The video was called God's Fingerprint in Japan. The video was about the evidence of the existence of the Christian church early in Japan's history. In 1626, Christianity was banned by the government. For the next 250 years, Christians were actively persecuted. So the Japanese church went underground. The video suggested that there were some striking similarities between communion and the tea ceremony. The video showed a split screen with a Catholic priest serving communion and a person preparing tea in a tea ceremony. There were some really eerie similarities. They then showed antique tea cups with Christian symbols.
In 1859 protestant missionaries re-entered Japan. Since then the church in Japan has been slowing growing. The main objection was that Christianity was a foreign religion but the video purpose was to show that Christianity had been in Japan for over 500 years.
I was really struck by devotion and the sacrifice of the early Japanese Christians. They managed to keep the church going in spite of intense persecutions.
As we serve at Nokendai, Kohichi and Shirley, have shared about how dedicated their members are. They have also shared about their need for a full time missionary to be assigned to the Nokendai chruch. My prayer is that these dedicated members would continue to grow in their faith and a missionary be assigned soon.
By the way VBS has been a blast so far. We had minor problems but the Lord has been faithful and blessed us and the children. Continue to pray for us.
Pray for continued energy.
Pray for protection from insects. (Lyanne has over 36 bites, every one has at least one)
Pray for safety. (for the children and us)
Pray that we can empty ourselves so that we can be filled with the Spirit and be effective tools for God.
Here are pictures of our team sharing at the nursing home.
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