An encouraging day

Today was a day for David to visit a different church while away in Tokyo - and it was great! It took four trains to get there, but everything runs like clockwork here so I could be sure that by catching the first train at 8.40, I would be get off the fourth train at my destination at exactly 9.59. The church even provides a shuttle car to take people up the road to the church. I could easily have walked but the church is located at the top of a maze of roads so figured the car was the safer option. The welcome was very warm. People at the welcome desk had been told I was coming. It is our co-worker Kaori's home church and she and How Chuang are very well known and many have prayed for them for years, and more recently for the new church start in Hiragishi. I was asked to share a little at the end of the service. Many people chatted afterwards. The church folks then split into smaller groups for fellowship and sharing about the message (which was also excellent). And then there was lunch - a guest doesn't need to pay on their first visit! I was quite happy to walk back down to the station but it was all arranged and an older couple drove me the few minutes down the hill. The number of Christians in Japan may be small but it is a joy to meet folks from other churches and appreciate afresh the oneness we have in Jesus and how with simple things we can encourage and serve one another. Travelling back on the crowded trains though was a reminder that so many in this land have still to taste what it means to be a follower of Jesus. An ongoing challenge.