Time away

June is often Conference month for OMF. This time we have the pleasure of attending the two OMF Conferences in the different regions. At the moment we are in the beautiful surroundings of Karuizawa, a mountain retreat in Nagano prefecture for what is called the East Japan Conference. Missionaries working in Aomori, Sendai and the Greater Tokyo area have gathered for their Annual Conference. As we will take over the Field leadership role from the later part of next year, we thought it would be good to come and spend time with folks here, getting to know a little better both the people and the work in which they are involved. We have been able to come without our boys thanks to wonderful co-workers who offered to look after them for these few days. The venue is in itself an oasis - surrounded by tall trees, green everywhere, a quaint town nearby. Just wakening up in the morning and being able to go for a walk in the sunlight with birds singing is so refreshing. We have been challenged by Bible messages, stimulated by hearing stories of things going on, encouraged in small group times and just so thankful for our OMF colleagues, many of whom have had to cope with many stressful situations since the events of 11th March. It is indeed a joy to be part of OMF and we give thanks to God for this opportunity to be away, for rich fellowship times (oh and great food too!)

Three months on

One of our Japanese Facebook friends added a simple comment to his wall today - 'just three months passed'. We knew immediately what he meant. The 11th of the month will always be a day to remember. Three months have indeed passed since the devastating earthquake and tsunami of 11th March. The huge relief effort goes on. Many thousands remain unaccounted for. Many more continue to live our their lives in the evacuation centres. The nuclear crisis is not in the headlines as it once was, but that does not mean it is over. Prime Minister Kan may be the next one to be out of a job. Here in Sapporo we are remote from the areas where the greatest destruction and loss of life occurred. Yet, the northernmost of those areas are reachable from Hokkaido (a journey of many hours including a ferry ride) and a number of teams staffed by pastors, local Christians and missionaries have gone to some of the worst affected places over these past months. OMF has decided to start a work in one of the cities (called Miyako in Iwate Prefecture). A couple has been appointed to lead that work and a building rented. It is hoped that this will be a base for others to come short-term to help in the ongoing relief work. Already it is being used. David plans to lead a small team down to that city early in July. A number of our colleagues, especially those who live in the north-west of Honshu island have been many times to the areas, helping in many different ways. It has been encouraging to see churches and Christians working together. The task is vast. What OMF can do is just a drop in the bucket in many ways. But each drop counts. We don't know what will come of this work but trust that somehow the Lord will use those there - not just through their words, but perhaps even more so through their ears and their hands - to be vessels of love, comfort and encouragement to those who have lost so much.

Births, Deaths and Weddings

When we had our final service at Otaru in March 2008 after eight years there, it was a sad time for us. It was the end of one very important chapter in our lives and we were leaving people that we had got to know and love so much. Little did we know then that we would once again be involved in ministry in Otaru. Recently the church has seen a birth, a funeral and a wedding, all in the space of a couple of weeks. When we were in Otaru, one of the hardest times for us was the illness and subsequent death to cancer of Akio Sasaki. His wife remarried two years ago and had her first child last month. Around the same time a man (also called Sasaki) who David had baptised in 2005 when he was in his early 70s was hospitalised and died a week or two later. His funeral was last Thursday, the first church funeral since the pastor's death in February. Then on Sunday, after the service, there was a wedding! It's quite a story but basically it was an older couple who had been living together for a few years, both then came to faith in Jesus and wanted to be married before God before being baptised. It was a great occasion, with some moving speeches and testimonies afterwards too. One of the most touching moments was when the married couple sang one of their favourite hymns accompanied by the husband on the guitar. It turned out the guitar had belonged to Mr Sasaki who died last week and his wife had given it to the husband. The folks at Otaru have been through much in these past months and it was so encouraging to see them rejoicing in this couple's faith and marriage and looking forward to the double baptism later in the year. Another man has also confessed faith in Jesus and will be preparing for baptism too. For Otaru Church June always means the Sun Kids Festival, the big outreach of the year which always draws many local children. We trust there will be yet further encouragements for the church on that day.

Celebrating New Life

Mother's Day in Japan is on 8th May. We had our service as usual at 4pm with some extra guests too. A couple of the men had made curry rice and we had eaten that and were enjoying fellowship time in various parts of the room. A lady called Hiroko who had come for the first time to our service the previous Sunday had been chatting with Kaori and Nora, reading in the Bible and praying together. Kaori then said Hiroko had something to say. She had just believed in Jesus! Hiroko has been involved with a gospel music choir for many years and had some Christian friends. She has been on a faith journey and it is with great joy that we were able to witness her commit her life to Jesus. She is really changed, knowing the joy of the Lord and was straight away sharing with family and friends. It is such a privilege to welcome a new believer into our young church and to be able to help a baby Christian to grow in these early days of faith. It is also an encouragement for us to see signs of things beginning to happen in Hiragishi. The first two years were very much a time for getting known and slowly building up relationships. Now as we are in our third year here, we look to the Lord to bring more like Hiroko and to see gradually the church being built up in this community.

Parents and School

Late last year David had a phone call from Calum and Alistair's school. 'Would you like to be PTA Chair for the next school year from April?' Stunned silence. Lorna has had lots of involvement with the school but David very little, apart from doing the morning duty as school guard and attending the school events. And a foreigner being PTA Chair?! Anyway, David agreed and the duties have now begun. The school prefers a dad to be the Chair but most of the duties are carried out by the mothers on the committee who do all the work and David just pops up now and again to give a word of greeting or a speech (the graduation and entrance ceremonies are some months away yet so plenty time to practice for those!) This Saturday is school sports day so is the first occasion in the school year for the PTA Chair to do his bit. An encouraging word is expected at the beginning and a closing comment too. Just for fun, the PTA Chair is also expected to fire the pistol at the start of the mums and dads tug of war - low-flying crows beware! And there is even more fun the previous day. In the afternoon all the mothers (or some grandparents) gather to claim their spot around the area where the sports take place. Last week each family was allocated a number (the children choose lots) and the parents divide off into groups of ten in order of the numbers chosen. Apparently the mothers then run off fast to place their pegs on one of the best spots for their mat at sports day the following morning. The PTA Chair is expected to turn up and set the various groups of ten off on their race for the best spot. Some guidance has been given though - the PTA Chair is meant to say that people should take care and not run! We'll see what happens. It's certainly a great way to be known by everyone in the school and indeed in the wider community.

Learning and growing

This blog has been a bit silent over the last two weeks or so. The Golden Week holiday, a Training Week and various other meetings this week have led to a busy time. But today is a quieter day! Last week OMF held the second IBCM Training Week. IBCM? A key part of OMF's vision for the lands in Asia where its people work - to see an indigenous, Biblical church movement among these different people groups. The Training Week was once again for younger missionaries but all had some (and one or two had quite a lot) of experience in Japan and working in the church here. It was a rich time of learning, engaging and interacting with many issues as we seek to understand the culture and religious setting of Japan and bring the timeless message of the gospel to the people here in the context in which they find themselves. It was a blessing to benefit from the wisdom of those who were able to guide us through difficult issues. This time it was a particular joy to have Japanese colleagues sharing with us. We all need to learn and keep learning. But more than that we all need to grow, and keep growing. Last week's trianing was not simply to impart head knowledge. Yes, we do not need to engage our minds, but so too do we need to be changed and moulded as we live and engage with the culture and people here in Japan so that we can grow as followers of Jesus and be better equipped to share Jesus with those around us. How we long to see a movement of the Spirit in this land which touches many places and many lives, a movement in which many are drawn to Jesus and the church is built up to the glory of God. These are days to pray for Japan and to pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send out workers so that many can see the love of Jesus in action, but also hear the message of hope and salvation that comes through Jesus.

Hallelujah

Well the blog at the beginning of the week did not quite happen but better late than never. How good it was to celebrate Easter in Hiragishi with our first-ever Easter Festival. With a forecast that had been predicting rain for the weekend, and a pretty awful day on Saturday with rain through the night, we looked forward to the weather God would send on Sunday. We awoke to no rain, then a bright start to the morning to dry up the soaked ground, and a beautiful warm, wind-free afternoon - perfect for our Easter Festival. Preparations were made. But would people come? Some started to arrive 40 minutes before it was due to start. And people kept coming and coming. Children of all ages, mums, dads, grannies. In all we had around 110 there, though it was hard to keep count. Everyone had fun with the outside football and strike out, enjoyed the various activities inside, indulged in sausages and chocolate bananas, and there were some yummy cakes for the adults. All left with a self-decorated egg, some chocolate eggs and a short Bible verse. In the middle of our Festival we had the exuberant JP helping us all join in some hip hop dancing to a praise song and then David gave a short and simple message about Easter. It was a blessed day. We look forward to doing it again next year. Meanwhile we are thinking how best to follow up all who came and what to do next - some larger events, some smaller gatherings so we can have more time to chat more leisurely to people. It will be great to see some wanting to take the next step, maybe open to some basic Bible study, or coming along to a service. We meet many of these people as we are out and about in the community, or at the local school; some are neighbours (two sets of JP and Nora's neighbours came and one commented that it was great to be able to meet her neighbours at a church event!) We are excited to see what God is doing and look forward to all that will lie ahead. We had a great Easter worship service too in the same building, with the sun streaming in. A blessed Easter indeed.