A2 Community

Bible Club
On May 17, we held a Bible Club at our house. Along with seven other believers, we had nine friends come to explore what the Bible is about. A month before, we had received two large boxes of Japanese manga (comic) Bibles from the publisher to pass out to “seeking” friends. And we did just that at the Bible Club!

For the past few years, one way we have reached out to families is through these monthly meetings. Rather than pull kids out from their families to share the gospel with them, we seek to share with the entire family unit.

We began the club with some fun games to explore the concepts of listening, including the classic “Telephone Game”, where a message is whispered from one person to the next. Whether in Japanese or English, the message got butchered! Then we talked about the Bible being God’s love letter to us, which includes instructions on how to live our lives.

Next we broke into family units, read the section on the Sermon on the Mount and shared anything that impacted us. It was awesome to see everyone dive into the Word. We almost couldn’t get them to stop reading. Finally, we shared our discoveries as a large group. It was beautiful to see that God’s Word, in whatever form, penetrates the hearts of young and old alike. Since the Bible Club, we were able to follow up on one friend’s important question, “Why did Jesus say to love our enemies?” Please keep praying for our family as we live out the gospel in Sanda. Pray that our words and lifestyle speak boldly of Christ.

Quarantine
After the Bible Club finished and everyone went home, we were reflecting on what a great day it had been. What could be better? Partnering with fellow believers to explore the Lordship of Christ in community with those God is seeking. We put the kids down to bed and the phone rang. It was the neighborhood phone chain calling to inform us that all the schools in our city would be closed for a week. Kobe had had an outbreak of swine flu and everyone was quarantined. This sounded great to our kids at first, but living out the reality of quarantine was a bit tougher than expected: no leaving the house, no parks, no friends, no extra-curricular activities. However, their teachers came by a few times to give them their homework (unbelievable, huh!) We ventured out for groceries, but always wearing masks. It was rather surreal not seeing any children throughout the town, and brought to mind “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” Remember the village with no kids? We half expected to see the Child Catcher! But we took advantage of some nice family and English study time. We were also appreciative of the timing of the quarantine: it wasn’t enacted until after the Bible Club, and then the families had a whole week to read their new Bibles. God is good!