The hippo stories have finally made it to YouTube (in English).  Please see the below.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUiPZl4cew-F9Y52XNTShlW-0XUXpqhlm

To boldly go....

the kingdoms of this world are so "finite"

THE MAN FROM OUTER SPACE?  About 30 years ago, when I was a relatively new Christian, I went to a "psychic faire" where a psychic exclaimed, "Hey everyone, look what I've found!  A man from outer space, a man from another planet!"  And here I am today, surely a man who has lived in a "different kingdom" from the "kingdom of this world"!

a man from outer space, but with a heart!

Sometimes suspended in another world?

mission control is in our limited mindl

suited up to boldly go...

to a  "reality" (a journey) which is beyond the moon!

The kingdom I have discovered is even beyond the moon, even beyond all planets, all galaxies...  a kingdom of eternity, of a supernatural and loving God in a heaven we cannot see nor even conceive of in our wildest dreams..... of things invisible which are more real than we can imagine... where earthly riches, property, power, or prestige, are irrelevant.... Recently, at the Griffith Park Observatory and Houston's NASA, my wife and I were exposed to man's attempts to somehow comprehend the incomprehensible, to traverse the infinite, to visualize the invisible, to touch the Creator Himself, and yet, ultimate reality will always be beyond our imagination, our technology, even our dreams.

And so many have asked:  "what has happened to my wife?"  Somehow, like Star Trek, we have decided (often reluctantly and hesitantly) again and again to "boldly go"  where we have not gone before, to places we have never been to... to the jungles of Borneo, the radiation zone of Japan, the HDB heartland of Singapore... and...!

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."James 1:22

In so many places in the Bible, Jesus tells us to "come" or to "go."  He was constantly on the move, talking to strangers, healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, providing fish and bread for the hungry, listening to the outcasts and lonely, loving those whom the world had rejected....  and he told us to "go and do likewise"! 

But leaving our "comfort zone" is not easy.  John Wimber used to say that "faith" is spelled "R I S K!"

And Robert Frost wrote:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I  --

I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

ROOFTOP, URBAN FARMING IN HONG KONG: along with a wonderful time recalling the precious life of our late sister, Dr. Agatha Chan, and teaching Hong Kong folks how to counsel and listen to one another, we found a surprise. From the farm in Japan to the farm in Hong Kong! People were doing rooftop organic farming all year around. Composting. Multiplying farms in the city. Eating healthy, organic foods! A new view of one of my favorite cities in the world!

A most incredible city, Hong Kong!

Sharing a meal and ideas with Jonathan and Jennifer Ngo, two brilliant and wonderful young people.

domestic helpers on a day off

North Point, Hong Kong, outdoor market

North Point fresh vegetable stand

rooftop view

rooftop farming, a growing hobby for many Hong Kong residents

Winnie Ngo chatting about rooftop farming!

the "farmers" of Hong Kong!

composting, even in the middle of an urban area!

cucumbers, yummmm

ministering in Hong Kong

the beautiful city!

2013: THE HIPPOPOSTMAN ("KABA NO UBINHAITATSUNIN") continues to meet people in Japan. Though over a decade ago, the "hippopotamus postman" television series (Harvest Time, Kenichi Nakagawa-sensei) was seen by over 7 million viewers, people still remember the hippo. One woman in Tochigi came up to me to ask me if I was, indeed, "Dr. Hippo"? She recalled the series. Another man in Yamada (photo below) came to me to tell me how the hippo stories helped him to truly understand God's love. Others discovered the stories of love for the first time and wanted to be couriers of love, as there are so many who need to know of love, real love, love from the heart, true love in action.

Yamada, Iwate, where a small coffee house is built in the "inundation" zone:  "ippo ippo" (one step at a time)

A young Christian girl miraculous rescued from the tsunami who is now a "postwoman" (or "letter carrier" in the USA);  she decided to become a real "hippopostwoman"!

Hope Center in Kesennuma, in the post-disaster recovery area, reaching out to the community.

A young man who first began to find the meaning of God's love through the "hippopotamus" television series by Harvest Time television.

  

A woman who found that there is a loving God and read the stories of love, bringing her to a kingdom where love prevailed!

The "hippo" manga drawn by Tokyo artist Ayah Kakinuma.

Hippo books and DVDs went out to over 7 million viewers in Japan and are still being seen on the internet, through YouTube!

The finest of "udon" shops in Yokohama with none other than the "hippopostman" himself with his "hippofriend"!

Asian Rural Institute 2013 -- a very special time with people from 17 nations + Japanese and foreign staff members; training participants in "servant leadership," "sustainable farming" and "organic farming" while dealing with radiation from Fukushima and learning to love one another as a community.

Asian Rural Institute 2013 workgroup

ARI ladies relaxing

ARI Patricia speaking

ARI participants on "yukata" day

dismantling for transfer to the new chapel

Yukiko-san protecting against ???

eating... yummmmm

Japanese friends in the kitchen

harvesting

soybeans

Japanese friends on a coffee break

the fields

the young and the old

When life is at its best, it becomes a time for the older people to bless the children.  And instead of controlling or bullying the young with "authoritarian" lectures and domination,  it is also a time for the older people to bow our heads before the younger people who can then bless, love, and protect their elders.  A good season in time.

A special place with special people for a special time....

There is a place way way "up river" where children still swim in rivers, where the people are used to walking for days in the rain forest, where Starbucks has yet to plant a coffee shop, where the day begins with fervent prayer, where there are no buildings above 3 stories, where no one invests in stocks or derivatives, where there are no weapons of mass destruction (though there are leeches and humongous roaches and snakes)......

Who is the "hippopotamus postman"?  In 1990, a man named Bob Jones prayed for me and said, "Young man, you are a hippopotamus postman"!  

"Huh"?  

"The hippo is one of the most fierce animals in the jungle though people don't realize it because he is, well, funny, with those little wiggly ears and all.  But yes, you are funny too, but nothing stops you from going where you are supposed to go!"  "But the postman?"  "The postman is the mailman, you see.  You will be delivering letters."  "Letters"?  "Love letters from God.  You will be telling people how much God loves them."  And indeed, I have been doing that for over 20 years now, for every person is created in the image of God, each person to be treasured, valued and loved.