Hello once again. Ever since I got back from the conference in Karuizawa, things have been a lot more steady with less surprises. I like some spice in my life once in a while, but it’s always nice to simply get into a groove and stay there. Of course, I know it’s not to last — But that’s okay. Soon, Marcy, the missionary living in the church, will be going back to America to raise more support. During that time, I’m to take over a lot of her English teaching. On Thursdays in particular, that’s about 5 classes back to back. For someone who’s only taken over two classes since I got here, that’s some serious baptism by fire. Oh well. I can handle it.
Probably.
Ministry is still about the same, and all is well. Actually, I’m sure you’ll all be happy to hear that I finally was able to start that Bible study with Takaki (Taka for short) that I tried to do weeks ago but was held back due to sickness and conflicting schedules. Taka’s a very interesting fellow and I like him a lot. He showed a lot of interest in this study, and told me he specifically wanted to study Romans to which, of course, I made no objections. He told me that he never considered himself a “religious” person, but he ended up studying abroad in Melbourne, Australia where he was exposed to multiple religions such as Islam and Christianity. It was then, he says, that he began to truly acknowledge the existence of a god. Now, he’s on a quest, of sorts, to find out who this god is and if he should be serving this god. We had a great first study, and he asked a lot of excellent questions — I can’t wait until next time.
Interacting with the Japanese in settings like these confirms even further my belief in the doctrine of Total Depravity — We are sinful men, and only God can draw us to Himself in His own good will. You have, literally millions of Japanese, walking around day in day out not giving God a second thought. To most Japanese, work and possessions are paramount. Without them, life is meaningless. Then, all of a sudden, people like Taka and Kei are exposed to the Bible and ravenously want to learn more about God and His Word. Of course, I realize that many times this might be mere curiosity that leads to nothing, but not in every case. Kei, who I study with on Fridays, told me that he went years without thinking about a god, until one day he looked at the world around him and it occurred to him there must be a higher being somewhere. He went searching for this higher power and God used Christians in his area to expose him to the truth. That’s a perfect example of God’s Special Revelation smacking someone clean in the face. It’s an amazing thing, and simultaneously comforting knowing that God makes all the calls — Not us. We are blessed instruments, but we are easily disposable in case of failure. Humbling and scary when I put it that way. We truly must be careful how we represent the name of God — Not so much for the fate of others, but for our own sake that we might not dishonor the God we claim to serve. Keep that in mind today as you interact with others. Stay sharp.
The "Tetsujin" (Iron Man) who stands stories tall, guarding Shin-Nagata.
The beautiful city of Kobe at dusk.
Originally took this picture at an arcade for my gamer friends, but I figure I should show my face once in a while.
Hello again—It’s been a pretty busy, but pretty good past ten days or so. The mad dash for Kathy and I alone to teach every English class at Agape is over. Murray finally returned a couple days ago, so hopefully things will be going back to a more normal pace. Some good crunch time is okay once in a while, but I’m glad to hopefully get back into some sort of groove.
Last weekend, I got the opportunity to travel eight hours north to Karuizawa—A breezy city in the high mountains of Japan, which is a popular hotspot for those in the lower regions to escape from brutal Japanese summers. It’s not really that time of year yet, but TEAM was holding a men’s conference here that I was required to go to—So I went. As beautiful as it was, I spent most of the time in the forest-like retreat area, so forgive my lack of pictures. I did take of videos of the trip, though, so I hope you will enjoy those.
The Karuizawa/Nagano area.
Karuizawa Station
Beautiful footage I got of Osaka on the way back.
An eight hour bus like that is called a “yakoubasu (夜行バス)” — It literally means, “night bus” and travels during sleeping hours. They’re fairly comfortable and cheap, but I wouldn’t expect to get a Holiday Inn-quality sleep on one. It was fairly interesting traveling so far, alone, but my low-level Japanese got me what directions I needed as I hopped trains and transferred lines. I actually paid about $5 to put my luggage up in a locker so I could explore the area, but soon after realized I was at the wrong station. So out came the luggage I had just paid to store, and back through the station I went to pay for another ticket to go one station over. When I finally did get to the right destination, I wasted another $5 because I didn’t follow the instructions on the locker properly and ended up having to pay again. It was stupid and embarrassing on my part, but hey—Live and learn.
The conference I attended was on the subject of “discipleship.” It was less of a preaching/teaching sort of event, and more of a counsel—A sharing of ideas. What are the best discipleship methods? Specifically the ones that “work best” in Japan. Around twenty or so good, Christian men attended, and I was glad to be a part of the group. I found it interesting that the focus of discussion was on methodology. Not that that’s a bad topic—I suppose I just found there to be a disheartening lack of scripture. I feel that perhaps sometimes we get far too caught up in trying to “sell” or “market” Christianity to certain demographics, when in reality, all we can really do is preach the scriptures and pray that God will water the seed. After all: God saves souls—Not us! We were each to give a ten minute speech on our view of discipleship. I actually recorded mine, and you can listen to it by clicking here.
But don’t get me wrong—It was a profitable time, and I got to meet all sorts of missionaries with a heart for Japan—Young and old. I was the youngest and least experienced of the group, even still, so it felt a little overwhelming at times, but everyone was kind and gracious, so I’m thankful for that. As stated previously, I didn’t get to see much of what Karuizawa had to offer, but my first day, while I was waiting for registration, I got to look around an absolutely massive outlet mall near the station. Ladies, mark that place down on your bucket list. Holy man.
After the conference, I had to spend about 12 hours in a city called Nagano, because my bus which left from there didn’t leave till late at night. So, being me, I did some googling and found that there was a large arcade about 45 minutes away by foot. I tried to find a bus to at least near to where I wanted to go, but couldn’t really accomplish that. So I basically said, “Whatever. I’m here for 12 hours,” and walked the distance. It was well worth the trip. Got to play a lot of fantastic Japanese arcade games you’d never see in the States, and I won an adorable “Relakuma (Relaxing Bear)” for Kathy, who loves the character. Fun fact: You can actually win crane games here in Japan. Crazy, huh?
I came back to Kobe and got immediately hit with a whirlwind of activity. The first full day I was back, I went to help teach at an English class taught in extremely large building in the middle of Sannomiya called “Mint Kobe.” The teacher, Mr. Hatakeyama, is an extremely kind, older man who knows Murray and Kathy. He had invited me to do this a few weeks ago, so I gladly accepted. I was asked to speak about my life in America and then foster conversation from it. I had a lot of fun, and I think it was a great opportunity. It was all women I got to speak for, and they were all very enthusiastic and engaging, though sometimes too unconfident! I always enjoy showing pictures of my family too. Whenever I show my mother’s picture, the room always lights up with cries of, “She looks so young!” and “So beautiful!” — One women even said she looked like a “movie star” from “Hollywood.” Well, it’s all true. I love bragging on my mom.
Neglected to take a picture of Mint Kobe. Thanks Google Maps.
I actually helped with two classes—An afternoon and an evening. Mr. Hatakeyama very graciously took me out to lunch after the first. It was for very, very high quality Kobe beef. Let me tell you—They aren’t lying when they say it’s the best. Melt. In. Your. Mouth. It’s unreal, and I hope some of you get the chance to try it someday. Just be warned—You certainly do pay out the nose for quality. Thankfully, I didn’t, because I had an extremely generous host. After the evening class, he suggested we go to a bar. I’m 20—But that’s the earliest legal drinking age in Japan. I told him I’d be glad to go with him, but that I really didn’t have a taste for alcohol. I really would have been fine going, but I suppose he thought he may have offended me (which he didn’t) and took me to a coffee shop instead!
The next day was equally busy, if not more so. In the morning, I went with Kathy to a culture festival at the junior-high all-girls school where she teaches English frequently. Those girls were very talented and did some really, really cool stuff. I don’t have any pictures or videos to show you, so I’m sorry, but I didn’t feel like it would be very kosher of me to start snapping pictures of underage girls, regardless of intentions.
After that, I went to Myodani to do a similar song and dance to Mr. Hatakeyama’s class. Some of you might remember Mrs. Miyoshi, the woman from Agape who I played ping-pong with recently. Her husband heads an English-speaking club in Myodani, and I was asked to do essentially the same sort of thing once again. This group was a bit different—It was a longer time of conversation, and the English level of the group was more advanced, so there was more detail involved in the whole gig—Which certainly wasn’t a bad thing! When I talked about my church back home, one of the men asked me why I choose to be a Christian—Well, now. I’m glad you asked.
So that’s a good recap. I realized I really haven’t talked about my ear in while, and I assure you that’s a good thing. I’ve made a full recovery by God’s grace—The infection has abated and my hearing has returned. Sorry for the late update on that one, but I heartily thank everyone who prayed for me during that time. It certainly wasn't fun!
You can also continue to pray for the people in my own personal circle. I’m still currently doing a Bible study through Ephesians with the young believer and friend, Kei, on Fridays. My friend, Akihiro, has been coming to church almost every Sunday as well. It’s encouraging because he really does seem devoted to seriously learning more about the word. Kathy recently gave him a bilingual Bible as a gift, and during a Bible study at the church this evening I saw notes already scribbled on the pages. Cool stuff. There’s also a new girl our age, Tomoka, who’s recently been coming regularly and participating in this same Bible study. I don’t think I’ve mentioned her before. She sort of came out of nowhere, but it’s certainly been awesome to add another person to the group! I suggested today, at tea, that we should all four of us go to Sannomiya soon, to which everyone wholeheartedly agreed. So, yeah. Things are good at the moment. Thanks for reading. And thanks for the prayers.
Sorry for the long absence! I’ve been busy. You might remember at the end of my last post that I mentioned I was getting to travel and stay with Akihiro’s family for a couple days. That happened, and it was awesome.
We had to take a bus on a three hour trip to Sakaide. Japanese long-distance buses are quite nice! Comfortable seats, plenty of storage space, and a lavatory. We got off the bus in Manae’s town, Takamatsu, and took a train fifteen minutes to near Akihiro’s home in Sakaide. His mother picked us up and brought us back to their home. Akihiro’s mother, Mrs. Tanimoto, was an extremely kind woman, who always had a smile on her face. Their home was absolutely pristine. Sparkling clean, with everything in its place. Didn’t have too long to gawk though, because it was lunch-time. The in-joke of this whole trip was the fact that I have never had Japanese udon before, and Sakaide is famous for the stuff—Akihiro and Manae were intent on getting me some. So we headed out to one of their favorite udon shops in the area. For those of you who don’t know, udon are thick and doughy Japanese noodles served in a delicious broth—Often topped with various other tasty things like peppers, onions, or fish. I definitely found out that day that udon is insanely delicious that day. We had it for lunch all three days I was there—Try some if you ever get the chance!
After lunch, Akihiro, Manae, and I went to a place called Golden Tower. We need these in the states. About $13 per person for essentially all the ping-pong, bowling, billiards, darts, and arcade games you can play—Karaoke is also included. And this place wasn’t a hole in the wall—Check out the view from our humble karaoke room.
Yeah, Manae also made Akihiro and I do one of those photo booths that make your eyes all “pretty.” Results were mildly horrifying. Observe at your own risk.
I returned to Akihiro’s home for my first, real dinner in a Japanese home. It was quite something. Food. So much food. Rice, salad, two kinds of fish, octopus, tofu, beans, slabs of beef, etc. — Some of it wasn’t quite my taste, but most of it was delicious. And the food just kept coming. If something on the table got low, Mrs. Tanimoto was there to put more food on the table. She essentially spent the whole entire meal serving, and didn’t eat until the meal was almost over. It made me feel bad, but I’m told this is simply par for the course here. Mr. Tanimoto, a pediatrician, was present as well and also very kind to me. Their English wasn’t the strongest, but it was enough for me to get across what I needed to say when my limited Japanese abilities failed me. Akihiro and I compliment each other well in that area. Because we each study the other’s native languages fervently, we often help each other out. Akihiro helps me more, though—His language ability is amazing. Still, being at a table surrounded by Japanese people puts you in a great position to speak Japanese, and I really enjoyed having the opportunity. It was also good to be able to tell the family of my Christianity, and explain my missionary work.
The following day, Sunday, our group was made a group of four—An American fellow named Devon, who was a friend of Akihiro’s currently living in Japan, was invited by Akihiro to join us. He claimed to be a Christian, and seemed quite nice, but was also extremely quiet. Didn’t really get a good read on him at all. Not that it matters all that much. We all met Manae once again in Takamatsu and went to her home church. It was a wonderful thing, that I’m glad I was able to experience. The spiritual emptiness of the Japanese is evident every day you step out the door. To see this small church of 30 or so members praising God and preaching the Word in the middle of a spiritual desert was just so encouraging to me. After the service, I got to have udon with the congregation. Everyone was, as expected at this point, extremely kind. The Pastor was a very upbeat fellow, with a genuine personality and a good sense of humor. Talking with Japanese Christians is phenomenal. Being able to experience Japanese kindness and love, and at the same time knowing the person you’re talking to has been pardoned in Christ is indescribable amazing. Spending time with the kind and loving Tanimoto family knowing that their souls have yet to experience Christ can be indescribably suffocating in comparison. Still, Akihiro was with us, and it was great that he got to be exposed to this oasis.
After church, Manae’s mother (a Christian like Manae), drove us to the top of beautiful mountain. The name of the particular mountain escapes me at the time of this writing, but the views were absolutely incredible. Take a look.
That evening, dinner at the Tanimoto home was even more delicious. Yakiniku was the order of the evening—Essentially, Japanese barbecue. A large grill was placed in the middle of the table full of sizzling meat, fish, squid, and vegetables. When the piece of food you wanted was done cooking, you picked that sucker straight off the grill with your chopsticks, dipped it in some soy sauce, and enjoyed. Crazy good. And once again, Mrs. Tanimoto was hard at work. Beef running low? Another package of beef gets cracked open. Japanese hospitality is something I wish everyone could experience at least once. Truly humbling. That day, Akihiro’s 20-year-old brother, Naoyuki, had also returned from university. A shy dude, but very kind. So, Devon, Akihiro, Naoyuki, and I spent the whole rest of the evening playing Smash Brothers. My kind of night, for sure!
On the final day, we got to go see a site where an old Japanese castle had once stood—After that, a large Japanese walking park full of wonderful scenery. There’s not really much I can say about these locations—I’ll show you them instead.
To end the weekend, we returned to Manae’s house for dinner—I can only describe the dinner as essentially Japanese taco night: Roll your own sushi night! I’m not very good at it, but it was certainly fun and tasty. After dinner, Akihiro and I hopped on a bus home. The return trip was good, just as the first, and I even got to talk to Akihiro about some spiritual things—Obviously a great opportunity. I hope everyone who reads the blog is praying for every soul in Japan, but Akihiro is definitely one of the specific individuals you could certainly single out in your prayers if you’d like.
So now, it’s essentially back to the grind. I actually did have a cool opportunity today, though. Mrs. Miyoshi, one of the Christian ladies from Agape, invited me to play ping-pong with her an a non-Christian gentleman named Kiyoshi. Afterwards, we went to Mr. Kiyoshi’s home and joined his wife for tea. It was a wonderful time! Apparently, Mr. Kiyoshi’s wife is a Christian, but he is not. However, he is interested in learning English from me, and also insists that I should homestay with them at some point. I hope God will make me even a bit useful.
That’s all I’ve got for now. Sorry again for the long delay, and hopefully the next one won’t be quite that long. Everyone stay frosty.
