Yuriko`s House

Some of this will be a repeat of the email I sent out...

Last weekend I went to Yuriko`s house in Kanagawa, which is a suburb in the larger Tokyo area. Yuriko lived in Denton for 12 years before returning just two years ago. I was so excited to see her again! Her entire family are Christians, so it`s always a blessing to stay in their home.
On Saturday night we met with other Japanese Christians who lived in the Dallas area: Yuriko, Yuko, Tai, Mari and Sayaka along with Yuriko`s sister Michiko and me. Each one talked about what God has been doing in their life over the last two years. There were really great testimonies and we were all encouraged. It was a great way to start our weekend together.

Sunday morning we met for worship and Jesus decided to come and join us. The presence of God was there. After we sang and worshiped, people shared what the Holy Spirit had given them. Each person had something to offer. Their hearts yearn for this kind of intimate fellowship with God and His People. Pray that God would establish this more and more.

We basically spent the whole day talking about the Kingdom of God - either reading the scriptures, praying for some need, or just talking. It was a very relaxing day.

The next day - Monday - we had breakfast and again sat and talked for a long time. As we talked, my friends started talking about the problems in Japan and how hard it is to live there: idol worship and ancestor worship, work culture, social pressure, depression, and even the lack of minerals in  food. The whole thing was really depressing. The thought came to my mind; the people who Paul was writing to were in the same situation. They were a relatively small group of people living in an intensley idolatrous nation. Even from within the church, they had Jewish believers pressuring them to follow the law and be circumcised. Talk about pressure!! But Paul didn`t preach compromise to these people. He preached an overcoming life through faith in Jesus Christ. As I spoke, my spirit grew more and more zealous. "You`ve got to live by faith. You cannot walk by what you see. God has victory for you that you`ve never seen before. You`ve got to walk into it by faith." At first there was some resistance; "Foreigners can`t understand the pressure that we feel because it`s unspoken." Right - that`s part of the definition of social pressure. I don`t know the full details of pressure they feel, but nevertheless, God has victory and freedom from every pressure there is. The children of God must walk in freedom and the only way to do it is by faith. I felt like I was resisting the devil, tearing down false hopes, and fighting to reestablish their faith in the scriptures and in the power of God. I went on until the resistance was gone and their hearts had hope and faith built up in them.

The rest of the day we practiced music, Tai and I went on a small YouTube excursion showing each other cool music stuff, Yuriko gave Mari a bunch of clothes. We just hung out until the evening when it was time to leave. We`re now back at Mari`s house (no wi-fi) and will be here for the week. Bible study is planned for this evening. :-)

More later,

~Jayne