Learning and Growing

Last week we held our third OMF Japan IBCM Training Week.  Some of you may not know what IBCM stands for - it means Indigenous Biblical Church Movement, and is part of OMF International's Vision to see IBCMs come about in different people groups of East Asia.  It is well known that the growth of the church in Japan is slow, many churches are small and struggling, pastors get discouraged, believers find the Christian walk a tough one in this culture where being different is not valued and where the pressures to conform in so many ways are very strong.  Yet, the desire of those in OMF Japan is to play our part, even though seemingly small and insignificant, to see the people of Japan come to know Jesus and to see believers strengthened in their faith, bearing fruit in their witness in word and deed.  We long to see churches which are growing, equipping their members for life and ministry, and reaching out with the gospel. 

We spent much time last week learning, reflecting, interacting, dialoguing.  We looked at Japanese church history, issues of how to contextualize the message of the Bible where we are, Japanese religious beliefs, issues of ancestral veneration.  We heard from Japanese OMF colleagues and had a fascinating panel discussion with some Japanese pastors.  Finally we looked at what one OMF church is doing in an attempt to be an indigenous, biblical church.  We are all learning and growing.  In some ways, it seems that we can only skim the surface of all that makes up our context here in this complex and rich culture.  The title of the Training Week was Missionaries Under Cultivation.  We all want to grow and develop and mature, in our understanding of the Japanese language, culture, people and thought processes, but more than that, to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus.  We can be thoroughly well versed in many aspects of culture and reach a high level of fluency in the language, but if we have no love....We need to be people who are growing to be more like Jesus, people who are nurtured by God's Word, and people who have a passion to share that word, aiming to be culturally relevant and trusting the Lord to do the work of opening people's hearts so they can receive and believe the message of the gospel.