Dear Theophilus

I feel that God has done so many great and amazing things in my life, that I would like to make an orderly account of them to encourage and inspire hope in Jesus. It is truly humbling to consider the riches of his favor and how he has brought me through many circumstances up to the present day. While I have tried to give just the facts as I experienced them, please forgive small amendments made in the interest of protecting people's privacy, etc.*

My first connection with Japan was as a child…

In Grade 1 my family got an NES and all my childhood heroes were ninjas. We named our first family cat, “Shinobi” because of the shuriken shaped white mark on its forehead.

As a teenager, I became more interested in Japan through anime. As I matured in faith, I felt a growing call to reach Japan with the gospel. When I graduated from high school, the church I was a member of had a one year missions program, “Tour of Duty”. We spent the year learning the Bible, planning and engaging in missions activity locally, and preparing for a year end final trip to Japan.

As the trip approached and the extra related expenses became more apparent, I needed to do fund raising. I bought several large boxes of chocolate almonds and began selling them. To people I knew, door to door, through the business district. Everywhere I went telling people that I was going to Japan on a mission trip to share hope and good news. Some people just bought them because they liked chocolate. Some people were moved by the purpose and mission. I sold over 400 boxes of chocolate almonds raising over 2,000 dollars but was still short about 150 dollars the day before we were set to go. To come so far and end so close was a great disappointment so I prayed for God’s provision. That very evening an anonymous donor gave an offering to the program covering all that was needed. I thank God for his supernatural provision.

Our team arrived in Japan for one month in March. We visited 5 different churches and as we shared our testimony there were several responses and Japanese people were getting saved. I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. To bring the gospel to Japanese people. While I was in Japan I asked other missionaries what was needed to come and live in Japan. I found out that many of them taught English as a way of effective outreach and covering their financial needs without raising support from overseas, but that a visa for this work required a university degree.

Another thing I felt very deeply was that Japanese people should hear about the glory of God in their own language. Many of the missionaries I met from a previous generation had lived in Japan without being able to communicate in Japanese. At the age of 20 I started to learn the language and prayed that God would help me to speak Japanese.

Returning to Canada, I determined to get back to Japan as soon as possible and enrolled in university and Bible school. This was a busy time in my life and I was blessed to have a part time job that paid well and allowed me to continue my studies. Not taking off summer and other breaks, I completed the four-year Bible school program in three years. That very year the Bible school became accredited so that on completion I was granted an undergraduate degree in biblical counseling.

In the fall of my first year back in university, one night at youth group a young Japanese woman came. I felt an immediate attraction. It turned out, when I had gone to Japan for that one month, I had stayed at her house! At the time she was attending a different bible school in Canada but she changed schools to be in a larger center. Two years later, a few months before graduating, we married. The following September when we arrived together in Japan to start ministry together, we started out by living in that same room I had been hosted in. I had already met my in-laws before my wife.

In every step of the way, God opened doors for me. Supernatural financial provision, opportunity to study Japanese at UNBC, accreditation for my Bible Studies and even a wife and home for me to settle into when I arrived.

Praise be to God. You can experience him too.