“The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us.”
-
John 1:14
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
As it gets cold here in Tochigi, I hope everyone else is staying warm around the world!!! Satomi being from Okinawa, and Jonathan being from Florida, don’t do so well in sub freezing temperatures but as it is our 3rd winter, we are getting more accustomed to the winters. But because Japanese houses are not built for winter (so we’re told), it feels often that it’s colder inside than outside, even with our fireplace going! Layers, layers, layers, some ginger tea, and the occasional foot bath are helping us, but we are hoping for some southern sunshine soon!
As we comeinto Christmas, we’ve thought about what it means for us to celebrate the birth of Christ this year and well it can probably be summed up by a t-shirt.
Jon has a t-shirt received from a friend that he did a Volunteers In Mission trip with in 2007. It says GAP and underneath those letters are God Always Provides. Two weeks before the earthquake, we had joined three other missionaries for a visioning and retreat trip to South Korea. During that time we felt the Holy Spirit prodding us to remind and help the people at the Asian Rural Institute to know that God had called them to this ministry and that everything we do sprang forth from the love of Jesus Christ. Specifically, there had been much concern over the finances of the school and although we would share that if God wanted this ministry to continue, the funds necessary would be provided, it was an ongoing struggle. Yet, the one thing that we at ARI have learned throughout this past year is that God does want this ministry to continue because He is providing what we need. Although the school’s income decreased dramatically from past years due to the disaster, God has provided in unprecedented and miraculous ways for the running of the school, the decontamination efforts for the land, and the rebuilding of damaged structures. The word has become flesh and dwelt among us.
And that has been the story of the year, God always provides, the word becomes flesh! As you all know, after the earthquake it was decided that we could not begin our training on the school’s campus in Tochigi, so we moved to Tokyo for the first three months of our training. Because of those three months it has been difficult to really participate fully in ministry at the small local church we were newly assigned to. Yet in the midst of all the chaos, God has been faithful to this small church. The numbers and offering are both up this year, in fact close to double the average of last year. We have started a website for them, and have been able to be part of the starting of a new children’s ministry at the church. Throughout we have learned much from the pastors and congregants who weekly and faithfully gather to worship, even though few in number.
We have also noticed that many people are open to talking about faith and asking questions about their purpose in life, and these questions were few and far between before the disaster. Two of the people we ministered to last year decided to receive baptism this year and one more is now in that process. Another lady who seemed to have very little interest in faith when we met two years ago just began to study the bible with Satomi, and seems to really want to know who Jesus is and what He is about. More people have joined the Gospel Choir we lead at ARI, many seeking to know the reason for all the joy we sing of in the midst of so much hardship that surrounds. Please pray for these Japanese brothers and sisters, that they can understand their purpose in life and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in the year to come.
In fact we just had a gospel choir concert this past Sunday.
BTW, the name of the choir is Minngos (Minna de gospel which means gospel for everyone!) You can see a photo of us from our Christmas concert below!
We were told by so many people that it was the best they’ve ever heard us sing. Not only that but as the concert was at the local town concert hall it was open to the public and lots of folks came out that would normally never hear us sing. We shared the meaning of Christmas in our song, in our words and as we finished singing the excitement had built up so much that when we invited them, all of these Japanese folks (most of them senior citizens it seemed) were on their feet dancing and singing “Oh Give thanks unto the Lord for He is Good, Yes He is good!”
These moments get us excited to continue to do ministry here, to share that Christmas is about what God has done for us and what we can then do for others. But it also reminds us of a moment after the earthquake that really let us know that God was with us.
It was the day after the earthquake and we had finally gotten our electricity back and were getting word of the problems at the Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima. There came a point to where many people felt that it was best to leave ARI because of what might have happened at the plant. Before we met with the others to decide what to do, the two of us sat down and prayed. We told God that we were afraid and did not know what to do both now and in the future. We also told God that we trusted that we were called here and were following Christ as best we could. We asked God to continue to give us guidance, protection and wisdom as we discerned our call at this time. A peace that words cannot describe came upon both of our hearts and we knew, in no logical way, but we knew that God wanted us to remain where we were to serve the people around us. This would prove crucial to us as the days to come would continued to be filled with fearful news and many well-meaning calls and emails from colleagues, friends and family asking us to leave. As more understanding of the situation has come we know that God has indeed called us to be here and we continue to work, believing that the Kingdom of God is becoming more of a reality in this area as we serve.
As Christmas is only 2 days a way we are still busy. We will do caroling with ARI members tomorrow night after the Christmas Eve service and Christmas day is full. At the morning worship service Jonathan will be preaching and then the childrens program, ARK, will have a Christmas party in the afternoon. Finally that evening ARI will have it’s community dinner and Christmas party. At all of these events we will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and many people who do not know Jesus as their personal Lord will be there as well. Please join us in ministry by praying for us this weekend. Please pray that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be very clear and that this Christmas will be one that all the people we worship and celebrate with will be able to welcome Jesus as their own new born king.
We hope and pray you all are well this Christmas and look forward to working through your support into the new year!
Joy to the World, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king.
Let every heart, prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing!
Have a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Jonathan and Satomi
