Where is the wind blowing?

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes." (John 3 v 8)
A couple of weeks ago we attended a series of lectures at the Hokkaido Bible Institute in Sapporo by a Japanese pastor who is involved in planting a church in another city in Hokkaido. We were keen to learn whatever we could from his experience as we seek to plant a church here. A lot of the things he said have been extremely useful for us, but in particular we both felt encouraged and challenged by this verse. God's Spirit blows where He wills and we do not know where that is. BUT we can hear its sound. So as we are out and about in Hiragishi that is one of the things we are focusing on - listening for the sound of the wind - seeking to find where God is already working.

We have also realised once again what an asset our boys are to our ministry. Already we have several opportunities to help out at Calum's school - Lorna helps out in the school library and in making things for the school fete later in the year. On Saturday it was Calum's sports day, a huge event in Japan held at the weekend with hundreds of spectators. We were able to meet several of the parents of Calum's friends and Alistair also met up with some friends from his nursery. Already we are beginning to be recognised as we are out and about - "Calum's Mum" or "Calum's Dad" is a cry we quite often hear. And as we meet people we are consciously asking God to show us the next steps in our ministry here. Please pray with us.