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2008年04月11日
The Church In Japan: A Double Anniversary
On the 8th of April, Reiko and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary by taking a three day trip to Okinawa. It was a wonderful three days of relaxing and thanking the Lord for all these years together.
However, I realized that it was also my 30th anniversary of being involved in Christian Church work here in Japan. I had at first been involved in youth ministry and also in music. However, God clearly spoke to me that the need in Japan was for more churches and that church planting and pastoring was what I was to do. When I was younger, I had decided that being a missionary was the one thing I would not do. However, if I did become a missionary, Japan was the one country I was going to avoid. Finally, if in spite of everything I became a missionary to Japan, church planting and pastoring was the one thing I would not do.Well, God had other plans and in 1978 I gladly entered into my new ministry of church planting and pastoring.
It has been a wonderful 30 years and I can see God's grace throughout. Of course there have been many battles to fight. 20 years ago I had my first fight with cancer and now I am in the midst of the second round. Developing local leadership in the church has taken time and I have made many mistakes. But, overall, more than my mistakes and more than any hard times the church may have gone through, these 30 years have seen the guidance and the power and the grace of God at work.
I am looking forward to God's continuing guidance and can't wait to see what God has in store for me and for the church in the next 30 years. Praise be to God!
Romans 1:16-17
投稿者 bethany : 2008年04月11日 05:45
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