Important
people:
The Gilmore family: Pastor Randy was the fearless leader of our group, and the head of the Nippon Initiative and NipponNow. He and his wife and son had all been to Japan several times before.
The Gilmore family: Pastor Randy was the fearless leader of our group, and the head of the Nippon Initiative and NipponNow. He and his wife and son had all been to Japan several times before.
Morgan,
Alex, Adam, and Kristen: Other members of our group who were brought
through Pastor Gilmore.
The Lounsbrough family: Mark is the head of the missions department at Faith Baptist Bible College. He, his wife, and his son were all with us for the trip.
The Lounsbrough family: Mark is the head of the missions department at Faith Baptist Bible College. He, his wife, and his son were all with us for the trip.
Emily
and Rachel: These two were my fellow students at FBBC. They were in
Japan four weeks ahead of our group for their missionary internship.
Andrew
and Janae Gonnerman: These two were in Japan a little over a month
ahead of us, and plan on staying there a full year. They're both FBBC
graduates.
The
Mita and the Roberts family: These are the two pastors + families
whose churches we served in.
7/30/13
7/30/13
This
is so confusing! I’ve been on such a weird schedule and on so many
planes that I hardly know which day it is, or what time it is, or
what time my body “thinks” it is... However, my guesses are as
follows: It is 12:00am back home, and 1:00pm in Japan. We’re 3
hours away, so we’ll get there at about 3:00am “Texas time,”
4:00pm Japan time. I got up at about 2:00am this morning to catch out
first flight to Atlanta from Des Moines... So I’ll have been up for
well over 24 hours by the time we’re done traveling! Praise God for
His grace—I feel fine so far, and I managed to sleep an hour or two
on this flight (rare for me—I usually don’t sleep in vehicles
very well).
In
case you were curious, here’s how all of my flights worked out:
Sunday, I left from DFW to Denver at 10:30am, the Denver to Des
Moines at 12:30pm, to get in at 2:30pm. I got to go to church with
the Lounsbroughs, where I saw my roommate from last year—I was glad
to see him. =) Monday morning, the Lounsbroughs and I left the house
at 3:15am to go from Des Moines to Atlanta, then we left Atlanta at
1:30pm, for a 13.5 hour flight to Tokyo.
Apparently,
lack of sleep is affecting me more than I initially realized... I’ve
made SO many mistakes writing this entry so far! Haha.
Generally,
I don’t get excited about things very easily, and when I am
excited, I don’t show it very well... But I’m noticing myself
getting slowly more and more energized, at each new step. Packing my
bags, saying goodbye to my family, and then looking at the GPS map in
front of me, showing how close we are to Japan... It all makes me
feel more and more like it’s all really happening! It’s like a
dream come true... I keep saying that, over and over again. Pretty
soon we’ll touch down, get settled in, and we’ll all be
ministering alongside missionaries, helping reach this fascinating,
complex, yet utterly lost country for Christ.... Ah! I just can’t
put into words how it feels to be a little part of it! I’ve run out
of words, but not feelings... Ah.
In
other news, I flew over Canada and Alaska today—those are firsts.
Daniel Lounsbrough got a really great picture of some snow-capped
mountains; cool stuff. =) On the plane I’ve watched two movies,
finished reading As Easy As Falling Off The Face Of The Earth
(so good!), filled out a page in my sketchbook, memorized (well,
mostly refreshed) the hiragana (Japan’s phonetic alphabet), and
eaten two meals. I’ve also had five cups of Coke, if that’s of
any consequence. =)
I
feel like today’s entry is boring, but necessary... Hopefully I
will have much more interesting stuff to say tomorrow. =)
OH.
Omelets are coming... Gotta go!
7/31/13
Wow,
I can’t believe it’s the 31st already, and I’m IN JAPAN! Ahh!
=D I’ve got a little extra time now (it’s 8:45am), so I thought
I’d catch yall up. We landed smoothly and on time yesterday—customs
(I made it through first) and money exchange were easy. We caught a
bus to out hotel, and I am still in awe of how talented the bus
drivers are! They have to drive these massive machines in tiny lanes,
with only a foot or two of space on either side. A few of us held our
breath when out bus made a U-turn from one tiny lane into another
tiny ally—there was absolutely NO room for error, but our driver
did it quickly and easily.
Our
hotel is very nice—The Crown Plaza Hotel, Narita. It’s very
western—the rooms (at first glance) seem identical to a normal
hotel. Then you notice the “pillow menu,” a complimentary service
through which you can order pillows of every shape, size, and
material (including camel hair), as well as aroma therapy and
humidifiers. Then there’s the toliet (SO many buttons!) and the
really complicate shower...
My
roommate (Elliot Gilmore, pastor Gilmore’s son) and I slept well—I
woke up once at 3:00am, but got back to sleep quickly, and now I feel
great. =) Breakfast was at 7:30, and it was so good! There were
around 30 different kinds of food to try—I was overwhelmed! And a
lot of it was very western. I had bacon (mmmbacon!), a fried egg, a
tiny waffle (labeled “French toast”), a cherry pastry, milk, and
coffee. So ’Merican all the way... I didn’t even notice the rice,
pickled plums, curry, cucumbers, etc. until I was already full... So
I didn’t even use chopsticks! I feel ashamed.
Well,
it’s time for us to meet downstairs. I’ll write again soon.
8/1/13
Wow.
Yesterday was just incredible! When we all went downstairs, we met
Emily Davis and Rachel Smith, out two other team members from Faith
who have been here for four weeks already. Everyone from Faith was
excited to see everybody else from Faith—we grinned like fools for
a little while. =)
Then
we all met upstairs, had introductions for those who needed them, and
Pastor Randy talked a little about our trip, the Japanese, etc. Among
other things, he talked at length about how to present the the gospel
to a Japanese person in a way they can understand it. In western
culture, we use things like the Romans road or the ten commandments
to show (in an almost mathematical fashion) that 1. you’re a sinner
on a path to destruction, 2. Christ died for you sins, and 3. if you
accept his forgiveness you can be saved. Often in doing this, we rely
on a number of things, such as a mutual understanding of what the
Bible is—God’s Word. We take for granted that accepting Christ
means you cannot accept other religions. We also rely heavily on the
infrastructure of Christianity that is built into our culture in the
US. In Japan, these things do not exist. Thus, it is important in
Japan to explain what the Bible is, and how it is a “meta-narrative”
from start to finish, revealing God’s character, and plan for all
of history.
Alright,
I’ve got to move on... =)
After
our meeting, we left the hotel by bus. We walking a little ways, had
lunch at Macudonurudo (One of my favorite Japanese words. It means
McDonald’s. =D); we barely fit! But it all worked out, and I got a
Happy Meal for the first time in years. It came with a Pikachu toy. I
was overjoyed.
After
McDonald’s, we walked to out next destination: a Buddhist temple.
It was really incredible to see how huge and ornate everything
was—I’d seen pictures of temples before, but it was all 10 times
bigger and more detailed than I could have imagined. The temple
complex was also extremely large—it made me think of a state park
or a zoo (with no animals, though... and more buildings and
statues... okay, I guess it wasn’t much like a zoo at all...). And
all the while, as we walked around the beautiful grounds, surrounded
by waterfalls, incense burners, pagodas, and religious Japanese
giving money and offerings, we were all sort of thinking the same
things in the back of our minds: This is all so sad, and misguided,
and wrong! I tried to appreciate the beauty of the temple, but I
couldn’t help but feel mostly sad and sobered about the whole
thing.
After
leaving the temple, we took a bus back to our hotel, checked out of
our rooms, got on another bus to the train station, and eventually
made it on to a train. By this time, I think Emily and I were the
only two alert and “sane” people in our group—everyone else was
either too tired to speak (most everybody) or too tired to think
straight (Rachel and Morgan). =) Everyone was a trooper, though, and
we got through the train ride.
Outside
the station, we were met by the Gonnermans. Ah. I was SO happy to see
them! We all ate dinner at the little place by the train station, and
I was happy to get to sit with them, and hear about how things had
been going for them in Japan so far—they’ve been here for over a
month already, and they plan on staying up to a year. I’d be lying
if I said I didn’t wish I were doing the same. =)
Oh.
Also, I apparently ordered one of the most fancy things on the menu
by accident... I had to make three choices (I have no idea what I
chose, but I think I was deciding on an entrée, appetizer, and
dessert), and I ended up getting two dumplings (MAHHHH. I’ve been
waiting my whole life to have a Japanese dumpling‼), a HUGE bowl of
soup that was three times taller than anyone else’s, and brimming
over with vegetables and these funny looking purple things that
looked like shark fins, with noodles on the bottom, and when I was
finished with all of that, I was brought mango pudding (Mahh, I love
pudding!). It was the wonderful meal ever. But I felt really awful,
because everyone else got, like, fried rice, and finished in 20
minutes, while I ate and ate and ate, and still couldn’t finish
mine because it was so big. In fact, it kind of looked like I hadn’t
even made a dent... Haha. I bet I ordered a dinner for two or
something... Still, it was delicious, and I was happy.
The
Gonnermans returned to their home (we’ll see them again today), and
we caught another rain; after getting to the last station, we walked
about fifteen minutes to where we’re staying the next few days, the
Ken Katsu (spelling?) Center. The rooms sleep four, and we have bean
pillows. Oh-ho-ho! Yes, little pillows filled with beans.... I
actually really like mine. =) I slept pretty soundly for six or seven
hours, but then I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep at 5:00am,
so here I am. We’ve got to meet downstairs in 15 minutes (7:00am),
so I’ll finish up for now, and write again soon. =)
8/2/13
It
gets lights so early... It’s 5:00am, and already pretty bright
outside...
Alright,
let me pick up where I left off. =)
Yesterday
morning, we met downstairs, and Adam (he’s a 28-year-old children's
pastor) gave a devotion out of Matthew 1. Then Alex (20, from
Hamilton Hills, came with his sister, Morgan) and I each gave our
testimonies. I enjoyed that—it was neat to see some of the same
themes come out in the devotion and testimonies, like God’s
sovereignty, and the way God prepares and equips us for everything he
has in store for us.
When
our meeting was over, we walked to the trains station, and headed to
Omiya, where we transfer to another train to Iwatsuki, where the
Mita’ church is. While in Omiya, we ate at a wonderful place with
the terribly name of Becker’s. They served breakfast sandwiches in
the morning—I had eggs and bacon (mmmbacon!) on a croissant with a
little bit of ketchup—it was perfect! =D I got an iced coffee, and
it was yummy. I still can’t get over how much western food I’m
eating...
When
we got off the train in Iwatsuki, the Gonnermans were waiting for us,
to take us to the church. I was happy to see them. =) Mr. Mita came
in his van to pick up as many of us as he could, and the rest of us
walked about ten minutes to the church.
The
Mitas’ church is actually a converted house—it sits right in the
middle of a neighborhood, and it’s pretty cute. After getting a
tour and a short introduction to what we’ll be doing for VBS Friday
and Saturday, we had lunch; Janae (Gonnerman) made some very yummy
spaghetti with chicken and red sauce. Again, pretty western. =) We
had green tea with it though, so maybe that Japan-ized it. =)
After
lunch, we broke into groups based on what age group we’re working
with—I’m with the 1st to 6th grade boys, of which we will have 6
each day. Andrew (Gonnerman) is leading our team, assisted by Yuki (a
college grad who attends the Mita’s church), Daniel (Lounsbrough),
Morgan (sister of Alex), and yours truly. We prepared for all of our
activities, and walked through our schedule—I’ll tell you how it
goes. =) After that, we visited Andrew and Janae’s apartment (it’s
pretty great), then went to the park by the church, both to make
ourselves more familiar with it since we’ll be going there during
VBS, and also to play ground golf—kind of like mallet golf, which
is a mixture of regular golf and croquet.
(I
am now on the train...)
After
ground golf, we took Mr. Mita’s van to a sushi restaurant!
(Explanatory note: it took 3 trips in the van, but we made it. =) The
place was so cool... They had long conveyor belts coming out of the
walls on one side, with booths attached perpendicular on either side.
When I sat in a booth, I was on the outside, sitting next to Daniel,
who was next to the conveyor. So I had to ask Daniel or Elliot
(sitting across from Daniel) to grab things off the line for me.
I
had two things like mini eggrolls full of rice that tasted very
sweet. I also had a California roll, covered in fish eggs. They pop
in your mouth. It feels weird. Then I had an octopus thingy... It was
a slice of raw octopus tentacle on top of a ball of rice. It was very
chewy, and tasted like it had a lot of wasabi on it! I was kind of
done being adventurous at that point, so I had a piece of chocolate
cake (It was nice that it wasn’t as sweet as the American
counterpart, and it was surprisingly easy to eat with chopsticks!),
and a Coke (which was better than what I’ve had in America). This
particular place also sold French fries and chicken nuggets, but I
passed on those. =) Oh! Another cool feature: each booth had a
computer where you could order specific dishes—when your order
came, the screen flashed and played a little jingle (said jingle got
stuck in our heads for a few hours afterward). When we were done, a
lady came and calculated our bill by counting the plates according to
their color (each color was a different price). This place was
surprisingly cheap: the cheapest plate (most things) were only ¥90
(about $0.90). Over all, I loved the experience, and I should’ve
tried more. I want to go again. =)
(our
train arrived suddenly!)
8/3/13
Okay,
one thing I forgot to mention from Thursday, then I’ll move on to
Friday: While we were at the Mita’s church, Andrew and I rode bikes
to the train station (the bikes are SO COOL!), to pick up (more like
escort?) the Gilmores, and to help me know the way better, just in
case. Well, while we were out biking, we met seven little kids on
bikes in the street. Andrew said konnichiwa to them, and soon
they were all crowded around us, trying to talk to us in Japanese.
Andrew could say some things to them, but I couldn’t say
anything... Haha. One girl just kept looking at me saying, “Whaaat?
Whaaaaat?” a bunch of times. =)
As
we sat there, all on our bikes, I started thinking about these kids,
and where they would be in a few years. They looked about four to
eight years old. Some of them were in school. They’ll likely all
grow up, finish school,start work, and live their lives to please
other people and collect wealth... There will likely never be anyone
in their life to explain the gospel to them, because of how few
Christians there are in Japan. It made me feel so sad that I couldn’t
do that for them... Especially at their age, with their potential.
The
kids said America-jin! (“Americans!”) a few more times as
we went away, then broke out into a chorus of “bye-byes.” I pray
that God would be gracious, and allow those kids to hear the gospel.
I pray that He would save them, and use them to make Japan a
Christian nation. I believe God is big, and can do these things.
Ah...
I’m out of time. I’ll get to yesterday later, I guess...
Alright,
we’re on the train now. =) So, Friday! I got coffee Friday morning
out of a vending machine... That’s not really important, I guess...
But it was great, and only ¥100...So yeah...
We
met at 6:26am, got on the train, ate breakfast, got on the train
again, walked, and arrived at the Mita’s church at 9:30am, half an
hour before Bible Club (I found out that’s the name we're using)
started. I was so happy when the first few kids started to show up!
They were all pretty shy at first... We had about twenty kids total,
and five moms. =) I helped lead singing for the opening bit (AH! I
was afraid, but I did okay, I think...?), then we broke into groups.
There were six boys in our group: (I have a list of their names, but
I think I’m supposed to protect their privacy, so I’ll just list
the first letter) C-----, a cute kid with a lazy left eye, S-----,
who has been to Bible Club before, S------, Andrew’s English
student, K-----, a clever boy who knows some English, A----, friends
with K-----, and A-----, who is in sixth grade and the oldest and
biggest in the class... He’s also a little nerdy. =)
(the
train arrived...)
8/4/13
I’m
getting tired now... =)
We
had a Bible lesson with all of the kids, taught by Eri (she’s a
member of the Mitas' church, and she's also pretty wonderful). We
played some English games, played outside, had lunch, made a craft,
and in general had a really great time. =) We got to spend six hours
with the kids—10:00am to 4:00pm. Favorite things we did: teaching
the Japanese boys how to play ninja (they didn't know! isn't that
funny?), eating lunch (mine was great, and looking at the kids’
lunch packs, I really want one now... they had little containers for
onigiri! =D), and listening to the Japanese Bible story (Eri
used some really great illustrations that she made herself—they
were enchanting. =). It was also really great just getting to serve
the kids, and interact with them in a much more personal way than I’d
been able to up to that point. It was also fun to watch the kids warm
up to us, and to each other. =) Oh! We also had a puppet show at the
end—the kids loved it. =)
After
our first Bible Club day, we celebrated by going out for *drumroll*
UDON‼ I have wanted udon since I got here, and it was fantastic. I
was not disappointed! Mwaah....
Okay,
I’m going to skip ahead to Saturday. Bible Club was tons of fun
again—we got four or five more pre-K kids, three of which knew
excellent English—we were enchanted with the adorable Japanese
children speaking clear English to each other. =) Our class also got
two new kids—K------, and I-----. K------ was younger and quieter,
but I loved his hair... =) He tried talking to me once or twice, but
we couldn’t understand each other... I------, on the other hand,
was extremely shy for about five minutes. Then he got REALLY loud and
obnoxious—we also learned that one of his parents spoke English,
and he was fluent. He posed a challenge to us—we had to keep him
from getting too loud, and he didn’t want to obey us... =) But he
was fun, and it was nice being able to speak English with him. OH! I
almost forgot! We also had another new student in our class named
T------. He was the older brother of one of the new pre-K girls. His
English was fair, and he was much older than the rest of the class
(he was fifteen), and he was very helpful.
We
also played ground golf in the park on Saturday—the boys had a lot
of fun with that, but they eventually got tired of it, and we played
on the playground equipment. Mostly, the merry-go-round. We got
I----- a little sick, and I didn’t feel so good afterward, but it
was still great. =D
After
a final closing time (we sang, “Ha-re-ru-ra,” aka,
“Hallelujah!”), we all lined up outside, and said goodbye to
everyone... It was sad, but we felt good, knowing that we had helped
share the gospel with everyone we said goodbye to.
When
everyone was gone (except us, which was still a lot of people in a
pretty small house), we had curry and rice (aka “Korean rice,” as
somebody misheard). Oh... It was good. In fact, I forgot to take a
picture of it—I ate it so fast, I had eaten two plates full before
I remembered... I’ll just have to hope we get it again. =)
After
leaving the church, we went out for shopping and icecream. =D The
Baskin Robins in Japan is about 8,000 times cooler than in the US.
The employees had some pretty adorable pink and purple uniforms (I
felt bad for the guys), and the icecream looked so perfect when they
made it! I had a scoop of Love Potion #31—a vanilla icecream with
strawberry and chocolate chunks in it. So good... Then we went to the
¥100 store, i.e., the best store on the whole planet. Maybe. =D I
bought an awesome polka-dot tie, three sketchbooks (heh-heh), a
folding fan, a Japanese calligraphy set, an origami book, and a ton
of other stuff I probably didn’t need, all for ¥100 each! Clearly,
the Best Store Ever.
(Note:
I forgot to mention that we stopped at the ¥100 yen store the day
before, after dinner, but we only had fifteen minutes.)
Then
Emily, Morgan, and I visited the music/video/book store next door—I
was AMAZED at the HUGE selection of DVDs and manga! I tried to find
my favorite manga, but there were so many shelves, and I couldn’t
figure out how they were organized... Hatsune Miku (the vocaloid),
One Piece, and Pokemon are by far the most popular icons. The whole
store was SO colorful, and I felt bombarded by anime characters and
advertising, most of which I didn’t understand or wasn’t familiar
with. I did find a Sherlock manga, based on the BBC show, so that was
cool. =)
After
shopping, we walked back to the Ken Katsu Center (where we’re
staying), had a funny incident with the showers (nothing awful
happened, but *someone* (heh-heh) switched the signs on the bath, and
slept pretty hard...
WHEW!
I’ve been writing all day, every chance I’ve had, and now I’m
finally caught up! Kind of! I’m going to take a break now...
8/5/13
Ohaiyo
Gosaimas! (good morning!)
Let
me tell you about church in Japan. =)
Actually,
let me tell you a funny/cool story that happened on Sunday morning.
=) We’d become regulars at Becker’s, the place where we ate
breakfast most mornings—when we came in yesterday, the staff
actually looked pretty happy to see us, and when we told them we were
leaving for Karuizawa that evening and wouldn’t be back, they told
us they were sad... It was very kind of them. =)
We
also met a lady whom Rachel had spent some time talking with the day
before. I think she claimed to be a Christian (we had our doubts),
and Rachel invited her to church with us—and she agreed! So after
breakfast we bought an extra train ticket, and brought her to church
with us. It was so neat! Rachel shared the gospel with her, starting
in Genesis... Ah! It was just so great to see our team making an
impact like that...
When
we got to church, about half of us were with Nippon Initiative, and
the other half were Japanese. Mr. Mita opened the service with
testimonies from three members of our team: Adam, Mr. Lounsbrough,
and Pastor Gilmore. After that, Pastor Randy had each member of the
team stand up and say a few words or a sentence (some people used
lots of semi-colons... haha) about what our trip meant to us. I
suppose what I said is worth sharing in this journal: “Being in
Japan, and being able to influence Japanese people for the cause of
Christ, even in a small way, is a dream come true for me.” Or
something sappy like that...
After
our testimonies, a man from the Mita’s church gave his testimony.
He had been saved a month before, as a result of his wife’s faith.
He shared about the peace and comfort he had, in the face of his
wife’s terminal cancer. It was so touching... And it reminded me of
others from the US who have showed similar faith. His testimony
showed me that God is working in Japan in much the same way as He is
in the US. He loves all of us, and grows us all in similar ways... It
was just a very special moment, that broadened my perspective of God,
and of the world.
8/6/13
We
sang a few songs—well mostly the Japanese members sang them, since
they were all in Japanese... Then Mr. Mita gave a very inspiring
message out of Matthew 11 about finding peace and rest in Christ.
Even though I only had a translation of part of the message (we had
these great little earpieces that were connected to a mic—Yuki
translated everything into the mic, so we could understand what was
going on. I still got a lot out of it, and Mr. Mita’s passion
showed through really well.
After
the service, we had fried rice and beef for lunch, with coffee jello
(not bad!) for dessert. =) THEN, after lunch, I got the news that one
of the boys in our class got saved that afternoon! That was extremely
great, and again, it was really great to see that our team was having
an impact. =)
After
saying our goodbyes, we left the church for the train station, where
we would continue by bullet train to Karuizawa. The train ride itself
only took forty-five minutes, and it was pretty cool... It went a
couple hundred miles per hour, and was quieter than a plane or a
car... We were talking, then all of a sudden there were mountains (we
travelled NW, away from the coast into the heart of the mainland)!
They were very beautiful, and covered in green, We were met by a few
students from SYME, who took us to the “school,” where we would
be staying. SYME (Student Youth Ministries in English) is a school
for high school graduates (mostly?), and is sort of like a
prep-school—students live at SYME for one or two semesters, and
learn English by immersion. The may not speak any other language
between 7:00am and 8:00am, or they’ll be fined! =) It’s also a
Bible school—students are taught overview and “systematic
theology” courses, and are actively discipled by the staff. SYME
also helps prepare students who are planning on going on to Bible
college in the US, by refining their English and giving them a Bible
crash course. (Side note: SYME has no classes during the summer; we
were just staying there.)
Anywho.
SYME is a really great place, with really soft beds—or at least
they feel really soft when you're as tired as we were. =)
The
next day was Monday, and we went to the Roberts' church for our first
day of VBS! =D The driving in this area is CRAZY. I can't even
describe it! But we made it to the church unharmed, so it's all good.
=)
VBS was SO much fun; several of the kids knew some English, and it was great to get to interact with them. I was in charge of games, and I helped a little with crafts... I made an example (it was a...string and stick picture frame/kite/decoration thingy that's hard to explain without a picture. =), and helped a little girl named N make hers. All the kids were glued when Adam gave the Bible lesson (Hannah Roberts translated)--it was great to see them understanding what was going on, giving feedback, and paying such close attention... Frankly, they were cute.
We also sang two songs, first in Japanese, then in English. We ended with ice cream, which is apparently a staple at the Roberts', and a good way to end anything, I think.
VBS was SO much fun; several of the kids knew some English, and it was great to get to interact with them. I was in charge of games, and I helped a little with crafts... I made an example (it was a...string and stick picture frame/kite/decoration thingy that's hard to explain without a picture. =), and helped a little girl named N make hers. All the kids were glued when Adam gave the Bible lesson (Hannah Roberts translated)--it was great to see them understanding what was going on, giving feedback, and paying such close attention... Frankly, they were cute.
We also sang two songs, first in Japanese, then in English. We ended with ice cream, which is apparently a staple at the Roberts', and a good way to end anything, I think.
We
went out to eat with the Roberts for a late lunch, and I got to eat
curry again. Then we visited a pretty little waterfall, and a museum
by Mt. Asama, a local volcano. The museum was fun—most notable were
the giant animatronic guardians of the mountain (looked like some
mixture of Dragonball and Pokemon), and a fairly large collection of
preserved butterflies and insects. We went on a short hike around Mt.
Asama after that, and got to see more of the beautiful
mountains—there were also lots of flowers and volcanic rock to be
impressed with, too. It started raining on us on the way back, which
was fun for me, at least.
On
our way home (SYME), we stopped at the grocery store, and bought
dinner for ourselves. I think everybody branched out and bought
Japanese stuff, despite the temptation of a Subway (aka, normal food)
attached to the grocery store. I ate a chicken and vegetable dish
that looked (and tasted) Chinese, with an onigiri (rice ball
with meat inside). It was good. =) I also bought a soda that had a
marble inside. It exploded all over Andrew when I opened it... I felt
pretty terrible, but I guess it wasn't totally my fault...I hope...
Whew.
I better get to bed. I'll tell you about today tomorrow. =)
8/8?/13
I
honestly have no idea what day it is! I just got on the plane headed
back to the US, and I am currently traveling through time. It was
about 1:30am when we took off (on Thursday), but we'll arrive 7 hours
earlier, at 6:00-ish, in Seattle, on Wednesday. So who knows if it's
Wednesday or Thursday right now? =D
So,
picking up where I left off: Tuesday was good—we got up and ate
breakfast at 7:00am, and got the whole team out the door before
8:00am...ish.
Our
second day of VBS was great—I think. =) Rachel, Emily, Morgan, and
I were asked to be recorded for a set of English lessons, so I wasn't
able to help out with the first half. But the second half was good—I
got to help with games and crafts, and sing songs with the kids,
which was fun. =) And it all ended with ice cream, and yakisoba!
OH MAN, it was so cool making the yakisoba! We had five or six
people (including me) at five or six portable burners outside,
cooking up cabbage, carrots, onions, beef, and noodles... It was SO
much food when we set it out with the fruit and other things that
were also brought. And there was milk tea. Oh man, I love milk tea...
After
lunch, the Roberts took us to play mallet golf (like ground golf, but
mallets, and holes in the ground). I stink at mallet golf, and
probably shouldn't have played, because of how frustrated I got with
myself for failing at it so badly... =) The Japanese man who ran the
mallet golf place was really nice, though—he gave us iced tea and
pickled plums, and they were good. =)
After
mallet golf, we all went out to eat at a really nice restaurant where
I got to have clam chowder, my favorite food ever. =D This one had
bacon, shrimp, broccoli, and carrots, in a addition to the usual
potatoes and clams. It was served with two amazing pieces of poppy
seed and Italian bread, and oh it was good...
After
dinner, we went back to SYME and Pastor Gilmore talked to us about
what SYME is (I already shared that bit), and about the differences
between the Japanese way of thinking and communicating versus the
American way of thinking and communicating, and how that impacts the
way we share gospel. A contrast he made was between the “Romans
road” method of evangelism (“here are the propositions, and if
you agree with them, you're saved”), versus a meta-narraive
approach (“here is the gospel—read the whole thing, and if you
understand who Jesus is, why he came, and ask him for forgiveness,
you're saved). That really, really needs a lot more explanation, and
I could write more about it (hint hint, ask me about it if you see
me), but I'll leave it at that for now. I just really enjoyed Pastor
Gilmore's talk with us. =)
Wednesday
was out last day in Japan—we spent the first several hours of it
just getting packed up, to the train station, and back to Tokyo. BUT,
when we got to Tokyo, we went to the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower
in the world. It was cool. Very, very cool. And lots of good
shopping. But seriously, we had an incredible view of Tokyo (SO many
buildings!), and it was a really neat part of the trip. =)
Then
the sad part came, where we had to say goodbye to Kristin, the
Gilmore family, and the Gonnermans, cutting out group almost in
half... Ah, it was so sad! But before we all parted ways, we had a
final pow-wow, during which everyone shared their favorite memory
from the trip, and one way the trip had impacted each of us
personally. So yeah, I'm going to tell you what I said. As for my
favorite memory, I think the times we spent connecting with the
various Japanese kids. That's not just one memory I guess... When I
was talking with I-----, trying to help him feel better after the
merry-go-round; when the kids on the bikes tried to talk to Andrew
and I; when I sat in the floor and helped N----- with her craft;
those were the most special moments for me. And as far as how it's
impacted me, here's what I said: “I don't think I know all the ways
it's impacted me yet, and I haven't had time to process it all yet,
but I do know this: Japan has been a dream for me for a long time,
and it has felt like a fictional place that, for me, only existed in
my head and in books. But now the dream has become a reality, and the
reality of how many Japanese are unsaved is really hitting me hard.
Meeting kids in the street, or people on the train—real people—and
knowing that most of them don't even have a clue about what the
gospel really is... It makes the reality of Japan's spiritual state
very personal. Japan weighs very heavy on my heart.”
And
with that ends this journal. Extra fun fact: Due to my strange flight
situation, I ended up flying for about 20 hours total, and wasn't
able to sleep much at all. 56 hours after I woke up in Japan, I
finally laid back down in my own bed to get some sleep. It was an
incredible, amazing adventure that I hope God will use in my life and
in the lives of others for his glory. To everyone who helped me and
supported me in this trip: Arigatou Gozaimas!
Thank you!
Christian
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