Hope for Japan

Today, we concluded one of the most incredible weekends of the year. Holy Week and Easter is always a special time of year, but this weekend was particularly special to us. As we lead the Alpha Course since January, one of the ladies that has been coming accepted Christ last month and took the step of faith to be baptized today. Over the past month, Miho regularly met with her to help her grow in her newfound faith. As we got closer to Easter, she indicated that she preferred that Miho baptize her. This was a great honor, especially since this was the first time for Miho to perform a baptism. Her testimony was very moving as God used another family from our church to reach out to her over the past few years and now bring her to this decision. She also shared how she has already begun to notice God at work in her life through how she responds to her husband and kids. This morning, three other women were baptized alongside Noriko (two of them Japanese). 

Yesterday, we hosted a Family Easter Outreach. One of Allie’s friends from school came with his older brother and mom. Through an Easter egg hunt, dying and coloring eggs, and a dramatic reading of the Easter story, tons of kids, primarily Japanese, got to hear the Gospel for possibly the first time. We had 90 kids and 50 parents show up, which is bigger than previous years. A few families from the Alpha course came with their kids, while one woman brought 18 kids from the school she teaches. We loved our team at the church who led everything, which allowed us to care for our girls and be good hosts to our guests (though Miho did do some translation). In the past, we were used to planning, promoting, leading, and cleaning up after our family events. 

This will definitely be a memorable weekend for years to come. God is alive and still at work here in Japan. We are seeing it firsthand right now and look forward to more lives changed in the months and years ahead.