"Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ."
It is
Tuesday and another day has passed. We
feel as though we have been here much longer than 5 days as our activities have
been so blessed by the Lord.
This
morning's devotion was led by Stan making reference to Acts 6:1-7. This passage tells of how the apostles
identified 7 faithful men to assume responsibility for "waiting on
tables" so the apostles could devote themselves to the care of the Word of
God. Among the seven were Stephen and
Philip who gladly assumed lesser roles for the sake of the Gospel. This describes our team whose members are
willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish our mission of service. We appreciate Yuriko who has taken on a
greater load with a willingness to serve in any and every capacity. It is also encouraging to see the members of
Evergreen Chapel take on greater roles in serving at Bethel and Tama
Hillside. The team is allowing others to
increase as we decrease. But make no
mistake, the presence of the American influence is still clearly needed in
expanding the ministry to churches such as Bethel and Tama Hillside.
The power is
still out at Evergreen, but let us provide a quick overview of our time with the Bethel and
Tama Hillside churches over the past weekend.
Bethel
Church, Shinagawa
| Serving Bethel |
It was good
to see Shiraishi Sensei and Hozue again.
We arrived late Saturday morning and were still amazed with the
"tiny-ness" of this faithful church.
We were blessed to serve with members of Evergreen Chapel and Bethel Church. The 14 children who came with their parents
had a blessed time. In fact, such a good
time that they did not want to leave. The
Christmas party was scheduled to end at 3:30pm, but at 4:30, and after two
attempts to close the program and bid good bye to everyone, the kids weren't
ready to stop playing and the parents continued in on-going dialogues with
others. It was quite humorous to see. But we finally sent everyone off with strong
hopes that they will return. Please pray
for the 10 members of this church as they minister in the power of the Spirit to
their neighbors.
| Bethe's Christmas Party |
| Yuriko presenti |
Tama Hillside Church
Sunday was
devoted to serving at this church which has 12 members. This Christmas event was its first outreach
to the community and having 17 children and their parents in attendance was in
itself a victory.
| Minegishi Sensei |
Worship Service: Our team and members of Evergreen
attended the worship service and it was a blessing to see the simple sanctuary
full. Minegishi Sensei entered Bible
School and the pastoral ministry at the age of 53 after her husband passed away
and planted the Tama Hillside church 6 years ago. Yuriko shared her testimony and the team sang
a few songs of encouragement.
Christmas Outreach: The pictures of the event speak for
themselves. But it was quite evident at
the very start of the program that there was a polite uneasiness on the part of
our guests (children and parents) as many probably stepped into a church for
the first time. But it was also evident
that as the activities continued, we began to see the joy start to show on
their faces. Thank you for your prayers.
| Sato-san, Evergreen (new believer) |
| Mike in Action |
| Team of 4 Churches |
"This party was so good. In the future, we need to learn how to do
this so we can do it on our own and help others to do it" Hillside Member
"Churches in Japan do not normally work
together. This outreach is a good
example of 4 churches working under God as one." Evergreen Member
It was a
good weekend and please know that the time spent with these churches have and
will bring fruit to and through their members.
We are thankful for God's sovereign hand in all that will happen in the
coming months and years. We find
ourselves committed to serving these churches and returning to help
others. May the Lord bless and keep
you, dear ones.
And we will
praise Him,
Your Machida
Team
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