Planting the Seed

Over the past two months, I have been privileged to help lay a foundation for something that I believe God is going to use to bring many precious souls to repentance and salvation. We have not done this by preaching fire and brimstone, but by showing people that there is LIFE in Christ; God offers us a joy and fulfillment in our walk with Him that is unattainable within the reaches of this world. It has been so amazing to see the power of this message begin to work in the lives of those we have been reaching out to. And it has been a wonderful reminder of the love of our God. He is amazing and worthy of all praise! We are not meant to walk in anguish and despair as the rest of the world does, but in the peace that comes from the faithfulness and mercy of the Lord Almighty. Not because we deserve it, but by the blood of Christ, and because He loves us! Too often we forget the promises that God has given us; we cheat ourselves out of the intimacy that He so desires to have with us, and the blessings that He would bestow upon us.

For myself, I have only become more desperate to see this love and power of God not only in my own life but in the lives of countless people who do not even know that it exists! There is so much pain and hurt in the world; so much depression, fear, doubt, shame, anger... I have understood more how the heart of God aches for these precious people. They are everywhere around us; how can we ignore them? We MUST faithfully show them the LIFE that is in Christ. There is nothing more important.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him..." Philippians 3:7-9

Over the past month since I last wrote to you, The Fuse team has been faithfully planting the seed. Every week we have seen new faces, met new people. We have seen the amazing providence of God at work. Several people are on the verge of making Jesus the Lord of their lives, and we are believing for this to happen and for many more to come. This is only the beginning! I am sad to have to leave all this, but I am so thankful that I was able to help lay the foundation. The Fuse is becoming more and more dynamic and powerful every week. Not to mention tons of fun! We have brought great music, games, dance, video, powerful messages, testimonies, prayer, joy, and Christ's love together to draw people to a redeeming relationship with God. Pray for continued development as Mark and Yuiko develop new strategies and follow God's leading for the outreach.

Outside of The Fuse event, we have been going all over the place to meet people, with a special emphasis recently on visiting universities and meeting students there. The Brazilian church has also given us opportunities to reach out to young people, and The Fuse will undoubtedly be working more with them in the future. There is a long list now of people that are being prayed for, people that need Jesus! We are beginning to have regulars who attend The Fuse every week and who hang out with us during the week as well. Pray that God would touch their hearts.

I have been able to see and do so much over the past two months, I truly feel that I have had the complete Japan experience! We have been sightseeing, hiking, learning Japanese and Japanese dances, relaxing at hot springs, shopping, and just having random adventures in general! I have become very attached to my host family, and I may have the opportunity to see them again before I return to school, since they will be visiting the states. They have blessed me so much with their hospitality and kindness, and they will forever be part of my family.







I want to thank everyone so much for your prayers and support, you cannot imagine how much your help has blessed my life and many others here in Japan! I was even able to give some extra money to help with expenses for The Fuse. We serve such an awesome God! As I prepare now to head towards home and a new school year, I cannot express my joy and anticipation to see what God will continue to do here. In faith and in spirit I will be with PAZ Japan and those who continue to faithfully plant the seed...

May the peace and grace of God Almighty be with each and every one of you!

Blessings,

Brad Z.

Romans 10:14-15

Jesus, The Fuse, and Karaoke!!!

Hey there everyone! I pray that the Lord continues to shine His light through all of you wherever you may be! So I feel that I was a bit over-zealous to try and commit to posting for you every day this week, and I apologize. There is just too much to do, and I want to give you a quality report. So now I can give you an adequate summary of the last several days, every one of which has been filled with blessings from the Lord! Praise His name!

Sunday morning dawned after the live advertising and my testimony at the Brazilian church on Saturday. It was the day that we had been waiting and preparing for all this month! With much anticipation I joined the rest of our team to head over to Machida at 9:30 A.M. We were ready to go with all of our musical equipment, posters, media, name tags, free soft drink tickets, and a few other random things. Most importantly, we made sure that we went armed with the power of the Holy Spirit and the Blood of Jesus! We prayed together in the train station and also as we were preparing at the LiveHouseZ, our meeting location.

The LiveHouseZ is a low-lit, jazz style, casual place with a small stage, projector, and room for about 40 people (60-70 if we really packed 'em in). It is a great location for attracting young and old alike! Our focus is university students, but everyone is welcome!



God certainly had some surprises for us! As the hour approached, we were sincerely hoping to see the place packed out. We had, after all, been handing out thousands of fliers over the past several weeks. However, all in all there were about 12-15 people who showed up. Were we disappointed? Not at all. Because of the smaller numbers, we were able to make real connections with everyone there. It also took the pressure off of our band who were performing for the first time. The atmosphere was relaxing and fun, with a great message given by Mark about life with Jesus to give people some food for thought.

Everyone hung around after the meeting was over and we chatted with all our guests for a while before inviting everyone out to lunch! Through that connection and the time spent with people we were really able to begin building some solid relationships that will hopefully lead to these precious souls to Jesus! Please continue to pray for us, that The Fuse will attract more people and that we can connect with all of them! We are really beginning to understand the importance of relationship building for evangelism here in Japan. The Japanese like to know what they are getting into before they take the plunge!

After lunch we said goodbye to most people except for two high school girls who decided that they wanted to come along to church with us too! So we headed back to Noborito for the 5 P.M. service, and after worship I once again had the opportunity to share my testimony briefly. The service was great, and afterward I spoke with a Korean man named Kim who was visiting for the first time. He said that he had been moved by my testimony and he wanted to know more about God. I was able to share the Gospel with him and answer some of his questions about Jesus. I got his contact information and I am hoping to spend more time with him soon. Please pray that God would truly touch Kim's heart!

That about wraps up Sunday, except that later that night some of us headed out to Pastor Marcelo's home to spend the night and watch the Brazil/USA final of the Confederations Cup! We stayed up most of the night to watch the game live at 3:30 A.M., and it was totally worth it! Brazil won of course, to my delight (sorry, I always root for Brazil when it comes to soccer). We had a great time with Marcelo and his family.

Tuesday we met at Tim and Christine's for breakfast and our weekly meeting, which lasted from 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.! We prayed together and went over everything that happened on Sunday and planned out the next Fuse gathering for this weekend. We are planning on making a funny video starring Darth Vader VS. The Pink Bunny! It should be a production of epic proportions :)

The final highlight of this update is none other than karaoke! Tuesday night we headed out to a karaoke joint with several of the friends that we just made at The Fuse on Sunday! Japanese Karaoke is the real deal and is very, very popular here as a way to spend time with friends and relax. We got our own private room and spent two hours straining our vocal chords and having a blast with our new friends! It was awesome!






So there you have it! God continues to open up doors into people's lives, and even though I only have 4 weeks left, I know that what we are doing right now is fundamental for the beginning for this new ministry and essential for the Kingdom of God in Japan and Tokyo! Please pray for me as God continues to bring many people, especially young men, across my path. He has been giving me opportunities to share His love, hope, joy and truth with many different individuals. Pray that His grace would work in each of their lives!

May the Lord be with you all as you seek to abide in His love!

Brad Zimmerman

Romans 10:14-15