|
Hiebert Newsletter March 2008 |
|
|
Dear praying friend,
Thanks for your prayers. Both the wake and the funeral went very well. We sensed God’s presence and comfort. About 70 people attended the wake and about 55-60 came to the funeral. (Many people who work prefer to attend the wake in the evening after work.)
Several people in our church worked very hard and without their help it would not have gone nearly as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Maegawa (and three sons), who attend our church, seemed very pleased. Mrs. Maegawa’s mother, Mrs. Nishiyama, became a follow of Jesus about 12 years ago – shortly after her daughter did. (Mrs. Maegawa has no siblings and her father passed away when she was a child.) Out of the relatives, the Maegawas are the only ones who are Christians.
My messages were messages of comfort and hope and also evangelistic in nature. The Maegawas had requested that they be evangelistic. I was able to share with several extended family members during these days. Mrs. Maegawa told me, “One of my relatives said, ‘If this is what Christianity is like, I want to change my religion.’” Please continue to pray that the seed of God’s Word will bear fruit.
At the crematorium Leona and I spent a couple of hours with the family and relatives. As the crematorium is very busy trying to do it’s business on only “lucky” days, the schedule was very tight. We were given only 5 minutes to pray and sing one song before the casket was wheeled into an elevator-like set of doors (There were 13 such sets of doors in a huge marble lobby). The family was allowed a minute or two to say their final goodbyes and then asked to push the button to close the doors. Then a key was turned to lock the doors and to start the fire. The chief mourner took the key.
We were then told we would need to wait about 90 minutes. So we went to a room prepared for families to wait. Then we were called to place the charred and brittle light-gray bones into an urn - something we did with large chopsticks. It was very a very sober time with an overpowering sense of finality. For Leona who participated for the first time, it extremely graphic. But for the Japanese it is a natural and even a caring and intimate time.
The Maegawas did very well throughout this week – obviously sustained by God’s Spirit and the prayers of people like you. They thank you for praying.
It has been a busy and full week. With only hours left to prepare for the weekend of ministry, we are grateful that we know you are praying for us. Thanks again.
Grateful for your prayers and encouragement,
Laurence and Leona
|