Kumiko 0:06

Coming to you from Central Tokyo.

Jeremy 0:09

This is Wild Branch Radio. Well, it's great to be back.

Kumiko 0:20

We are back.

Jeremy 0:23

We have a little uh interval there where we didn't get out episodes as we planned the right.

Kumiko 0:28

That was not our our intention, but that's good.

Jeremy 0:31

But it's been it's been busy with a lot of activities and it seemed like the end of May, especially you like everybody scheduled events this second half of May.

Kumiko 0:43

There is too, yeah. We we don't like to say we're you know things are busy.

Jeremy 0:47

No.

Kumiko 0:47

Um but yeah, it certainly has been very full. With uh mostly uh having guests and meetings and uh meeting new people and meeting old friends.

Jeremy 1:01

Right.

Kumiko 1:02

Including family.

Jeremy 1:04

Right. But it I mean it's such an important part actually of any creative endeavor is meeting people and uh one of our main things. One of our main things, especially in this season right now, and um we have just really meeting some amazing people these last six weeks or so.

Kumiko 1:21

Uh because you you just never know what will develop right through a meeting, a conversation.

Jeremy 1:29

And uh and actually that started us talking about what we wanted to uh talk about today with the kind of people we meet, and or I I have to be careful what I say something I don't mean, but um because we've just met so many uh really wonderful people, but um Yeah, we were just talking about especially what we enjoy, right? And uh but just meeting meeting creative people and people that are out of the box. Yeah, and so it's it we were just kind of recognizing um you know, uh thinking back, it's like why did why did this conversation and this conversation kind of feel um really uplifting and encouraging there was some similarities, but they're in some ways totally unrelated, totally unrelated personalities and contexts and yeah, because we're not talking about whether you click, you know, um based on personality with each other, right?

Kumiko 2:28

But it's it's like certain I guess I would say um outlook on life or attitude.

Jeremy 2:35

Right.

Kumiko 2:37

So what would you say? So we we said creative people. Um what do you mean by that?

Jeremy 2:43

It's like people that um they have a real there's a freshness, there's a fresh quality in their perspective.

Kumiko 2:51

Yeah, so then you feel fresh as well, right? Yeah talking to them.

Jeremy 2:55

And then it's you know, because potentially like you can have almost the same kind of conversation with people, and and that's not a bad thing exactly, but but I I think there's so there's there's so much we don't know compared to what we know and like new and so many possibilities of things that could be. And uh that when you're in a pioneer uh work and you're you you're looking for something uh new, like we're like this is this is a pioneer endeavor in what we're in here with Wild Branch here in central Tokyo. Um actually, would you like to talk a little bit about that?

Kumiko 3:39

Mm-hmm.

Jeremy 3:40

Well when I like when I say pioneer endeavor, yeah, um there's maybe people that are listening for the first time, they're like, Well, what what do you mean exactly?

Kumiko 3:48

Yeah, and may maybe some of you listening, this is your first episode you're listening by us, and you're wondering what is Wild Branch. So just talk about that.

Jeremy 3:59

Well, yeah, just share it. Well, okay, because you always say, so Kumi always says that. I say I say always. Um, so I often like when people are saying, What do you do? And so like I I'm quick to say uh like specific activities that we're engaged in.

Kumiko 4:16

Yeah, and then I sometimes tell you that sounds really boring, right?

Jeremy 4:20

Well, I don't know if you say that much, but you say, Well, don't don't forget the heart of what it is, you know. So the big the big outlook, the big because the the day-to-day activities they change. Yeah. So we're doing things with prayer. Right. We our last episode that we aired, we had uh uh Brian Heasley from 24-7 Prayer, which are allies, you know, we do we're doing things with them, um, we're doing outreach and all that stuff.

Kumiko 4:47

Yeah, it seems like we do so many different things.

Jeremy 4:49

Different things, but um the that's all really in service to uh for it to a heart to see like the spiritual landscape of Japan change.

Kumiko 5:01

Yeah.

Jeremy 5:02

And to see something that we haven't seen before. So we we've you know, I've been here I'm I'm coming up on three decades in Japan in ministry. And um you you see like I've just in my time here, I'm seeing a lot of like repeat of certain certain cycles. Right. And it's like, wait, no, wait, we we need to not repeat the same kind of things we've done in the past and yeah, while preserving what's good and uh uh like you know preserving the main thing.

Kumiko 5:33

Yeah.

Jeremy 5:33

But I I think too, like as a father now of three teenagers, I think a lot about the Japan that I hope my kids can live in, or uh you know, like the on a broader on a broader scale, the the world that my kids will live in and the next generations and really giving them something better, right?

Kumiko 5:55

Yeah. Yeah. So um we we often talk about uh just really dreaming and believing to see a different spiritual landscape, right? Especially in this nation, just not just in Japan, but um especially here. That's something that we always say, and uh also I guess what comes out of my heart when I'm asked the question like, so what you know, what is what what is your ministry about, or what is Wild Branch, um is that um I think I mean especially in Japan, I feel like, but it's not just Japan, I think it's just really human nature, but it's easy to settle for what's already there or what other people are already doing or what we have been told and and to just stay there, um you know, good or bad. Um and I think there's a lot of things that are stirring uh in inside of us that God has put on the inside of us that wants to come out. Um, but then often I think um, myself included, we make excuses like, oh, well, that's not possible, or that's not what's done, or that's not the way to do things, or um, you know, we can't do this because A, B, and C, or whatever.

Jeremy 7:22

Well, it's like we we accept the definitions that were given us about environment, yeah, about ourselves too. Yeah. And you know, I was I was thinking about this as for you know one specific example. Um people say, well, in Japan, and this is true, like the the churches and the ministries kind of work individually, and you have a lot of people doing things in parallel, you know, and we need to, you know, and then it's like, well, we need to come together or whatever. But you know, in the future, that that just because it's been that way doesn't mean it it's destined to stay that way. Like Japan, like 20 years from now, could be known as like the churches and the Christians really work together. Like that's a that's a possibility.

Kumiko 8:07

Yeah.

Jeremy 8:07

And and so there's an element, like there's kind of an optimism, there's there's like a and there's real faith that we should bring into really like not just what's possible, like what can we do, but what does the Lord want to do and what what what can he do?

Kumiko 8:25

Yeah, so I I think I I started to say like when we are asked what we are about, what comes out of my heart, which sometimes surprised me um in the past, is um that we we want to encourage and inspire people that actually there is another way. Um when you know it feels like there is there's no other option or there's no other way uh to say actually there is a different way, there is another way, and let's look at that, right?

Jeremy 8:58

So I think kind of back to where we started, like people in conversations can really make you feel and experience that. Right? Like it's like, oh, this this is something new, you know, and right, oh I hadn't thought about that before. And and especially when they're bringing it, um, they're bringing those thoughts and those things that's really just the outflow of their life. Like it it really feels real substantive, it's not like big talk or necessarily even big quote unquote vision. Um but it just just something there's there's like a freshness and it that really I think it flows out of their life in God, right?

Kumiko 9:40

Mm-hmm. And uh like we do meet a lot of um experts in you know different kind of areas and fields, but um the the kind of people that we feel very encouraged by are ones that um even though they have experience, they they have knowledge, um, but they are they are not willing to just stay there, but they they bring their whole selves into the conversation um with with this uh attitude of uh wanting to find out something new, wanting to s wanting to learn something new and wanting to um explore um you know through this synergy and connection, you know, what what uh like if there is other things, new things that can come out of it. You know, so I I guess it's um we were talking about it, it's isn't it humility really that we need in order for us to just really discover and di uh explore what God has?

Jeremy 10:46

Yeah, that so that was a that was a comment you made after we were we were with a group just recently and walked away and um And it was so fun. Yeah, it was fun. Uh very like people with very different backgrounds in in a way. But uh yeah, we I I think that was a real insight that it's like, oh, cre actually creativity and humility really go hand in hand, don't they?

Kumiko 11:15

Yeah, I think yeah, almost would say always there's creativity and then there's humility. Right.

Jeremy 11:22

I mean you have to be so in exploring you have to be willing to try new things. Um you have to be you have to be willing to be a learner. You have to be willing to make mistakes, like and not like feel bad. Right. Like you maybe but I think those people wouldn't even think of it like mistakes, right? In the context of of just exploring.

Kumiko 11:49

But I I remember even about myself, you know, when I uh several years ago, when um you remember I walked into a new kind of work situation, which was totally new, and I was very inexperienced, and um I just went into it because it seemed like fun and new. But then I quickly um had to confront my own insecurity of like being seen as someone who doesn't know, who is not who's uh being seen as someone who's not experienced, and uh being seen as a beginner. And I think um yeah, we don't we don't want to look that way, which is which is really pride, I think, most of the time.

Jeremy 12:32

It's it's normal. It is nobody wants to and some environments make that harder too, like because just in the environment.

Kumiko 12:46

Right, and shame you.

Jeremy 12:47

Yeah. And I I was uh so I I uh during the pandemic when we we really had all our income streams dry up, and we were already in in like uh challenging work transition period anyway, yeah. So um anyway, I got a I got the job, you know, driving a dump truck in a court. I won't do much just to say other than like I mean those guys would you're you're working with these rough guys, and you can die, right? You know, if you back the oops, I put it in reverse, you know, like you could really tumble over the side of a told me that part of the work. Yeah, it's it really is. It really was like there was um significant uh like risk of potential yeah, potential of serious injury and death, yeah. And so safety was num it was their first priority more than productivity was safety. But yeah, they would cuss you out, you know. But actually afterwards they would be like afterwards, everybody would come and you know and joke around and be, you know, like they always seemed to make a point to end in the day, but I I was thinking, yeah, I felt I just remember feeling very stupid. Right. But um, but yeah, it was quite a quite an enlarging experience.

Kumiko 14:08

I I wonder, I I think I actually think that it's quite um helpful for most of us to um have that that kind of aspect in our life, you know, where we are uh made to be a beginner, yeah. Where we are made to be a learner, um, and where we are made to feel like we don't know what we're doing. I think it's humbling, but actually that keeps us fresh. Yeah. That keeps us, you know, looking at life creatively.

Jeremy 14:40

I I agree. And they they say all these things about longevity too, you know, like it's good for your brain to learn. Like learn an instrument or learn language, which is that's great. And we we love that thing too, but just at a very much more simple level, I wonder if it's just being willing to go into new environments and being willing to make more friends and the being willing to engage, be a like participate in a conversation that you know you you're not as knowledgeable as the other people talking.

Kumiko 15:13

I have read uh some research um a while ago that it's it's actually scientifically proven, like you know, the right brain, left brain, whatever. Um I I forget which is which. Um, but as we age, one side gets more activated, which means then we are more prone to remember things and go into the past. And and that's why, like, you know, as we get older, we talk like, oh, remember this, and when I was a teenager and whatever, right? And then also when we uh as we age, we get more risk-covered and we don't want to try new things. And and that's just um, I guess human nature.

Jeremy 15:53

Right, right.

Kumiko 15:53

But to make the a conscious effort to go against that.

Jeremy 15:59

So I wonder which fr comes first, humility or creativity.

Kumiko 16:05

Well, one thing that we can't forget is curiosity. Yeah, right. That's true. Like curiosity will motivate motivate us to like keep ourselves humble, to keep ourselves going into new situations where we are learners and beginners. And uh that will uh result in creativity. So I I don't know which one goes first.

Jeremy 16:30

Do you think that people don't let themselves be curious? Do you think they kind of like there is a very definite thing. Um I was reading an article recently and it was uh just in the context of education, and they they were just this person was talking just about how the way some of the education is set up, it really trains kids out of creativity or sorry out of curiosity. And uh, you know, questions, if the teacher feels like the questions are interruptions, it actually can train the kids in out of learning, you know.

Kumiko 17:07

Yeah. I mean, if I may say, is it's not just education, but it's religious institutions or environments can um make us feel like we're not allowed to ask questions.

Jeremy 17:19

Yeah. Right?

Kumiko 17:19

We're not allowed to doubt.

Jeremy 17:21

That's so true.

Kumiko 17:23

Yeah, and that kills creativity, doesn't it?

Jeremy 17:26

I I often tell people, because they you know, they we we meet a lot of people like that with some of some of the really deep questions that they have, like they bury it and they feel like people feel guilt and and like questions about the Bible or things they struggle with, you know.

Kumiko 17:47

Or where they're really at.

Jeremy 17:48

Or where they're really at with God. Yeah. And I I always tell people it's like God's big enough for your questions. That that that's one. And then the other thing is like you're not the first person to ask that or or think about that.

Kumiko 18:01

Yeah, I said to somebody just yesterday actually, like, you don't need to defend God. Yeah, he's big enough.

Jeremy 18:09

Right. So it's it's coming and and there's a real difference too, and and I mean, even if we're in those situations where we're struggling and we're angry at God or something, God is actually big enough for that too. Right. And I I think we've all experienced moments like that. But there's there's a real difference when you when you approach the Lord with questions and and like with this honesty, and it's like, God, this is you know, I don't know about this, or I'm really, you know, why, you know, why why this or what is this? Or explain like that's actually faith. Like, because you're seeking, you're seeking the Lord. Yeah, you're asking him for an answer. It's a it's a funny thing where people might think the question is some kind of doubt, but it's like, no, that's actually where you deepen your own relationship with the Lord and deepen your faith.

Kumiko 19:05

And that's the exciting uh place in in our walk with God, isn't it? Where we've realized that we don't know, which means we there is a lot more to discover and to experience in Him.

Jeremy 19:19

So um I I'm just thinking for the uh people that are listening and listening to this conversation and thinking along with us and um what what are the advantages of why why would somebody want to live more this more this way? More uh you mean creatively creatively and with curiosity. Like we when we say it, when you and I say it, like we uh like what I realize is that I assume everybody wants that, you know, because I I know I know the benefits of it. But some people are not looking looking for that, and some people are yeah like like it's just kind of outside of their grid about I mean we're definitely just we we tend to be that way anyway, right?

Kumiko 20:14

Personality or whatever. But um I do think that that's a part that God has given in each one of us, um, you know, our theme verse, Psalm 27, 4. Right? One thing, and in I mean, one thing is just to focus and to like really like go after the one thing, but then what is it? It's the beauty of the Lord and inquiring in his temple. And uh I think like why why was David able to say that that that is the one thing he's after? I think that's like the deepest desire that God's put on the inside of us to want to see more of his beauty in every situation and every moment and season of our life, and also to just uh keep inquiring, to keep exploring in him because there's just there's just so much depth.

Jeremy 21:11

Because that's where we really see the beauty of the Lord, yeah, and that's where our life is too. Right. That's I mean that word beauty in Hebrew it's it could be translated pleasantness. It's like the the attractive it's the thing that is attractive about God. It's the that draws our heart that draws yeah, that draws us to him. Exactly. And uh, yeah, I I mean I'm sure Jesus is beautiful uh when you look at him too, but uh that's that's actually not the not the emphasis.

Kumiko 21:45

But that's where we come alive.

Jeremy 21:47

But we come alive there, yeah. And so there like, yeah, if if we're not if we've let ourselves be kind of trained out of curiosity, not not letting ourselves ask questions, uh, and not letting ourselves like like express doubts. Like I I would have to define that a little bit, like with expressing doubts. But I again like I think we we need to reframe that like there there's things we don't know and it's okay to ask questions, and that's not actually like doubting God or not trusting in him. If we're seeking him in those things, then we're actually in a posture of trust.

Kumiko 22:30

Yeah, yeah. I think I want to say to whoever may be listening that and and if anybody is feeling like you know you're living this Christian life and you feel like, oh, is this all there is? And you know, you're feeling kind of discouraged, and I I want to say very strongly, no, there is more. Right? There is more, and it's not boring, it's amazing.

Jeremy 23:02

Is there anything specifically like what are the questions that you are asking the Lord now? What are you most curious about? Anything you want to share? About you. Well, I mean, I think I think this podcast is is an expression of some of the questions and curiosity that I really have, that I really have in the world.

Kumiko 23:25

Yeah, I guess that's why we wanted to start this radio, isn't it?

Jeremy 23:29

Yeah.

Kumiko 23:29

To ask questions and explore.

Jeremy 23:32

And and I think there there's been a lot of reframe for me in that um there there's something like there's this feeling of I w I really want to join in in the conversation more than like I want to come and teach people. Like there is like we definitely engage in discipleship and teaching people, and I love teaching the Bible, but it's like there's it's like I want to discover the things that I don't know that I don't know yet.

Kumiko 23:59

Yeah, and we want to um converse with people.

Jeremy 24:02

Right.

Kumiko 24:03

And uh get more.

Jeremy 24:05

Sometimes finding the new the new thing is actually you find it in other people's questions. Sometimes I realize other people have better questions than I do. And like I was asking the right questions. Asking the right questions, yeah. And it's like I thought I was kind of like looking for something here, and I hear somebody else say something, and I'm like, oh that, yeah, that is that's what I mean. You know, but you don't you don't hear it unless you don't find it unless you really are engaging with others.

Kumiko 24:33

Yeah, so would you say if you have questions and then uh come join us?

Jeremy 24:38

Absolutely.

Kumiko 24:44

You have been listening to Wild Brands Radio. Wildbrand is a new Michael community based in Tokyo, making space for God's art. You can find out more about us on our website, wildbrand. If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, please follow us up here and on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube episode.