Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

March 23 was a refreshing and encouraging day for us at church! Before I get into why, I think I should start from the beginning.

Ron and Carolyn Hardy, from our church in Ann Arbor, played a big role in talking with us about Japan (see more in our Christmas post). They were missionaries here for over 30 years and still work for SEND International in Michigan. They aligned me with Torchbearers Yamanakako where I will begin working in May. Steve & Jennifer Frentz are the directors of this camp, and we spent many months emailing in 2013 leading up to our move.

The Frentzs had told us about a church in our city, and since then, we have been praying about going, serving, and growing there. We asked God to show us very clearly where He wanted us to grow and serve, but expressed our heart that we hoped it would be here. We wanted to serve the community where we live and spend time where He has placed us. Our prayer was that there would be a way that we could serve the church, but our hearts also hoped that we would be encouraged by a church. One thing we knew was that we wanted to get connected right away.

We landed in Japan on Friday, January 10. That Sunday, we were excited to go to Gotemba New Hope Chapel.

Gotemba New Hope Chapel (御殿場純福音キリスト教会, Gotemba Jun Fukuin Kirisuto Kyokai)

Ryan's coworker, Tsuji-San (Ted), who he also worked with in Michigan and Shanghai, was so kind to take us because we didn't yet have a car and didn't know how to use the bus system.

Our first time attending Gotemba New Hope Chapel on January 12, 2013.

We knew that there was an English translator, but didn't know any Japanese to figure out how it worked. The Frentzs had told their friend Chie to look out for us. Little did we know that she spoke English and her husband was Nick from Pennsylvania! Nick helped us get the translation headset.

Ryan all setup to listen to the message.

After church, Ted came to pick us up and brought his family. Ryan had met them in Shanghai, but this was my first time meeting his wife, Megumi, and son, Ryotaro. They took us to lunch at what would become our favorite ramen shop!

Our first ramen in Japan. Ryan had miso and I had miso butter ramen. Yum!

After this first Sunday, we were uncertain about so many things. We were excited, but nervous, confused, and so many other feelings. Over the next couple of weekends, we tried another church that was an hour and a half away, but didn't feel peace about it. That's when the snow started! We were literally snowed in and spent our Sunday at home. The following weekend, it snowed AGAIN.

The members of the apartment community shoveling the roads.

This time worse (27 inches in one snowfall)!

We could not believe that 27" of snow could fall in 12 hours!

 Ryan spent that Sunday helping dig out cars with our neighbors.

Ryan and Tsuji digging out their cars together.

We didn't have a shovel, but as soon as we were able to get on the road, we went to the store and bought the last one.

This was literally the last shovel in the store. All of the snow shovels were sold out.

After working through snowpacolypse, we watched a live stream of another church about an hour away, but also didn't feel peace about it. Something told us to go back to the church in Gotemba. We went back and were welcomed with open arms. "Hello! Where have you been?!" "Hello! How are you?!"

Shortly after returning, we were asked to join an English conversation group held after the service in the café. This is lead by Atsuko, the wonderful woman who translates all of the sermons for us! We knew there would be some worship and Bible reading, but we didn't expect the encouragement and sweet spirit of God there.

The guide for the class.

Atsuko asked us to introduce ourselves, and then the class started.

The class opened with prayer:

Dear Father,

We thank You for the privilege of coming together for a time of English study.

Please help us to learn English through singing, sharing and the Bible.

We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us.

In His name, we pray, Amen.

Then we had a time of worship. Before we sang, Atsuko asked me to read through the first verse and chorus so everyone could hear my pronunciation and repeat. Then we sang together while a man in the group played guitar. Oh, what joy! I can't describe the feeling in my heart! One thing I enjoy so much is worshiping God in song with a group of other believers. I had missed that so much! There is something about the power of worship in the safety and care of a group.

The group is also working on memorizing the Lord's Prayer in English. Atsuko asked Ryan to read it so everyone could hear his pronunciation and repeat. Then people took turns trying to say it from memory. What music to our ears! It was such a sweet and precious sound. Like hearing children saying a Bible verse from memory, it made me so proud and happy for them.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:8-14

They are also learning how to share their testimonies in English. We spent time going around the room and asking each other two questions: 1) when did you become a Christian? 2) why did you become a Christian? What encouragement! What a sweet time of getting to know people within the church. We see them every week, but to hear their hearts and understand them! What joy! I practiced with four women. Some of them have been Christians for decades. Two of them (including Atsuko) became Christians because their previous English teachers used scripture to teach them English. What freedom there is in Christ! What a reminder that God can be glorified in any work. What a reminder that Jesus saves!

We also spent some time sharing attributes of God with one another. What are the attributes of God that have been revealed to you and are sweet because of the experiences of your life? God is [adjective].

I heard God is MERCIFUL, God is POWERFUL, God is GOOD, God is ALL KNOWING, and on and on.

What a reminder! God is [noun].

I heard God is MY ROCK, God is LOVE, God is HOLY, God is GRACE, and on and on.

What a God we serve!

We sang Leaning on the Everlasting Arms one more time. What an encouragement this group was to us. In this moment we felt God we were encouraged and reassured that God had us right where He wanted us. This began our mindset that we can serve the church with our English and we could grow and become encouraged by it. Just what our prayer was! We could communicate with one another with what little English they knew and what little Japanese we know. What a reminder that God loves us and knows exactly how to refresh our spirit when we are so low.

To close our time together, we prayed together four times. One time with each of the native languages represented in the group. A man from Mexico prayed in Spanish, the pastor's wife prayed in Japanese, a man from Korea prayed in Korean, and Ryan prayed in English. In that moment, I was overcome with how BIG and GREAT God is. He is a God that is same around the world, in every country, in every language, within anyone who will trust Him. He is...

FREEDOM

LOVE

WITHOUT LIMIT

WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

THIS IS THE GOD WE SERVE! TO OUR GOD AND FATHER BE GLORY FOREVER AND EVER, AMEN (Philippians 4:20)!

Love always,

Amy