This past Sunday at Abide, Pastor Joseph started Matthew chapter 5, the “Sermon on the Mount.” We covered the Beatitudes, and one that stood out to those I spoke with after the service was, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” The Japanese are all about keeping peace, but not about making peace. In this culture they would assume that Jesus would have said blessed are the peacekeepers, but not peacemakers. They have what’s called the “wa,” which is the concept which values harmony and group unity over all else. They value harmony over truth, over justice, over love.

What that looks like day-to-day for them is that they must put their personal feelings aside for the benefit of the society. If a problem arises between two Japanese people, it will be ignored. They will not address the issue and will act as if there is no problem at all. The problem is that inside, they aren’t able to let go of the problem. They let bitterness toward the other person grow and fester, until finally one or both parties must leave the group. That may be a friend group or a job or even on some occasions, a church. They can’t make peace with one another because that would involve losing the peace long enough to face the problem and fix the issue.

Now, we know that the Beatitudes are for believers, not unbelievers, but I wanted to use them as a way to share with you just how far the average Japanese mindset has to change in order for them to ever have peace with their Creator. Like so many people around the world, they think that if they ignore the fact that they are at enmity with God, if they deny God’s very existence, then they won’t have to ever face the consequences of being in rebellion towards Him. Please be praying for the Japanese people, and for the Holy Spirit to help them see the failures of their culture and help them overcome those failures to find true peace with God.

We are back home from Thailand. Thank you all for your prayers regarding Alishia’s health while we were at the conference. She wasn’t able to stay healthy the entire time, but all-in-all, she was pretty happy about how it went, and we may go back next year. The CCA Asia Pastors’ and Leaders’ Conference, as well as the SGWM Conference, was a wonderful time of teaching and fellowship with the other missionaries from around Asia, and especially the other SGWM workers who were there.

A team from SGWM joined us here in Japan the week before the conference as well. Having them here praying for and about the work in Japan was amazing. They were a huge blessing to Alishia and I and Lordwilling some of them will come back full-time.

Thank you for always praying for us, it makes such a big difference. Here are some things to be praying for this month:

• Alishia’s health and for the Lord’s healing of her body.
• Language learning and what my language schooling will look like moving forward.
• For the Lord to meet our needs and provide for us in every way.
• For wisdom about our housing situation moving forward.