Countdown to launch

Sunday is a big day for our new church plant here in Hiragishi. We have our first worship service. We are beginning both small and low-key as we find our feet as a fledgling church. As we start services over these coming weeks, we will meet in our home (a little unusual) and in the afternoons (perhaps a little more unusual). We hope to use the mornings to be out and about. Maybe there are folks out there for whom an afternoon is a better time. After our inaugural worship on Sunday, we will be joined by a number of fellow missionaries presently studying at the OMF language school for a prayer walk around the area. We just walk and pray - a great way to impact an area. It's exciting to be invovled at the birth of this church. Just as its name ('izumi' means 'spring') reminds us, may it be a place where spiritually thirsty people can find their way to receive the living water which Jesus gives. There are certainly many such people all around us here.

The power of one word

This afternoon David had just come off the running machine in the gym and was cooling off beside a fan. Noticing a lady sitting to the side of the fan, he said just one word, 'suzushii', which means 'nice and cool'. Just one word. And the lady was so effusive in her praise at David's masterly grasp of the Japanese language - after just one word! Anyway, the one word led on to a conversation. The lady gives away her age - 71, but she looks much younger. David compliments her on her youthful looks. She tries her hand at English. David says how good she is. We chat on (David still cooling down by the fan) and David shares what we are doing in Hiragishi, starting a church. 'Oh, are you a Christian?' she asks, 'My son goes to a church'. Or at least he did - he's too busy at the moment. She would like to learn English. We promise to exchange addresses next time (sadly no name card in my pocket in the gym!). The power of one word. And the value of just engaging in conversation.

Party in the graveyard

This afternoon we had an interesting experience. The local community had organised a barbecue under the trees to celebrate the coming of the autumn leaves. Oddly enough it took place at the side of the local graveyard! The food was delicious - lots of local produce. Obviously we stood out as the newcomers. It's normal to do a brief self-introduction at the beginning so now everyone there knows who we are. We had good conversations with folks around us and one or two others came over specifically to chat. All in all it was an encouraging time. So much of these early months here is just about being visible in the community and taking the opportunities to get to know people. Who knows where they might lead?

Searching for the truth

One of the things you have to get used to living as a foreigner in Japan is the shocked looks on the faces of some Japanese who come to deliver things to the door. This was the case today when Lorna opened the door to a young man. For a few seconds he was speechless as he wondered whether Lorna would speak Japanese or whether he should speak English. Then he was shocked again to discover that we could actually speak Japanese! Anyway he described himself as a missionary with Tenrikyo, a Japanese religion. He passed over a tract and pamphlet. We have a supply of tracts at our door so Lorna gave him one and said she would read his if he read hers. It turns out that this man is also interested in English and gave us his phone number to let him know if we start something. Might he be interested in reading the Bible in English? We don't know, but there are many Japanese who have joined new religions in the search of meaning in their lives.

The building below

Not long after we moved into our house, we were intrigued by 'the building below'. We look down to it through some trees and woodland. It didn't seem to be used much and we wondered what it was. The thought even came that it might be somewhere we could use in the future if it really was empty. Now and again we heard some young children there. Occasionally a choir would be practising there in the evening. We found a contact number for the place, got in touch and found out it belonged to a kindergarten. The main teacher at the kindergarten was very pleasant and we went to have a look one day to see if we could use it for a special ceremony we will have to mark the start of the church in Hiragishi. It's bright, spacious and will really be perfect for all sorts of events we might hold in the months and years to come. It's right on the main road. And it costs hardly anything to rent! We wonder how God will use 'the building below' as the story of the Hiragishi church plant unfolds.

Praying and walking

Today was the first Wednesday of the month. We and our co-workers the Chuas have decided to make that a day when we can devote more time specifically to pray and fast for the area of Hiragishi and the new church here. Lorna had a prayer walk in the afternoon, stopping at different places to pray - for the building near us we hope to use for events (more about that in next post), for local schools (two are very near us so we always have school children passing by). David went out later on a different route. It's such a stimulus to pray as you walk around and pray for what you see, or the people you pass, for the houses and apartment blocks which are not just stone and glass, but homes to people, many of whom may be lonely or hurting or depressed. We ask the Lord to come and bless this area, to open people's hearts, and to lead us to them or them to us. And then we wait expectantly to see what he will do. That's an exciting thought.

An unexpected meeting

Last night David was walking back from the subway station along a main, but poorly lit, road. Along with another person we passed by someone who was lying on the ground hunched up against a wall. We both stopped to see what was wrong. The young Japanese woman on the ground had a note that referred to a hospital and contained the letters OD - she'd had an overdose and had been drinking too. A couple of young guys turned up and we tried to contact the hospital without success. The young woman on the ground then started speaking in excellent English explaining she had psychological problems and would like someone to kill her. At no point did she look up. The conversation continued in English. David tried to encourage her with words of hope, saying she was special and people were here to care for her. All of a sudden she lifted her head and looked David straight in the eye. By this time an ambulance had arrived. On the way back on the subway, David had been reading a tract about a young Christian woman who'd had an awful accident and just wanted to die. David was able to say to the woman before she was taken away that he'd left that with her. It had our contact details on the back. You never know how God might work and who he will lead you to in the course of each day.