easter outreach

::: today our church held an outreach event for our community...again, our church -- in conjunction with some personnel and resources from our parent church (nishinomiya chapel) -- worked well together with a good balance of humility, harmony, and hard work...here are a couple of dedicated members of our parent church and kotomi (right) who volunteered their time earlier in the week to canvass the neighborhood for the event...

...today twenty-five adults from the neighborhood attended a showing of a movie on the inspirational life of tomihiro hoshino...

...in 1970, hoshino, then a jr. high gymnastics teacher, suffered a tragic accident, rendering him with paralysis from the neck down...

...turning tragedy into a turning point, in 1972 hoshino learned how to paint and write with his mouth while in the hospital...in 1974, hoshino became a christian and since then God has used his turning point into a well-known testimony of christian faith and courage in japan...

...for more information on hoshino's life and images of his works, click the links below:

www.hoshinotomihirousa.org
www.tomihiro.jp

...after the adults watched the movie, pastor fuji presented the gospel...

...mr kokubu took a lead role in presenting the film and inviting people to our church...

...meanwhile, claire, izumi, kotomi, yoko and i were doing easter egg crafts with four neighborhood children...this ministry time was a three-stand effort...with crafts sent to us by dear ministry partners -- thanks james and caroline! -- claire (below: with izumi) had awesome resources to lead the children's ministry time...

...yoko and kotomi translated and provided helping hands...



...all in all, the outreach was an encouraging indication that people in our neighborhood are open to hearing more about the good news of jesus...

please join us in thanking God for this outreach...as we follow up with those who attended in the week to come, please ask God to draw them into a saving relationship with Him and fellowship in the church...