Our church is quite small but maybe average size for Japan. We average about 20 people each week, and when you take in the fact that many of the people are couples or families then you realize that the church is attended by maybe 10 family units. I have been in churches where there were only 7 or 8 people each week. Maybe the largest church I have attended had 35... Of course there are large churches in Japan, where a couple hundred people will attend and there might be a couple of services but I'd say the church that Tetsu and I attend right now is about average.The pastor of our church is in his 80's but going strong. There is no assistant pastor but I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
The Sunday School has between 4 to 8 children attending and my friend Kaoru-san teaches that. Most of the children are in preschool or are still babies. Yeah! A new generation for Jesus! Yesterday, mommies and children made Easter eggs... the plastic shrink wrap eggs that get dunked in hot water. The week before the children made felt eggs for decorating the church. Kaoru-san says that with such little children, she gets more involved with craft projects than she does with teaching.
Yesterday after church we had a curry rice lunch with pot luck salads. Maybe because it was Easter, a larger turnout than usual and the fellowship was joyful.Hope you enjoyed your Easter celebrations too!
5 comments:
Tanya..I loved your church picture!!! Love the tables/shelves to place your bible and study notes on! I've never seen that before~ Is that Japanese? ♥♥♥
We needed three services to fit everyone in. The choir got a good workout and the high school students made money for their mission trip with a pancake breakfast.
Afterwards the family strolled through the cherry trees with a cast of thousands.
Hello Tanya, we have two services each Sunday, and the one we attended yesterday had about 650 people..when the time came for the invitation to come to Christ, or for prayer for reasons known only to them & God, we had at least 150 people answer that invitation..the largest response I've ever seen for the invitation:) A joyful sight..and I'm sure our wonderful pastor, Pastor Johnny, was humbled and excited at the same time. But do you know where I'm most comfortable worshiping..in a little church like yours...I really like the "desk" type things in front of everyone..have never seen that before. As always, I soooo enjoy and appreciate the things you share about Japanese way of life...I learn so much...I'm sending you an e-mail today, too...hugs, Pat in IN
Your church looks lovely. I am sure it is an extended family to everyone. We had a lovely Easter, too. We are on our way home after many weeks away. We will have Easter dinner with the family a little late, but will love getting together anyway.
Happy Easter, dear Tanya! And Tetsu! I always love your photos. We had a lovely Easter. Please visit my blog for Easter photos. We even had sunshine and all my daffodils are finally blooming in my small garden.
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