the Lord was in and of
itself truly inspiring.
From
August 11 to 13, I met with the leadership of Promise Keepers,
along with 15 other Asian American men from different parts
of the country, at its national headquarters in Denver. At
this first Asian American Leaders’ Summit, from the tour
of PK’s offices on the first day, to the pep talk by
PK Founder and CEO, Coach Bill McCartney on the second, we
listened to many presentations about PK. But finally, for
about two hours on the second day, the Asian American leaders
were allotted time to share their concerns, issues, and hearts
with the almost exclusively black and Hispanic leadership
present. One of the most significant outcomes of this gathering
was the inspiration for the leaders from Southern California
to begin planning an Asian American Men’s Conference
similar to the one at Castro Valley. The vision is for 3,000
to 4,000 Asian American men to come together in September
1998, to hear God’s Word as it relates to issues that
are specific to Asian American men. It has the potential of
attracting non-Christians as well, so, like the Castro Valley
event, it will have an evangelistic flavor to it.
Finally,
on October 4, I was among the hundreds of thousands of men
who experienced the Promise Keepers’ “Stand In the
Gap” event in Washington, D.C. Iwa Board member and Associate
Pastor of Cerritos Baptist Church, Barry Deguchi, a member
of his church, Mark Nakano, and I found a spot near the main
stage at around 7:30 a.m. From 12 noon to 6 p.m., we worshipped
in the largest, most diverse worship gathering this country
has ever seen; we heard God’s Word speak to us about
our Extraordinary God, our need for personal cleansing and
repentance, and the hope for a reconciled people united in
Christ and lovingly obedient to Him; and we prayed on our
knees, in groups of three and five, and with people from all
over the country, from different racial and ethnic groups
and different denominations.
For
one day, with the eyes of the country and the world upon us,
we were demonstrating Christ’s awesome power to unify
and transform a whole nation. And if He has that kind of power,
I am convinced that He can enter into the Japanese and Asian
American community and bring about a spiritual awakening and
renewal that this country has never seen before.
Softening
the Soil for a Greater Harvest
Iwa’s
theme verse, Isaiah 43:19, brings to mind a touching picture
of the 97% in the Asian American community who don’t
yet know the Lord journeying on a path that leads to the only
One through whom we can come to know God, our Heavenly Father.
This vision inspires and moves Iwa in faith and with the heart
of God to participate in a move of His Spirit that anticipates
throngs of people coming to know the Lord.
God
seems to be motivating a prayer movement taking place locally,
regionally, nationally, and globally. New prayer organizations
have popped up in recent years such as AD 2000 United Prayer
Track, which is strategically organizing global prayer for
the remaining 172 unreached people groups in the world, and
LIFT (Lifting Intercession for Transformation), which promotes
a national prayer and fasting conference.
Astounding
numbers of people are coming to know the Lord in other countries
and continents. For example, Ed Silvoso, in That None Should
Perish, reported that crusades by Evangelist Carlos Annacondia
in Argentina have seen 40,000 make decisions for Christ in
La Plata, 90,000 in Mar del Plata and 70,000 in San Justo.
March
for Jesus Rallies have been held in many cities in which Christians
march down the streets worshipping God and praying for His
mercy on the land. Hundreds of thousands of Christian men
gathered at our nation’s capital for the Promise Keepers’
“Stand In the Gap” rally to pray for the welfare
of our country.
Iwa
has been sponsoring prayer gatherings in an effort to “soften
the soil” in preparation for a spiritual harvest in the
Asian American community. It has been about a year-and-a-half
since Iwa had its first prayer gathering. Now, there have
been four in the Southern California area (Evergreen Baptist,
Anaheim Japanese Free Methodist, Cerritos Baptist, and Union
Church of L.A.), one in Portland, and two in the Seattle area.
The
last event in Southern California was our Prayer Walk in Little
Tokyo in August, during Nisei Week. The agenda was different
from previous prayer gatherings. The group started out in
worship and prayer at Union Church, then walked through Little
Tokyo praying for the Asian American community stimulated
by who and what they saw and inspired by whatever the Lord
put on their hearts. About 30 people participated and were
led in worship by the team of Jon and Yennie Hino, Mark Iinuma,
Wendy Katagi, and Cliff Yamamoto.
For
our most recent gathering in November, the Soften the Soil
Concert of Prayer in Seattle at Chinese Baptist Church, the
core planning committee, Dwight Matsuda, Rose Lee, Arnold
Chin, Carolyn Shimabukuro, Lee Ann Hwang, Wendy Izumi, and
Jennifer Higuchi, did a wonderful job in organizing the event
and encouraging people to come. Over 50 people from 12 different
churches participated in what may just be the start of more
prayer and fruit in the Northwest.
The next gathering in Southern California will be at
First
Presbyterian Church of Altadena, Saturday, January 31. A larger
event is being planned for sometime in May. Hopefully, more
can be planned for the Pacific Northwest and ground can be
broken in the Bay Area as well. God willing, the prayer movement
will gain speed and snowball into spiritual renewal and harvest
resulting in many of our loved ones coming to know the Lord.
May
this verse encourage our faith: O Israel, My chosen one,
do not fear. For I will give you abundant water to quench
your thirst and to moisten your parched fields. And I will
pour out My Spirit and My blessings on your children. They
will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.
Some will proudly claim, ‘I belong to the Lord.’
Isaiah 44:2-5 (NLT) Please ask that this wonderful picture
would come to pass for the Asian American community.
Iwa
Annual Meeting
On
Saturday, October 11, the Iwa Board of Directors held its
Annual Meeting at Gardena Valley Baptist Church. United in
the mission of helping to reach the 97%, 20 leaders gathered
not so much to conduct business, but more importantly to begin
the process of building a new team and to seek together God’s
vision for Iwa.
With
an emphasis on prayer throughout the meeting, the participants
began the meeting with a time of worship and a devotional
from Ezra and Nehemiah on how God may now be raising up many
different people and churches to build His “temple”
or “city” as a base from which the 97% can be led
home to Him. They heard Stan describe the new Board not only
as a group that would help Iwa conduct certain business matters,
but also as a body of key leadership which Iwa seeks to serve
and provide its resources to.
After
handling such business matters as electing officers, approving
By-law revisions, and approving the 1998 Budget, the Board
engaged in an evaluation and exploration of Iwa’s ministry.
They explored such ideas as networking through an online chat
room, training leaders through leadership conferences, and
using prayer gatherings and evangelism workshops to support
the Southern California Asian American Men’s Conference
in September 1998. They discussed how passion for reaching
the 97% can be instilled in more people, and how Iwa’s
workshops can obtain the most effective response from the
community. Following prayer in small groups, the meeting ended
with a closing song and prayer with hands joined in a circle.
There was a good feeling that God was well on His way to shaping
a team at Iwa that could work together to help the 97% come
home to Him.
Asian
American Ears in San Diego
On Saturday, September 20, Stan and Cyril made the trip down
to San Diego Japanese Christian Church to participate in the
OMS Holiness Church’s “Witnessing to the Next Generation”
Evangelism Conference. In the morning, the English-speaking
group heard Rev. Daryl Mashita, pastor of Orange County Japanese
Christian Church, talk about how to reach the unreached for
Christ through a seeker sensitive small group Bible study
on Jesus Christ from the Gospel of John. After a Japanese
luncheon, Stan presented “Hearing the Gospel With Asian
American Ears,” a shortened version of Iwa’s evangelism
workshop entitled “Fishing With a Bamboo Pole.”
The audience gave nods of recognition when Stan described
the different characteristics of “omoiyari” people.
And they responded quickly with their own ideas about methods
that might be effective in reaching omoiyari people based
on what Stan shared. JEMS Director of South American Missions,
Rev. John Katagi gave the closing Challenge Message encouraging
participants to break out of the “wachu” (enclosed
island) mentality and build bridges of outreach to the un-reached
community through such means as lei-making class, cycling
ministry, and photo album-making night (examples from Cerritos
Baptist Church). Somehow all of the messages for the day followed
a familiar Iwa theme of reaching a relational people with
a relational approach.
“Fishing”
in Palos Verdes
“Very
worthwhile.” “I had no idea where to start in evangelizing
to my family members. Now at least I have a start.” “I
thank you for clarifying some of my distortions and fears
on evangelizing.” “Good content.” “Excellent
material.” These were some of the comments at the “Fishing
With a Bamboo Pole” Evangelism Workshop at Palos Verdes
(PV) Baptist Church on Saturday, November 15.
Comparing
fish fishing with people fishing, Stan addressed the question
of how to introduce Christ to an “omoiyari”
(empathetic) people who are relational, group-oriented, consensus-driven,
non-confrontational, and non-verbal. He showed how a traditional
Western approach may be appropriate for an individualistic,
confrontational, verbal, and explicit people, but how a different
approach may be necessary for effective fishing among omoiyari
people.
PV
Baptist put on a skit to show the contrast between a fisherman
who catches lots of fish with a bamboo pole and simple gear
because he knows his fish and one who can’t seem to catch
a single fish despite having high-tech equipment because he
just doesn’t understand the fish. Working through three
steps for effective omoiyari evangelism--preparing,
nurturing, and encouraging--the more than 20 participants
had a chance to bring home the content personally as they
put the names of family and friends who don’t know Christ
on fish-shaped colored paper and placed them in a fishing
net during the closing song.
Thanks
to Derek Okada and his committee from PV Baptist, the workshop
went smoothly. Having already received several requests for
this workshop at other churches, Iwa looks forward to equipping
many more people for evangelism to unreached Japanese and
Asian Americans in 1998.
New
Faces
We praise God for the growth of our Board of Directors and
we would like to take this time to introduce 4 new Board members.
Rob Yonemoto was born in Munich, Germany, and raised
in the San Gabriel Valley. He then spent eight years in New
Hampshire and Vermont. There he attended and received his
B.A. in American Literature from Dartmouth College. Three
years after graduating, Rob met and was blessed to marry his
wife, Lynne. In 1981, six months into their married life together,
Rob and Lynne moved from New England to Pasadena, where he
began work on a Master of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological
Seminary. Early on in his studies at Fuller, Rob met Stan
for the first time and in 1983, he became Iwa’s first
intern.
Rob is currently the Senior Pastor of the San Fernando Valley
Holiness Church. He listens to classical music whenever he
can, especially piano music by Bach, Schubert, and Beethoven.
The great joy of Rob and Lynne’s life is their 2-1/2
year old son, Riley Kei, who came into their home and hearts
as a precious gift of grace from God through adoption from
Japan.
Born and raised in Sacramento, Todd Nakada returned
to California in January 1995, to serve as Associate Pastor
of Educational Ministries of Evergreen Baptist Church of L.A.
after living in New York for about 20 years. In 1997, he became
Associate Pastor of Stewardship. Formerly an accountant for
Peat, Marwick & Mitchell, and the Chief Financial Officer
of the import-export company, Henry I. Daty, Inc., he gained
extensive ministry experience at Japanese American United
Church where he was baptized in December 1979, and “got
involved in everything except baptisms, weddings, and funerals.”
A financial supporter of Iwa since 1983, Todd participated
in Iwa’s Coloring Beyond the Lines conference in 1992.
Encouraged by the caliber of leadership he has seen on the
Board, he feels that “Iwa is ready to go to the next
level in terms of prominence, impact, and fruitfulness into
the next century,” and looks forward to giving his time,
talents, and finances to Iwa as a Board member. Married to
MeeLin since October 1996, Todd avidly follows sports, closely
monitors the world financial markets, and enjoys fine dining.
Margaret Yu was born in Hong Kong, and came to the
U.S. when she was young. Most of her family lives in the Detroit
area where she grew up. Being brought up as a ‘cultural
Buddhist’ made her aware of the spiritual realm at a
very young age. At 13, she began her search for the right
religion and at 17, received Jesus as personal Savior and
Lord. In her junior year at University of Michigan, God used
the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ to really take hold
of her heart. She has served on Crusade staff for 12 years,
and is currently Pacific Southwest Inter-cultural Resources
Regional director. “I love Iwa’s emphasis of equipping
through resources, workshops, consultations and through helping
Asian American church plants. These are so critical to God
reaching the lost Asian Americans. I am blessed to be associated
with Iwa and its members. My prayer for the Board and Iwa
friends is that God would use all of us to increase the number
of Asian Americans in His Kingdom. I look forward to seeing
how He will use us.”
Steve Yamaguchi was born and raised in Los Angeles
and grew up near Crenshaw Square. He moved to Santa Ana before
high school. Steve was introduced to Jesus Christ through
friends at school in the 9th grade and became very active
in their Presbyterian church. After college, he spent 8 years
in full-time youth ministry before entering seminary. Steve
and his wife, Alison, went east to seminary to attend Gordon-Conwell
and Princeton Theological Seminaries, including a one-year
break to serve as Assistant Pastor at Tokyo Union Church in
Japan. After seminary, in 1988, he was called to Grace Presbyterian
Church in Paramount, one of 18 Japanese Presbyterian churches.
In addition to Iwa, Steve serves on the Board of Trustees
at Westmont College. He and Alison have two daughters, Lydia
and Joy. Steve’s hobbies include fly-fishing, playing
with his children, guitar, and music.
Praise
and Prayer Requests
For
God’s direction as we plan for upcoming prayer gatherings
in January and May in Southern California.
For
the growth of Iwa’s Board of Directors as we look to
increase it to 36 members who would be key people who can
help unite and mobilize the whole community toward greater
effectiveness in reaching the Asian American community.
For
God’s using the evangelism workshop to equip and encourage
people to actively share Christ with their friends and family
and for more groups/churches to put on this workshop as a
resource for their people.
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