One Month Update
Grace City Church is officially settled into their new space on the 7th floor of the Ochanomizu Christian Center. Nestled in the guitar shop haven of Japan, the area is filled with the nation’s highest concentration of Universities and hospitals. On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrated the church’s 15th year anniversary with a huge dinner party! Our pastor ordered 30 corn mayo pizzas, one of Japan’s…specialties.
Me taking pictures during the church service
The people listening to various guest speakers
15th Anniversary party after the service
A church staff member giving a gift to the owner of the building where we are now located
On one of my days off, I took a solo adventure to the Ueno Zoo to practice my photography!
We are able to connect with loads of new Christian friends from around the world…
Michelle, a Korean Christian from Argentina
An inter-denominational group of young Christians from around East Asia and America
Now that the church has a permanent space, we are able to host longer events and even lend the space out to other ministries. Kairos, a college ministry run under the RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) campus ministry, was able to host a large group gathering in our space. At this event, we had a team of 16 university students from Alabama demonstrate what a typical Christian gathering looks like to local non-christian Japanese students.
A bunch of friends celebrated a church staff member’s birthday with Yakiniku (self-grilled meat!)
The worst selfie of all time, but you can see what Yakiniku is like
And last night, we hosted our monthly “Art Life Faith” event. These gatherings enable Christian artists to showcase their testimony through their artistry in a way that is less confrontational than direct evangelism. At this event, the interns made kimchi fried rice and Korean side dishes for 25 people. Our speaker was my dear friend, Kanako, a ballet dancer and night club DJ. She shared how her walk with the Lord has shaped her life to be one that enables her to witness to people that otherwise would never have the chance to meet a Christian.
We continue to do lots of daily tasks, language lessons, community building, and preparation for future events! I can’t believe that I’ve already been here a month. Time is running by at lightning speed and we’ve only barely scratched the surface of all the work the Lord has set out before us.
Things the be praying for:
That the interns have the health and strength to continue the mission
That God would set divine appointments for locals to see His love for them and their need for a savior
That the entire missions team is encouraged and remembers that this is God’s mission, we merely are the means of a divine plan.