Church of Christ Worldwide–May 2025

Greetings from the Missions Office

We want to thank everyone for your interest and continued support of our dedicated missionaries! Through your gifts, we can help support those performing the Lord’s work ail around the world. They are fulfilling the vision that Jesus left for His followers in Acts 1:8 “and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” We, here at the Missions Office, are grateful to provide the link between you and those faithful witnesses around the world.

We are always glad to hear from our brothers and sisters in Christ who are spreading the Gospel in the mission fields. We recently received a report, included below, from the

Nakahara’s in Japan. Please continue to pray for them, as well as all who are dedicated to sharing the love of Christ.

In His Service, Tim Smith Director

News from Michiya Nakahara

We praise the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Shichiro and Teruko began pioneering missionary work in this area, and this year marks over 64 years since they started. Time truly flies, and more than half of that time has been carried on by Tomoko and myself. Now, Miho and Kazuma, the third generation, are ready to take up the mantle of missionary work in this area. This is truly the will of the Lord and His work.

Please forgive me for sharing something personal. In the past, I prayed that my sons would become missionaries. I believed it was a prayer in accordance with the Lord’s will. However, at one point, I realized that this was also a mistaken attitude.

Since then, I have prayed that “whatever work my sons choose to do, they may honor the Lord and follow Him in their respective paths, and that they may find this to be their greatest joy.” Therefore, I have never once demanded that my sons become missionaries. In the course of this, one day, completely out of the blue, my eldest son, Kazuma, declared his desire to become a missionary.

Kazuma is currently teaching English at a mission school alongside his wife, Miho. He is also continuing his studies as a theology student. And this year, he has begun delivering the sermon on the “Fifth Sunday.”

Fortunately, both Tomoko and I are in good health at the moment, so there is no urgent need for a generational change. When my father fell ill, I had to take over immediately. However, I remember that even then, the Lord guided everything so that the work of evangelism in this land would not be interrupted. Therefore, I will continue to seek the Lord’s will regarding when to pass on the torch.

One of the prayers that Shichiro and Teruko had been praying for since their time has been answered this year. It is a church cemetery.

Japan is a country dominated by Buddhism. Therefore, temples usually operate cemeteries. Temples do not sell cemetery plots to Christian churches. Despite these difficult circumstances, we were able to purchase a beautiful cemetery on a hill in the city with a great view (you can see Mount Fuji and the Pacific Ocean!) and surrounded by greenery. This marks the fulfillment of our prayers spanning nearly half a century. The tombstone is already complete, and the remains of my parents and eight siblings have been interred there.

In Japan, even for Christians, graves can still be a significant obstacle. For example, when a non-believing husband passes away first. The husband is buried in his ancestral grave (a Buddhist temple). At that time, if the church does not own a cemetery, the widow is left with no choice but to bury her husband in the temple grave, despite feeling uneasy about it. “I want to be buried next to my husband, but I cannot enter the temple grave…” This is the inner conflict she faces.

However, this time, we have completely entrusted my husband to the Lord’s care, and I can now rest in the church cemetery. The believers are filled with joy and gratitude, having been freed from this conflict. In the future, there will be people who are born in the church, spend their lives in the church, and are buried in the church cemetery. Their entire lives will now truly begin and end in the church.

Several years ago, we underwent a major renovation of the church building (after consulting experts, we confirmed that the structure could withstand Japanese earthquakes). At the same time, we were able to purchase the cemetery. Most of the funds for this came from the estates of several departed members who left their inheritances to the church.

We remain a small, weak flock, even after more than 60 years since the start of our missionary work. However, what we have written so far is in accordance with the words of the Lord: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Please continue to pray that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will guide the future of our church for the sake of the gospel in Japan.

 

Tomoko & Michiya Nakahara