Hanawa-san making her pledge before being baptized.The aroma of Christ
“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16, NIV).
Paul asked an important question as he reminded the Corinthian Christians of their vital task to represent Christ with a lovely fragrance: who can do it? Truth is, without total reliance on the Holy Spirit, we’re more apt to be a sickening odor than a pleasing and compelling fragrance.
Bernie had a shocking reminder of this during a recent presentation at Tamagawa Seigakuin. The lecturer, a researcher/analysist at one of the two Shinto universities in Japan, shared two especially hard-hitting statistics: only 50% of Japanese trust Christians; and an increasing percentage of Japanese young people don’t see religion (any religion) as significant in their lives. As Philip Yancey wrote in Disappointment with God, one of the biggest risks God ever took was to put evangelism into the hands of the church. And yet he did. God help us to be the pleasing aroma of Christ in our worlds.
Also at Tamagawa Seigakuin
Another recent thought-provoking discussion at the school occurred this week when the Bible Department hosted a question and answer time on the theme, “If God Exists then Why ….” (Why war, hunger, social inequality, and so on.) The voluntary forum attracted eight high school students, four junior highers, and four teachers. One non-Christian teacher asked an interesting question: “Since these things are going on anyhow, what difference does it make if God is or not?” The planned hour-long program stretched another half hour longer and may have continued on if it hadn’t gotten to be 6 o’clock, the mandated time senior high girls must leave school. (Junior highers must leave by 5:30 p.m.) Please pray that the discussion will bear fruit in the hearts of participants.
Please also pray for high school graduation on March 16, a significant day in the lives of the 181 girls and their families. Taniguchi Hall, named for the school’s founder, will be packed with as many as 700 people and Bernie will have the privilege of sharing the gospel with them during the ceremonies. One graduating senior wrote in her Bible class notebook that she expects to put away her Bible for good as she leaves Tama Sei. Please pray that seeds planted at the school will indeed be harvested one day.
Two encouraging stories
In fact, we know this happens. Recently, a retired staff member shared with Bernie a postcard he’d received. The writer graduated more than 10 years ago and hadn’t been to church in the intervening years. However, as circumstances in her life changed, she knew she would find the answers she sought in the faith she’d learned about during her six years at Tama Sei. Now she is going to church again.
Last Sunday we worshipped at Tamagawa Church of God. There we met a woman whose daughter had taken Tama Sei’s entrance examination two years ago. After she failed, the mother wrote to Bernie, thanking him for the school’s good impact on her family throughout a year of attending school introductory meetings and special showcase events. “We’ll never forget Tamagawa Seigakuin,” she wrote in what was surely the only letter of its kind Bernie has ever received—thanks despite failure. Last year, in the midst of severe depression, Tanaka-san (not her real name) seriously contemplated suicide. Suddenly, she remembered the school and nearby Tamagawa Church and decided to visit. Our Sunday was her second time there. While talking with Bernie, she prayed to receive Christ. Certainly other seeds were planted in her life over the years (her parents are faithful Christians), but most recently it was seed planting and watering at Tamagawa Seigakuin that finally helped Tanaka-san choose Christ in her 40s. Please pray for her to grow in faith. Pray also for Tamagawa Seigakuin and for many harvests to come.
More on Hanawa-san
Last month we wrote about Keiko Hanawa, a woman who finally accepted Christ and was baptized in her 70s at Hagiyama Church of God. Here are some of the many seeds planted over the years in her life: Sunday school as a child; attending English-Bible classes taught by a missionary after her own children were grown; the prayers of the class for her adult daughter as she suffered severe post-partum depression, prayers that were answered miraculously; attending the monthly evangelistic small group meeting in the home of a Christian member of the English-Bible class; and being impressed by this woman’s smile, caring heart, and the Bible verses which decorated her home.
Remember: God wants to use us all to plant and water in a world that is watching and sniffing. The harvest WILL COME if we are faithful and do not give up.
“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16, NIV).
Paul asked an important question as he reminded the Corinthian Christians of their vital task to represent Christ with a lovely fragrance: who can do it? Truth is, without total reliance on the Holy Spirit, we’re more apt to be a sickening odor than a pleasing and compelling fragrance.
Bernie had a shocking reminder of this during a recent presentation at Tamagawa Seigakuin. The lecturer, a researcher/analysist at one of the two Shinto universities in Japan, shared two especially hard-hitting statistics: only 50% of Japanese trust Christians; and an increasing percentage of Japanese young people don’t see religion (any religion) as significant in their lives. As Philip Yancey wrote in Disappointment with God, one of the biggest risks God ever took was to put evangelism into the hands of the church. And yet he did. God help us to be the pleasing aroma of Christ in our worlds.
Also at Tamagawa Seigakuin
Another recent thought-provoking discussion at the school occurred this week when the Bible Department hosted a question and answer time on the theme, “If God Exists then Why ….” (Why war, hunger, social inequality, and so on.) The voluntary forum attracted eight high school students, four junior highers, and four teachers. One non-Christian teacher asked an interesting question: “Since these things are going on anyhow, what difference does it make if God is or not?” The planned hour-long program stretched another half hour longer and may have continued on if it hadn’t gotten to be 6 o’clock, the mandated time senior high girls must leave school. (Junior highers must leave by 5:30 p.m.) Please pray that the discussion will bear fruit in the hearts of participants.
Please also pray for high school graduation on March 16, a significant day in the lives of the 181 girls and their families. Taniguchi Hall, named for the school’s founder, will be packed with as many as 700 people and Bernie will have the privilege of sharing the gospel with them during the ceremonies. One graduating senior wrote in her Bible class notebook that she expects to put away her Bible for good as she leaves Tama Sei. Please pray that seeds planted at the school will indeed be harvested one day.
Two encouraging stories
In fact, we know this happens. Recently, a retired staff member shared with Bernie a postcard he’d received. The writer graduated more than 10 years ago and hadn’t been to church in the intervening years. However, as circumstances in her life changed, she knew she would find the answers she sought in the faith she’d learned about during her six years at Tama Sei. Now she is going to church again.
Last Sunday we worshipped at Tamagawa Church of God. There we met a woman whose daughter had taken Tama Sei’s entrance examination two years ago. After she failed, the mother wrote to Bernie, thanking him for the school’s good impact on her family throughout a year of attending school introductory meetings and special showcase events. “We’ll never forget Tamagawa Seigakuin,” she wrote in what was surely the only letter of its kind Bernie has ever received—thanks despite failure. Last year, in the midst of severe depression, Tanaka-san (not her real name) seriously contemplated suicide. Suddenly, she remembered the school and nearby Tamagawa Church and decided to visit. Our Sunday was her second time there. While talking with Bernie, she prayed to receive Christ. Certainly other seeds were planted in her life over the years (her parents are faithful Christians), but most recently it was seed planting and watering at Tamagawa Seigakuin that finally helped Tanaka-san choose Christ in her 40s. Please pray for her to grow in faith. Pray also for Tamagawa Seigakuin and for many harvests to come.
More on Hanawa-san
Last month we wrote about Keiko Hanawa, a woman who finally accepted Christ and was baptized in her 70s at Hagiyama Church of God. Here are some of the many seeds planted over the years in her life: Sunday school as a child; attending English-Bible classes taught by a missionary after her own children were grown; the prayers of the class for her adult daughter as she suffered severe post-partum depression, prayers that were answered miraculously; attending the monthly evangelistic small group meeting in the home of a Christian member of the English-Bible class; and being impressed by this woman’s smile, caring heart, and the Bible verses which decorated her home.
Remember: God wants to use us all to plant and water in a world that is watching and sniffing. The harvest WILL COME if we are faithful and do not give up.
