WHAT'S WRONG WITH JAPAN?         DO 2405          1/88

         1. PTL! JESUS HELP US! Please guide us, Lord, You know what's best. Have Thy way. Thy Will be done, in Jesus' name. Perhaps we'd better begin with basic policy on finances & the way we have operated for all these years, in fact all my life, & that is that if we DON'T HAVE it, we DON'T SPEND it! We don't borrow, we don't go in the red. If we CAN'T AFFORD it then we just DON'T DO it.
         2. WHATEVER MINISTRY WE'RE IN, WHATEVER PROJECT WE'RE INVOLVED IN, HAS TO LIVE UP TO TWO BASIC CRITERIONS: Number one, that it's GOD'S WILL for some reason. I'm sure from the way I've seen Him do business for years, His Will is largely contingent not only on the FRUITFULNESS OR THE NEED of a project, but also on its ability to either PAY FOR ITSELF or operate within our available funds, or being of such importance that God wants the whole World to consider it, contribute to it, & therefore, some kind of very important & necessary missionary project to reach a certain field, a PIONEER outreach.
         3. THE LORD, I BELIEVE, KEEPS BOOKS. We KNOW He keeps books, there's a lot about it in the Bible, stats etc., & so have WE for a good many years. And I think that we'd all agree that our basic financial principle of operation has been to OPERATE WITHIN OUR INCOME, to not go into the red, not go into anything we can't AFFORD to pay for, that we do not have the funds for, & depending on its fruitfulness & its necessity, whether we're willing to sacrifice & to rob Peter to pay Paul, to take from other projects to sacrifice them for the sake of some particular project that we think has a special time, a special priority.
         4. AS THE LORD SAYS, IT BEHOOVES US THAT BEFORE WE BUILD A TOWER WE SIT DOWN TO COUNT THE COST. Before we decide to engage in a war, we sit down to figure out if we're sure to win it, before we get into it.--Luke 14:28. Well, I must say that in the matter of the School in Japan, this is something which we DIDN'T do specifically, as far as figure out the actual cost of what it is going to cost to operate, as we didn't yet KNOW. It's sort of a TRIAL BALLOON & we just hope it doesn't BURST!
         5. TRYING TO REACH THE FIELD IS THE MAIN AIM & GOAL!--NOT JUST TO HAVE A SCHOOL or show off or make our Hosts happy or even educate our children or any other purpose! There's only ONE PURPOSE God has, & that is to SAVE SOULS, our PRIMARY purpose! Perhaps I might even say equal to it is to give souls a CHANCE to be saved, to get out a WITNESS in a particular field.
         6. CONSIDERING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD OF JAPAN, as now being literally the richest, most powerful economic nation on Earth, it has been insufficiently reached as far as a truly extensive witness is concerned. I may be wrong, but it seems to us that Japan has not really had its chance & sufficient priority & emphasis in our ministry, especially IMPORTANT people!
         7. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME PROBLEMS IN THE PAST & THERE ARE SOME BIG PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW. Problems in the past have been some of the leadership, poorly trained & poorly experienced & poorly financed, & not following the norms which are recommended for the Family. Considering that they're working in the richest country in the World, Japan ought to be the richest part of our Family; instead it's turning out to be one of the poorest! In comparison, proportion & ratio, considering the rich field they're working in, their income is extremely low! It's below the poverty level & they're barely making ends meet, & some of them AREN'T making it! So something's WRONG! Something's wrong with that field!
         8. IT'S THE RICHEST, MOST POWERFUL ECONOMIC NATION ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH, yet the Family there is barely eking out a poverty-level existence, & the standard in the Homes is not even as high as it is in some of the POOREST fields like the Philippines & Thailand! So something's wrong with that field, there's something wrong with the way they operate somehow.

BEGGING & BUMMING?--OR LIVING BY FAITH!

         9. SO FAR, WE KNOW THAT THEY HAVE DEPENDED PRIMARILY ON A STREET WITNESS, on everything from distributing literature & selling tapes to what amounts to begging & panhandling & almost BUMMING from some of the sad tales we've heard! They walk into a restaurant with a flock of children, in fact the parents are even ashamed to go in with them but send the kids in by themselves, to ask for drinks of water, kids who have been working HARD out in the field, & God's Word says, "The labourer is WORTHY of his HIRE! And they that PREACH the Gospel shall LIVE of the Gospel!"--Luk.10:7, 1Cor.9:14. So I can see no excuse on God's Earth, & this makes me furious, for sending a bunch of little kids into a restaurant to ask for nothing but a glass of water or to go to the toilet, & unable to afford even a glass of milk or a cup of hot chocolate for those kids! God help us!
         10. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH PARENTS THAT HAVE SO LITTLE FAITH! For God's sake, why don't they go in WITH them & ask for something WORTHWHILE besides a glass of water, & explain WHY & WITNESS to the proprietor & PROVISION it! And if they haven't got the faith to do that, then why don't they just shell out & BUY those kids a glass of milk or a cup of hot chocolate & make the proprietor GLAD that they came in & a lot more receptive to their Message!
         11. THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST EXAMPLES I EVER HEARD OF IN MY WHOLE LIFE OF NOT LIVING BY FAITH! And yet that seems to be a common practice in the wealthy, powerful, richest country on the face of the Earth, that our people are so weak in faith & so ashamed of what they're doing & have so little faith to ask for anything, that they're ashamed to walk in with their children, & they send THEM in instead & USE them. Some of the Japanese people have mentioned that they don't like the way we're USING our children! God help us!
         12. MY GOD, IF YOU'RE GOING TO USE THEM FOR SOMETHING, USE THEM FOR SOMETHING WORTHWHILE THAT COUNTS, THAT PAYS!--Not a glass of WATER! If they're going to take up space, let'm get in there & ASK for something & really make it PAY OFF! Let'm all buy a nice hot cup of CHOCOLATE or even a hot HAMBURGER, & besides that, get the guy to make a DONATION to the cause, or buy some Posters & Tapes on top of it! Parents that are ashamed to walk in with their children & SEND them in instead to FRONT for the parents, send in their little children to BEG for the parents & can't beg for anything more than a glass of WATER or a chance to go to the TOILET, this is absolutely the most SHAMEFUL thing I ever heard of!
         13. SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH YOU FAMILY IN JAPAN THAT YOU HAVEN'T BEEN GOING FOR THE TOP, going for BIG things, going for the people that really have the MONEY instead of just out on the street with the hippies & the kids & the old ladies & one or two businessmen that haven't got time to even pause!

FIND FRUITFUL METHODS THAT ACCOMPLISH GOD'S PURPOSE!

         14. I SAW A VIDEO WHERE A GROUP OF REAL GOOD KIDS WERE REALLY DOING A GOOD JOB OF SINGING & BUSKING out on the street there, & not one soul was stopping to even look at them, the crowd was just passing by! So it must be the WRONG METHOD!-If it's not getting a CROWD, if it's not drawing ATTENTION! Even if the people that NOTICE them like to pretend that they DON'T notice them, & would rather just pass on by, then there's something WRONG with that method!
         15. THE BASIC PROBLEM THERE IS THAT THEY HAVEN'T DISCOVERED THE RIGHT METHOD OF WITNESSING, THEY'RE NOT REACHING THE RIGHT PEOPLE! They're NOT "accomplishing the purpose whereunto they were sent," as God's Word is supposed to do!-Isa.55:11. And when it DOES, it is FRUITFUL & it is PROFITABLE!
         16. NOW I HAVE OPERATED ON THAT PRINCIPLE, AS YOU KNOW, ALL THESE YEARS & ALL MY LIFE for that matter! I kept trying to find some BETTER method, some way to reach MORE people, & some way to make it PAY, & we HAVE! But I can't say that much for the Family in Japan! They are NOT getting results!--Or too FEW & POOR ones!
         17. IN JAPAN, THE RICHEST, MOST POWERFUL ECONOMIC POWER ON EARTH, OUR FAMILY IS THIRD! Japan is third in every category on the list of accomplishments, of fruits borne by our Family around the World.--In witness, in literature distribution, in souls won!
         18. JAPAN, THE RICHEST NATION ON EARTH, WHICH SHOULD HAVE THE RICHEST FAMILY ON EARTH, IS THIRD ON THE LIST! Now something is WRONG! Either that, or Japan & the Japanese are totally impossible & it is totally unprofitable & unfruitful, & therefore we ought to PULL OUT our troops & send them someplace where they CAN accomplish more & get more for their efforts & more for their money than they're getting in Japan! THAT'S the PROBLEM. The SCHOOL is not the problem, it's the FAMILY in Japan that's the problem! (See #2412.) They're not reaching the right people, obviously, or not ASKING!

WHY NOT REACH THE TOP!

         19. I THINK THERE'S MORE PROSPECT, MORE POTENTIAL & POSSIBILITY IN MARIANNE'S MINISTRY & her girls in reaching the top, the cream of the crop in Japan, than there is in all of your street litnessing, witnessing, busking & begging put together! ONE of those guys has got enough millions he could support the WHOLE FAMILY there, it would be a drop in the bucket to him! The amount of money the Family needs each month is NOTHING to some of those guys! They could afford to give that much EVERY MONTH & support the ENTIRE Family in EACH of their Homes in Japan!
         20. THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE WAY THE FAMILY IS OPERATING IN JAPAN, in the richest, most powerful economic nation on the face of this Earth! You're obviously not reaching the right people!
         21. THE FEW TOP PEOPLE THAT THE FAMILY HAS REACHED THERE ARE USUALLY HEAVY GIVERS!--The few top people you've reached you could almost count on one hand! Sad to say, after 12 or 15 years in that country you've reached fewer people than you can count on one hand who are faithful supporters, real heavy givers & have got it to give! So what do you expect?--This few, less than half-a-dozen people, to support the whole Family in Japan?
         22. WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH THE FAMILY IN JAPAN? Why AREN'T you reaching the TOP people? Why AREN'T you getting at them? Because how could you expect to reach them just out on the streets panhandling & begging & sticking out your hand for a few Yen donation or whatever! THAT doesn't earn ANYBODY'S respect! In fact, the Japanese are rather contemptuous of people that have to go around BEGGING!
         23. I HATE FOR OUR FAMILY TO BE A PRIME EXAMPLE OF THE POOR AMERICAN, the poor Ugly Americans running around the streets with their hands out begging from the poor & begging from the run of the mill people in the street, instead of going to the TOP & the people who have GOT it! (Maria: Even their door-to-door isn't doing it, they can hardly get in!) Well, if that doesn't work then they're going to have to try something ELSE.
         24. AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, THE MINISTRY THAT HAS THE GREATEST POTENTIAL & IS ALREADY REACHING TOP PEOPLE WHO WANT TO HELP, THEY JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT TO HELP & HOW, IS THE PERSONAL MINISTRY! They've got an ideal open door now, & thank God it's opening wider & they're doing better all the time! I think there's more potential, more possibility in that particular ministry in reaching the top & the most powerful people & the ones who are not only able to give, but able to influence & DEFEND us & take CARE of us, than ALL the street witnessing put together!
         25. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE EMPHASISED IT & WE'VE POUNDED AWAY ON IT TIME & TIME AGAIN FOR YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR, YOU'RE STILL NOT TRYING TO REACH KINGS & QUEENS & TOP PEOPLE! Why aren't you? You're AFRAID of them! Are you afraid of getting dressed up & going out to the places where you can MEET them?--Or following up on the CONTACTS you already HAVE?
         26. YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS YOU'RE IN, IT TAKES A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT TO MAKE ANY KIND OF MONEY! And if you're going into an expensive business that you really expect to pay off, you've got to really put the MONEY into it, you've got to really INVEST something! And if you're going to meet people at parties or clubs or English classes or Hostess work, you've got to wear nice CLOTHES & be willing to go in there & spend at least enough for a cup of COFFEE, for God's sake! You people aren't even willing to go into a little sidewalk LUNCH STAND with a counter & a few stools & buy ANYTHING at ALL, you just ask for a FREE glass of WATER in a free glass that the guy has to wash! What kind of economy is that, anyhow?
         27. CONSIDERING HOW LITTLE THE FAMILY HAS ACCOMPLISHED THERE & HOW LITTLE IT IS ACCOMPLISHING, FRANKLY, IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE IT COULD BE MORE PROFITABLY USED SOMEWHERE ELSE, especially when it gets to where it COSTS more money than they are MAKING, just to put it flatly businesswise! When you're only THIRD on the list of all areas, even of the POOREST of all the areas on Earth, when even INDIA & LATIN AMERICA rank ahead of you on accomplishments & stats, something is WRONG with Japan!

THE JAPANESE: GOOD PEOPLE!

         28. MAYBE THAT OUGHT TO BE THE TITLE OF THIS: "SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH JAPAN!" OR, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH JAPAN," ANYWAY?--The FAMILY in Japan! It's not that there's something wrong with JAPAN, they're doing GREAT! It's the richest nation on the face of the Earth, with the hardest working, most considerate, thoughtful, polite, courteous & cooperative people almost on the face of the Earth!--GOOD people, perhaps the BEST on Earth, people who've got LOTS of money & people who have got big HEARTS, they're human, if you get TO'M!
         29. BUT THERE OUR FAMILY IS IN JAPAN--THE RICHEST COUNTRY ON EARTH, the greatest economic power on Earth, where the people have money, not to burn, not even to spend, but instead they like to INVEST it & put it where it will bring dividends & it will bring profits & income! Smart people, the most saving people on the face of the Earth! They save more money there per capita than any other nation in the World! They don't SPEND it, they SAVE it, & they've GOT it, & they've got it to GIVE if our Family could get at'm & tell'm what to give TO & FOR & WHY & get'm SAVED!

WHAT'S WRONG WITH JAPAN!--AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT!

         30. YOU'RE JUST NOT REACHING THEM, THAT'S ALL! The Family in Japan is not reaching the Japanese, for some reason.--Why? Because you've gone for the easy money, the easy pennies, the easy Yen out on the streets where you can make a fast buck or a fast Yen in a hurry without any real preparation or planning or anything, just GO & you can make it DAILY!--With no thought really for the future, no thought for what you're really THERE for! What ARE you there for? Just to sell Posters? Just to sell Tapes? Just to make enough to live? Is that what you're there for?
         31. AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE THERE TO EVANGELISE JAPAN? So if you're going to evangelise Japan, shouldn't you be trying to be getting to the BEST people, not just BEGGING on the STREETS? Shouldn't you try to be going to the BEST people of Japan & trying to witness to THEM & win THEM to the Lord?
         32. LET ME TELL YOU, IF YOU HAD DONE IT THAT WAY FOR ALL THESE YEARS, the Family in Japan would not only be rolling in SOULS, you'd be rolling in DOUGH, & wouldn't be THIRD on the World list of Family accomplishments.
         33. SO WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE? Why haven't you reached Japan? Why haven't you gone to the top? Apparently you just didn't have the right kind of people there that had the FAITH for it & had the VISION for it & really saw WHO you ought to reach, & set your goals high & AIMED for it & BATTLED for it & WENT for it! You don't GO for it, so you don't GET it! My Lord help you!
         34. WHEN I HEARD ABOUT THOSE CLUBS THERE, I INSTANTLY SAW THE TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL! If our girls could do what they did with the TOP MILITARY, the OFFICERS of the military, the RICH people of the Philippines, I knew what they could do with the captains of BUSINESS & INDUSTRY in JAPAN!--And they are DOING it!
         35. SO THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU FAMILY IN JAPAN! You're not going to the right people, that's obvious. Because it's harder to get in to see bigshots & influential men & bosses & corporation executives etc. It's a lot HARDER & takes more TIME, & you've got to be better DRESSED & you've got to have a little more WISDOM, a little more SENSE & a little more POWER from the Lord & a little more PRAYER!
         36. OR WHEN YOU'VE MADE GOOD CONTACTS, YOU HAVEN'T FOLLOWED UP ON THEM & FED THEM spiritually. You don't want to waste all that time on prayer & really getting the power of GOD & the faith of GOD & the vision of GOD to get in there & reach people that could be TREMENDOUS POWERS for the Lord! You'd rather fiddle around with trying to sell a few Posters & Tapes just to make a daily hand-to-mouth living!
         37. YOU'RE DAY LABOURERS! YOU DON'T THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE! You just think about today, & "let's just get out there & sell a few things just to pay for our food today & hopefully maybe the rent will come in somehow"--& that's it! (Maria: It seems like even store-to-store & door-to-door there isn't very fruitful. There MUST be something ELSE!) Yes! There IS!
         38. WELL, YOU HAVE REACHED A FEW TOP PEOPLE & IT HAS REALLY PAID OFF! And it has been more by the PERSONAL route, by getting in to BUSINESSMEN somehow, getting IN to those businesses some way. But it has taken TIME & EFFORT & PRAYER & real VISION & real WISDOM! It's HARD! It's DIFFICULT! It's SLOW! But once you GET one, you've GOT one, & it PAYS OFF! (Maria: It seems like they've gotten many of their best friends through PROVISIONING, the provisioning contacts.) There you are! They have gone to the people who have GOT it & have GOT something to give, & have persuaded them, in order to get FOOD in their mouths!
         39. YOU HAVE GOT TO HAVE A PURPOSE, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE A PROJECT, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE SOME KIND OF AN APPEAL! And what better appeal could you have than a whole passel of little children tagging along behind you & "We need something to EAT!" The people can SEE the need! Those businessmen, those produce men, those grocers can just LOOK at those little kids & all those mouths to feed & KNOW you need it! And those people have proven that they're willing to give it, if they can SEE the need, if the Family can PROVE to them the need. So the provisioning has been a real profitable ministry there, because the people can SEE you really NEED the food & they're willing to GIVE it, & give it over & over again & for YEARS!
         40. SO IT'S NOT BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT WILLING TO GIVE. It's not because they can't see the need. It's because you people have only reached just THOSE people, because you were desperate & willing to go & beg & ask & present your problem & your needs & your ministry & SELL yourselves to those producemen & those grocery men etc. You have taken the TIME to DEVELOP & ENCOURAGE & CULTIVATE those friendships, which takes TIME & takes FOLLOW-UP. And it's paid off!
         41. SO THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH JAPAN! You've been for the FAST BUCK, the quick POCKET CHANGE out on the sidewalk & on the STREET real fast to people who don't even know what they're buying or what for, but here's somebody asking for it & they've got a pretty picture, so all right. "HERE ARE SOME OF THOSE AMERICAN BUMS, those Ugly American poor hippies & foreigners that I'm sorry for, okay, I'll give'm a few Yen." That's what you've been doing, obviously.
         42. AND SO YOU'RE NOW COMPLAINING BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN TAKEN OFF THE STREETS! "Oh, that was our most profitable ministry, that's where we made our most money & the fastest & the quickest! We'd go out in one day & make so many thousand Yen, right away, quick, without any effort to speak of!" Yes, & without much planning or prayer or power or purpose or GOAL of WHO you want to reach, just anybody that passes down the street!
         43. SO WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT? Are you gonna repent & go after the RIGHT Japanese who can really HELP you?--Or do we have to pull you OUT because you can't MAKE it! You'd better decide NOW, or it'll be too late! God bless & help you!--In Jesus' name, amen!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family