Since March I have been involved in a small church in downtown Osaka, called Hope Chapel. Our church meets in a small room in an office building, on Friday nights and Sundays. We have about 10 people on Fridays, and maybe 20 on Sundays, but it is starting to grow.
The pastor is a guy named Jeff Mackay, from Hawaii. He is married to a Japanese lady Naoko, and they have three kids. The other people in the church are wonderful. Most are aged between 20 and 35, and many of them speak English. We have a few other foreigners in the church also, which helps the atmosphere a little.
Since coming to this church, I have really started to change the way I think. Yes, I've been a Christian since I was a kid, but since I've come to Japan, I've been forced to rethink what is important in life, and what life is really about. I believe that God truly 'looked after' me. Too many 'coincidences' have happened to think that everything as happened by chance.
Our church is trying to share the message of Christ to a pretty tough crowd. Most people are Buddhist or Shinto (or both!), which are very deep-rooted religions, incorporating many cultural and family traditions. In 120 million people in Japan, less than 1 million are Christian. In a small town I visited recently, of 35,000 people, there are 7 Christians!
Our church also has lots of outings and events that are purely for fellowship, and fun. We've been to the baseball, Osaka aquarium, sightseeing, water-skiing, and heaps of other stuff. We try and do something every couple of weeks.
Don't get me wrong, I still like to go the pub for a coldie, but I'm starting to feel that making drinking etc a routine in life will not teach you a lot of truth about life. It can be fun, but when you start to learn about the Truth in life, then you start to recognize that getting pissed every Saturday night doesn't really fit.
Sorry, I'm off the soapbox again now. Here's some pics of our church members and our outings,,,
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