For those of you who don’t know, my twin brother, Mark Wolter, is a missionary in Kyoto, Japan. Check out this video below to see a bit of his world. I got the opportunity to visit Kyoto back when Mark and Maki got married. It was amazing to see my brother speak the language and interact so well with the people. I’ll never forget him going through a drive-thru at a Japanese burger joint and ordering our food in Japanese. It was pretty crazy! Please pray for him and his wife, Maki, and two sons, Noah and Taka. I miss these guys!
Please consider connecting your VBS to Gallery Church in NYC! My friend, Freddy T. Wyatt, is the lead pastor and he is the real deal! Check out more at www.NYCmission.com!
Dr. Tom Nettles, widely regarded as one of the foremost Baptist historians in America, recently gave two messages on the lives of William Carey and Adoniram Judson. Tom is a member of my church and one of the most humble servants you’ll ever meet. These “character sketches” will encourage you and inspire you.
My twin brother, Mark Wolter, on his 10th anniversary of serving in Japan:
September marks ten years since I first came to Japan. It is amazing to think about all the Lord has done since I first came here as a naive 24 year-old foreigner. Though we may not see all of what God has done in those ten years, it is enough to know that He continually has given me a heart and a love for the precious people of Japan, and that it is a pleasure to give my life away for them every day.
More than 99% of Japanese are like sheep without a shepherd, going about life trying to find the best way, and yet lost, and starving, and dying. Every day more and more are suffering and dying. They do not know the wonderful food – the love, peace, and joy of God that surpasses all understanding, both in greatness and in duration. It is my longing for my dear brothers and sisters in Japan to know that, and to know Him personally. Please pray with me that they would; that their eyes would be open and that they would seek and find God through Christ Jesus.
Thanks to all of you who support my brother prayerfully and financially. If you’d like to learn more about how you can partner with Mark and Maki and/or receive their email updates, email me at dwolterATlagrangebaptist.com.
I picked up this book a while back and [my daughter] Lucy and I just love it. Each page highlights a different people group from all over the world. It has beautiful pictures and shares a little bit about their daily life. It also has a world map at the beginning so you can see where they live. Every page ends with “these people do not have a Bible in their language”. Lucy and I then pray that they could have access to the Word of God. This is the second edition and most of the people from the first book have Bibles in their own language now- in a big part thanks to the people who put it out and all the children who prayed that they too could have the Word of Life!
Jerry Rankin, president of the SBC’s Internation Missions Board, and missiologist Ed Stetzger have teamed up to write a new book called, Spiritual Warfare and Missions.
In a recent interview, Rankin laid out the premise of this book:
The whole point [of the book] is not to deal with demon possession, territorial spirits and generational bondage, but to recognize the battle within our own heart of lies and how Satan seeks to defeat us and deter us from the missions task.
Rankin goes on to describe some of Satan’s strategies in deterring us from the Great Commission:
The strategy that is working is Satan deceiving the church to be ingrown and self-centered, which is characteristic of our churches today. Satan has led us to selectively interpret the scripture to erode the authority of God’s word and therefore lose any impetus for our global evangelism task. The strategy distorts in the minds of believers that the call to missions is only for an elite segment that is called to be missionaries rather than recognizing that it is a mandate to the church and the people of God.
Ironically, I just had a conversation with my twin brother about this very same issue. Mark serves with his wife Maki as missionaries in Japan, and his heart has been burdened recently with the reality of spiritual warfare in reaching the world for Christ. He plans to speak on this issue at various churches (including mine) this summer on his 6 week furlough.
Michael Oh spoke at the 2009 Desiring God Conference for Pastors about his vision to reach Japan for Jesus. Some of you know my twin brother, Mark Wolter, and his family are missionaries in Kyoto, Japan. Please pray for them and consider joining God’s work in Japan. As mentioned in the video, the Protestant population of Japan is about .2%, with a total population of around 186 million. Japan needs Jesus, and needs your prayers.
LBC members: Mark and his family will be coming to speak our church, Lord willing, on August 15th. He appreciates all of your prayers and support and would love to see you all this summer.
Read an interview I had with Mark awhile back. (Part 1) and (Part 2)
For those of you who don’t know, my twin brother, Mark Wolter, is a missionary in Kyoto, Japan. Check out this video below to see a bit of his world. I got the opportunity to visit Kyoto back when Mark and Maki got married. It was amazing to see my brother speak the language and interact so well with the people. I’ll never forget him going through a drive-thru at a Japanese burger joint and ordering our food in Japanese. It was pretty crazy! Please pray for him and his wife, Maki, and two sons, Noah and Taka. I miss these guys!
