Today is the Thursday before Moore College Mission. Yesterday we had a day of prayer for all of the Mission teams and all of the churches/ministries we will be involved in. For those of us visiting places a bit more far-flung, tomorrow will involve traveling. We will be exchanging seats in a theology class for seats in Economy Class.
Our team is bound for the island chain of Japan, and it’s capital of Tokyo. More specifically, we are going to Eifuku-Minami Church. While the location may seem extraordinary, especially if your knowledge of Japan comes from tourism media (and I have been getting a lot of targeted advertising these days), it should not detract from the really extraordinary thing which is happening there; people meeting around and sharing publicly God’s Word.
Being able to proclaim the Lord Jesus publicly is not always easy to do in a place where Christians are only a tiny minority. The latest report from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs suggests there are about 2,000,000 Christians in Japan (which may sound like a lot, but is only 1.5% of the total population). Christians meeting together is very important in this situation. So please praise God that there are churches and groups open to the disruption of having 11 foreigners join them doing this in the prayerful hope that many more Japanese people may join them also.
In our time we will see and support some diverse ministries. From an adventurous hiking group to some small bible studies. From preschool children to a high school camp, and even University and young adult worker groups as well. There will be plenty of opportunities to tell of how we came to trust the Lord Jesus, and how God brought us to make the costly decision to study at Moore. There will also be plenty of opportunities to learn about ministry in Japan, serving the Lord when very few other people around you are, and the possibility that God would open the door for us to minister outside of Sydney and outside of Australia after study.
Please pray for us. Please pray for the other mission teams. Please pray for the church and people we will meet. Thank you.
私たちのために祈ってください。 他のミッションチームを祈ってください。 私たちが会う教会や人々を祈ってください。 ありがとうございました。