Nonogaki Reports – April 2017

Training a young Christian man to preach and teach – Apr 11, 2017

There are two tasks Japanese ministers are facing.  One is, of course, to reach out to people and bring them to Christ.   The other one is to train Christian men to understand sound doctrine and be able to preach and teach the Gospel.  I have been doing the second task with Shuhei since two years ago. He was baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sin about 7 years ago, but he was confused about different denominations and their teachings for a while.  First, I tried to get to know him better and became a very close friend.  After the Bible study, we go out to eat together and talk a lot about not only the Bible but just about anything.  Last year I asked him to preach.  He was very happy to do so.  But I needed him to understand the sound doctrine taught in the Bible.  Gradually he has become aware that the Bible needs to be taught correctly.  Just like a sermon preparation class, I have been teaching him how to prepare a sermon.  Practice makes perfect.  Lots of trials and errors, he has improved a lot.  I am very happy to see he has grown spiritually in Christ.

New families from Atsugi Base – Apr 11, 2017

There are no congregations near Atsugi Base.  There was a congregation on Yokosuka Navy Base, but not anymore.  I have heard it dissolved in the beginning of 2017.  Therefore, two families from Atsugi Base were looking for an English speaking congregation, and they have found us.

Reaching out to Chinese people – Apr 11, 2017

One of our members is from Shanghai China.  Her name is Boni.  She has been living in Japan for 20 years.  Recently more and more Chinese people live in Japan.  Some of them attended their churches back in China.  They look for a place for worship.  Tachikawa Church of Christ (not far from Yokota) also has a Chinese member who has lots of friends from China.  The Tachikawa Church has agreed to let Chinese people use their building.  They will have a first worship service in the evening this Sunday at the Tachikawa building. Our member Boni also tries to take part in this mission and help those Chinese people.  I will attend the first service too.  We ask God for wisdom to reach out to them.