“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given.”                 Isaiah 9:6

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas! As the prophet Isaiah foretold, Jesus was born for us, to be a part of our lives. This is a good time to give a brief update on our family.  Ami, our oldest, is in her second year of college and is majoring in Fine Arts.   Alisen is in 10^th grade and loves to play sports, and also draws.  Along with her little brother Andrew, in 8^th grade, she attends an international school here in Japan.  Andy enjoys his friends at school and likes to play basketball.  

Sone Church

            We live and work in what is called the Kansai area of Japan.  There are about 25 churches and preaching places, mostly in city settings.  In recent years there has been some hard times for some of these churches, today several are without pastors. But at the same time the Lord is doing some exciting things in this area.  Recently we were at the Sone Baptist Church where they have park ministry once a month. The youth plan some games, songs, and stories. Then on that Sunday after worship they all head over to a large park near the church.  With a megaphone they announce the program and the children and parents playing in the park gather around the youth. They play and sing and in the end pass out some treats to the children. Rev. 

Watanbe says it is just PR to let the children and parents know that the church is there for them. They want to be part of the neighborhood, not just to be in the neighborhood.  That is like the Christmas story isn’t it? God wants to be part of our lives, not just in the neighborhood.

Inland Sea

Recently we were asked to spend a Sunday at the Setoda Baptist Church in the Inland Sea area of Japan.  Setoda is a small town on a small island in the Inland Sea.  This also happens to be where Tomoko grew up and where she was baptized.  It is an area with fishing, ship building and citrus farms.  It is also an area with a long history of Baptist ministry, which began with the “Gospel Ship”.

Today the Inland Sea area is just as beautiful as when Captain Bickel, the American Baptist missionary on the Gospel Ship, sailed among the islands over 100 years ago.  But it has changed in many ways.  Bridges connect many of the islands today and the people feel less isolated.  However many of the young people are leaving the islands to attend college and find careers in the cities. The churches also feel this loss of young people.  It is not unlike farming communities in the US.

John preached during the morning worship service and Tomoko was asked to lead a workshop on “Strengthening Family Relationships” in the afternoon.  In this busy, modern world, relationships are under stress.  Again, at this time of year, we are reminded that God came into our world to be in relationship with us. 

PRAY FOR:

The churches of Japan.

The youth and park ministry at Sone Church

Christ to come into many lives this Christmas.

Grace and Peace,

John and Tomoko Armagost