Joel & Kelly Kaylor

Mark Batterson’s second book Wild Goose Chase releases August 19! 

One of my favorite books, as I have mentioned before, is Mark Batterson’s In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. In the Pit was very instrumental in “pushing me over the edge” in selling everything, uprooting our family, and move to Japan to chase our dream and God’s call. It was very risky, as it would have been going into a pit on a snowy day to kill a lion, but it was worth it! Although I do not know Mark personally, he has been a source of encouragement and has enlarged my veiw of God and life. I read everything he writes and I when I heard he was writing another book I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

His publisher, Multnomah Books, has been generous in sending me a review copy all the way to Japan! Due to being overseas there was a delay in getting the book, but I did receive it yesterday, one day prior to the release day! I started reading it last night and it starts off with a BANG. It is VERY good. I can’t wait to continue reading it. However, due to my schedule I am unable to post a review now. Below are some general info of the book, but what I can say now , with confidence, is that if you liked In the Pit, you will love Wild Goose Chase.

SAMPLE CHAPTER & FREE RESOURCES: Visit www.chasethegoose.com and read a free sample chapter and check out how to get Mark’s 10 Steps to Setting Life Goals  for free in addition to great material for personal OR group study.

PURCHASE THE BOOK

BOOK SUMMARY:

Most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. Perfect. “Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.” –from the introduction. 

AUTHOR BIO:

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington, DC’s National

Community

Church, widely recognized as one of

America’s most innovative churches. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger (www.markbatterson.com). He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Lora, and their three children.

Hi Everyone! Kelly usually writes our newsletters and does an amazing job but you are stuck with me for this time. As a lot of you know, Kelly and the kids have been in Canada this past month and will be inPortland the last two weeks of August. Will you do me a favor if you see her? Please tell her that she does an incredible job with the newsletters and give her a hug and a kiss from yours truly!   

(Osaka Station Platform)

BACHELOR

I am a temporary bachelor in hot and humid Japan.  To say that I am not lonely would be a COMPLETE lie, but I am holding up pretty good. I have been travelling a little and have a lot of projects I am working on (in other words, I have attempted to keep myself busy).  Kelly prepared plenty of meals and put it in the freezer before she left. All I need to do is pull out a zippy lock bag, heat it up and eat it up! I am actually eating fruit and vegetables as well. I have one request though. Please continue to pray for me, but there is no need to worry about meJ 

PRAYER MEETING FOR KELLY and THE KIDS IN PORTLAND There will be a prayer meeting at City Bible Church for Kelly, Elisa and Joshua. If your schedule permits we would love to have you attend. Whenever we are in the States there are always so many people we want to see, but it is practically impossible with the limited time that we normally have. The prayer meeting would be a great place to connect and be a part of the EXCITING things that God is doing inJapan.

• Date: Tuesday, August 26
• Time: 7:00pm
• Location:City Bible
  Church Rocky
  Butte Campus, Upper Conference RoomRefreshments and drinks will be provided 

REFLECTING ONE YEAR IN JAPAN

This month marks our one year anniversary of moving to Japan. Looking back at this first year in Japan, it has been a very productive year in so many ways. Below are just a few things (both practical and ministry) that happened in our first year. None of this would have been possible without the prayers and financial support from people like you:

• We got plugged in and become a part of a healthy Japanese church in Tokyo (Hope Church pastored by my brother) that has very close relations with City
  Bible
  Church.
• Teaching Interns-I have the privilege of being a part of teaching and raising young leaders in the Interns Program of Hope Church.
• Kelly and I are receiving hands on leadership, pastoral and ministry experience/training preparing for the Osaka church plant.
• I am interpreting (English to Japanese) once a month for a full week at a well known bible school. 
• We enrolled our kids into a Japanese elementary school. Not only has this helped the kids learn Japanese, they now have lots of friends and it has also opened many doors for ministry.
• Both Elisa and Joshua have invited many of their friends to various events at our church. They are missionaries in their own right! We are very proud of both of them!!
•  Kelly has been asked by the school PTA to host a Bible study at our home.
• Kelly is also teaching English once a month to any of the parents of the elementary school that wants to come (remember, there are 1450 students). A great platform for connecting with the “locals”.
• God has continued to specifically lead and direct our steps towards our Osaka church plant.
• I was presented an opportunity to have a daily podcast for the Japanese businessman. This is a huge opportunity and an open door into the business community throughout Japan.THANK YOU for your support through out the year. Seriously, without your prayer and financial support none of this would have been possible. Just imagine what is to come! Whether you know it or not, you continue to play a vital role in reaching the Japanese, the largest unreached people group in the world.  

(A 4-story Starbucks on the mile long mall in Osaka. I didn’t know a 4-story Starbucks existed. Only in Osaka? You tell me) 

OSAKA

CHURCH PLANT TEAM

 

(This is where I met Ryan and Yukie. The famous 1 hour sand clock at the Osaka station.)

 

(Enjoying yakiniku, Osaka style BBQ, with Ryan and Yukie) The beginning of this month I took a trip to Osaka. This was my third trip this year to “spy out the land”, learn more about the city and plan for our church plant. Each trip seems to build on the previous trip and we definitely feel like we are moving ahead as scheduled. One of the main reasons for this trip was to meet up with our first team members of the church, Ryan and Yukie Kaylor. Ryan and Yukie met at Portland Bridal Bible College –sorry, couldn’t resistJ Not only are they both talented, they served for many years at City Bible Church, worked along side of Kelly and I in reaching out to the Japanese in Portland, and first and foremost they are incredible servants! Without going into detail, I can tell you that they are not just following us to Osaka. They are responding to their own call to the city of Osaka and our church plant. Please continue to join us in prayer for God to keep adding the right team members for our church plant.  

OSAKA TRIP REPORTThis link has the pictures I took on my trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thekaylors/sets/72157606700429794/ 

Our trip to Osaka was incredible and as I look back and I am, once again, overwhelmed at the favor of God and how He continues to lead and provide every step of the way. I wrote out a report of my trip toOsaka. I would love to share it with you, but I do not have the space to put it in this newsletter. If you are interested please email me and I will send it to you right away. (I will be more than happy to send you the report of my other trips to Osaka as well, just let me know.)

 

 (Buddhist priest praying and accepting donations in front of Osaka station on a very hot and humid day. Picture was taken in the morning. When we came back in the evening he was still there.  Youth dressed in “summer kimono” called yukatas for a summer fireworks show. It is Japanese tradition to dress up like this for fireworks. They are post modern youth, but love to keep some of the traditions alive.)  

GO JAPAN!

I don’t know about you, but I am really enjoying the Olympics. I want to share something that I thought was interesting. There were multiple events  where USA and Japan were competing again each other (soccer, baseball, softball, volleyball, swimming, etc). On each occasion I found myself WHOLEHEARTEDLY rooting for the…… Japanese! Do I dislike the USA? Absolutely not! I do have to say that I was all for Phelps. I really wanted to see him get 8 gold medals. If the Japanese are not in the picture, its all about the red, white and blue! Rooting for Japan kind of took me off guard, but I realized that we LOVE Japan and we LOVE the Japanese. 

SIGN OF THE MONTH 

I saw this sign in a restroom last week. Yes, that is what it says! I did not make this up. As you may have guessed, it means “no smoking in the restroom”. Japanese cultural lesson: “restrooms” are called “toilets”. If you want to say “where is the restroom?” you will actually need to say “where is the toilet?” Make sure you remember that next time you visit Japan.  

THANK YOU FOR PARTNERING WITH US!

We are completely relying upon financial support from individuals and churches to partner with our vision of raising and releasing leaders that will build and strengthen churches in Japan. Living in Japan is NOT cheap (Tokyo is the 2^nd and Osaka is the 11^th most expensive city in the world to live in), but we have experienced God provide in amazing ways. If you have been supporting us we are so grateful as we wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing without you. If you have not supported us financially, would you prayerfully consider partnering with us? Imagine being a part of reaching the Japan! Have we ever told you that the Japanese are the largest unreached people group in the world? 

 To Contribute Financially

(all financial contribution is tax deductible through City Bible

Church)

1.Secure Online Giving at A)www.CityBibleChurch.org - click on “Online Giving”B) www.TheKaylors.org/support and follow instructions

2.By check payable to:

City

Bible

Church9200

NE Fremont

Portland, OR

97220Note in the memo line: Joel & Kelly Kaylor-Japan

As many of you know Rick Warren interviewed Obama & McCain, on August 16th at the Saddleback Civil Forum, Rick asked the same questions separately. As you can imagine the interviews are very interesting and very informative. If you haven’t seen them it is definitely worth your time!

Watch Interviews Here: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/16/warren.forum/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

(at the time of this post CNN was having some glitches with the Part 2 video. Hopefully it will be fixed soon, but Part 1, 3 & 4 is consists of most of the interviews)

I just got back from my 3rd trip of going to Osaka in preparation for our church plant. Click here for the photos I took. Below are some of my summary thoughts, but I did write a more detailed report. If you are interested please let me know and I will email it to you. That is me in the middle of this picture. 250,000 people walk through this 1 mile long (3 train stations) mall.

 Purpose of this trip:

· This is my third “spy out the land” trip to Osaka, but this time was more of a “moving forward with our plans” trip more than a spying trip.

· My main purpose for the trip was to meet up with Ryan and Yukie Kaylor in Osaka. They will be a part of our church plant team.  Ryan is my nephew and both Ryan and Yukie worked with Kelly and I in the Japanese Ministry we had in Portland (City Bible Church). They are currently in Kyushu and everything worked out with our schedules to be in

Osaka for a weekend. Some of the things I wanted to focus on with them was:

Ø         Connect with them in person in OsakaØ         Walk the streets and take in Osaka with themØ         Download as much as possible about my vision, plan and callingØ         Let them ask all and any questions they had regarding Osaka and the church plant.

· Check out several cities and neighborhoods for possible places to live in.

· Meet with a vice principal of an elementary school that has quite a few foreign students.

·Connect with several pastors in Osaka

· Attend J-House’s Funky Party (their Friday night college student outreach)

· Attend Jesus Lifehouse Osaka’s Sunday morning service.

Concluding Thoughts from the Trip:

· We all felt a growing confirmation and a strong sense that this is our city.

· Felt almost anxious (impatiently excited) about starting. Felt like our next big step is to just start doing it.

· Really felt like we are to continually move forward towards moving to Osaka and getting started.

· Came back confident that God will provide all that we need (team members, finances, places to live, venues to rent, jobs, connections, favor, salvation, etc)

· “Move and I will Prove” is still in effect!