Ready, Set, Go.
The season we entered when we first came to Japan was an intentionally
slower season for the team here at Cross Culture Tokyo. This has been
a blessing to us allowing enough time to adjust to moving to the
otherside of the world, and learning the rythmns of life and ministry
here in Japan. As September began however, things picked up. We met
and discussed re-engaging specific ministries at the church, following
specific direction from Holy Spirit, and so far, He has been faithful
to not just get us started, but to keep us as well, and we are all
joyfully excited for every opportunity to serve.
One of the main ways we serve at the church is by leading our time of
worship during Saturday Church, which is when we have our main
service. Now however, we have started a mid-week time of prayer and
worship, which allows for both a longer, and more intimate worship
experience. God has already began to bless this time and we get to
experience the joy of expressing gratitutde to Him, as well as His
response in prophetic moves of Holy Spirit. We have thoroughly enjoyed
entering into times of worship and getting to experience what worship
and praise raised up from the hearts of our Japanese brothers and
sisters looks and sounds like. It is such a uniquely precious gift,
and we are so honored and humbled to be given the resposibility of
learning as we lead in this area.
New Connections
Another new item in our schedule is alternating outreach in Hōya and
Hibarigaoka. Our fearless leader, Lorelei, felt from the Lord that we
were to spend the first week prayer walking in Hōya, which is an area
close to where we live. We walked, prayed and sang every night for
seven days, following the model of Joshua and the Israelites as seen
in Joshua 5. One of the nights the Lord led us to pray through Psalms
85, where the writer talks about how God visited His people once and
cries out for Him to do so again. That same night, we met multiple
people, senior in age, but they had attended Christian kindergatens.
God was calling them home. One of the gentlement we have developed a
closer relationship with and continue to pray the words of Psalms 85,
that God would revive him again. Now we go on outreach to Hōya every
other week, and the Lord continues to move powerfully as we worship
Him boldly on the streets, and obediently begin friendships with
whomever He highlights to us.
Apart from these intentional times of outreach, we have also been
forming relationships with persons we meet as we go about daily life.
In our neighbourhood lives a lady with a beautiful garden. When we
first moved in, Kavanah began praying for her every time I rode my
bike past her house, which is everyday, sometimes multiples times in
one day. She always prays that God would encounter her in her house,
and create opportunities for us to connect, causing her to walk out
when Kavanah passes by, and that she would see the light of Jesus in
her. This month God decided it was time. One day as Kavanah walked
down the street, there she was, standing in front of her house.
Kavanah took the opportunity to introduce herself and shared how we
had been admiring her garden, all in Japanese. Later that day another
one of our neighbours introduced herself and her six year old
daughter. They were curious and wanted to get to know Kavanah more.
This is such an untypical experience in Japan and was undoubtedly the
hand of God at work, answering our prayers.
