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One Year In Japan
Sarah McKisic • October 22, 2021
Yesterday (10/18) was our ONE YEAR in Japan. It’s hard to believe that much time has passed and amidst what is hard about living in a foreign land, we still feel full of hope and gratitude. The Japanese people are on the heart of God and saying yes is the best thing we get to daily do.
October has been incredibly full in the best ways possible. Meetings as a team, outreaches on Tuesday in the city, searching for a building and dreaming with the church, and a full house on Saturday nights for worship. God has continually shown up touching His people and the unbelievers we reach out to.
On Tuesday we prayed over some people in the streets, one particular girl was weeping as she felt the presence of God. On Friday we hosted our pastor and translator / friend and team at our home, it was a wonderful time together. Saturday we had new people join us for worship night and dinner with 25 people in total, two being unbelievers. The kids are having a kid service upstairs where they have left feeling inspired and sharing Jesus with their friends at school. One man Aaron met on the train who does not know Jesus yet has been wanting to meet to learn the bible from Him and even joined us last weekend. Our sweet neighbor came as well who said she could tell Jesus was present in us and our home and felt Him. On Monday night Aaron taught on a teaching zoom on the church. Today after worshipping and meeting with our team I spontaneously bought flowers on my commute home for my neighbor (the one mentioned above) to which she showed me the christian books and bible she has. We then sat and talked about her favorite verses, questions she has, and what salvation is. And this was only one week. He has shown up every single day of this last year in countless ways and I could weep thinking of how good He is.
As we dream for this next year we know there is something significant about our team and this home. With our team we are praying into what a church will look like and where it will be, what outreaches to pursue weekly, and how to continue growing together and in God. In our home many have shared they feel it is a key place God wants to use for ministry and we couldn’t agree more. We are 3 steps away from a public nursery school that Liam now attends that many busy parents and single moms have their kids (most from 730am-630pm) and we are getting to know them slowly. Our dream is to set up our home to continue hosting Saturday worship nights, kid service, cafe space for all the moms to come rest while the kids play and hear about Jesus, potential house church a few times a month, many meals hosted, and friends/family/missionaries for periods of time. Our goal is to also get a better grasp of the language so we have no hinderance in sharing the gospel, something we daily desire to do in all the places we go!!
All in all we know this is just the beginning of what He is going to do. We are humbled and thankful for everyone who has been supporting us! Happy one year to us all, we did it together. One year down, many more to come.
With love,
-The McKisic’s