Monthly Archives: November 2016

Shanghai, China – 9 hour layover – November 25th

We arranged to have a long layover in China on our way back. This allowed us to visit, and get to touch the country without having to each buy a visa. China allows you to visit the country without a visa if you are only going to visit for less than 72hours. Obviously since China is still communist we had to use caution in what we did and where we went. We were able to walk the streets, talk to the crowds and hand out our color flyers that we also translated into Mandarin. The Chinese are a beautiful people…

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Tokyo, Japan – Performing down town – November 24th

Thanksgiving today and I am so grateful to be here!! We performed on the streets, parks and subway stops. It was really cool to use laughter as a way to break through their wall and find a crack in their armor. In one act we depict a child playing with a ball. Eventually the ball is stollen away and he is given a heavy burden instead (such is life as we loose our innocence and take on the world). In the end someone depicting our Lord, takes back the burden and gives him back the ball (just summing it up,…

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Tokyo, Japan city outskirts – Climbing Mount Takoa – November 24th

We woke up to an earthquake that shook the apartment where we were staying. There were aftershocks the next two days. The earth quake delayed a number of trains throughout the city making the already crammed metros even more crammed(you wouldn’t think that was possible but it was:)) There was also a heavy snow storm the last day we were there. It was the first time it had snowed this early in 50 something years. It was so pretty and magical! I loved it. One morning we squeezed in a hike up a nearby mountain. You could see Mount Fuji…

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Tokyo, Japan – Largest fish market and China town – November 23rd

We split up and visited the largest fish market in the country and also the largest China town (I guess there are a lot of “largest” in Japan:)) We talked to so many from all walks of life. A simple phrase I learned in each language was, “Don’t give up!” I would say it over and over to the crowds on the streets and when we performed. I would see it lift peoples countenance and even make them smile. Sometime, when you see someone who is down, try it, tell them not to give up, lift them up. Kindness is like…

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Tokyo, Japan – Helping the homeless – November 23rd

It was amazing that in a city this massive, the homeless were basically invisible and hidden from society. Late at night and early morning we would find the metro stations full of the homeless hiding out and sleeping wherever they could. They were so grateful for anything and any word of hope and encouragement.

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Tokyo, Japan- Shibuya Ave – November 21st through 24th

Most evenings we would end up standing on the corners of Shibuya to talk to so many and give out the beautiful color flyers we had worked hard to create and translate into Japanese. This is the busiest crossing in the world with over one million people crossing a day. Around 10k each time the light changes! We touched so many.

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Tokyo, Japan – Performing near Shinjuku Ave – November 22nd

Since we did not speak much Japanese , we also used theater and dance to help communicate ideas and messages. We used magic to communicate ideas like little seed taking root and growing, or to communicate how starting to care about someone else can be like magic and lift you up. We do an act of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly to communicate the new life we can each find in the Father. I talked to a number of young people who had no Bible and no way to get one. The religion of the nation is called, Shinto, “It is…

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Tokyo, Japan- Visited 6 of the largest Universities – November 21th

We got up really early and each took a different train to a university. All the students got out at 12 and since most of them spoke English we were able to talk to so many and give them material to read. Many had never read the Bible and it was so awesome to give them one for the first time.

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Tokyo Japan – Performing on a street closed to traffic on Sundays – November 20th

It was a challenge communicating in countries where we did not speak the language at all.  We used theater, dance and music to communicate on the streets. We did theatrical performances and skits to communicate different messages. The one we were doing in the picture below depicts a man spending his whole life chasing the dollar bill. Gradually he grows old and dies miserable and empty still chasing money. It really hit home to a lot of people, especially in Japan where their culture revolves around success and everyone is consumed with the newest, best things.  

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Traveling to Tokyo – November 18th

Because of our budget, we were on a very tight time frame for this trip and so had to squeeze a lot into each day. Our flight from Manila to Japan left at 5am and since we got back late from being out all day on the streets of Manila, we got no sleep before our journey (We were kind of sleep walking and I am just grateful we got on the right flight and didn’t end up in Zimbabwe :)) Once we landed in Tokyo we had to take a two hour train to where we were staying. It…

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Manilla, Philippines – Working with orphans and the homeless – November 17th

There were so many kids living on the streets just trying to survive. In 2013 Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 10,000 Philippines and left many with no where to live. Many families came to Manilla seeking to start over and ended up living on the streets. Malaria is something they constantly have to deal with and we had to take great measures to avoid. The children had absolutely nothing and were very desperate for both love and attention as well as physical provision. I just love making them laugh and seeing their eyes full of wonder because of a magic…

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Manilla, Philipines – Manilla City Jail – November 16th

(See photos at the bottom of this post) It was around 107 degrees with high humidity. They had a huge parachute they strung up to give everyone shade. A head director in one of the prisons actually translated for us our entire presentation into Tagalog to ensure that all the inmates understood everything (they all speak some English).  There gratitude was incredible and they all begged that we would come back. They set up big speakers and sound equipment for us so that everyone in the whole prison could here. They introduced us and gave us a warm welcome. It was like they…

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Manilla, Philippines – 4 of the Largest universities – November 15th

We visited a few of the large universities in Manilla, including the largest Catholic university in the world. We had talked to so many and had crowds of students who were so grateful that we had come there. We took the side car transportation to get around since the traffic was hopeless. It was so hot here, one day it got up to 107 with high humidity and to think that it was freezing in Korea!  

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Manilla, Philipines – Down Town performing and helping the homeless – November 15th

Manilla was definitely one of the poorest and most desperate cities I have ever been to. There was a board walk by the water that was literally full of people sleeping on it. In some case whole families had little camps made up. They wander the streets in the day, and then spend the night here. Its really sad. The need was just overwhelming and the only answer I could offer them was the only real answer there is…for all of us. That we have a loving Father who is kind and patient and wants to help us. He can…

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Manilla Philipines – Quezon City Jail – November 14th

(See more pictures at the bottom of this post) After many phones calls, emails and faxes sent, we were miraculously able to get authorization to visit the prisons in Manilla where they brought out all the men to see our performance and listen to us. It was such a privilege (and a big gulp). If you follow world news, you’ll know a little about how bad the situation in the Philippines is. The current president has a very strong stance against drugs and has basically given the cops a “shoot on sight” ordinance on anyone reported as using or dealing…

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Travling to Manila, Philippines

We left early Sunday morning and flew to the Philippines. Talk about a different culture! From the perfectly clean and quiet streets of Seoul, to the third world, dirty noisy streets of Manila. They used side cars attached to motorcycles for taxis. The traffic was so bad everywhere, like complete grid lock, if you wanted to get anywhere one of these things was the fastest (all though not the safest…or cleanest..). The price and speed depended on how many people the driver could cram on (one fat guy and your in trouble:)). A taxi driver we had cracked us up…

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Seoul Korea, – Massive gathering of crowds- November 12th

There was a massive protest going on to impeach the president (who is now impeached). It was a gathering of a few million people. We found a spot up on a pick up truck where we could get above the people to share with the crowds and hand out a lot of flyers. Preparing for this trip we made beautiful color pictures and wrote a message containing the hope and forgiveness of the Gospel. After a lot of time and work, we were able to translate them into Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Tagalog. It was very difficult for a number…

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Seoul, Korea – Visiting the Tae Kwon Do world headquarters – November 11th

One day when we were down town in Seoul Korea, ministering on the streets, we realized that we were only a few blocks from Kukkiwon, the world head quarters of Tae Kwon Do.  My brothers and sisters and I are all second degree black belts in the sport and incorporate this art in our performance. It was cool to see the center where we originally got our black belt certificates from. Life is a fight and if we can win our mind, we can change our life. We can fight to not give up. We can fight with kindness to touch…

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Seoul Korea – Performing at Hongdae – November 11th

We performed at a number of different parks, plazas and market places in Seoul, Korea. There was one area where all the university students would go on Friday and Saturday nights called Hongdae. It was just packed with crowds. Very large crowds gathered to watch our performance and hear us. It was a challenge since there were only three of us to keep our performance going and prepare for the next thing. Laughter is such a powerful thing. You can win a crowd if you can make them laugh and then, before they even realize it, plant a seed of…

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Seoul, Korea – 5 of the largest Universities in Seoul – November 10th

We got out before 6am and took the metro to all different parts of the city. It was a challenge navigating the metro and figure out where to go. We visited many of the large universities in Seoul. Most of the students spoke English and we were able to communicate so much with them.

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Seoul, Korea – Performing for the Lantern Festival – November 9th

Seoul Korea has an anual lantern festival where they tell the story of their history on a river with lit up statues. It was really cool to see and drew large crowds. It was super cold out, some nights freezing, but was a great place to reach a lot of people.  

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Seoul, Korea – Performing at Myeongdong Street – November 9th

We had to fit a lot into each day since due to our budget we were on  a tight time frame and had limited days in each country. So the same day we arrived in Seoul Korea, we dropped our bags in our the very small room we rented (which took about an hour to find on some back streets:)) and headed out to the center. The streets were just packed with crowds and it was so exciting to touch the Asian culture for the first time. It was a challenge communicating since we only spoke very limited Korean. WE…

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A Trip to Asia – November 8th

As well as continuing our work in South America and the U.S, we also want to touch Africa, Australia, Eastern Europe and Asia and are praying for the Lords leading and provision. Recently, all though at this time we could not afford to all go, I was able to find inexpensive plane tickets and save up enough to take a trip with two of my brothers. We visited Seoul, South Korea, Tokyo, Japan, Manilla in the Philippines and Shanghai, China. These are among the largest cities in the world and it was an absolutely incredible trip. We landed in Seoul, South…

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