How Giving up One Cup of Coffee a Week Can Change Japan

How can giving up one cup of coffee a week change Japan?

Well, lasting change does not happen overnight. What Japanese people need today is not money, but committed people who can effectively minister to them with God’s Word and encourage their faith. This begins with time and a commitment to build Christ-centered relationships within a community – a job that continues through one’s lifetime.  By financially partnering with Kazu and Amy through regular giving, you can make this happen. With your partnership, you can enable us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those living in Tokyo, teaching them how to embrace God’s transforming grace in their hearts.

This is where the coffee comes in.  Many of us drink coffee regularly to keep us going, and something as simple as giving up one of those cups once a week will help keep our ministry in Japan going. Regular giving means donating to Fellowship International Mission on an ongoing basis – bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly – to ensure that we can continually do God’s work effectively in one of the most spiritually deprived cities in the world.

Regular giving is so important because it’s an income we can depend on. If we know that the money is coming in, we can minister to people with confidence, knowing that we do not have to fear leaving the field prematurely, or reduce the effectiveness of our service by not being able to produce quality resources, due to lack of funds.

Setting yourself up for regular giving is simple. In fact, it’s as easy as giving up one cup of coffee a week (or more if your budget allows and you really love your caffeine!). We are looking for friends and family who are willing to give up an amount that equals one cup of coffee per week to make an eternal difference in the lives of those who live in Tokyo. Obviously, you can participate in regular giving even if you don’t drink coffee, don’t want to give up your coffee, or think you can regularly give without thinking of coffee. In the tradition of a famous coffeehouse company from Seattle, WA, we want to provide options for our generous sponsors based on their ability to give.
We are looking for the following three different levels of sponsors:

100 “Tall” sponsors who can donate $10 per month
40 “Grande” sponsors who can donate $25 per month
20 “Venti” sponsors who can donate $50 per month

Collectively, by giving so little per month, regular givers can be used by God so much in Japan. Currently, we have 10 regular givers. We need to widen that base among the community in order to allow God’s work to bear long-term results in Japan. Our total goal is to raise $3,000 through this initiative by the first week of November. We need to have as many pledges as we can get by this summer so we can accurately estimate when we will be able to return to Japan. We boldly and prayerfully ask you to take a moment and consider partnering with us, not because we seek the gift itself, but we seek for “the profit which increases to your account” (Phil. 4:17).

Becoming a regular partner is really easy. Simply contact Fellowship International Mission’s office (888-346-9099 [toll free])and ask them how to support us regularly, or go to our donate page, or more conveniently,  you can download, complete, and submit the Regular Giving form attached to this post and have your chosen amount deducted monthly. Either way, you get a tax-deductible receipt at the end of the year to lodge with your tax return.

So just give up one cup of coffee a week to make an eternal difference in the lives of Japanese people through Kazu and Amy. It’s that simple. You’ll never miss that small amount each month and, best of all, you’ll be able to see what God is going to do through us and say, “God graciously used me to make that happen!”

If you are capable to make a pledge and follow through it, please let us know by e-mail saying, “I’m pledging to be a ‘(Tall, Grande, or Venti)’ donor” (or simply let us know that you want to financially partner with us through regular giving). Make sure you leave us your name and contact information, too, so that we can personally thank you and add you to our regular e-mail newsletter subscription list. If you have been ministered to by Kazu & Amy in the past, or God has been convicting you to support committed and capable missionaries regularly, or if you believe in God’s ability to use Kazu & Amy in a remarkable way in Tokyo, partner with us today.

By the way, if we get enough pledges to meet our goal within the next few days, we will be able to move to Japan as early as next month instead of waiting until our original target date which is not until the middle of November. Can you imagine what that would mean for those people prayerfully waiting for us in Japan? If we can enlist enough donors to get us to Tokyo next month, that would be nothing but awesome (and I try not to use that word flippantly). While it sounds challenging, let’s try it together and make it happen for His glory.

If you want to support us but don’t think you can give up your daily caffeine due to your addiction, go to this website to get some help.