PDF version is here. Japanese version is here.
Prophet and Lost
The final snows of winter are still sticking around, but the first signs of spring are beginning to arrive.
In our English service - which brings together English-speaking and Filipino residents as well as Japanese from inside and outside the church - we’ve been looking at the minor prophets. We looked at Jonah and how he was given a second chance by God; the coming of spring is another reminder of God’s renewing and rejuvenating power. In Revelation, the risen Jesus says “Behold, I make all things new.” It is what He does best!
And for me, it is a time of looking to new opportunities and challenges.
Preaching Machine
At the moment we have a number of missionaries away from the field for various reasons - in fact there was a time last week when we we were down to about half strength.
This leaves a lot of gaps for the rest of us to fill, and this means I’m going to be preaching six times in the next four weeks! That’s my usual workload plus one at a small church in Kyoto, and one well-established church in a city called Kusatsu.
Once all that finishes I will be giving a leadership seminar at our pastors’ and missionaries’ retreat at the beginning of April, and then my mother arrives for a visit. So it will be a very busy couple of months coming up for me, and will leave me very much in need of a holiday.
So I took one...
Cold to Colder
The Pains, and a snow Thomas
Not content with the wintry conditions in Nagahama, I headed up to the island of Hokkaido, right at the very north of Japan. OMF, another big missionary agency, have a language centre in the main city of Sapporo, and I went up to visit some friends from Bible college who are studying there. It’s also the site of the Sapporo Snow Festival, which was a happy coincidence... or was it?
It was great to catch up with the Pains again, and to swap thoughts about living in Japan, about the church here, and about our respective mission agencies. It was a very refreshing week for me, both physically and spiritually, and I feel ready and willing to face the months ahead!
Maybe Maibara
Another challenge I feel ready for is starting a new work here. A couple of months ago I mentioned that I might be helping out a new church plant in Kizu, south of Kyoto. Well, that is still in the planning stages, and I am still looking to see what I can be doing there, but more recently I have been drawn towards the city of Maibara, between Nagahama and our nearest other church, Hikone.
It’s too early to say what form any work there will take, especially as I’m planning a return to the UK for a while in the summer. But God has been bringing things together; I had a long chat a few weeks back with a friend of my pastor, who has also been trying to start a church in Maibara. We have about six or seven people in our church who live there, and one of them has a house which would be ideal as a meeting place.
The current plan is to start with a prayer meeting for people to pray for the salvation of and the needs of their friends and neighbours in the city and just see where it goes from there...
Please pray for wisdom for how to move forward, and for patience and strength in the month to come.