I gathered with thirty or so others on the top floor of an art space in West Tokyo for a performance of “HOPE” between Good Friday and Easter. The wind blew a light rain through the window as a man danced beneath the dull orange glow of the setting sun. Through the hour-long performance, the …

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• “No!” the owner exclaimed as Alana Essex stepped inside the share house. Alana had just landed in Tokyo and was anxious to get settled in her new room. She had doubted her decision to come to Japan right up until she boarded her plane yesterday, and the first words spoken to her after she …

Continue reading “She Couldn’t Resist: A Nashville-Bound Songwriter Follows God’s Call to Japan”

One foot is in a pointe shoe. The other is bare. One foot is dressed for onstage and is presentable to audiences. The other shows blood, sweat, and tears. On stage, dance is beautiful with costumes, choreography, sets, and music. Off stage, dance is cuts, bruises, sore muscles, and injury. Feet are the means through which they bring the good news and preach the gospel.

The auditorium was packed with students and professors as part of a week of events sponsored by the Asian Studies Department at Belmont University in Nashville. For my part, I talked about kintsugi, the traditional Japanese art of joining broken shards together with gold. “Kintsugi is not about fixing; it’s about recreating into the new. …

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Chieko Ozawa came to faith after being invited to a Bible study during a three-year stint in England. She fell in love with Christ and the Church, but her faith threatened her relationships with what she most loved. Her husband and mother were not supportive of her conversion to Christianity and she feared she might …

Continue reading “A Life Transformed in Tokyo”