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.

Another year

We started this blog when we returned to Japan in the spring of 2009 with the aim that people back home could follow our journey as we seek to plant a church in Sapporo. It has been an encourgement to hear that people have been following this journey and that the regular posts have helped people to partner more with us in this journey and also learn something about this country and its culture along the way. So how has this past year been for Hiragishi Izumi Church? We ended 2009 with Sambi's baptism and full of hope for the coming year. Over the past year we have not had any additions to our small church. Yet we have realised afresh that the task of starting a church from scratch really does take time and patience. Only now are we beginning to see the fruit of time spent getting to know people in the community and being in the places where people are. We have made a conscious effort to be 'out there' and befriend people in the different worlds in which we find ourselves, not least school, football and local sports clubs. Interestingly, people who have come to events which we have held during the past year have been people that we already know in some way. It is not easy operating without a building which is known as the 'church'. Of course, church is about people more than a building, but it is not so easy for people we know to get a handle on where and what this 'church' is. As we go into 2011, there are many challenges but also many opportunities. We are excited to see what God will do. We are glad to have new co-workers on board with us. And we long to see some of our many contacts move towards Jesus and see some new believers from the Hiragishi area who take the big step of baptism and become added to Izumi Church. Thank you all for your support and encouragement over the past year.

Church in a house

As we are renting a house here and using it for our worship services on Sundays, there are certain things we can't do to mark it out as a church. We cannot out up a sign outside. We cannot display a cross on the building -though we posted an entry last year showing the wonderful cross someone made for us which we display inside our second floor window to be visible to passers by. We had an idea of decorating the glass panel above our front door so that it somehow reflected that our home is also the church. We are blessed to have Sambi san as our first member and she is so talented at anything artistic. You can see from the photo what she designed for above the door - complete with a cross in the middle. It looks really good after dark with a light on behind. These are just little ways of our trying to show to those in the area that this is where our church meets while at the same time remembering that our home is rented out for the purpose of a home which restricts what we can do. Holding church services in our home has many plus points. Yet it is not so easy to make our presence as a church visible in the community with no obvious building as such. We trust that passers by will notice the cross in the window by day and the illuminated cross above the door by night.

What is a church?

Yesterday David went to the dedication ceremony of a new church building in Sapporo. It is a church that was started over 50 years ago by OMF and over the intervening years God has grown this church and blessed it in many ways. The church has sent out missionaries overseas and because it has had many students attend over the years, many of these students have gone their different ways and contributed to the extending of God's kingdom throughout Japan. The new building itself is great. The church wanted a building that reflected the theme of 'light' and as soon as you enter the building you are in a place that is bright and welcoming. But of course a church is so much more than just bricks and mortar (or whatever latest materials were used for this new building). A building itself can look good and offer an ambience of peace and light, but it is the people inside who really make the church what it is. The comment was made more than once yesterday that the old building has gone and a new building has risen in its place - but the people remain. And indeed the hope is that many more people will in time be added to this church - not to a building but to the community of God's people which forms the church in that area. It was a privilege to be part of that gathering yesterday as God's people dedicated not just their new building but themselves afresh to all that God will do through them in the years to come.

On a journey

Last Sunday our family were joined by eight Japanese guests at our worship service. It was great to have so many with us. Each is on a faith journey, but each at a different stage. Two were baptised last Christmas. One had been a pastor in Canada. Two have been Christians for some years. One is a young guy who has been a few times and claims quite openly he does not believe in God. One is an older man who is seeking something and perhaps does indeed have some faith of his own. And that is church. It's community. It's a gathering of people of different ages, different personalities and all on a journey. As always we eat together after our service (which begins at 4 in the afternoon) and that always give the opportunity for a relaxed time of conversation, laughter and caring for one another. Our church has the word izumi in its name - that means spring (as in the place from which water springs). Many people around us are thirsting and seeking something, yet don't know where to find it. Our desire is that more and more people in our community find their way to the only community where people's deepest longings and deepest needs can be met - the local church, where they can meet Jesus, be encouraged in fellowship and find the resources to live fruitful lives that in turn draw others to Jesus. That's a big part of what we do as we seek to plant a church from nothing in Hiragishi.

Learning and growing

This past week we have had the privilege of coordinating a Training Week for 18 first-term missionaries, one of whom joined us by live link from Tokyo. It was a time of learning, interacting and sharing together as we sought to be better equipped to serve here and bring the message of the gospel to the Japanese people. Several OMF colleagues helped us understand more about the history of missions; about Japanese religions; how to contextualize the gospel to Japan; and issues relating to the church in both urban and more rural areas. We were grappling with a big question - what is an indigenous, biblical church in the Japanese context? And more than that, longing to see a movement in this land, not a church that is stagnant and static, but one which is growing, where disciples are bearing fruit and where many others are being added to the kingdom. It was so encouraging to see and hear the enthusiasm and commitment of the new generation of missionaries here. We are blessed to have many gifted people within OMF who have a passion to reach the Japanese with the gospel. We all left the week enriched but knowing that we have only just started. God is doing a work in each of us. And God is doing a work in this land. It is an honour to be part of that great work.

When two or three are gathered...

We have now had four worship services here in our home. Although we are small in number, each week we have had someone different come along. It's simple and informal but nonetheless meaningful and encouraging as we share in praise, prayer, hearing God's word and fellowship with one another. In time we hope to draw in people we are in contact with but for now we are glad just to have this precious time together on a Sunday afternoon as a small group. The boys play their part too. As we were looking at Psalm 23, David was sharing something with the children about sheep. Calum agreed that sheep are not very clever animals. He then said, 'Dad, you're like a sheep'. 'Why' replies Dad, 'because I'm not very clever?' 'No', says Calum, 'it's just with your grey hair you look like a sheep!' Ah well. It's great that that our services are small enough to be participative - it was good today to have interaction and laughter together as we shared and engaged with God's word. A different dynamic perhaps than a 'normal' worship service (if there is such a thing), but no less valid as we build each other up in our faith.

The Lord who opens hearts

As we begin the new church here in Hiragishi, it is a great encouragement to us that we have one young Christian who has been studying with our co-worker Kaori for the past year. Sambi san ('sambi' means 'praise' in Japanese) is from a Christian family and believed in Jesus while on a short-term stay in Canada. She then returned to the family home in Hiragishi and was put in touch with Kaori. Recently Lorna has been working through The Purpose Driven Life with Sambi san and it's great to see her growing in her faith. She is brilliant with kids, crafts and anything artistic. We are excited to have Sambi san as the 'Lydia' of our new church here and look forward to seeing who might be the next believer - even if that turns out to be the local jailer as it was in Philippi! (Check out Acts 16 for the story of the start of the church in Philippi - not sure we'd want the earthquake part though!)

Signed, sealed and delivered

As we set up the new church here, it's not all about contact-making and relationship-building; there are some bureaucratic matters to be attended to! One is to obtain a seal with the church name. Everyone in Japan has their own seal, often more than one - there would be one for everyday use and one which might be used for more official documents. Now that we have the church name decided, we ordered our church seal which we will use for anything from stamping receipts to opening a bank account. Somehow having a name and a seal gives us a certain sense of 'being', even though we have yet to begin worship services and only have one believer attached to our fledgling church. We'll say more about her in our next entry.

What's in a name?

In Japan a name is important. Most surnames would be made up of characters which have some meaning. You might greet a Mr 'Stone Field' or Mrs 'North Island'. And for first names, many people would spend considerable time (and sometimes money too) thinking about suitable 'kanji' (characters) for their newborn child's name. As we think about the new church we will start here, we are pondering the matter of the name. Do we include the name of the area or go for something different? What word or words would communicate positively to the people we hope to reach? Even the use of the word 'church' is not simple. Sometimes it is good to have the Japanese word for Christ before 'church' so it is clear that this is a Christian place. In our area there is a large building belonging to a Japanese new religion called Perfect Liberty which calls itself 'church'. It is quite a landmark in the area. But it has nothing to do with Jesus. As we consider the name of this new church in Hiragishi, may it be one which is appealing and attractive, but more than that one which will help to draw people to the only name by which they can be saved, the name of Jesus.