Reading the Bible

I love listening to children read; especially when it is the Bible that they are reading!

Desperation (warning*** not for the squimish)

Last week we found out that a man slipped under the train guards, laid down on the tracks, and was killed by a train coming. Yes, suicide.

Why does this bother me? I mean I do live in Japan after all. Suicide has long been a problem in this country, sad to say. Of the 8,000 or so disruption to train services last year, about 4,000 were due to suicide. It is a problem and not altogether uncommon.

So why mention this one?

I guess I had always imagined that to do this meant that you just jumped onto the tracks as a train came. I imagined that it would be done discretely where others would not have to watch.

This one was done about 6pm at a crossing guard almost right next to the International school. As in a school from kindergarten through high school. There is also a Japanese kindergarten and elementary school near-by. On this occasion, there were children present, and yes they saw the whole thing.

What goes through a person's mind that would lead them to do such a thing in the first place? Why would they do this in front of children?

You know, that day Tomo and I went across that exact place. I cannot imagine if that had happen with my son there to see it. It would be so devastating.

Please pray that the light and love of Jesus would shine in this country. Pray as we try to reach out to people here who are so desperate that they would do such unspeakable acts in front of children.

Sunday, February 7

During church we talked about the hard story of Ananias and Sapphira. Ate a lunch ordered from Gusto.

During Kira Kira Kids we studied the story of Deborah. Not the easiest story to get. I think the children's Bible throws it in for a study aimed at girls. Not a bad idea, but it is such a tough story to get. I tried giving the kids coloring sheets but that didn't go to well. Only one girl came and Corey let her pick our game. She chose dodge ball. She also chose teams. She pitted adults verses kids. Fun.

Here is another one that was just alright.
http://www2.elca.org/evangelizingchurch/assessments/redhr.jpg
These were my specific results from the test.

Here is the link to that test.

Gift inventory continued

Spiritual Gift


Score

Administration 11 Knowledge 10
Apostle 15 Leadership 10
Discerning of Spirits 13 Mercy 13
Evangelism 13 Miracles 10
Ekballism 6 Missionary 20
Exhortation 13 Prophecy 11
Faith 18 Service 9
Giving 10 Shepherd 15
Healing 12 Teaching 13
Helps 10 Tongues 0
Hospitality 18 Voluntary Poverty 11
Intercession 16 Wisdom　　13
Interpretation of Tongues 0


Not a clue what ekballism is, will be looking that one up immediately. Ok, got it, but I don't got it.

Didn't really like the format of the questions, but the results seem in line with others.
http://buildingchurch.net/g2s-i.htm

Personality Profiles and Spiritual Gift inventories

Nicki

Looking around for some things that I can use with a friend to help here understand more about the way she thinks and how she was created by the Creator.
This is a lot at me.

ISTJ - "Trustee". Decisiveness in practical affairs. Guardian of time- honored institutions. Dependable. 11.6% of total population.

Free Jung Personality Test (similar to Myers-Briggs/MBTI)

#1

It has been a while since I have done a spiritual gifts inventory, and I have been looking for one to do with a new Christian. Since I am looking for something that my friend can easily do, I thought I would try them out. This seems to be pretty accurate. These were my top ten of the 28 listed. Typically you look at your top three as the ones that are most likely you. I would day it is pretty right on the money. If course, since my number 7 is poverty...no money was actually involved.

25Missionary

23Faith

19Hospitality

17Evangelism

15Pastoring

15Encouragement

15Poverty

13Leadership

13Apostle

13Discernment

Pasted from <http://www.kodachrome.org/cgi-bin/spiritgift28.pl>

There may be more of this as a try out other tests that I find on the net.

#2

Exhortation - 11
Giving - 9
Leadership - 12
Mercy - 10
Prophecy - 10
Service - 12
Teaching - 10
This test was pretty simple and not quite as extensive as the other one, but it seems pretty close.
http://mintools.com/spiritual-gifts-test.htm

#3

Kind of liked the simplicity of this one in the answering of the questions. The results seem about like the others. Not as specific as the first, but more so that the second. This site includes practical and tangible ideas for using your gifts in an easy to view set up.

Your dominant gifts are Pastor/Shepherd, Showing Mercy, Evangelism

Strength Evangelism 17 Prophecy 12 Teaching 14 Exhortation 14 Pastor/Shepherd 20 Showing Mercy 17 Serving 11 Giving 11 Administration 16

You will need to highlight the above categories to see them. Sorry about this.
http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1

The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your number one dominant gift is PASTORING/SHEPHERDING! The Greek word "poimen" means pastor. In Paul's spiritual gifts listing in Ephesians 4:11, this term is translated "pastor." Although the word "poimen" is translated pastor only one time in Scripture it is used sixteen additional times. The remaining sixteen are all translated "shepherd." Therefore, we are actually discussing the GIFT of shepherding, not the POSITION of pastor. Though a good pastor must have the gift of shepherding, everyone who has the gift of shepherding is not called to be pastor. The gift can be used in many positions in a church.

As a gifted shepherd, you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by overseeing, training, and caring for the needs of a group of Christians. You are usually very patient, people-centered, and willing to spend time in prayer for others. You tend to be a "Jack of All and Master of ONE," meaning you are usually dominant in one of the speaking gifts (evangelist, prophet, teacher, exhorter) as well. You are often authoritative, more a leader than a follower, and expressive, composed, and sensitive. Your pleasing personality draws people to you.

You have a burden to see others learn and grow and are protective of those under your care. You want to present the whole Word of God and do not like to present the same materials more than once. You are willing to study what is necessary to feed your group and are more relationship oriented than task oriented. You are a peace-maker and diplomat - very tolerant of people's weaknesses. You tend to remember people's names and faces. You are more concerned with doing for others than others doing for you. You are faithful and devoted and may become a workaholic. You can become an all-purpose person in order to meet needs.

People with the gift of shepherding make the best Sunday school teachers and group leaders because their desire is to go beyond just teaching or leading, to shepherd and minister to the daily needs of their students. The position of Sunday school teacher or group leader is an extension of the pastoral ministry in the church. These groups should be shepherded on a small scale the same as the pastor shepherds the whole congregation on a large scale.

Be careful to involve other people; don't try to do it all yourself. Work on making people accountable. Do not be overly protective of your "flock." Because of these potentially weak areas, other people may think it is your job to do all the work; they rely too heavily on you. You may be expected to be available at all times, know all the answers, and be at every function. Learn when to say no.

Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He will cause discouragement when the load gets heavy, and pride because your "sheep" look up to you. You may develop family problems because of too little time and attention. You may become selfish when "sheep" feed in other pastures.

HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR GIFT? This gift is a great help in many areas. You may serve as a Sunday school teacher, small group leader, pastor or assistant pastor, bus captain, special ministry leader (such as youth, children, men, etc.), nursery worker or as a half-way house or other type shelter volunteer. You may consider serving as a dormitory leader in a college, orphanage, children's home, etc. Scout troops would appreciate your assistance as a den leader.

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The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your second dominant gift is MERCY SHOWING! The Greek word "ellco" means to feel sympathy with or for others. As a mercy-shower you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by identifying with and comforting those who are in distress. You understand and comfort your fellow Christian. You enter into the grief or happiness of others and have the ability to show empathy which is to feel WITH others, not just for others.

As a mercy-shower you are willing to deal with and minister to people who have needs that most people feel very uncomfortable working with. You seem to say the right thing at the right time. Your personality is likely one of soft-spoken love. It hurts you to scold someone; you are very non-condemning. People love you because of all the love you give them. You find it easy to express yourself and are outgoing with a low-key, inoffensive personality. You are easy to talk to, responsive to people, a good listener, peaceable, and agreeable. You tend to make decisions based on feelings more than fact and like to think about things for a while before making a decision.

In your burden to comfort others, your heart goes out to the poor, the aged, the ill, the underprivileged, and so on. You tend to attract people who are hurting or rejoicing because you identify with them. Be careful not to let others use you. Try not to resent others who are not as understanding as you. Refrain from becoming a gossiper when you are around other mercy-showers. Do not let your circumstances control you. Because of your supernatural ability to show mercy, others accuse you of taking up for people, being a softy and a compromiser. They may think you are too emotional.

Mercy-showers make excellent counselors. However, left untrained, you may destroy yourself by your tendency to take people's problems home with you. Your empathy can become detrimental without personal training on how to deal with it.

Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He can cause pride because of your ability to relate to others. He may influence you to disregard rules and authority. You may experience a lack of discipline because of strong feeling for those who hurt due to disobedience and sin. Don't fall into Satan's trap of complaining and griping.

HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR GIFT? Your gift is used best in times of sorrow and in times of great joy. It fits well with another gift of service such as deacon, youth worker or hospital visitation. With a counseling course, you could become a good counselor. You may serve as a hospital, nursing home, or shut-in worker; a funeral coordinator and provider of sympathy and support; or a poverty center worker. You would do well as an usher or greeter and welcome center worker or hospitality person. You may want to work in a telephone ministry. You would make people feel welcome on a newcomer visitation team. Other appropriate ministry areas include missions, committee member, furlough assistance, and correspondence helper. You would work well with the elderly and with people who have mental and physical disabilities, in nursing, and with special ministries to migrants, released offenders or abused children and women.

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The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your second dominant gift is EVANGELISM! That does not necessarily mean you are supposed to travel the world, preaching the Gospel. The Greek word "Euangelistes" means to proclaim glad tidings, a messenger of good. It denotes a proclaimer of the Gospel. The evangelist can either be a preacher who stands before a crowd, imploring them to be saved, or perhaps an individual sitting in a living room or on a plane, trying to persuade someone to accept Christ. As an evangelist you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by leading people who are beyond your natural sphere of influence to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. You are sometimes classified as the aggressive soulwinner who seeks the lost.

As an evangelist you are likely very outgoing and personable. You compliment even strangers and are not afraid to ask them questions about their lifestyle - such as where they work, what hobbies they have, what's their favorite sports team, where they were born, and do they attend church. This opens the door to talk about their relationship with Jesus Christ - something you're just itching to do. Be careful not to be too overbearing or you may push some people farther away from Christ.

You have great joy in seeing people come to Christ and are often consumed with the desire to confront sinners with the Gospel. You urge other Christians to do the same by directly telling them they must win souls or by encouraging them by telling about your most recent experience. However, you must be careful not to belittle them or make them feel unspiritual because they do not have the burden for lost souls like you do.

You probably have memorized Scripture so you are not caught "empty-handed" while witnessing. Rather than waiting for opportunities to present the Gospel, the evangelist often makes opportunities. Since you will influence so many people, you must be careful to live in such a manner that you do not bring reproach upon your message. For instance, if you influence 30 people and only one of them accepts Christ immediately, the other 29 are left to be harvested later (by you or someone else). If you were to fall spiritually, your life's witness may negatively influence those 29 onlookers against Christianity.

If you are a new Christian, you may want to begin using your gift by providing prospects to seasoned evangelists and giving testimonies to those you knew before you were saved. Perhaps you could pair up with an experienced evangelist to follow up on prospects and visit strangers for the purpose of reaching them for Christ.

If you are a more mature Christian, with experience in evangelizing, take a new Christian "evangelist" under your wing. Share your experiences with him or her and provide encouragement. Continue to look for opportunities to share the Gospel and lead souls to Christ.

Other people may tend to think you are pushy, that you are more interested in numbers than people, and that you judge their spirituality by the number of souls thay have won. Beware that Satan can attack your gift by causing pride in your number of converts, causing failure to grow and learn, causing you to see people as numbers rather than people with needs, causing discouragement when converts are few or infrequent, and causing a lack of concern for Bible passages that cannot be used as "soulwinning texts."

HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR DOMINANT GIFT? There are many avenues in which you can carry out the gift of evangelism. Visitation programs are the most obvious. You may enjoy visiting juvenile detention centers or jails, going door-to-door, going to orphanages and shelters for women or the homeless, and of course, following up on visitors in their homes. Your gift is a plus for leading people to Christ during an invitation or altar call. You could participate in special evangelistic efforts, such as fairs and other events. Your gift also fits well in church planting, on Gospel teams, in migrant ministry, men's or women's conferences, and many public speaking ministries.

New News

We found out from a wonderful organization called Ai No Kesshin, or Loving Decisions, that after several years wait, they have a little girl available to us for adoption. She was born on January 23, 2010. We should be able to have her home very soon, possibly even today soon. Praying as we grow our family once again, and that she will come home soon. Praying that God will use this experience to be a good witness for His kingdom! We are very excited and very eager to give this little girl lots of kisses and hugs!

Sunday, Janaury 31

Church Sunday morning was with three children. We took a look at the armor of God in Ephesians. Since it was a 5th Sunday of the month, we offered no formal kids' club, but I did offer a snack and all the kids played outside. I stayed out and supervised the fun day.

Ladies ' Tea

Nicki hosted a tea party for several ladies yesterday. She made cinnamon rolls, frreshly ground coffee, and tea. Seven ladies total were present. Lots of good conversation. We were testing the waters to see if something like a monthly ladies event would be well received. It looks like it might be something to try again.

Some of the ladies want to have a sushi making party where we make sushi together in honor of Tomo going to kindergarten and Linda going to elementary school.

January 25

Great weekend.

For church Corey covered the beginning parts of Colossians to give a brief overview of Jesus. This was a nice study to have as it was a great reminder for our regular attender, but she brought her mom. Her mom is generally not receptive to the Gospel, but the daughter felt led by God to invite her mom to church that morning. Without hesitation, she accepted the invitation.

I believe that God is working in that woman's life. Back in November, I could hear God tell me that, "She will believe." As I prayed about who this she was, I really felt like God was telling me that the woman will believe. So we keep praying that all things will continue to work to the glory of God!

I had the children, a covered the story of Noah with the aspect that God cares for us. We made wreaths and the kids all enjoyed placing stickers on that wreath that said "God cares." The girl in our group said she didn't quite get it, so I explained it to her this way. God loves her as though she was his very favorite daughter. Her little face lit up. I was surprised how well she took that explanation.

Our lunch was a BYOB" or Bring your own bento (lunch box) day.

Kira Kira Kids was the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. Our three regulars came and this week another boy on our street came. I was shocked because generally this parents have almost gone out of their way to not permit the boy to come to the club. I was surprised BUT very pleased that he did. We have been praying for this family for over a year now. This is encouraging and a great reminder that God does hear and answer our prayers!

For a game we played Jenga. If you have a story about knocking down walls, then you have to have a game about knocking things down! We made paper bugles for a craft and marched around blowing our horns. Complete chaos but totally fun. The Jericho them would not be complete with out Bugle-like snacks!

Backing up a bit more

Sunday, January 3
This was the first meeting of the new year. The theme of the day is what we would like to see God do this year in our lives. We ordered from Gusto Skylark. It was nice to not have to worry about making food, and it was nice to have the food delivered to our door.

No Kira Kira Kids this week.

Just a little behind in the updating

Sunday, January 11
Church this morning focused on the boy Jesus.
Lunch was sandwiches.
We had a great time fellowshiping with church members.

At Kira Kira the lesson was on the 12 spies. We had grapes for a snack to go along with the theme of the story. The kids played a big spy/tag kind of game. We had the kids draw how God protects them. This time was fun, but exhausting. Three of the kids stayed long after Kira Kira Kids was over, they seem to feel very comfortable here. I was a little surprised that while we were playing a game outside to see their parents pulling into their driveway. I was a little floored that they had left their kids with us and never said a thing to us about being gone.

Sunday, January 18
Church was just the family, and we had a nice time of singing songs. The boys could pick all the songs they wanted. they happily sang each song. Then we read from Ephesians 2 and had a very nice discussion.

Kira Kira Kids proceeded as usual. The three that I have come to call my second set of kids came. They came calling right at 3pm. I wasn't sure that they would come since no one was outside and no one reminded them about the meeting, but they came on their own. I am pleased to see that they may be regular. Now to get them to invite friends.

This week was about Rahab helping the spies. We had no special snack, but enjoyed some maple cookies that I had been given. We braided together a red cord to be used as a book mark or a bracelet. The cord reminds us of how Rahab acted in faith and held the Israelites. We played a game where an object was hidden and the kids had to find it.