Continuing to Care

As we enter the month of April, this is a time of change in Japan. It is the start of the new business year and the new school year. Many people move home at this time due to a change in job. Of course for thousands of people last month brought about such cataclysmic changes that they will barely notice that we have moved into April. The changes for these people who have lost so much will continue to impact them for many months and years. Just as the business and school years start this month, so does the new year for most churches. Many choose a theme and Bible verse to guide them over the coming twelve months. It is now just over six weeks since the tragic death of the pastor at Otaru Church. We have been involved much there over these past weeks helping with preaching and the children's work on some Sundays and also being with the people, visiting them and listening to them as they process all that has happened. One of our colleagues who is trained in counselling went one Sunday and shared with the church folks about dealing with loss and their grief and that was a very helpful time. She will go twice more over the coming two months. The question for us is how far and in what ways we can or should be available to help. People have not only faced the death of their pastor but now also the sense of sadness and loss that is affecting the whole nation in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. For Otaru, this Sunday is the start of the new church year and David will be preaching then. The pastor had already decided on the theme and guiding verse for the coming year so David will use that on Sunday as a basis for his message from God's word. It is the start of a new church year but a new start unlike any other as it is so connected to all that has happened over these past weeks. May we continue to know how best we can help care for and serve the people in Otaru as they move forward but continue to face many challenges in their walk as God's people in that part of Otaru.