In contrast to the hectic December holiday season, we had a much slower pace of ministry in January. While we enjoyed the opportunity to catch our breath a bit, the month turned out to be a challenging one on multiple fronts. Despite this we are seeing God working, and learning valuable lessons about life and ministry which we trust will prove useful as God continues to prepare us for long term ministry in Japan.
As a church we have been wrestling with a difficult issue. It’s been a privilege to observe and pray along side the leadership of our church as they seek God’s wisdom and work for reconciliation to take place. This has also been a valuable lesson, as in Japan family issues are rarely talked about, and often it is not until significant problems arise that they come to light. As a church we are beginning to look to the future to see how we can better encourage and help strengthen families before such problems occur. We hope to put a greater focus on discerning the unspoken needs of church members, and helping to meet them as we move forward.
We’ve also seen God give us further direction for our future, in regards to where we will serve after my internship here in Morioka is completed. Sadly through more difficulty we’ve seen God apparently close one door of future ministry partnership while at the same time advancing and paving the way for what looks like a very promising opportunity for the gospel to be proclaimed and the church to be built up in another area we were considering. Right now there seems to be a lot in motion, much of which we’re not at liberty to share openly quite yet, so we ask that you continue to pray for God’s direction and wisdom as we begin to look more closely at this particular opportunity and speak with those involved.
I was also asked to begin preparing my first sermon in Japanese. Our pastor will be out of town one Sunday in May, so I will be filling in for him. This is a big step for me, and I’m grateful for having much advance notice to begin preparing. I have already begun writing the sermon in English, and once finished will be working with Tomo and my Japanese teacher to translate it into Japanese. After the translation is done I’ll spend a lot of time practicing it to make sure that I can deliver it in a clear and understandable way. Likely (hopefully!) this will be the most difficult sermon I will ever give. Please pray that I can prepare well and clearly explain and teach from God’s word the message that He wants the congregation to hear. As many of you know there are a shortage of preachers in Japan, and I’ve already been asked to give the sermon a second time at a different church, and will likely have opportunities to give it in other churches as well.