angel ringers

...the christmas season is an important period of outreach in japan...

...with the vocabulary of christmas virtually everywhere, so too is the curiosity regarding the meaning of this holiday...while relational evangelism takes place year-round, churches invest heavily in events to peak the community's interest and proclaim the gospel...

...today, in the local community center, our church -- gakuentoshi chapel -- rolled out the "red carpet"...

...well, sorta...

...and we presented a handbell concert featuring a talented youth choir called...

...a ministry of a partner church in the asian access kansai network, the angel ringers were dazzling...

..using a seemingly simple instrument in so many creative ways...

...for those like me itching to know what the inside of the bell looks like...

...about 40 people from the neighborhood and our mother church heard the angel ringers perform....

...and sang christmas hymns with the help of izumi and yours truly...

...and heard the gospel exuberantly proclaimed (fuji-sensei)...

...some members of the audience even put on the angel gloves and participated with the angel ringers...

...despite the oversized gloves, this little angel did great...

...so did our buddy, tadanao-san...

::: looking back at this outreach event, it is the last note of the last song performed by the choir that still stands out in my mind...what was supposed to be a rich, ringing major chord utilizing all the handbells was tinged by the dissonance of one off-struck handbell...

...that last note captured the way we felt at the end of the event...we had mixed emotions...as our church team gathered in prayer, our hearts ringing with praise and thanks to God for the dozens of people who heard good music and the good news of jesus, there was also a tinge of dissonance and disappointment that more people did not come to hear...

...so deepens our yearning for the lost and our admiration for the laborers in japan :::