Infectious faith

It's great to be around people who have only recently trusted in Jesus. They have an infectious faith. Yesterday we were listening to Sambi (she's on the left in the photo) telling us about her journey of faith. She is preparing her testimony which she will share at her baptism during our Christmas worship on 20th December. Sambi is a delightful person, with a great personality and loads of creativity. She is very artistic so wants to do some drawings to go with her story. She was even thinking about doing a play with a puppet! And she is busy preparing invites to ask a number of her friends to come to her baptism. We have just arranged to borrow a portable 'bath' from another church which we will set up in part of our lounge on the day. It would be great if a number of Sambi's friends could come and be part of the occasion. This Christmas will be a very special one for Sambi and Hiragishi Izumi Church.

Always learning

We are a football daft house. Everyone enjoys it, perhaps to excess at times. Even Lorna is getting on board to some extent - not much choice with five addicts in the family. Calum is very into playing for his local team and with the onset of winter, this has now moved inside. It's the futsal season. Today, being a public holiday here, we had the first tournament of the season. And despite being well up on even the most obscure details of normal football rules, we are finding that futsal is somewhat different. David thought he should do some homework when we got home and found a 72 page document on the FIFA homepage containing the rules! Today though it was a good way to chat to some of the other dads and figure out why some strange refereeing decisions seemed to be being made. Even when you think you are on familiar territory like football, there are always things to learn living in another culture. We did however enjoy watching Calum scoring eleven goals in four matches! We're now gearing up for the next tournament in January.

Onward we go

Over the last two days David has been attending a joint gathering of pastors from the church group with which OMF works and OMF missionaries. Sometimes these occasions can be rather hard-going but this time it was great. There was lots of good sharing as well as times to pray, eat and relax (a little!) together. But the best part was when we got on to hearing about and then discussing in small groups the ideas people had as to how to do a new church plant somewhere in Hokkaido. Pastors expressed their opinions and some shared their dreams. The small group David was part of certainly had a number who were passionate about the task of reaching those in Hokkaido with the gospel. A momentum is beginning to build. There is a long way to go but we can see things beginning to stir and it is exciting to see how God might lead us in the days ahead. May the pastors be given boldness and unity to take the next steps forward.

All singing, all dancing

Today we were at one of these events at which the Japanese excel - the annual school show. We are always amazed at the standard reached by the children ranging in age from 6 to 12. Each year group does some kind of play, usually involving acting, narrating, singing and dancing, sometimes with musical instruments too. Everyone has a part. Everyone can sing - in tune! Everyone's role is special. It's a real team performance. Even the youngest children performed a play lasting over 20 minutes. Some of the stories are quite 'different' - Calum's year group did something about ghost children meeting human children. Calum had the honour of being a zombie! The 10/11 year olds came up with a 50 minute play all about the way we are destroying the earth - it was brilliantly done and very thought-provoking. These events always provide fascinating insights to Japanese culture - even if we don't understand all that is said. It's such a privilege to be able to have our children at the local primary school.

Rest for the weary

When you travel on a train in Tokyo, you notice two things. Firstly, they are always busy. Secondly, there are always people in various states of sleep. People here are often just so tired. Last night the young businessman sitting opposite David (amazingly I even got a seat!) was bent over 90 degrees fast asleep! Another young guy was slumped over his shoulder (they probably didn't know each other). Next to me a young lady kept nodding off between stops (and her head kept ending up on my shoulder!) only to be woken up now and again when a text message came in. A friend once said many years ago that we are the tired generation. Many in Japan are tired, if not exhausted. One Bible verse which is very popular here is 'Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest'. It is very apt - and very needed for a weary people. True rest is found only in Jesus.

Connections

One of the great things about Japan is that everything runs on time. Yesterday David connected from our house in Hiragishi to the OMF Guest Home in the Tokyo area by subway, train, plane, monorail, subway and train, just moving smoothly from one connection to the next. The Tokyo rail and subway network is just like a maze of connections - in fact some of the stations are a bit like a maze too. But as long as you follow the right connections, you get to your destination. In many ways that's a bit like starting a church. What we're doing just now is making connections with people. Some may connect some day to our church. Many won't - but our contact with them will lead on to another connection and another and so on until some of them do in fact find their way to Jesus. David was sharing at a church yesterday about bearing fruit - often we don't see the fruit, but maybe we're just part of the grand process, just a link in the chain that leads someone to Jesus.

A 'bazaar' incident

A couple of days ago a lady was passing by our house when we were outside so we said hello. She seemed a little taken aback. Then we made another comment. She almost fell over with shock that we could even speak Japanese! We told her why we were here and that we had just started a new church. After more expressions of admiration for our (very basic) Japanese and a few bows, she was on her way. Today the postman was at the door and just at the moment she passed again! This time she had something to ask. Does our church hold a bazaar?! Well, we don't but many churches here do. She has lots of clothes she would like to donate! With a bit of quick thinking, Lorna said that we know of other churches in the area and we would ask around. God surely has been opening up contacts in this area in some strange ways. Maybe we should be planning a bazaar for next year! The lady didn't give her phone number but Lorna said to come back round some time and we'd let her know what we can do about her offer to give us the clothes. All in a day's work!

Another kind of spring

We named our church after a spring. Today was Culture Day in Japan so we enjoyed the amazing cultural experience of a hot spring. Must be one of the best things about this wonderful country. And today winter came a little early so we were able to be outside in a 40 degree bath, looking at snow-covered trees with the snowflakes gently falling on our heads. You just have to experience it to appreciate how awesome it is! Very therapeutic after a crazily busy month. In the same way, we would like Izumi Church (or 'Spring Church' - doesn't quite sound as good in English!) to be an oasis for over-tired, stressed-out, messed-up people.

Five plus two equals?

On the morning of 25th October we were delighted to welcome Dr Bruce Milne and his wife Valerie to the service in our home. Bruce shared from John 6 and spoke on the five loaves and two fishes. Just that morning he had thought of a way to apply that to the fledgling Izumi Church. We are five adults (Fergusons, Chuas and Sambi) and two children (Calum and Alistair). And look what Jesus did with such a seemingly small amount - used it to feed thousands! It was such a challenging and encouraging message as we begin the work here in Hiragishi. Bruce reminded us though that the arithmetic is not just 5+2 - it is 5+2+1. Jesus is with us. Someone wrote to us last week after the Dedication Ceremony and said they were praying the Lord would bring someone along yesterday to our service. Unexpectedly Sambi called and asked if she could bring a friend with her. God is good. And we trust he will continue to grow this church so that it becomes 10+4+1 and then 20+8+1 and so on over these coming months and years.