pause to pulse

::: ten days have elapsed since we posted or even thought about doing so...the pause from posting has been refreshing...thanks to many of you who encourage us to keep telling narratives of faith and friendship in japan...in this post, we'd like to write a bit more and give you a pulse on life and ministry in kobe, japan...

...while our weekly schedules remain much the same as in previous weeks -- reflecting a steady balance of relationship building, language learning and english teaching -- we are grateful that God continues to clear (and, at times, break) ground in our untilled souls...

...three lessons we're working through are:

• enormity's open door...the enormity of the task in japan is overwhelming...having said that, God insists on teaching us that such enormity calls for the endurance of the saints (never has the P in calvin's tulip meant so much to us)...as the book of Hebrews has been teaching me, the enormity of the task is an open call to endure in Him who endured all things for us (hebrews 4:14-16)...

• endurance's shape...speaking of our endurance, isn't it shaped so much by mutual christian encouragement (romans 1:11-12; philippians 1:3-5; hebrews 3:13)?...no question, we need each other's help, hurrahs and hurts...for claire, this encouragement comes in many shapes from many sources...this month, however, one particular example has left a lasting impression...inspired by testimonies from her close friend (and her husband) about how deeper prayer and dynamic fasting have transformed their lives, claire has been incorporating these disciplines into her daily life...consequently, God has given claire greater endurance, focus and vision for the enormous work here...

• impossibility's hope...with endurance and encouragement come great hope, as paul writes in romans 15:4-5: "through the endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope"...at times, we are defeated by the enormity of the task in japan...but other times, we dance in Faith's freedom because the impossibility of the task places our hope exclusively in the only One who can complete the task...

ministry pulse...

...as we grow through the lessons above, ministry continues to move forward at a fast pace...our church continues to be an open place to worship God and welcome visitors...we have had several residents from the neighborhood visit in the past few weeks...claire and i are encouraged by the endurance and hope of the church planting team...you would think that the last thing a church consisting of twelve core members would be thinking of (and planning for) is a church plant...not so with this church...they are envisioning a church plant in this area in the next two to three years...

...english ministry is in full swing...i have my hands full teaching six sets of students ranging from elementary to junior high students at the local YMCA (kudos to all the unsung teachers out there who grind it out every day)....claire is starting two adult classes next month... opportunities in the english ministry have galvanized our church members...relationship-building has been steady this month...while we continue to spend time with church members, we also spend equal if not more time with non-Christian neighbors and friends, like the o. family who lives the next unit over...having never tried tacos or burritos, claire prepared the works...what a joy it's been to get closer to this family...

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