Dear Friends,
The Cabinet Office of the Japanese government has been conducting a survey of Japanese citizens almost every year since 1958. According to the most recent survey (June-July 2012), 64% of Japanese value emotional contentment over material contentment. The majority of respondents in every age bracket (20’s~70’s) said they would rather have a happy heart than materialistic affluence (The Daily Yomiuri, 8-17-12).
This hunger for something more than the material things in life was underscored by the 2000 people who packed out one of the largest public concert halls in Kagoshima City to hear a Christian music program on November 15th. This outreach concert (called Love Sonata) was sponsored by the Kagoshima Evangelistic Association, in cooperation with the On-Nuri church in Korea. The two-hour program featured music by internationally-known Christian musicians and singers from Korea, as well as a gospel message by a minister from Korea. At the end of the program, 130 people indicated they wanted to accept Christ.
The Yoshino church was one of 52 churches which helped with the preparations for the Love Sonata program, the largest evangelistic meeting ever held in Kagoshima. We are very grateful to the On-Nuri church for providing the financial support and staff of 300 volunteers to make this effort possible.
Several weeks before the Love Sonata concert, the Yoshino church held its fall outreach meeting on the Saturday evening of October 27th. Our evangelist, Brother Kim, shared the gospel with the group of about 30 people in attendance through special music and an easy-to-understand message. At least seven of those present were not Christians. We are happy to report that one of those seven (a middle-aged lady) has begun attending our Sunday morning services at Yoshino. Please pray with us that many more in Kagoshima will make their decision to accept Christ as a result of these efforts to share the gospel in October and November.
Now let us review for you some of the other things that have been happening here in the past few months. September 11th-12th, I was in Kobe (700 miles north) to attend the National Convention for Prison Chaplains, which was attended by 1300 chaplains from all over Japan. While at the convention, I enjoyed some fellowship time at a special gathering of Christian chaplains who were at the convention. (The majority of chaplains in Japan are Buddhist.)
September 21st, I conducted the funeral of Brother Kazumi Nakamura (77), a faithful member and deacon of the Yoshino church for over 36 years. He had been in poor health for the past several years. His wife and two of his children are also baptized believers. Brother Nakamura was a quiet man, but he had a strong, steady faith, and his example will continue to speak to the members of the Yoshino church.
Sunday, September 30th, was a fifth Sunday, so instead of preaching at Kokubu & then returning to Yoshino, I preached at Kokubu (8:00), Tarumizu (10:00), and then at Kushikino (2:00). I usually get home on 5th Sundays around 5:30 p.m., after having traveled by car, car ferry, and train to these churches. It is a long day, but one that always makes me feel how blessed I am to be a preacher of the gospel.
Friday evening, October 19th, we began the fall term of our English Bible Class at the downtown Kagoshima church. We were very pleased to have four new people join the class after seeing our advertisement in a small local paper. I use the first part of the class session (using an English conversation text) to help them with their pronunciation and listening skills, and then I close the lesson with a short explanation of the Bible verse of the week (which they are asked to memorize). I have come to the conclusion that it is better to introduce them to the gospel using a brief passage because it is easier for them to remember and apply to their lives.
October 29th, I conducted another funeral for a member of the Yoshino church. I baptized Ume Yamauchi, the mother of one of our church members, a little over 12 years ago--when she was 92 years old. When she passed away in October (at 105), her family asked me to conduct a small family funeral for her. It was an opportunity to not only pay our respects to her, but also to share the hope we have in the face of death through Christ with her relatives who had never heard the gospel message before.
November 2nd-3rd, I was in Osaka for the Osaka Bible Seminary trustee meeting and to attend their annual Conference on Evangelism, which is held on the OBS campus. Close to a hundred Christians mostly from our churches in the Tokyo and Osaka areas gather to hear guest speakers at this day-and-a-half conference. As the president of next year’s 64th All Japan Christian Convention, I was given some time on the program to talk about our plans for hosting the convention in Kagoshima and to encourage everyone to attend. I also reminded them that the bullet train (Japan’s high-speed express train) could now be taken all the way to Kagoshima from Osaka.
November 23rd, our churches in Kagoshima prefecture gathered in Kagoshima City for our 59th Annual Rally. Over fifty Christians from nine of our churches gathered for this all-day meeting of preaching, singing, and fellowship. The Yoshino church, along with the Kagoshima church, helps to host this rally each year. This rally has played a key role in keeping our churches closely tied together for almost 60 years now.
As this year comes to a close, we have so much to be thankful for. We are especially grateful to all of you who continue to make our ministry here possible through your prayers and financial support. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we share the gospel in Kagoshima. May God richly bless and strengthen you in the new year ahead.
In Him,
Walter & Mary
For photos, please refer to the Photo Album page.