Hello Brothers and Sisters of Wakaba BBC and friends,
I pray that all of you are ok. I am thankful to the Lord that among us, no one has gotten the coronavirus yet. It doesn’t mean that we won’t get the coronavirus, but I am thankful for God’s protection until now.
There are a few announcements that I need to make. We haven’t made the April schedule yet, but I need to tell you the forecast. Due to the spread of the coronavirus, we made the decision in March to hold only Sunday morning services and to livestream Sunday morning services and the Wednesday night prayer services. As we come close to the end of March, it seems that the spread of the coronavirus has not slowed down, but it has actually increased. Therefore, I’m forecasting that we will have to continue the current schedule as we enter into April. There might be a few minor changes, but if we want to stop the spread of the coronavirus, we must follow the government’s recommendations and continue what we are currently doing. So, in April, we will continue to hold Sunday morning services only, and we will continue to livestream the Sunday morning services and the Wednesday night prayer services. For those who are at high risk or who have an ongoing health condition, please don’t force yourself to come, but please watch the services through our Facebook pages. If you need help to register and learn to use Facebook, the staff and others are available after the Sunday morning services, or you may contact the staff (Sis. Shinobu Suzuki, Sis. Amy Smith, or Pastor Jim Smith) directly. We want to protect your health. Also, those who attend the Sunday morning services in April, please continue to wear a mask and wash and sanitize your hands continually. Thank you for your cooperation.
Besides the Sunday morning services and the livestreaming, there are a few event updates that I need to tell you. First, I announced recently that we will go cherry blossom viewing on Sunday afternoon, March 29th in Kinrin Park. I saw families and kids gathering at the park almost every day this week. They were playing together. However, there are now signs up stating that we should not gather together in large groups and we should not eat or drink anything in the park. Therefore, sadly we must cancel the park flower viewing. I apologize for this. Again, we want to protect everyone’s health. Please, understand.
Also, we will have our annual business meeting on Sunday afternoon, April 5th. If you are a team leader, please prepare your reports for your team. I’ll attached the document telling you what we will cover during the meeting in the next email to the church members. I have not planned all the details yet. Again, we want to think about everyone’s health, so I’m considering how we will hold the meeting. I’ll give some details by next week.
Also, we will have Easter worship services on Sunday, April 12th from 10:30~11:45 a.m. This is of course a regular worship time, but it is a very special day for us Christians. Due to the spread of the coronavirus, we will postpone having the Lord’s Supper until a later date. Moreover, it seems that we will have to cancel the Children’s Easter Celebration, too. Please, understand that we are trying to comply with the local and federal government’s recommendations to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Also, we want to protect the health of each of you.
Moreover, in last week’s email, we informed you about the coronavirus preventive measures that we were taking. There are a few other things that we are doing at the church. One other thing that we are doing is wiping and cleaning. Before and after the Sunday morning service, many things that people often touch are being wiped: chairs, doorknobs, light switches, handrails, tables, shelves, church van interior, etc. They are all wiped with bleach water. Another thing that we are doing is venting the 1st and 3rd floors. This is recommended by many authorities, so we are doing this, too.
Finally, let’s pray for one another that we would keep our eyes on Jesus, and keep our faith in Him. As Christians, while we are not fearful, we want to be wise about what we do, and we want to keep God’s Word. Thank you for your understanding.
