Lorna Ferguson has been working with OMF in Japan since 1992 and St Paul's has been involved throughout those years.
David and Lorna Ferguson as members of St Paul’s went as a family to Japan in 1998 with OMF ( Overseas Missionary Fellowship). OMF serves the church and brings the gospel to many of the countries in East Asia. They help place Christians with professional skills in China and other Asian countries, and share the love of Christ with East Asians worldwide.
After two years’ language study the Fergusons moved to Otaru, a city of some 145,000 people on Hokkaido island, where they worked for eight years before handing over leadership to a Japanese pastor. After a year of home assignment in Milngavie, they returned to Japan in March 2009 when they began a new church in the Hiragishi area of Sapporo, the largest city in Hokkaido.In Spring 2013 they moved to Tokyo where they took up the post of OMF field director for Japan.
Sadly, in 2016 David Ferguson was diagnosed with cancer and after a year long struggle he died on Tuesday 25 April 2017. Since then Lorna has continued to serve God in Japan with OMF. The boys are mostly away from home now with only the youngest, Alistair, still at school in Japan.
Here is an extract from a recent news bulletin:
Hello from Tokyo where the summer heat is beginning to abate and we are looking forward to autumn. However, one thing that late summer often brings is typhoons. We had a strong typhoon named Faxai pass right overhead one night. I was fortunate in that my house and garden only had limited damage, but friends just up the road had no electricity for over 48 hours, and some places took even longer before power was restored. And this was in temperatures of over 35°C! There was no signal for smart phones in some places, no air conditioning, TV or games. It was a reminder how dependent we are on electricity.
Alistair’s school saw the roof blown off one smaller building and quite a lot of tall trees damaged. However, the teachers worked very hard to clear everything up and after two days the school was able to reopen, and then 3 days later hold their annual culture festival, which is a highlight of the high school year.
I am on the PTA this year, so was involved in the culture festival. The students put on various plays, dances, musical items etc. and prepare some snacks. The parents prepare hot food for sale.
You can read Lorna's full Japan Jottings article in the latest Life magazine.