Seima has become a good friend of ours. He is the lead pastor of Grace Harbor Church out in the heart of the Tokyo bay area. Just before we embarked on our trip this past spring to meet with him we received word that his son had injured his neck doing a backflip at school. It’s been a difficult ear for them but despite the trails they are facing they have remained faithful to the Lord. This year their church came on the map as the first A29 church in Japan. It’s encouraging to hear that Towa is progressing and that God is using them in their weakness.
Seima’s story reminds me Paul’s words to the Corinthians:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV)