2020 Winter Newsletter #1

〜The Year 2020〜Blessings despite the pandemic〜

The aim of the Marunouchi Office Groups (MOGs) is to be a place where Christians working nearby can encourage each other and can bring along colleagues who are not yet Christian, but are open to hearing something from the Bible. MOGs started in January 2020, meeting in person during January and February 2020. We shifted to online meetings from May due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been meeting on weekday mornings, lunchtimes and evenings. In August, we held an online Vision Party, and since September we have been able to hold twice a month meetings in six different formats at six different times, with the common theme being the Bible is central, and Christians coming along and inviting those who are not yet Christians. Over the year, there have been a total of 50 meetings, with 61 different Christians and 5 people who are not yet Christians participating. With the increase in tele work and online communication due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are thankful to the Lord for this opportunity for Christians and non-Christians in Marunouchi from various industries and professions to encourage each other through the Bible.

 One of these meetings has been the “Marunouchi Morning Walk”, which is an offline meeting held twice a month since the end of September. By the grace of the Lord, we have been blessed by this opportunity to walk around the outer gardens of the Imperial Palace in the beautiful weather wearing masks, listen to a “Psalm” using the recently released “Public Reading of Scripture app” and pray together before work.

 We ask you to continue praying for this gospel work in Marunouchi in the midst of the pandemic, and the many uncertainties and challenges that this entails.