Ev: God's Plans and Not Our Plans

Our plans are sometimes made and then God changes them. Monday was our first day of ESL. We waited with Shirley for students to come. None came, but we had an opportunity to get to know Shirley better and about what God is doing in Nokendai Bible Fellowship. She shared about three gentlemen who came together to Nokendai and how one was very quiet, another was very enthusiastic about Christianity, and how the last one felt they should leave because he felt it was a cult. After a time, it was only the one who was the enthusiastic one who left the church. The other two gentlemen continue to attend Nokendai.

She shared the joy of watching a woman take communion for the first time, and the difficulty of not living in the neighborhood that their church exists in. People they invite will not attend a church that is so far away. It takes us about 45 min. to walk to the station, board the train, and walk to the church. Shirley and Koichi are eagerly waiting for another missionary who will share the work with them. However, he/she will not arrive for another 2 years.

On the 2nd day of ESL, Kohichi waited with us. However, no students showed up again. During this time, Koich shared about the Japanese people: the decrease in population, the problems in the education system, prejudice against the Christian faith, how becoming a Christian does not mean you become less Japanese, and how their church emphasizes the grace of God and not just more rules to follow. He shared on the denomination system in Japan, which made the Christian faith more legalistic. He shared how one girl wanted to be baptized but her father strongly opposed it. In many families it becames a choice between following Jesus or their families. In the Japanese culture it is very difficult to stand out and be different. We saw a clearer picture of the spiritual life in Japan.

Kohichi and Shirley felt that they may not have advertised enough but there was many limitations on the amount of advertising they could do in order to use meeting facilities at their complex. However, when Shirley and we talked, we realized that the ESL was our plan but learning more about the spiritual life in Japan and just getting to know these two wonderful people better was God plan all along. We thank God for the Tamuras who serve God and others. They continue to be encouraged by them. God is so good. Blessings, Ev