The Lord who opens hearts

As we begin the new church here in Hiragishi, it is a great encouragement to us that we have one young Christian who has been studying with our co-worker Kaori for the past year. Sambi san ('sambi' means 'praise' in Japanese) is from a Christian family and believed in Jesus while on a short-term stay in Canada. She then returned to the family home in Hiragishi and was put in touch with Kaori. Recently Lorna has been working through The Purpose Driven Life with Sambi san and it's great to see her growing in her faith. She is brilliant with kids, crafts and anything artistic. We are excited to have Sambi san as the 'Lydia' of our new church here and look forward to seeing who might be the next believer - even if that turns out to be the local jailer as it was in Philippi! (Check out Acts 16 for the story of the start of the church in Philippi - not sure we'd want the earthquake part though!)

Food glorious food

It's always fun eating out in Japan. Not only do you have the excitement of working out what you might be eating when the dish arrives, the menus are always good entertainment, especially when some English is thrown in. Recently we were out somewhere and one of the options was to choose from the Summer Christmas menu! Then the other day, the menu 'helpfully' gave some English descriptions of the desserts. The one shown here reads - 'Shaved ice with starch ball, bean paste and green tea sauce'. What better way to end a nice meal! Actually it reads a lot better in Japanese - and the taste is not as odd as you might think.

Signed, sealed and delivered

As we set up the new church here, it's not all about contact-making and relationship-building; there are some bureaucratic matters to be attended to! One is to obtain a seal with the church name. Everyone in Japan has their own seal, often more than one - there would be one for everyday use and one which might be used for more official documents. Now that we have the church name decided, we ordered our church seal which we will use for anything from stamping receipts to opening a bank account. Somehow having a name and a seal gives us a certain sense of 'being', even though we have yet to begin worship services and only have one believer attached to our fledgling church. We'll say more about her in our next entry.

The Art of Apologising

A Japanese pastor once commented that missionaries don't know how to apologise properly. Today we had the chance to experience a Japanese apology in person. Lorna had taken Daniel and Matthew to a museum. Whilst Matthew was on a metal centrifugal "spinner", trying to go fast, the whole thing sheered off, with Matthew falling off. We felt bad that Matthew had broken the thing, but the Japanese staff were most apologetic, though we assured them Matthew was fine. Later in the day, a phone call came from the museum - how was Matthew? Despite further assurances, the man said he would like to visit us (over half an hour away). At the appointed time the doorbell rang and we opened the door to find three men - the oldest one being the boss of the whole complex, the second the one in charge of all the equipment and a third younger one. There was much deep bowing and words of sincere apology, followed by a present of a lovely box of cakes. How right that pastor was that we have much to learn...

Where is your passion?

One thing all the men in the Ferguson household have a passion for is football. So it's great to live near the Sapporo Dome, the amazing stadium which hosts professional football and baseball matches. The local team is Consadole, currently in the J2 League. The atmosphere inside the stadium is superb, although the support is somewhat muted and polite. There is little jeering; it has even been known for applause to be given to the away team! One section of the ground has seats reserved for what they call 'passionate supporters' - you need to wear the red and black colours of the home team as well as have a good voice as the singing continues through the whole game, accompanied by drums and the occasional trumpet. Being a passionate supporter is no bad thing. But being passionate for Jesus and seeking to introduce people to his team is a much higher and more valuable goal.

And the name is... 平岸いずみキリスト教会

Recently we've been pondering our church name. What it says projects an image to those who read it or hear about it. We have gone for Hiragishi Izumi Kirisuto Church. Hiragishi is in there as that is where are based. 'Kirisuto' is Japanese for Christ - we want to make it clear that we have no connection with a large building not too far from us which calls itself 'church' but is in fact a cult religion. The word 'izumi' conveys the image. It means spring, as is used in John 4:14 when Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well about living water. So many in Japan are thirsting. So many need refreshment. This is our hope for the new church here - that many thirsty and weary people will find their way to the one who can meet their needs. May this new church truly be a refreshing spring for all who come.

By all possible means...

When Lorna signed up to help in Calum's school library twice a month, she didn't realise that something else would also be involved, namely reading to the children now and again. However, the other mothers were delighted and decided that she should read an English book with a short Japanese translation. Since we had the book in both languages, we chose The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Lorna read in English, Matthew obliged by playing the part of the ugly troll, even dressing up for it, and Daniel did the Japanese version. 83 children and 5 teachers turned up to listen, one of the teachers even recording it on video! Another great way to meet the children and help out in the school.