First Japanese Sermon
We continue to see God working here as he allows us to be more and more involved in the work he is doing here in Iwate. It’s truly an exciting time to be serving in this area and we are incredibly blessed by the partnership of our Japanese church and our supporters back in the US.
On May first we reached another milestone, as I was able to preach an entire sermon in Japanese for the first time. I was told by a number of people afterwards that it was easy to understand. There were a few non-Christians in attendance that Sunday, and I was overjoyed to be able to preach the Gospel to them. You can watch a video clip of the sermon here.
Taking 15 visitors to a three member church.
Since first arriving here we’ve been especially burdened to support the needs of Ofunato Bible Baptist Church, which was heavily damaged by the Tsunami, and after many difficulties has only two remaining members, and no pastor. But last Sunday I was able to visit along with two international teams, which meant the attendance that Sunday was more than quadruple it’s normal number.
The church is about 100 yards away from two newly built apartment complexes which serve as permanent housing for those who lost homes in the Tsunami. Just as God brought believers from around the world to fill that little church building to capacity last Sunday, we pray that in the near future God will fill it with new believers from the surrounding community.
Next Sunday we will visit the church as a family and I will preach the same sermon I preached at our home church.
5AM Baseball Fellowship
You may have heard that baseball is a big deal here in Japan. While in the states Evening Softball leagues are common, here they take it a little further. In order to work around the typical busy Japanese work days, they have leagues that start at 5AM. Our Pastor has been playing for the past few years because he loves baseball and meeting new people. This year my brother and I also joined.
Pray that we would be good witnesses on the team and for opportunities to get to know our team mates, most of whom are non-Christians.
Thank you for your prayers and support!