Do you know anyone who likes waiting? I think few people would say it’s something they enjoy. I know that I struggle with it and would much prefer to be busy with different activities.
In 2009, OMF asked me and my husband to plant a church from scratch in an area of Sapporo. “From scratch” meant no local believers, no building, and no money. Looking for inspiration, we attended a series of lectures by a Japanese pastor at the local Bible college. Our main take away was not a methodology but rather the pastor’s emphasis on John 3:8. The pastor reminded us that God’s Spirit blows where it wills. We might not know where it is coming from or going, but we can hear its sound. This became our guiding principle as we started the church plant: to listen for the sound of the wind, seeking to discern where God was already moving in that area. And we found him at work in some unexpected places.
Recently, I moved to a rural town in Japan with only a small number of Christians. I help support the pastor and the church, and want to be involved in reaching out to the local community. Most church members are elderly and increasingly find it difficult to be involved in church activities. There is an urgent need to reach the next generations with the gospel if the church is to survive here, let alone thrive.
I have quite a few ideas about ways to build connections with the community and share the gospel. But as I prayed, I felt the Lord tell me not to rush into different activities, but rather to wait for him to show me where he is already working and how I can be involved.
The Greek and Hebrew words for waiting in the Bible usually imply an active, eager, hopeful waiting. In Japanese, we have a word that means just that — 待ち望む (machi nozomu) — to wait in hope. So, as I prayer walk in the local area, as I ask church members for ideas, and as I pray for each encounter I have with people locally, I am seeking to wait in faith, trusting that God is at work in this town and that he will show me how I can join with what he is already doing.
By an OMF missionary
