Looking forward

As we look out on 2011, we wonder what this year will bring in the life of Izumi Church. The challenges are many but so are the opportunities. In fact at times the challenge can be the opportunity. We have our dreams and our plans. But what is on God's agenda? The constant challenge is to be listening to God and moving at his pace and in line with where he would have us be and what he would have us do. Being involved in the early stages of a church plant is an exercise in patience. We long for more - now! While it has been great to have made contact with so many people over the last year and a half in Hiragishi and to have begun to build up trust relationships, our desire now is to see some of these people come through to faith and be added to our church. As we think and pray about our plans for the coming months as a team, we look to the Lord to guide us to the right path for us to follow and get the right balance between 'being' and 'doing'. Faith often involves risk. One of the issues we are wrestling with as OMF just now is that of reaching what we call 'neglected frontiers' - not just in terms of location but also groups and sub-cultures which are not reached with the gospel. Where does Izumi Church fit into all of this? What is our role? We look forward with expectancy to what the Lord will do in these coming months as we partner with him in taking the gospel to this area of Sapporo.