Funerals

Tonight David attended a funeral of the wife of a recent graduate of the Bible College in Sapporo who died aged 46. Actually it was the first part of the funeral and already several other ceremonies will have taken place between the time of death and the evening wake. Tomorrow morning there will be a further funeral ceremony not unlike this evening, then the body is taken to the crematorium, following which the mourners complete the final part of the funeral proceedings by placing the bones in a casket. This evening was a very moving occasion. There are some things which are similar to a Christian funeral in the west - hymns, Bible reading, prayers, a short message. But some other traditions are different. Usually one or two people share some memories of the deceased - these are always moving moments. At the end, the next of kin (in this case the husband and two teenage children) stand at the front and the husband said a few words to those who had gathered. And then finally, before leaving everyone proceeds to the front and places a flower on a table in front of the area where the coffin is laid. Funerals in Japan are often Buddhist with sutras chanted by the priest, the smell of incense and no sense of any hope. Tonight the pastor rightly said that we do not know why a wife, mother and daughter was taken at such an early age - but we are not without hope and can in the midst of sadness know the grace and comfort of the Lord. The church family in Japan is small but there is always such a sense of caring for one another. It was good to have been there tonight to see that love expressed in very tangible ways.

Holy Week

It is interesting how church traditions differ round the world. While Christmas is marked in Japan with many services and special outreach events, Easter is quite different. Within the churches we know or have been part of, you would hear very little about Lent, there would be nothing to mark Palm Sunday and no services during Holy Week. Easter comes and goes with just a celebration service on Easter Sunday. And that's a bit of a shame really as there is little chance to pause and reflect on the cross and Jesus' passion. As we start our new church in Hiragishi we have tried consciously to incorporate some of these things and mark important times in the church calendar as well as reflect on how to mark some things which are important in Japanese culture. In our curch we have all used Lent as a time for giving up something. Yesterday we focused on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. This coming Friday we will take the opportunity as a church to have a reflective time of readings and meditation on the cross. And next Sunday we will gather again to celebrate the risen Jesus and hope that a number of guests will join us then too. We are already thinking about holding an outreach event for the community next year around the time of Easter and are visiting another church next month to see what they do. As many round the world mark Easter, our prayer is that many in Japan would come to know the one who came as Crucified Saviour and Risen Lord.

The challenges of church planting

Exactly a year ago tomorrow we arrived back in Japan to begin our new assignment in the Hiragishi area of Sapporo - start a church from zero. As we look back we appreciate the blessings and the good times. The first worship service; a wonderful Dedication Ceremony; our first baptism at Christmas; beginning to make contact with people in the area. But we realise too the challenge of beginning from nothing. Apart from Sambi (who has a full time job), there is no one to help us and the Chuas, who themselves have a more than full load with other ministry. It takes a long time to get to know people. Even little things can become discouragements. There have been misunderstandings - with other churches and pastors, with other missionary colleagues. Japanese Christians who might have been potential additions to our team here end up elsewhere. So often when we think we have taken a step forward, we seem to take several steps back! Just today someone we hoped would be part of our church from next month called to say she had moved to another area. We would really love for one or two other Japanese to be added to the church - that would be great encouragement to Sambi too. Our struggles are hardly in the nature of the hardships Paul writes of, but we understand more and more that seeing the advance of God's kingdom in these needy land is a tough battle. But we know God is at work here and will by his grace and in his time bring blessing to this area.

Keeping the records

This is transition time here. The school year comes to an end with graduation ceremonies. The business year ends with many employees moved round the country to other branches often on very short notice. The church year comes to an end and March often sees the AGM which is usually preceded by many weeks of preparation of reports and statistics for the current church year and plans being made for the next year. The amount of detail (and paper!) can be quite phenomenal. The time spent in the AGM varies according to the church but can often last for several hours. We are still a baby church but we do need to begin keeping some records of the church year so that these are available for future reference. It is also important for us to record something of the story of this church plant - why we started where we did; how we arrived at the church name; what the ethos and vision of the church is. So we produced a short document with this story and a few facts and figures of the life of Izumi Church to this point, as well as some ideas for what we would like to see happen over the coming year. Nothing very detailed but enough to have some sense of purpose and direction as we wait to see how this church plant will unfold. And today after our service we had our very first AGM, though that is probably too grand an expression. It did not last very long but it was good for us as a missionary team also to get Sambi's input and ideas. We are looking forward to the coming church year with expectancy.

Going to the bank

Today David went to the bank. No big deal, you may think. But going to a bank in Japan usually involves a lot of queuing, a lot of form-filling and a lot of waiting. The other day David had to go to the local city office to make some minor changes to personal documents - and it's the same story there. The wheels of bureaucracy turn very slowly. Interestingly, for a land where everything is hi-tech and mobile phones can peform almost any function, there is still an affinity with doing things the old way - forms, paper, photocopying, double checking by the person sitting at the next desk. At banks the ATM machines can do all sorts of things at the push of a few (actually sometimes quite a lot) of buttons. But if you need to do something the ATM can't do, then you need to battle with the forms and the waiting. The staff though are always very cheery and helpful. Maybe there is a parable in there somewhere. The Japanese love to embrace gadgets and technology. Yet there is also still a holding on to the old-fashioned ways. Tradition matters here. There is a rich and complex culture. The surface looks modern and hi-tech - and it is. But beneath that veneer of gadgetry, the traditional way of doing things, and doing and saying and thinking things in the right way is highly valued. We need patience and grace and a teachable spirit to understand the culture and the people and then be able to share the good news of Jesus in appropriate ways.

End of an era

Today Alistair became the last of the Ferguson boys to finish his pre-school days. It was the graduation ceremony at the Hiragishi kindergarten. The kindergarten is large by Hokkaido standards with well over 300 children. This morning some 117 children duly 'graduated', resplendent in their uniforms complete with decoration flower. Everyone else gets dressed up too - one or two of the mothers even wore a kimono. The all-female teachers wore the standard black suit which comes out on such occasions. In Japan they do these kind of ceremonies so well, especially those which mark a transition and there is a real sense of closure, usually with not a few tears too. The ceremony was conducted with great dignity and precision, with much bowing; the speeches were given in very polite language; the children were able to sing and recite long chunks of Japanese impeccably. Even when the young teacher who was handing out the certificates on stage keeled over and fainted, the show went on as smoothly as before. Within a few seconds, she was helped off stage, another teacher took her place and the children continued processing forward to receive their certificates. Afterwards, the children went to their respective classrooms for a farewell time with their teacher. More certificates, more speeches, more tears, but a real sense of one chapter being closed well and the children being left with many happy memories of their kindergarten days. School for Alistair starts on 6th April and we will write then about how well the Japanese mark the start of something new.

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.