West Kanazawa Church News

Today, I was the speaker at our main church (shown here), where, on average, I speak about once a month, otherwise being in other area churches at least twice a month. We also had a great adult Sunday school class. (See the previous article.)

Last Sunday, the West Kanazawa church (membership about 35) voted to call a new pastor, who will be coming in April. Pastor K., with whom we have worked closely for about 12 years, will be retiring. We and the church will miss him and his wife greatly. But we are also thankful that the Lord has provided a new pastor for the church. There are very few pastors in Japan; so God's provision is in many ways an unexpected miracle. Most of the other churches where I speak do not have pastors. At the moment we do not expect these changes to affect our ministry in any negative way, but one never knows. Had the Lord not provided a new pastor for the church the opposite would likely have been the case. So we praise the Lord for his provision.

Our Special Adult Class

This photo of our adult S.S. class is unusual, because in Japan Sunday school is almost always for children only. Mr. Ishii, sitting next to me (Jon) leads the class two or three Sundays a month when I am speaking in other churches. We are creating new material, on the questions in John, every week.

Also, today, I got an email from a Japanese friend on the other side of Japan who said he had a great response when he began using our "In Quest" material and method in his adult class there last Sunday. So we pray that adult Sunday school classes like his and ours may grow and spread in Japan. There is a special need for such classes for men, since ladies meetings are often held at other times during the week but there is usually nothing for men to attend.

Our First Rejection Notice

In a close split decision our book on questions in John was reject on January 12th by the new products committee of AMG Publishers. (Most texts don't get this far along!) Apparently in the end the marketing people overruled others who really appreciated our work. (We, too, continue to appreciate the work of AMG Publishers.)

A publisher's rejection notice is like an obituary. All the praise in the world therein (and there always is some, of course) doesn't change the fact that you and your work are dead as far as that publication is concerned since they have concluded that the "living ink" does not flow.

Even so, work on this great Bible study text continues as zealously as ever. Today, I'm working in chapter 16 of John, in part for my adult Sunday school class tomorrow as well as for the book.

Physically our house is about "six feet under," under the snow, that is. But rumors of our demise and the end of this book project are not at all true. Spring shall come and the snow will melt; so, too, our temporary "burial" under the disappointment of this first rejection shall be undone, in the Lord's time and way. The work goes on! Praise the Lord!

John ch. 10 Sample Page

This page from our book on questions in John is page three of chapter ten and concerns the Good Shepherd. The top portion of the page is a dialogue or discussion and the bottom portion is an original diagram of the passage. Click on the page / photo to see it in full size print.

Snow out Front

Roof Top Snow

Taking care of the Nickerson's car while they are on "home assignment" in Canada is a lot more work this time of year. Here Mitsy is "brushing off" the car roof after four consecutive days of snow. Today the town warned residence to consider doing the same with the snow on the roof of their homes, as well.

Four Feet of Snow

It has been snowing all day and night for three days! So we now have over four feet of the pretty white stuff, including on the roof. So the building is much harder to see from the road and our cars are entirely hidden. Fortunately, the weather was OK when we were traveling for meetings on Tuesday (the 12th) and the weather is supposed to be OK again on Sunday. One of our cars (a Toyota) is also four wheel drive, which helps a lot this time of year. But, of course, it is the Lord who keeps us safe.

"Becoming Adult Day"

Today is national "Becoming Adult Day," a Japanese holiday for all those who turned 20 in the previous year. This time that included, our daughter, Yumi. So, according to tradition, she dressed in a kimono and attended the town sponsored meeting and small party. She had a good time seeing a lot of her former classmates for the first time in several years.

Another first today was Yumi driving back to college by herself. When our coworker, Tomi, left for the U.S. last year we obtained her car for Yumi to use. We have a lot of snow, as you can see out our living room window in this photo. So we do appreciate your prayers for safety of all of us this time of year.