Onward we go

Over the last two days David has been attending a joint gathering of pastors from the church group with which OMF works and OMF missionaries. Sometimes these occasions can be rather hard-going but this time it was great. There was lots of good sharing as well as times to pray, eat and relax (a little!) together. But the best part was when we got on to hearing about and then discussing in small groups the ideas people had as to how to do a new church plant somewhere in Hokkaido. Pastors expressed their opinions and some shared their dreams. The small group David was part of certainly had a number who were passionate about the task of reaching those in Hokkaido with the gospel. A momentum is beginning to build. There is a long way to go but we can see things beginning to stir and it is exciting to see how God might lead us in the days ahead. May the pastors be given boldness and unity to take the next steps forward.

A time to plant and a time to uproot

This is the time for planting in Sapporo. Recently many in the community could be seen out on the pavements adding a touch of colour to the roadsides. Local school children join in too. For us at our house, it has been a time of planting, but also uprooting. The small area of garden in the front of our house was somewhat overgrown when we moved in - and more weeds sprouted up daily. The area at the side too very quickly became a jungle of growth. Gardening tools were bought and we got to work on clearing, chopping down and hauling out roots. All that needed to be done before we could do any planting. In the south part of Hiragishi there are some 28,000 people. We are here to plant a church. But so much of what we need to do in the early days is the hard work of clearing the ground, preparing the ground and searching for the soil where we can sow the seeds. In time our desire is to see not just the colourful flowers brightening up the roadsides, but people whose hearts and lives have been changed as the seeds of the gospel take root.