Sharing the gospel

Recently at an OMF Training Week we held in Sapporo, two pastors made the distinction between what can be called 'speaking' the gospel and 'showing' the gospel.  Of course we need to use words but there is also a time and place for showing the gospel through our lives, our deeds, our attitudes.  People watch our lives as well as listen to our words.  It is not an either/or but a both/and.  As we went today to a couple of temporary housing areas in a different area (Otsuchi) which was very badly damaged by the tsunami, we could see both in action.  We worked with another team to set up a mobile cafe at one place.  They have no common room where events like this can be held so there is little opportuniry for people to gather together.  Unlike yesterday, the sun shone,we set up the tents and soon the people gathered in large numbers for cool drinks, but more than that just to have the time to chat together.  The people were so appreciative, even though we were doing so little.  We listened once again to their stories.  Someone came with a guitar and led in some singing of traditional songs.  We then sang a couple of songs too.  It was a great time.  The cafe continued in the afternoon but David headed off to another place with one of our team and the leader of the other team to what turned out to be a very small temporary housing area.  We were meeting for two hours there and three ladies turned up.  It seemed the craft was using beads to make bracelets!  David was wondering whether it might have been better to have stayed at the other place! In time one older lady left and two remained (one being the daughter of the older lady).  The next hour was quite amazing as these ladies asked some questions about the Bible and about Jesus.  They knew some of the basics - something about Jesus dying on a cross and being born in a stable.  They kept asking questions and it gave great opportunity to share in words what the Bible is all about, who Jesus is, what the cross meant, and lots more.  We left most of the talking to the leader of the other team as she is the ongoing contact there and we hope that next time there will be good follow up.  We shared one or two Bible verses too.  One lady had said she read one page of the Bible and it was too difficult as it was just a list of unpronounceable names!  We worked out she had a copy of Matthew's gospel and did not get past Chapter 1!  The Bible is too difficult, she said.  It was great to be able to share with these ladies in response to the questions they had asked.  That over, we headed down to Kamaishi to see another building OMF has bought with relief funds to use as a base for relief work in that town and in Otsuchi where we had been.  A Japanese pastor is heading up the work there.  He has lots of ideas.  How will it develop?  What are the next steps?  Big questions which need much thought and certanly the Lord's leading in these times of much opportunity both to speak and show the love of Jesus.  We headed back to Yamada after a long, tiring but satisfying day and decided to use a local prefab restaurant for our evening meal.  The owner had operated a restaurant there for some 49 years and now is working in a prefab place.  We thought it would be fairly basic but it is a great place inside and the food was of amazing quality.  What a joy to eat there and give a little business to this community.  Many people were eating out there and obviously having a great time.  Yamada seems to be a place where recovery is beginning to happen and people are looking forward - even though the path ahead remains a long one.  It's been a good week here.