Prayer-Walking Time #60: The Church on Fire

Stephen and I headed downtown tonight for another prayer-walking sesh, and this time we were accompanied in the Spirit by a special UK person who has said she will pray with us at the same time from her location! Thank you, special person! That was fantastically encouraging. 

When I saw the coffee brand Fire on this vending machine (jihanki), I took that as my word for the night. May the Holy Spirit fire us up and fire up the fellowships that we prayed for tonight. 

When we first moved to Kanazawa, I was really surprised at how many churches were here, actually. 

Tonight we started at Nagamachi Kanazawa Church in the old samurai district. They also run a preschool there. Please pray with us for the pastor, family, and congregation there in such a historic and touristy part of the city. May they reach the neighborhood folks with God's grace and love. 

Second was Kanazawa Church, not too far away (we walked between these three churches very easily). This was started in the 1800s by an American Presbyterian missionary named Thomas Wynn, and he also helped start the Christian school in town, Hokuriku Gakuin. 

Last but not least was the St. Joseph Catholic Church around the corner, which has masses mostly in Japanese but also some in Tagalog, English, and Vietnamese, according to their sign. One of my Filipina friends goes there for the Tagalog mass sometimes. 

These three church groups are strategically located in the downtown area, mixed in with pubs, restaurants, pachinko parlors, karaoke places, dodgy bars, shops, hotels, individual family homes, and condos. May God's Spirit waft through these streets and especially people's lives as his fire ignites life. 

I have to admit that I didn't want to pray in front of this Korean restaurant: 

Stephen and I went there once, years ago, and waited in line to get in. When we got to the front of the line inside the restaurant, even though we spoke polite Japanese to the owner, he yelled at us, pointed to the door, and kicked us out. He let the Japanese people behind us in.

Honestly, I haven't felt great every time I walk past that restaurant or think of that incident. 

I felt like I should pray for him tonight. I did. I don't know if it helped him or me or anyone, but I obeyed. I don't know if I feel any less angry at the injustice, but I prayed for blessings for him and his restaurant. I'm not going to try going there again, but I hope he gains some peace. (Me too.)

Two prayer-walkin' people. Hello! And blessings for all of you. Thanks for coming along on the adventure with us.