Thank You for Your Prayers

Our Christmas get together went very well. Thank you so much for your prayers.
Here are a few shots of what happened there.



One group of children singing about the star that guided the Magi.

Here is a shot of the folks that attended.

Most of these people are not Christians. They our English students and/or the parents of English students.

Power For Living...「パワー・フォ・リビング」

Recently the "Power for Living" book was translated into Japanese. Most of you know it is a very basic, how to have a relationship with God through Jesus, and how to grow in that relationship. It has been advertised on TV, radio and in commuter trains.

Two extremely well known people have endorsed it. One is a Japanese woman who wrote a classic pop song in Japan called "The Outsider". The other is a foreigner who managed the winning team in the Japan National Baseball Series last year.

We have been able to pass out almost 100 of them. Most of our English students at the chapel and my city classes took them. At the Civic Center I explained what they were and left a stack of them on my desk. Several people told me they had seen it on TV and were interested in it. Several others who usually run away when the discussion turns to "God", "Christianity" or even "religion", came and quietly slipped a copy into their bag.

One student, that I have had many conversations about faith, etc with, was reading it at the small restaurant we have in the civic center after class. Another used the opportunity to write about it in her English diary that I check every week. She was telling me why Japanese could NOT believe in Jesus, BUT at least she was thinking about it. (Of course, I wrote my take on the subject when I checked the diary. )

PLEASE pray that “Power For Living” will stir up a harvest across this nation. Many people have heard about Christianity, but have no idea what it really teaches.

Please pray that many who have heard the gospel before, or fallen away, would be stirred by this book. Please pray specifically that those who attended Sunday School or a Christian kindergarten as children would be stirred to believe.

**I started this post more than a month ago. Now there are about 40 or so new English students I have started teaching. Please pray for them as I pass out the Power for Living books to them.

お祈りください！

最近「パワー・フォ・リビング」という本は日本語翻訳されました。この本は、福音を単純に語って、また、神との関係を持つ方法について語っています。テレビやラジオや電車の車両の広告で宣伝されました。

日本でとても有名な人がその宣伝に出ます。一人は「異邦人」の作曲者です。もう一人は日本ハムファターズの監督者です。

教会の英会話の生徒や香芝市の英会話教室の生徒に、100冊ぐらい配れました。文化センターで本を紹介してから、自分の机に置いて、「ほしがっている人どうぞ！」と言いました。いくつの方が「テレビのCMで見って、興味がある。」と言いました。その中、いつも「神様」、「キリスト教」、「宗教」などの話を避ける方でも、こっそり来て、一冊を取りました。

一人、前からよく信仰などの話をしてくれた生徒が、事業が終わってから食堂で読みました。もう一人が英語の日記でそのことについて書きました。日本人がキリスト教を受け入れない理由いろいろ書いたのですが、考えてくれたことは嬉しかったです。（もちろん、私の考えも書き入れましたが…）

｢パワー・フォ・リビング」で福音のための収穫がありますように、祈ってください。多くの方が「キリスト教」を尊重しますが、その教えわかりません。

イエス様についてのよい知らせを聞いたことがある人、や教会から離れている方などが救われますように祈ってください。特に、日曜学校や幼稚園で聖書の話を聞かれた人の人生に収穫がありますように祈ってください。

＊＊このポストは一ヶ月前書いたのです。最近、また、新しい英会話の教室が始めました。新しい生徒のためにもお祈りください。

Whatever You Do, Don't Wait!是非、待ってないで！

This is a very difficult post for me. But if one person can learn from my mistake, I will feel like my experience is not wasted.

At the end of February, the name of an old acquaintance came up unexpectedly. I had not seen him or his wife for 4 years or more.

He had been an English student for many years and a "semi"-friend of the family. We had many conversations about faith, God, Christianity...you name it.

His story of the Buddhist priest telling him "There is no human soul, it is just a superstition." is one of my often told tales. The priest had been receiving money almost every month for nearly 20 years to pray for the soul of his child who had died.

When his name came up I immediately felt the Lord Jesus nudge me to go visit him. But I was busy trying to get my taxes done, so I wrote a note on the calendar in February, March and April, so I would not forget to visit him...

Today I got the phone call that he had passed away. I had promised myself I would go when I got less busy...He was not all that old so I felt no "urgency" to make the visit, other than the reminder every time I looked at the calendar...and now I sit at my computer extremely "sorry"...

Tonight I will be going to offer my condolences to his wife...I wish I had gone to renew an old friendship before it was too late...

Ask the LORD Himself to help you not put off those "nudges". There is always "busy work" to do...but people are the LORD's heart beat.

このポストは、私にとって、とても難しいです。が、誰かのためになったら、満足します。

2月末、久しぶりに、ある知り合いの名前が出てきました。4-5間に会っていない人。

長い間英会話の生徒で、内の家族とまま親しくなりました。数えられないほど、イエス様のことや信仰のことなどについて話しました。

亡くなられた娘の魂の冥福ために20年近く祈られたお坊さんに、「人間って、魂がない。それは浄土宗の迷信だ」と言われた知り合い。エリックの有名な話です。

この人の名前が出てきたとき、「会いに行かなければならない」と思いました。実は、イエス様に教えられたと思います。しかし、そのとき、税金のことしか考えられない時期でした。彼に会いに行くのを忘れないために、2月、3月、4月のカレンダーにメモを書きました...

が、今日、「昨日の晩、亡くなった」という連絡がありました。
「時間があるとき、必ず会いに行く」と決めたのに。後悔。「そんなに年寄りではない。急ぐ必要がない。」と考えたのに。後悔。今、ここに座りながら、「もう、遅い」と考えるばかり。

今夜、奥様に会いに行きます。しかし、「久しぶり」の替わりに「お悔やみを申し上げます」ということしかできません。

皆さん、イエス様が人を思い出してくれるとき、「あなたのタイミングで行きますように、助けて下さい」と祈ったら賢いと思います。
どんなときでも忙しいでしょうが、「人」はイエス様のハートです。