Jesus to Japan

We have been praying that students from the Kangaku mission school nearby would meet Jesus in our church. We had developed a relationship with the Bible teacher at the Junior High section, and our church is one of the recommended churches on the list they give all the students each year. Each spring, the 12 year old students are asked to choose a local church to attend and ask the pastor to sign the sheet which proves to their teacher that they actually attended. Over the years, most of the students have quit coming after coming once or twice. But last month on April 29th, when our guest speaker Rev. Fukui was preaching, about 9 students suddenly showed up. The next week they brought more students, some girls as well as guys. The grandparents of one girl also showed up. On Mothers Day, May 13th, some returned for the third time in a row. One brand new boy and mother also attended. In the picture above you see the 6 Kangaku college students who had been invited that day to play three hymns for Mother`s Day. The new Junior High students were quite impressed that their seniors in the Kangaku college would come to church to play their instruments. All the students listened eagerly as Nathan preached about Moses` mother, who hid him in a basket. The faith of Moses`good mother overcame her fear of King Pharaoh. God delivered Moses from death. Afterward we prayed with the college student musicians, asking the Lord to lead them to salvation and into fruitful service in His Kingdom.

So now there have been about 12 youth from this 1st year Junior High class who have attended. On Sunday afternoon, May 13th, we saw two of the girls and two of the guys walking by the church, and invited them in to play ping pong. They stayed for about an hour, enjoyed their time playing ping pong in our multi-purpose building, and then ended up in the sanctuary, trying out the guitar, the box-drum, the tambourine and the piano. We discovered their musical talents and challenged them to sing for Jesus. We practiced the Hosanna song together. Inge came down the stairs and listened to us, cheering us on. One girl called Miss Kuroda agreed to play a piano song during the offering in a couple weeks. Now they are starting to feel at home in our church. I`m sure the rumors will spread in the class this week,»That church has a ping pong table for us and lots of musical instruments!»

So please pray that we will have the wisdom to follow through with these contacts, and lead them and their parents to Christ. Pray that the Bible teacher at the school will also have the joy of seeing the Word of God bear fruit in the lives of his students. This is a crucial time for them, before they get busy with their sports clubs on Sunday mornings. Our church board recently discussed the happy problem of seating. If we go over 75 people on Sunday morning, will we haul in more chairs? One lady said we could seat 5 slender Japanese on 4 chairs!

I Takarazuka Lutherske Kirke arbeider Nathan og Ingebjørg Mikalesen.

• Gå til Takarazukas hjemmeside.
• Se flyfoto av kirken og området
  Google Earth brukere: Web/Program