“The church comes to us.”

A word from Matt in Hiroshima:

When most people hear that we are missionaries, they cross themselves and ask if I’m a priest. Their second question is invariably, “Where is your church?” Like most in the West, Misty and I included, the Japanese associate the Church with the building in which it meets. This is often an obstacle, in many cases Japanese will say something to the effect of “When you have a building, I would like to come to your church.” One lady, Mrs. J., gets it though. After she asked the standard questions, I explained to her that we wanted to start churches that worship in places people regularly meet. Places that Japanese like to go. Places where Japanese already are. At this point, she exclaimed, “The church comes to us!”

In his book Organic Church, Neil Cole writes “Instead of bringing people to church so that we can then bring them to Christ, let’s bring Christ to people where they live. We may find that a new church will grow out of such an enterprise, a church is more centered in life and the workplace, where the Gospel is supposed to make a difference.” I believe that this is one way of stating our goal not just in Hiroshima, but for the rest of our mission in Japan. We desire to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Japanese were they may encounter Him and find Him to be a Faithful, True and Loving Savior. As long as the church remains safe inside a building, the Japanese will never know who Jesus is. However the moment we take our worship outside those walls in proclamation and service, the Japanese encounter Christ through His body. He is exalted as we tell of His great works. The Japanese are blessed as we show His love to them tangibly. Please pray that we would receive from the Holy Spirit the guidance, boldness and empowerment that are necessary to follow our Savior out to meet the Japanese.