Council Chairman's Report

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:8-9)

Two thousand years have passed since the Lord was born. With the Lord two thousand years are just like two days, but, of course, with us they are tremendously long period of time. How wonderful it is for us to become witnesses of the beginning of a new millennium! We are not delighted just because we were given the privilege of experiencing the transition to the 2000's, but we as Christians are delighted, amazed and excited because we can witness that the everlasting love of God and the wonderful grace of Jesus still keep spreading out into the world. God has been with us and He walked with us last year too, and showed his great love and his glory through the work of Nagoya Union Church.

As everyone knows, we experience constant changes in membership. Especially during the recent couple of years, some of the active members of the church who stayed in Japan for a long time and enthusiastically joined in church activities have left Japan. The church council could not help worrying about the future of the church because although new people have come and joined the church, people who know the church very well and can take leadership are gradually decreasing.

Our God, however, surely has walked with us during the past year, too, and worked in us in order to build up and prosper His church. He has made use of his people to the full extent and we can praise and worship God in a wonderful atmosphere. Don & Michelle Cruikshank, Vince Van Dyke, Monica Yoshida and all the worship leaders, music leaders and church choir members made great efforts and did great jobs. Anne Ishikawa is remarkable for her great effort of teaching in Sunday School. We surely know that God has blessed our church through many talented people.

The council realized there was a decline in finances in the beginning of fiscal year 1999. One of the things the church council decided to do is add the "minutes for the mission" during the service. Thanks to Lori Van Dyke, to those who were responsible for the minutes for mission and because of our church members' great understanding, the amount of the offering has increased, which you will see in the treasurer's report later. Let us praise our God for His wonderful grace!

I am one of the oldest members of Nagoya Union Church and I have gotten involved in a lot of church activities ever since. I think that the year of 1999 will be one of my unforgettable years. I guess that people like Nagoya Union Church because of its family-like atmosphere and God gave us some opportunities to deepen our family ties especially this year. Here are some of those events.

The fall retreat in Tajimi was one opportunity: Through the study session there, we renewed our understanding that we have received many blessings as Christians living in Japan. God gave us a wonderful time of singing praises, playing games and roasting marshmallows around the campfire there!

Christmas Caroling: I personally was a little bit afraid of approaching homeless people. But while I was delivering packs of food and seeing people thanking us and being moved to tears, soon my fear and timidity were turned into the excitement of singing and sharing our joy with those poor people! For me, it was a wonderful experience that I never had before. Surely we were filled with God's unconditional love that night just like those poor shepherds were the night 2000 years ago.

The year 2000 marks a milestone for our church. Our pastor will retire and go back to the United States. We haven't found anyone to take over Mary Kay's place yet, but I know that God will send the best person to pastor us. God is working right now in order to meet our needs. "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years," so He has a plenty of time. Let us be patient enough to wait for His answer just like He is with us. Our Lord will keep walking with us this year as well. Let us keep our eyes on Him and follow His guidance.

At the end of this report, I would like to express my gratitude to you all, especially other council members. It is my great honor to have been council chairman, but I wondered how much I could contribute to Nagoya Union Church to fulfill the role. I have been quite occupied in my Japanese church business and I don't feel that I was helpful enough. Each one of you has encouraged me a lot. Thank you for your help and cooperation.

Yoshinobu SakataChairman

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