Keeping it Personal

There is a convergence in the force. Do you feel it? Can you see it? Kohichi chose the book of James as his sermon series this fall. Our supporting TEAM missionary Gerald wrote this summer to say he wanted to start a series on James. Then I visit all of you at the Lighthouse and find that you, too, are doing the book of James. The Lord seems to be sending us a very clear message: this is the time to act. The time for living out our faith is now.

"Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." James 2:18

What a great privilege and blessing it was to see all of you, to worship with you on Sunday, September 27 at the 9AM, and then to share with you at the JMT celebration at 4:30PM that same evening! Thank you for giving me some time to share a little bit about our ministry at Nokendai Bible Fellowship. We so appreciate your partnership with us, specifically, how to reach the children of NBF for Christ. The window of time we have with them is so very short, so these days are precious, and the relationship we have with them now may very well determine their spiritual future.

As I have been voraciously reading the book Mei-Ling gave me, "The Hole in our Gospel", one concept keeps popping out for me, and that is to "keep it personal". As I read biographies and autobiographies of missionaries past and present, the very worst thing that can happen is not lack of money or resources, persecution or loneliness. The worst thing that can happen to a missionary working abroad is to be forgotten. Actually it is the worst thing that can happen to anyone, missionary or not. Even in the bible, how many times does the Lord ask us to "remember"? Remember what has happened. Remember me. Remember what I have done for you. Remember whom I sent. God the Father asks us to remember Him and His mighty deeds. Jesus asked us to remember Him and take communion in remembrance of Him. The Apostle Paul pleaded with his church to remember him in chains. Now that LCC has sent 3 VBS teams to NBF, please remember the children and remember them by name if you can. Please do not forget them, because they have not forgotten you. Please remind them that you still remember their names, just as the Lord Himself calls each of us tenderly by our names. Japan will be won for Christ one person at a time. It will take perseverance on our parts to cultivate those relationships. We will have to work hard to remember since it is so much easier to be passive and to forget. This is true for me, too.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God: but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:7-12

Thank you for letting "LOVE" lead you to a place many of you would not have gone to on your own. That was certainly true for me. Fall is already upon us and we are already gearing up for Christmas as you are at LCC. This Rich Stearns book has motivated me to rethink how we do Advent at NBF, too. We, too, will see if we can sponsor some work that World Vision is doing in Japan, or elsewhere around the globe, this season.

We continue to pray for all of you, too, and give thanks for each of you who have supported this VBS ministry at NBF these past 3 years. Words will never fully express the depth of gratitude and thanksgiving we have in our hearts for you at the Lighthouse. May all we do bring Glory to Him and Him alone.

Many blessings,
Shirley