Lord of the Fellowship

Celebrating "Greenery Day", a National Holiday

Another chapter in the neverending ongoing saga of a wilderness pioneer (pastor) -

Had a meeting today with the owner of  the Sign Company. That's how it works here (I imagine it's like sitting down with a wedding planner, or explaining to Donald Trump why someone like me needs someone
like him to back my harebrained scheme).

I'd emailed him first, sent PDFs and JPGs and PNGs (and W, X, and Y and Z), and passed along diagrams and contact information from our buildings maintenance department. He followed up with a personal introductory phone call, and I provided more detailed information through further emails... All of which resulted in our scheduled meeting today.
 
The good stuff
(or so I've heard)
Mr. A introduced himself as being Iranian (so of course we chatted briefly about caviar), and then we proceeded to go over every possible physical detail of our building and of the hoped-for signs (one outside, one for the vacant slot in the lobby directory, another for the slot in the elevator directory, and a small square one for over the elevator door, by our floor number). Mr. A was very thorough and very professional. Over the next several days he will be going over all the data, and he will let me know when the estimate is completed (sounds like it's gonna be real cheap, don't it?). Sigh.... I keep reminding myself we're in the center of the business capital of the world.

So, leaving behind the world of high finance, let's move right along to one of the more FUN aspects of wilderness pioneering ("there's a fun side?" you ask?).


♪Good evening Miss Mariaaaan♫
A baby church is like a actual baby, in the sense that there are developmental milestones in the life and growth of a new church. One of these early milestones is when the church meets together as a church, outside of the church. I'm talking about "fellowshipping" (and not just the "meet us at the park near the church, ♪and you can have your fill of all the food you bring yourself♫" pseudo-fellowship). I mean the first time that someone in the church invites everybody in the church to his or her house for dinner (or lunch or high tea or snack buffet)!


Americans and Filipinos and Koreans and Japanese, all at the same table!

On Sunday, a family in the church, the Sorias, invited everyone to their house for a veritable Filipino Feast! And what a feast! There was adobo, rice, pancit, potato salad, lumpia, chilled fruit salad (with nata de coco) and hot, sweet lemongrass tea! (I was glad I wore my loose-fitting island shirt!). While we there, enjoying the fantastic food and the riveting conversation, we got to meet John's niece and her Korean husband (who had stopped by to drop off a sofa and connect the internet). John wasted no time, and shared with his niece how much he enjoys going to a Christian church where you can be involved, and sing and pray and learn the Word of God (wow!).
John and Mitos, our gracious hosts

Time passed way too quickly, and before we knew it, we were saying our tearful goodbyes ("Goodbye, Lumpia! Goodbye, Pancit!"). 

As he dropped us off at the bus stop, John told me he was really going to try to get his niece and her husband to go to church on Sunday...

I'm just astounded at how MUCH the Holy Spirit does, all around us, all of the time, especially when we're feeling overwhelmed and not overly-confident!

Please continue to keep us in prayer, and continue to help us bless this nation with the good news of hope, a future, and eternal life!


Lisa and Aya in Shinagawa

Japan must be saved!



Comments

Unknown said…
Awesome report! We will be praying for Japan.
May 7, 2014 at 5:44 AM
Chris Banducci said…
Excellent and encouraging post!
May 7, 2014 at 4:37 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wilderness Pioneering

Image
Still room for one, THEN it's us 4 and no more... One of the great things about taking over the pastorate of a church is, that there are usually at least some people, and often there's a building and even some sort of equipment. You jump right in there and preach that very same Sunday night! And once you convince the faithful ones that you personally didn't chase off the previous pastor  (St. Perfectus the Kind), it's Kingdom business as usual! Now, if rather than taking over a work, you are pioneering, then you can often count on nearby (or relatively nearby) Fellowship churches to roll up their sleeves and till the soil with you. Garage-band disciples with their own bootleg CDs will rap, rasp, or rock-out until the first row (meaning you, your wife and your 4 kids) is deaf and covered with saliva. And since breaking up that fallow ground can work up quite an appetite, the flockless pastor will at least count on one last supper with the impact team at Lydia Pu...
Read more

His plans, His ways... are HIGHER

Image
It was barely over a year ago that I received an email -  A Happy New year! My name is Hiro. I am a member of Victory Chapel Saipan. I have a Father who lives in Sagamihara City who wishes to visit the church. But he is a very strong Atheist. I have been talking about Jesus to him, and I am very happy that he became interested. But I am sure his interest is still Christianity as Philosophy. I really want him to be saved but I am so worried that he might not be accepted by your church. And I know it will take a time for him to be saved. Pastor. Is it possible for my father to visit your church?  Thank you very much. I pray that my parents will be saved soon. Respectfully Yours, Hiro  Some of you are familiar with the story of Hiro's father ("Mr. N"). About a week later I met with Hiro's dad, and we began what has now become a year-long journey together, exploring the Word of God. So just this past November, Hiro got in touch with me again. Between his w...
Read more

Mr N comes to see Jesus by night

Image
Maybe you know what I'm talking about: You're preaching, or sharing your testimony. Time is standing still. Or rather - somewhere between the ticks of the clock, you've shifted sideways into eternity. The air is different. If this were a movie, the music has transitioned into something stirringly intense. I don't have the words to explain it clearly. I've felt this before (I've felt this many times before, but this is the first time I've remembered it). All of a sudden, you KNOW. You know that what's about to happen - is eternal. Oh, I've talked to people, and witnessed to people, and had people repeat a prayer with me. But sometimes, just sometimes, something happens, and it's like, they're not even hearing YOU. Like when, in The Cross and the Switchblade, everybody becomes deathly quiet, and the Mau Maus start taking off their hats. Your voice sounds like it's coming from another room, and the presence of God is SO stro...
Read more