Japan, continued
|
| Bill and Ann Moore have served as mission workers with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in partnership with the Reformed Church of Japan (RCJ) in Hiroshima and Kobe, Japan, since 1985. In Hiroshima, Bill worked in new church development and evangelism, preaching and teaching in five churches in the Hiroshima prefecture. Since 1995, they have been in Kobe where Bill is the organizing pastor of a new church development for the RCJ, called the Nishitani Chapel, in the northern suburbs of Kobe-Osaka. The RCJ was founded in 1946 and, though it is a small church, it has a passion for outreach into the community. Ann is a partner in ministry with Bill, assisting with work in evangelism and new church development.
Bill and Ann write of the struggle for Japanese Christians. “In our years of service in Japan we have been constantly impressed, inspired, and humbled by the devotion of believers here to Christ and his church. It is more difficult to remain faithful to Jesus Christ in Japan than in many other places. Christians, who make up less than one percent of the population of Japan, are a small minority in a nation where it is psychologically difficult to be different from those around you. Religiosity is generally a matter of observing the traditional rituals of Buddhism and Shinto, and religious commitments generally never take precedence over the demands of human relationships. Therefore, to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to owe supreme allegiance to him means to go against the grain of Japanese culture and society. In the eyes of most Japanese, for a person to become a Christian means that he or she has given up some of their ‘Japaneseness’ and gone after a ‘Western’ religion, one that does not rightly belong in Japan.” The Moores ask for prayer for their work and family. Preaching in the Japanese language week in and week out to a congregation that includes those who have never heard the gospel as well as those of mature faith remains a challenge to Bill. Please offer prayers that he can be perceptive to the needs of both seekers and believers who attend and that the seekers will be open to receiving the faith. The Moores also ask for prayers that Ann’s English and Korean language classes will continue to be an effective means of outreach. |
 PC(USA) People in Mission United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ) (KYODAN): Yukiko Nagai Altman, counselor, Rev. Timothy Dale Boyle, evangelist, Yuko Juji Kurosu Boyle, Ph.D., team ministry, Carol Tolley Hastings, Ph.D., team ministry, Rev. Thomas John Hastings, professor of Christian education, Tokyo Union Theological Seminary, Emiko Makishi Taborn, team ministry, Kinjo Gakuin University, Sanford Elroy Taborn, English professor, Kinjo Gakuin University, Rev. Christian Philip Zebley, youth ministry, Kay Marie Zebley, youth ministry • Reformed Church in Japan (RCJ): Rev. Andrew Samuel Levi Carrick, youth evangelism, Judith Grace Carrick, team ministry, Ann Cho Moore, team ministry, Rev. William Lloyd Moore, pastor/evangelist • Kinjo Gakuin University: Rev. William Frank Geppert III, mission volunteer, teacher of English, Patricia Carroll Thornton, mission volunteer, professor • Dr. Barbara Jo Easton, Ph.D., English professor, Kwassui Women’s College • Sarah McAliley Oba, ecumenical relations, Korean Christian Church in Japan/Shadan PC(USA) General Assembly Staff James Ohlmann, FDN Jenny Oldham, WMD Karen O’Leary, BOP |
 “Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and [the one] that vouches for me is on high” (Job 16:19). |
 Ps. 26, 116, 130, 147:12–20 Job 16:16–22, 17:1, 13–16 Acts 13:1–12; John 9:1–17 |
