Report 2000 June 
      
Dear everyone, 
      
Hope you are doing well and blessed by God's love.  Since last year we have  
had a Japanese Bible study in the afternoon and have been studying with a
number of people.  One of them, Kaoru (the first name) Tomono (the last
name), has decided to give his life to Jesus.  He was baptized in Christ at
14:30 (Japanese time) on June 4.  After his baptism, as Christ's body we   
took the Lord's Supper together.  We discussed the meaning of the Supper. 
We (Masa and Mari) emphasized the covenantal aspect of the meal as well as
the unity of the body as we were taking the supper.  I told him that we are
a spiritual family although we are not blood related.  We are really 
brothers and sisters in Christ. 
      
Mari and I have recently worked as a missionary team.  About two years ago,
I began to realize that Mari and I had to work as a team.  (We were a team,
but only I was studying with people.  That was not good.)
Before that, since our kids were so little that Mari had to take care of
them while I was studying with people.  Although we had some struggles with
taking care of our kids while studying with people in Sunday afternoon.  Our
boys needed to take a nap, but often they were not able to do so because     
they played all afternoon in the church building since morning.  As a 
result, they were so tired that they sometimes got sick easily.  Now they
are older and able to take care of themselves in some ways.  We feel 
comfortable to let them play alone.   This has been working well.  Two of  
our female students have children with a similar age.  They bring their   
children with them and let them play with our kids.  As you know, they feel
more comfortable to talk to the same sex.  Mari has been helping in this   
area and sharing her faith with those ladies. 
 
Meanwhile, Mari has been making a web page.  Since I bought a used lap top
computer, she is able to use our desk top to make the page.  I write texts 
like questions and answers; she put them in the page.  She likes to make a 
beautiful design and is really good at it. 
 
Our work at Uenohara church of Christ, another local congregation which I  
have been working with, has been going well.  I try to create open 
atmosphere, open enough for them feel comfortable to ask questions.  I think 
it is important for them to think for themselves and apply to themselves.
Japanese people are very reticent about asking anything.  The members have
already begun to ask a lot of questions about the Bible.  This is really
good for me and them.  I hope the word of God really comes alive through   
discussion. 
We are planning to have a retreat on September 22 and 23.  By the time of  
the retreat, we will develop the idea of what church is all about on Sunday
morning classes.  In the retreat, we will talk about what good deeds we
(church) can do to glorify God, so that everyone will praise the name of the
Lord. 
In this local church, my goals are (1) to bring back old members who were  
turned off for some reasons ( I have found out why they quit coming) 
although I know it takes a long time to bring them back, (2) to have sense
of purpose as Christ's body.
 
At the Yokota church, we are hoping that we can bring more people to our
Bible talk on Sunday afternoon.  TO make our church building attractive, we  
have planted lots of flowers at the entrance and in front of the building.
(To tell you the truth, our building is quite shabby looking.)  I am sure 
that God can draw people and work in people's hearts despite of how the 
building looks.  I pray that God will work in this area.  The Holy Spirit  
will convict the sin of the world.
 
May God continue blessing you.  We always appreciate your help and prayers.
 
In His service, 
Masa Nonogaki
 
PS. Mari's grandmother passed away yesterday.  Next few days will be very
hectic.