Japan Update 5

Six days left in the land of the rising sun...can't believe the summer has gone by so fast! The past couple of weeks have been spent doing "mountain evangelism" as Pastor Heath says...we've been canvassing Japanese neighborhoods, putting tracts in every mailbox, getting the Word out. Though the heat has been intense and the mountain roads and driveways sometimes steep, the Lord has been good. So far no fruit, but we are doing our job in planiting the seed. I know God will water and give the increase in His timing. I'm praying for five Japanese families. Join with me! The need is so great. I stand on the mountain top and almost feel like I'm on top of the world. But then I look down and in the distance see the sea...there are sailors out there that need to hear. I look a little closer and see the shoreline, the harbor, the city begins it's busy hustle, not realizing the One they search for is found in the stillness. There's not much land between the sea and the mountain top. But there's a whole lot of souls. The houses spring up in terraces to conserve space. A yard of any size is considered a luxury. Most houses almost touch their neighbors. The architecture of the landscape is amazingly beautiful. But it also reflects the generations-old dedication to a false religion giving out false hope. Prayers flutter in the breeze at the gateway to the Temples and rotten food and forgotten coins litter the "god shelves" by the side of the street. Students dressed alike in the same white blouses and blue pleated skirts crowd the narrow streets. Little children play by the side of the road, their old, bent, worn-out "obasans" keeping diligent watch from under a sun umbrella. A sailor and his family pass by, oblivious to the same need. One of salvation. One of love. One of hope. Japan may be a 1st world country. She may be a leader in technology and car production. She may be the neediest country in the world. Oh that my heart would not turn away from the distant outcry of the lost. Souls in danger must hear the glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL people. Oh that my heart would be so broken.