Today was a sobering day. This morning, we went to another small church led by a Japanese Christian couple who also run a house for people with emotional disorders. We passed out tracts in the neighborhood to let people know about the church. Then, the pastor's wife (a beautiful lady whose love for the Lord is so obvious) told us about their story and their ministries. After lunch, we went to a huge cemetery. There were thousands upon thousands of grave markers there. Everyone here is cremated, and their ashes are added to their families' grave sites. They are so elaborate and the families have to travel to them to offer food, drink, incense, and flower offerings to appease the spirts. Once a year at least, they have to purify the grave sites with water and replenish the offerings. There is a festival of the dead in August when all of the spirts will be deliberately called back; the families will do everything they can to please them and hope for a good year. Most of the Japanese live in constant fear of the spirit world. As we walked up and down the aisles of thousands of graves, we saw just a handful of crosses. So many lives were ended without Christ. We saw a few families there giving offerings, and all I wanted to do was run up and tell them, "You don't have to do that...there is a God Who loves you and has already been appeased by the death of His Son!" We prayer walked back to the church, praying over houses and people we saw. Please pray for this country. The people are in such spiritual bondage; pray that the Son will set them free. Tonight, we had a high school party for the teenagers in local churches. A lot of unchurched kids came too. Pray that the believers will be encouraged in their walks and that those who do not yet know Him will come back to the church looking for more.
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