By Laura Foushee, CBF field personnel
One day I received a message from Sarah, an exchange student from Europe who is studying in our city for half a year and has been attending our English worship service at Kanazawa Baptist Church each Sunday. She simply said, “I feel like God is working in my life right now, and I want to share more about it with you.” I took her to dinner and listened to her story of how she was growing in her faith through the numerically small but vibrant Christian community in our city, including our church. She will leave us to return home soon, but what a joy to know that during her short time with us, she has found the space and community to help her grow in faith.
When I offer a word of welcome during our English worship gatherings, I often say “we hope that our church might provide a space for you to meet God and grow in your faith for however long you’re here.” Among our international worshipers, we have some traveling in our city for just a day and those who have been here close to a decade, but most fall somewhere in between as short-term residents. Our hope is that for however long someone is making a home in our city, our church can be a place where they learn more about who they are in Christ so that they are prepared to continue the journey of faith in their next location. This is equipping the Global Church.