This week our children go back to school after a six-week break, so our days will resume back to normal. While we weren’t able to take a trip out from Tokyo, there is certainly a lot to see and do around the city, and we have been having some fun days during summer as a family.
One of those days was at an art exhibition of Antoni Gaudí, the Spanish architect known for designing the Sagrada Familia, the famous cathedral still under construction in Barcelona, Spain. The exhibit was packed wall to wall with lines extending out the door. I wasn’t sure what to expect at an exhibit in Tokyo, Japan where we can’t see the actual building, but it was truly inspiring. I could see that Gaudí had a deep faith, and researching a bit later I found that he viewed his work as an artist as an act of worship to the Lord. Viewing the displays one could sense that there was something of God’s glory that he was constantly gazing at and trying to capture. At the very end of the exhibition was a letter from a Catholic Cardinal, posted in large print on the wall in Japanese and English. “Gaudí,” he said, “had a personal encounter with Jesus early in his life and experienced a deep conversion which profoundly influenced the direction he took with the rest of his life.” He went on to explain that the design and architecture, while beautiful, could really only be understood as a spiritual work, and for that we must look to and know for ourselves the one that inspired them, Jesus Christ. Wow. Here in the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the gospel was being preached. Kumi and I both found ourselves walking the exhibition and praying that this too would be another opportunity to cause hunger for God in the hearts of the people who were viewing it.
Kumi often has said she feels the majority of the people God wants to advance his kingdom through, especially in Japan, are not yet saved. It is a conviction we have held especially since we started this new season of our life and ministry, and it shapes what we do, making ourselves available for a new breed of people who are going to be a great force in advancing the kingdom of God in Japan and beyond.
September is always a season for us where God unfolds something new in our lives, and we sense that this month will have surprises for us. On the practical side, we are planning on starting a new prayer assignment in a different area of Tokyo and inviting others to join us. We continue with our writing projects, planning our event, recording videos, and daily connecting, reaching, and caring for people. It seems that even some people we invested our time and love into in the past seasons are reaching out to connect, and it is a blessing to be able to keep sharing lives with them.
-Jeremy