This week, we are rejoicing over an open door that we could not have arranged on our own.
Over the past few weeks, we have asked you to pray as we continued searching for a place for the church to gather.
This week, we have a specific answer to prayer to share.
“How much were you thinking?”
The conversation moved so quickly it almost felt surreal.
A young man had just waved me into a building where the first floor was being used as a dance studio. I had seen online that the same dance studio rented out another facility, but this particular location did not have rental details listed.
So I decided to drop by in person and ask.
An Unexpected Conversation
It turned out that the fitness gym upstairs owns the property and rents the first floor to the dance studio.
The man who waved me in was connected with the gym, not the dance studio itself.
When he asked what I was looking to do, I explained that we were a Christian church looking for a place to use on Sundays where we could sing and talk from the Bible.
That is often how we describe a church service here because many people in Japan have never been to church before.
That is when he asked about price.
“I don’t know…” I said, quickly rattling off what hourly rental rates usually cost in that part of the city.
Since we were only asking to use the space on Sundays, I did the math in my head and finally said, “How about 15-man?”
In Japanese, man (pronounced “mahn”) is a unit of 10,000. So 15-man means 150,000 yen, or just under $1,000 with the current exchange rate.
“11 is fine,” he replied.
I could hardly believe it. Then he added, “You can use the parking out front too.”
I had been talking to the man in charge of the entire facility.
A Place to Gather
All of this happened after several discouraging answers in our search for a church space.
A few days later, I went back with a list of detailed questions to make sure we were all on the same page.
The final price came to 12-man plus tax, which is still less than what I had originally offered.
The space is a six-minute walk from the subway station in a central part of town. We can probably seat about 30 people.
Click here to see what it looks like on Google maps↗︎
We will be allowed to put a sign outside, store chairs, keep a TV screen for teaching, and leave some basic supplies there.
And since it is normally used as a dance studio, noise won’t be a problem.
We are scheduled to begin holding Sunday services there on the first Sunday in June, and we can use the space every Sunday through December.
We plan to revisit the possibility of extending our use in October.
A Step Toward the Downtown Vision
This is not a permanent home for the church, but you could call it “phase 0.5.”
Thank you for praying as we continued searching for a place to use for the church.
The space we had been hopeful about in our April prayer letter did not work out. Another owner declined to rent to us. In one case, I went to look at a possible location only to be told that the building was owned by a temple.
Not cool.
Though it has felt we ran out of cards to play, God opened up this door for us.
Other Open Doors We’re Praying Through
Along with preparing for Sunday services at the new location in June, we are also gearing up to relaunch our Kids Club outreach for families with young children.
This will be held at a local community center and gives us another opportunity to meet families, serve children, and build relationships in the community.
We are also grateful that our mission board has reached out to help with the stateside screening process for our Recon Trips.
We are still working through the details, but this could be a helpful step as we continue praying for God to raise up more laborers for Japan.
What Are You Rejoicing About?
Has God answered a prayer, encouraged you in some small way, or opened a door you did not expect?
Please write back and let us know. We would love to rejoice with you and pray for you too.
Yours for Japan,
The Miyashita Family
Click here for a printer friendly 1-page prayer letter.
Prayer Requests
- Downtown services beginning in June
- Kids/family outreach
- The 4 men attending the recon trip in May (clarity about serving in Japan long-term)
- Ministry funds to cover downtown operations and expanded outreach