A Time for Everything

If September was a time to grieve, a time to cry, a time to die, and a time to be quiet... Then October is a time to heal, and to be born, and to dance, and to dance, and to speak up. The 'Teacher' in Ecclesiastes 3 says:

1 There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to rebuild. 4 A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. 5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. 6 A time to search and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak up. 8 A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have thought about this in connection with the various kinds of work God has given people to do.
11 God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. 12 So I concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can. 13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. 14 And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God's purpose in this is that people should fear him. 15 Whatever exists today and whatever will exist in the future has already existed in the past. For God calls each event back in its turn.

It is only the 14th of October and I have seen God replant and harvest so many fresh beginnings. We've seen birth (physical and spiritual)... praise God that Minami-chan (with the guitar on the right), one of Mai's disciples, confessed Jesus as Lord on October 9th... And later that same day, Mai and Daniel Meyer became engaged to be married!

The J2 camp over October 4th weekend focussed on "Worship"... at one point over 30 attended the camp - including some Kiwi's who are learning Japanese or interested in Japan missions. It was a wonderful time of exploring not only 'forms' of worship, but getting to the heart and point of worship - that our entire lives should be an offering of worship to God (Romans 12:1-2). We sang, we played instruments, we prayed, we danced and we wrote poetry - all to the glory of God. What a blessing to see the J2 students leading - Masa, Mai, Koyo, Yuki, Nobu, Atushi, along with Greg and the Doi's... Please pray for Nonoka, Miyumi and Asami. Mai continues to disciple them and each are at different places on their road to faith.

Earlier in the month we received the great news that Nozomi (one of our grads back in Osaka, Japan and my dear sister and former flatmate) had just been accepted to study for a masters degree at Westminister Seminary in Escondido, CA (yes, I wish I were going with her). Lord willing she will begin in July 2009 (Nozomi & I in Japan last December).

The Bible college ministry internship is winding down for the year, and I have enjoyed this year's classes so much. Jing Xiu and Lewis will complete their 2nd year diploma in November! Please pray for them as they face their future. Lewis will return to Japan, where he hopes to study graphic art and design. He is a talented artist.

Jing Xiu (in the NZ jacket) is exploring options. She'll remain in NZ and get a full time job, and remain involved in ministry to international students. At the same time she hopes to find a good school of dance for ministry in the USA. If anyone has ideas, let me know.

The year one students have been such a delight for me too! This semester's "Making Disciples" course has been a learning process for each of us. For me in preparing the course and making sure they understand and can apply it in their own cultural and ministry contexts, as well as being able to discern whether they are living the life of a disciple by example. Which means I must do the same as their lecturer and mentor.

One of our interns, Ken from Taiwan really touched my heart with this comment: "Spending daily time with God is like having personal one-to-one discipleship with Jesus Himself, where we can talk to Him through prayer, hear from Him through His word, and follow Him according to what He is showing us."

What more could a 'teacher' ask than to know their student is "getting it" and that what we are doing is making a difference in their relationship with God! Pray for Ken. He returns to Taiwan at the end of 2008 to begin his required military service. He has been captured by God's love and in turn is so passionate in his love for others. May he be protected in Taiwan, and lead many to know Jesus!

One thing that struck me in our discipleship course is that there are five of us sharing... from five different nations (USA, Scotland, Taiwan, Mexico and Japan)... and the five of us are discipling people from Viet Nam, China, Japan, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Mexico... reaching the nations from our doorstep!

So, October is only half way through and already I've had a lot to share. Thank you so much for your love and support. I look forward to being in the USA over the holidays. Most importantly to spend time with family as we deal with the loss of Carey... please continue to pray for Bruce, Sean & TJ. Pray for my dad too, as he considers whether to undergo hernia surgery. I am also looking forward to my "Sanju" high school reunion (if you know Japanese, you know how many years it's been, hee hee).

This weekend is another reason to celebrate as I throw a bridal shower for Yvette Koo (one of our internship grads... I'm her maid of honour).

Before I forget, thank you also for praying for Grace City Church. God has been blessing us this year. Pastor Richard Tien (from Singapore) has really settled in as our senior pastor. Both of our congregations (English speaking & Mandarin speaking) are growing and involved with discipleship. It is so exciting to see some of our Chinese internship graduates (in this photo) serving in leadership amongst the congregations!

I have been praying for the world a lot of late. With the politics, the economics, the ecological, and the social turmoil... I am all the more convinced God's timeclock is winding down. It is during these times that I am grateful that my trust is not in riches or in man, but in God who knows all things, has written every day in His book before even one of them came to be, and history is really HIStory... put your trust in heaven's KING of kings, not in the things that surely will pass away.