Rounding out the series on English with a long-term look at things.
By which I do not mean that I intend to discuss some advanced EFL teaching technique pioneered here, nor do I intend to write about the future of English as an increasingly international language. Rather I wish to say a few things about the direction of the English classes at the Tsushima Family Center, particularly with how they parallel with the development of the church.
The main point (i.e. if you forget everything else remember this) is that missionaries are not in Japan to teach English. In our case, we’re here to establish a permanent, self-sustaining church in northern Okayama. That is our job description in a nutshell. We teach English on the side because the church is not yet self-sustaining and the additional income from English classes will help us reach our goal. But that goal never changes: we’re here to tell people about Jesus Christ and in so doing bring new Christians into the church.
With all of the talk about finding land for a permanent building in recent months we’ve had some time to look at the endgame strategy for missionaries a bit. In tandem with our goal of establishing a permanent church comes our goal of reaching the day when the missionaries can leave, knowing that the church is in good hands under the guidance of a Japanese leadership. At that point the English classes will stop, since they’re not needed anymore for the church’s survival. It’s really an unknown as to what happens to the missionaries at that point—we could simply go home to other jobs or move on to the next area in Japan that’s in need of a church.
The ideal timeframe for all of this to happen, we think, is in the next two years. So hopefully by the time the Shipps and I get ready to leave, Tsushima Christ Church (which might go by a different name by then) will have its own building with a core group of at least 20 members who can sustain and grow the church. Without missionaries the church will be under totally Japanese control, as it should be. In many ways we’re already heading that direction, as Pastor Goto now takes the lion’s share of preaching responsibilities and many other church events are organized and assembled entirely by Japanese people.
The most critical things in the near future are the permanent facility (for which we need land) and money for the construction. So far we’ve had difficulty finding a seller who is willing to allow a church to be built on the land. Lately Pastor Goto and David Sedlacek have been looking for a designer with the idea that if a designer is interested in the project he will assist with the land search. There are no definites at the moment, so please pray that in both situations God would lead us to the right person and location.