Well, first of all, let me apologize for not writing in a while, my usual excuse is that I’ve been so busy at work; which, while true, shouldn’t prevent me from sending a short note once a month or so. So here’s a note that I actually started on 16 Jan (yes, nearly two months ago) which is the anniversary of the day I was saved as a christian. It gives some idea as to how our karate ministry started in the first place and why I try to be there every week.
“Why Are We Here?” Kind of a strange title eh? Okay, I’m not necessarily talking about that age-old metphysical question about our purpose here in life. I’m talking about what ordinary folks are doing at a dojo or, in our case, at a karate ministry, especially on a Saturday morning, when they could be sleeping in, eating breakfast, watching tv, reading the papers, shopping, etc. My guess is that everyone’s motivation would fall into one or more of the following categories of: self-defense, exercise, conditioning, stretching, the influence of movies, interest in asian tradition, fellowship, having the kids learn some discipline, and so on. If, however, you were to ask me why I am at the ministry every week, my answer might surprise some folks. I’m there, because ten years ago…a voice told me to do so. Sounds strange eh? It’s what I really did experience, so let me explain.
Although I always considered myself to be a spiritual person, graduated from a catholic high school, and believed in a Higher Being since I was a kid, growing up, I had never really associated with any church. My parents were buddhists (at least, when it came to funerals and weddings) but did not regularly attend services. Since I always did a lot of reading, I had gone through many books on religion and studied the subject; in high school, in college, and for my personal interest. However, it wasn’t until I was on a business trip in LA back in January, 1999, that two of my good friends (who I had just introduced to each other) took the time to share their beliefs with me and encouraged me to open up my heart and invite the Lord inside. The chain of interconnected events and “coincidences” that had occurred on that particular day were enough to open my “everything is logic” mind to the realities of faith and God. I remember vividly, that before I went to bed that night, I sincerely said a simple prayer to the Lord and went to sleep feeling good, but without any great expectations.
Well, not more than a couple of minutes had passed by on that quiet night, when I sat up in bed, hearing a quiet, small voice that told me to continue teaching karate. I remember thinking that this experience did not resemble a dream sequence, other than the out-of-context sentence. I sure wasn’t asleep when I sat up, the voice was not one I recognized, and karate had been the farthest thing from my mind on that trip. I waited for a while longer, straining to hear anything else and wondering what the rather cryptic sentence meant. The more I thought about it though, I realized that for a long time, I had been tiring of teaching karate in the dojo that my friend and I had founded years earlier. What was the voice trying to tell me when it said, “Do not stop teaching karate.” Anyways, that night, January 16, 1999, was the night I was saved as a Christian and I gradually forgot about the perplexing sentence and what it meant until about a year later.
By January 2000, I was attending New Hope Fellowship and enjoying listening to Pastor Wayne Cordeiro’s messages in anonymity with with thousands of others at the Farrington High School location. I helped serve in a limited way, working with the coffee ministry. I was also still teaching karate at the old dojo. After service one day, I was given a new ministries flier which asked, among the options, whether I had any skills that might be put to use in a new ministry. Immediately, the voice from a year before came back to me, and I wrote in, “I do have a lot of experience teaching karate.” I placed the paper, where it would flow with others, up to the ministries leader, who was Pastor Guy at the time (he was to subsequently become the senior pastor at the NHPC planting). I never heard anything back.
It wasn’t until May 2001 that everything was to fall into place and become clear. By then, as a member of New Hope Pearl Community church, I was sitting and talking with a nice couple after service, who, in their spare time, were both senior kempo instructors (the woman’s dad is the founder of a very successful and large kempo organization in Hawaii). They shared how they had just been asked by the NHPC ministries leader if they were willing to begin a karate ministry for the church. They had declined due to their very busy schedule and the fact that they incorporated christian values into the kempo they already taught. However, that was enough to open the door for me, and I spoke with the ministries leader the following Sunday. And that was how our ministry began. Ironically, our Pastor at the time was the very same ministries leader I had submitted my request to, 18 months earlier (with no response)…a lesson that everything is in His timing.
And so, in June 2001, the NHPC Shotokan karate ministry started with four members in a small church office. But its real beginnings, was with a small, quiet voice that encouraged me ten years ago, in a quiet hotel room in Anaheim, California. Before, I used to wonder why I had spent so many years practicing karate-do, gaining a body of knowledge that didn’t seem to have very much practical application. Over the years, I have come to realize that this was all in preparation for using the vessel of karate-do to help share and encourage others, and to utilize the underlying purpose of all Do’s…to help make us better persons. Since that time, I have never experienced fatigue or burn-out from teaching the art of karate-do…I always look forward to the time spent with the members of our ministry.
So, everyone may come to practice karate-do for different reasons, many of which, were the very same reasons that I used to come to training for. I just wanted to share why I come to training these days. And my hope is that with the passage of time, some of you may also come to share the same purpose and ultimately, help others through the art of karate-do. You don’t have to wait for a voice to tell you to…;)