2010 Japan Mission Team

Many Thanks!

2011-01-03T23:30:00.000-08:00

December 26, 2010

We want to thank Mei-Ling and others for planning and organizing this get-together for us. What a privilege and blessing it was to be able to meet JMT members past and present and have a chance to fellowship with you this Christmas holiday season. Thank you again for you generous support of our little group in Nokendai, Japan. We love you guys, and look forward to what the Lord has planned for us next year. Hope to see you soon!

Many blessings,
Kohichi & Shirley

Shirley: Monday trains

2010-08-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

Happy to report that the team is on its way back to Seattle today. We sent them off at the local train station around 10:30AM. They will catch the 11:59 NEX train at Yokohama that should get them to Narita airport by 1:30PM, plenty of time to retrieve their sent luggage (sent Sunday morning) and board their 4PM flight to Seattle.

Praying for travel mercies and a safe, non-turbulent flight all the way. Thanks again for sending them to help us. Thank you for remembering us and for praying for us. God willing, we hope to see you again soon in Seattle, or perhaps next year, here again in Japan!

Many blessings!

Shirley: Sunday NBF

2010-08-15T19:16:00.001-07:00

I forgot to blog about our 3PM service on Sunday at NBF. We had lots of missionary visitors this day. Larry and Alma Oline came to visit us again, John and Etsuko Martin (MUPS missionaries going home on furlough in 2 weeks) and Gerald May our current TEAM missionary who helps us twice a month at NBF as of April this year. Only 2 new VBS children came and a lot of our regular children were missing also since it is Obon season right now; families go home to see parents and grandparents before school starts next week. Even so, we had 16 kids in Sunday School!

Our service ran overtime by almost 45 minutes, but I think it was worth the delay. Ev, Randy and Tom shared their testimonies to the adults, Lucy gave hers to the kids, we sang 2 VBS songs with the kids, Kohichi gave a brief summary of the 4 laws, Gerald did a short talk that segued well into baptism. And although no one stepped up for baptism today, we had 2 children raise their hands as having accepted Jesus as Lord by saying the believer's prayer again just then. Then 2 mothers were asking LCC team members about baptism....lots of talking, lots of praying, lots of tears. We were so encouraged to see God's hand at work and boy was He busy today!

This is our swingset picture we like to take every year, but by the time we got around to it, a lot of folks had already left. Perhaps the season for the harvest at NBF is right now. Pray we will find a way to support them in their decision to be baptized this year if it comes to that. May God make a way for them.

Ev: Gratitude for the Faithfulness of Those who Came Before

2010-08-14T16:58:00.000-07:00

To Elaine H., Vincy, Sharon, Tim, Kelly, David, Keith Tom, Patti, Mei-Ling, Sets, Wesley, Sam, Janis, Susan, Jeanette, Matt, Masae, Neil, Jasmine, Heather, Bob, Sheryl, Elaine N., Daniel, and Pastor Nancy, (if I have forgotten anyone, please forgive me) because of your faithfulness in coming and in serving in Japan, we were able to reap a harvest into God's Kingdom. You all planted the seeds and we were privileged to be there to harveswt that seed you planted. This may be the year where the ministry here may change to include a youth and women's ministry. There were 7 kids in Randy and Austin's group of 3rd to 5th graders who prayed the "believers' prayer" to accept Jesus as their Savior. Many had been coming all 4 years to VBS. In Karen's and my group of 6th grade girls, 3 prayed the "believers' prayer" to accept Jesus as Savior. Two had never come until this year and one was returning. We passed out cards on the last day of VBS and an additional 7 marked that they had accepted Jesus as Savior. Since we were unable to speak to these kids, we are not sure of their commitment but we trust God to make their response to him a deeper reality. We also had 4 women respond positively to having a womens' Bible study/fellowship group during the VBS time. Almost all the 6th graders said that they would return and bring a friend which would increase the older aged group. Many of the other kids also replied that they would return and bring a friend. Verse Eph. 3:20-21 came to mind, "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power tht works withing us, to Him be the glory in the the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." We could not have imagined what happened this year. Our God is amazingly faithful. Thank you again for all you who came before us, for the love you shared with these people, for your willingness to serve them. When they came into the Kingdom of God, you were all there with us!!!

Lucy: I've fallen in love with my VBS class

2010-08-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

My prayer is that God protects them and draws them ever closer to Him.

2010-08-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

… I feel as though the past few days my body and my heart have gone through shock. I knew I was getting attached to the kids and all but I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad… Sure the trip back was safe and smooth… but as my dad was pointing out… Satan probably has no problem with us leaving there… Every step I took towards the airport… every train… my heart sank a little bit… I couldn’t sleep much on the plane because I kept thinking about the kids and wondering how they were doing and how VBS was going… We arrived safely at Seatac… and on the drive from the airport back to my house… as the reality of finally being home sank in… my heart began to hurt. My sleep schedule is pretty messed up right now… because whenever I try to close my eyes and sleep I see their smiling faces. Since returning I began watching a Japanese drama in which one of the questions the main character poses to himself is… what is love? As the kids’ smiles flash through my mind and my heart continues to hurt… I can’t help but feeling like this time I really fell in love with Japan… especially the kids… and yet as I began writing this blog I was humbly reminded by a little tug in my heart… that despite how deep or how much I as a human can feel a love for others, God’s is always so much greater. I’m really not sure what the point of this is besides how I’m feeling right now… I guess a little prayer for me would be great… just that I would stop sitting around feeling so down and continue seeking God’s will… because whether I’m here or in Japan… God still has much for us to do.

On a side… slash... slightly less down note. My stomach is once again going through culture shock coming back… if there is any part of me (physically) that is truly Japanese…. It’s gotta be my stomach. Ughhh….

p.s. i feel like my last few or couple posts or whatever have been really... down ish.. sorry! ><...

Lucy: God exceeding my expectations

2010-08-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

It’s past midnight and I’m the only one still up, but I had a dessert with coffee jelly and soft serve ice cream on top, so I’m kind of wired by the caffeine. So I’m taking this time to blog about this amazing day! I can’t believe today (or I guess technically yesterday) was the last day of VBS, and I’m going to miss the kids in my group so much! The day before, I thought we had decided not to invite my group to say the “believer’s prayer” because of their young age, but this morning Shirley said to go ahead and invite them to pray anyway. Reasoning: why limit the Holy Spirit? And if they are too young to understand, at least they would have heard the prayer and this would allow them to better understand in future years. So at the end of the memory verse learning time, I sat down with them and invited them to pray silently the believer’s prayer along with me. At the end of the prayer, I thought their eyes were still closed and I asked them to raise their hands if they accepted Christ. When I looked up, their eyes were wide open and they all had their hands up! I had a whole bunch of thoughts all at once when I saw that: 1) they are so adorable and I want to take them all home with me! 2) Okay, I’m new at this and I should have reminded them to keep their eyes closed 3) they are probably too young to understand what I was saying 4) maybe something was lost in translation 5) But God is still so good! I was expecting no hands to be raised, and instead I got the opposite! Even if they didn’t understand what was going on, I felt so encouraged anyway. And maybe, just maybe, some of them did accept Jesus today. Later, Shirley had the kids fill out response cards, and one of the questions was: did they accept Jesus as their Savior. Some of the kids in my group checked the yes response!

I do want to ask you to pray for these kids and for all of those in the other age groups who accepted Jesus this week. At least for the ones in my group, they are so young I wonder how much or if they understand what it means to become a follower of Jesus, but I am reassured that God knows their hearts and that He loves each and every one of them so much more than I do. One of them who checked “yes” is on my heart in particular: when going over Philippians 4:6 yesterday, this child shared about being worried for a parent’s health (and I knew that this parent had a serious illness). Some of you know that one of my parents had serious health issues last year, and it was really hard for me even though I’m in my 30’s. To think that a young child has to bear this kind of worry breaks my heart. I am praying that he now knows (or at least will know) Jesus and His comfort.

Also, I am struck by how we are here for just a couple of weeks, which means that we are reaping the fruit of those who sowed before us, and that when we leave, the Tamuras will have the task of following up with the kids and growing them in their faith. Please pray for the Tamuras in this; there are so many thorns here in Japan that can strangle young faith, and we must have the power of the Holy Spirit to provide the protection they need here. They’ve become so dear to me in just one short week, and I’ll be praying very hard for them all.

BTW, as soon as I get access to one of the cameras that took our group photo, I’ll post it. These kids are really, really cute.

Shirley: Day 5-Last Day

2010-08-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

We had 28 kids today, one brand new girl who came for the last day. Funny how we are always stressing about having enough bags or gifts for the new kids, a great problem to have that we have not had before, praise God!

When I asked the VBS team to "go for it" this year regarding praying the "believers prayer" and introducing "baptism", my faithless heart really did not expect much. But what a harvest we had today, real or not, it is a significant step forward for all of us.

Our informal, possibly biased, evaluation checklist at the end of our program revealed that 17 people had accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, children and a few mothers. This is astounding to me, and I confess I am really skeptical. But again, I will take it for what it is and we will go from there. God can do all things and if we are obedient to what He tells us to do, we can trust Him to do the rest also! I am so looking forward to Sunday and seeing new faces there (2 new families said they would attend), and am anxious to see if some will step forward to be baptized by Pastor Gerald, our TEAM missionary that day. It is enough to see new faces in our regular 3PM service, but what a glorious day that would be!

"He told them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'" Luke 10:2 NIV

" Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

What a day! Karen

2010-08-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning very tired and just praying so hard for the energy necessary to end the week enthusiastically. Again, God provided. This week Ev and I shared the duties of teaching the bible stories to all of the kids. We also led a group of seven 6^th grade girls in discussions, memory verses, and crafts. And what a joy that turned out to be, as that allowed us to spend significant quality time with our group.

In Japan, I don’t think girls (or boys, for that matter) spend time in discussion- just talking about their lives in general. Yesterday, I led a discussion with the girls about the relationships they have with their fathers. Sadly, most dads in Japan are not active in their children’s lives. The raising of children is the mother’s job. I shared with them how our Father God in Heaven is the perfect father, always available, always listening and always loving. Kohichi was available to translate for me during the discussion. A divine appointment for sure! I didn’t know I was going to talk about dads until Ev told the bible story. It just came to me. Totally a Spirit led thing. I strongly felt the Lord’s presence as we met and I really felt the girls were listening to the message and to each other. All praises to Him!

So, today we had the privilege of harvesting some fruit! On Wednesday, one girl from our group came to Christ. Today, there were two! SUGOI! (That’s Japanese for ‘wow’- I’m learning some of the language, heh, heh!) Ev prayed the believer’s prayer with our whole group. It really was awesome. One of the girls who accepted doesn’t go to church. This was her first VBS. As these kids begin their journey as Christ followers, please pray for them. Pray that they would be encouraged to grow in their faith and that they would feel the peace of our Lord Jesus, deeply.

Thank you, thank you for all of your prayers. I can’t wait to share more with you when I come home!

Shirley: Day 4

2010-08-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

We had 27 kids today, 2 new girls attended for the first time. Although we had a sudden thunderstorm so PE in the park was rained out, we had a great game of M&M bingo with Mrs. Karen that carried us to 3PM perfectly, praise God! Hard to believe we only have one more day left. Hope people will come to NBF on Sunday for our closing program at our regular worship service at 3PM.

Ev: God is so Amazing

2010-08-12T06:02:00.000-07:00

Day 7's devotion by David Reid was entitled "We are One in the Spirit." I really had the opportunity to see Ephesians 4:2-6 at work:
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing one another in love. Make every every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you called - one Lord, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
David Reid explained that God has given us unity in Him and that it is not something we have to work for because we have the Spirit. We found ourselves literally living together and spending all our time together. The amazing thing is that we found ourselves experiencing this Oneness in the Spirit in practical and wonderful ways. People took turns to cook breakfast, we shared one shower and bathroom well with 10 people, wash dishes, do laundry, clean up, etc. without being asked. People saw a need and just jumped in. It didn't just end with our physical needs but also extended to our spiritual needs. When we had a problem or disagreement, we found ourselves us talking with each other and just submitting to each other in Christ. When I left something important out of my story, Karen covered my backside by sharing what I left out. When we were sharing about Christ with the older girls, Karen left and ended up blocking the doors into the tatami room so there would be no interruptions. Sharon and Lucy worked great as a team with the youngest group of kids. Tim and the other kids, Austin, Garrett and Katherine worked so well together sharing the songs. The kids loved the songs and many kept singing them during the day. There was so many moments when we just watched out for each other and worked together as one body - we put aside all our differences and preferences so we could focus on one thing - sharing Christ and his love to the parents and kids of Japan. It was truly a God-sightings. Today was the last day of VBS and the last kids did not leave until almost 4 PM. The day was suppose to end at 3 PM! We will debrief with Shirley tomorrow at 10 AM over brunch. I'll have to share what God has done this week later. There is so much to share. God is so good and so faithful.

Lucy: Experiencing answered prayer.

2010-08-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

I think today could have been a tough day, but through the power of God’s grace it was our best ever! We had a lot on our plate: concerns about knowing how to help the kids’ behavior, keeping the morning short enough to have time for a pizza party for the kids and their moms, a women’s Bible study, and outreaching to a local nursing home. But through it all, we felt at peace, the kids responded great to the instruction, moms got to experience sharing and fellowship, and one of the girls accepted Christ. For me personally, I’m starting to feel more comfortable teaching the kids and just having more fun. And I love their smiles! Today we made patterns with fuse beads, and I loved seeing the creativity and individuality in their crafts. I’m looking forward to seeing more of God’s blessing this week!

We also went to a sushi-on-a belt restaurant, which was really, really good. I think I’m being spoiled with the sushi here :)

Ev: Our Mighty God Answers Prayers!

2010-08-11T05:20:00.000-07:00

After Shirley talked to us about the problem with some of the new kids, we spent time to pray. To be honest, I felt a little depressed because it was happening under our noses but we did not know Japanese or what was being said. Today I realize that we are facing a spiritual battle and that the only way to win is putting our trust in God. God has given us the victory, we just need to trust in Him, no matter what the circumstances look like. As we rode the train on Wednesday morning, I remembered the story of Gideon who faced 1000s of Midians with only 300 Israelites. God wanted to be sure that all would know it was He who would win the battle, not a large army. Shirley talked to the kids about their behavior and what God expects. We placed kids in the thinking spot if they forgot the 2 rules - 1) love God by listening/obeying and by doing their best and 2) love others by being respectful and by being kind.

The first thing that happened was Karen had difficulty trying to think of how to relate the story of the good Samaritan to the Japanese culture and children. We talked but nothing seemed to "hit" us. When Shirley shared the problem, it was the exact situation she needed to bring the of idea of what "loving your neighbor" really meant. The lesson hit home for the kids. It seemed if God, in His providence, provided the needed situation to present this truth in a powerful way.

The second event was Lucy sharing a story about a little girl lost in the Amazon Rainforest and how she learned that what was on the outside was not as important as what was on the inside. She was nervous but God worked through her to tell a story that kids really listened too.
The next thing that occurred was when Katherine shared her testimony to the kids at the end of the day on Tuesday. A mother of one of the boys shared today that because of what she shared, her son come home and began asking questions about God. God had used Katherine's testimony to touch his heart. God is so good.

Today we had Austin share his faith story and the kids were attentive as he shared.
During the story time we shared the 4 spiritual laws that Richard had given us. We did not have time to talk to anyone about whether they wanted to accept. But God had a divine "disaster" when our Cosco pizzas for pizza party were given away and another batch had to be made. That meant that our 12:00 pizza party would not start until 12:30! But what was a misstep for us turned out to be an opportunity for God to work. One of the girls became a Christian. She accepted Christ as her savior and began to cry. She then went out to tell her other Japanese friends what she had done. They asked her what happened and she told them. If the pizzas were not late, there would not have been time to talk with her!

After the pizza party and the kids went out to do PE in the park. Karen shared her faith story and the mothers were really encouraged. They also shared from their hearts about their lives. One mother shared that would come to church this Sunday!

Finally we went to the nursing home. We sang our songs and share the gospel message as well as the parable of the lost sheep. We passed out bookmarks with John 3:16 printed on them in Japanese as Ausin played (Boy, is he good!) People seemed grateful that we came.

It was a tiring day but for some reason we weren't tired. God was so faithful. When the circumstances look bad, we have to remember that God is still working and nothing is ever unplanned when we give our plans to Him. Thank you so much for your prayers. We can honestly say God answers prayers! May He receive all the glory for everything.

Shirley: Day 3 -Blessed!

2010-08-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

This is one of my favorite verses and a perfect description of today. It was a day of answered prayers, thank you. We reminded the kids of the rules, implemented our 30 second time out as planned (4 kids were sent to the corner today), and the older girls were better behaved as well. Huge praises.

We had 29 kids today, an all time high for us. We also had 7 moms today at our lunch-time session when Karen shared her testimony. What a wonderful time of sharing among the moms (Kohichi was there to translate). I thought Karen's testimony, especially about baptism, was spot on for us and our group. The Lord told her clearly what our group needed to hear, amazing! Usually the Costco pizza lunch is the highlight, ha. One new mother said she wanted to come to NBF on a regular Sunday!

Ev has some seriously praise-worthy blogging to do so I will defer to her to tell you. So much of today was not according to schedule, but I felt the least stressed I have ever felt in the 4 years we have had VBS at NBF. That, in and of itself, is a great praise! It felt that things happened just as God had planned all along, and it felt wonderful.

Mr. Onoe came to take the team to the nursing home at 2:30 or so, and from what I heard, it went just fine. We are so encouraged that he feels lead to take our VBS teams to the nursing home each year, and even translates for them, a really big step for him. He is such a sweet man and we hope and pray that in his own quiet way, the Lord has taken permanent residence in his heart.

We gave out our manga bibles today, also. These are available at Amazon also; there are 3 now (Manga Messiah, Metamorphosis, Mutiny by Tyndale), the latest one starts in the Old Testament. NBF will purchase a case of the newest one for Xmas this year. The kids were so happy to have them. They were silent as each of them read through their books as soon as they received them. How wonderful!

All I can think of and hear in my mind is Tina O. singing the words to Twila Paris' song "How Beautiful," in my head right now (yes, I know this is a really old song). It was a long and busy day, but blessed beyond belief. We are grateful to the VBS team, our prayer partners at LCC and our awesome God who loves us so very much.

We send Sharon and Tim back to you tomorrow....will be praying for safe and uneventful travel.

Good night and thank you again!

Katherine: Exciting Times!

2010-08-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

God has done many wonderful things on this mission trip. So far, there are a couple of things that really stand out to me. Today was pizza day and the person who was getting the pizza was late. While some of us on the VBS team were getting anxious because of the schedule, God was using that time to lead another person to Him. While my mom was stalling the rest of the group by playing “Heads up 10 up,” Teacher Ev was praying the believer’s prayer with one very excited new believer.

Another exciting thing that happened was I heard today that some people were touched by my testimony. I think it is cool that my sharing about how I rely on God to get through the most challenging times, especially with my hair situation (alopecia), could help change another person’s life. I am excited to know that all of our work was paying off as people were taking real steps to becoming closer to Christ.

Day 2 thoughts, Randy...

2010-08-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

I had a low grade headache that lasted through VBS today and turned into a migraine as we were returning to the apartment. I was able to medicate and crash for a few hours as the team did chores and had dinner, and now I feel fine – thanks to the prayers of my teammates and yours, too! My teammates are absolutely fantastic. Tim offered to fill my shoes tomorrow and encouraged me to take the day off if I needed to. Just an example of how this team has galvanized under God. We’re laughing a lot and having tons of fun, too!

There is no central idea or theme that comes to mind as I reflect on the first two days of VBS. God is here and He is changing hearts, starting with mine. I really enjoy being with the kids. Most of them show up very early and are filled with energy. Even though the day officially starts at 9:30, we start spending time with the kids at about 9:00, and it’s a whirlwind of constant activity until 3:00, with a 30 minute break sitting on the floor with everyone eating lunch prior to PE in the park with Tom. With the pace of things and the number of kids that are here, I’m finding it a bit challenging to have individual conversations with the kids at a more personal level, but there are good times of bonding that are occurring that I pray God will use as the week progresses.

We asked the 3-5^th grade kids today if they had already made a commitment to follow Jesus. I was a bit surprised that only one (and she said she wasn’t really sure) of them raised a hand, but I was encouraged that they did so with their Japanese Bibles in hand, having just read aloud from Luke (I’m too tired to remember the exact verse)… As I talk with the kids, I’m learning to highlight God role as creator. It’s a powerful picture to the Japanese, who live in a culture surrounded by idols and god’s – literally millions of them, none of which can lay claim to creating the heavens and the earth… How great is our God! So much of the work is planting seeds – letting each child know how precious they are to God, helping them understand through our testimonies, scripture, and prayer who Jesus is, inviting them to ask questions, and being available to them. I do get the sense that these children are our hope for Japan, as the strongholds are significant and spiritual warfare is evident, but there is nothing better than a childlike faith. Luke 10:21 reads “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. (NIV)”. Pray that we are sowing good seeds that God will use to grow lasting faith in Jesus in each of these kids.

Sorry, I just realized I was rambling a bit - must be the medication! I’d better shut down and get some rest for tomorrow. Thanks again for your support and prayers. God Bless!

Shirley: Day 2

2010-08-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

Another busy, but terrific day. We had 27 show up today! The kids are very excited to be here, but some concerns and specific prayer requests for tomorrow:

1. discipline issues- pray the kids know we love them when we discipline them...not a concept that is well received in Japan, I think. Discipline is either way too harsh or non-existent, nothing in between. Some of the moms who are helping us had mentioned to me that several new children need to clean up their language and change their negative attitudes towards others and towards the program in general. Maybe it boils down to understanding how to love God and love one another, the 2 rules Ev presented at the beginning of our VBS program this year. May God show us his mercy and grace when we need to send kids to the "time-out" corner to think, because they have forgotten these 2 very basic, very important rules for our VBS program this year.

2. purpose- perhaps it is lost in translation, but do the children understand why they are at VBS and what they are supposed to be doing here? Do they know this team gave up their own vacations and raised support just to provide this program for them? Are they here to learn about Jesus or is this just fun time away from home to act up and be obnoxious? This is a big concern for me, since we hope to see these kids at NBF on a regular Sunday after the program is over.

3. grace and mercy- two very big words with very deep and rich meaning for all of us. we pray these children would understand these words at a much deeper level and know how it applies in all areas of their life, especially in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

As Al has mentioned, we ask for prayer for sustained health, energy and healing for those suffering from various conditions right now. Wednesday is a big day for us, moms and Costco pizza as well as PE in the park and the nursing home visit in the afternoon from 3:00-3:30PM.

Thank you for praying for us and with us. Hope tomorrow will bear fruit, especially our time with the parents at lunch!

sigh...

2010-08-10T06:41:00.001-07:00

August 10, 2010
*sigh*… as we’ve started discussions about what route my mom and I are going to take to get to the airport… I’ve begun to wish I didn’t have to leave early to rest up for Warm Beach… as much as I know it’s the right thing to do, I keep falling more and more in love with the kids here and their smiles and their energy… each time I come here I feel like it gets harder and harder to go back… maybe someday I’ll be stuck for longer than a couple weeks during the summer :O… I’m not sure I’m going to be able to tell the kids I have to leave early… (since tomorrow is my last day and all…) last year I remember seeing the Onizuka boys tearing up as we had our last vbs… ugh. Each time I come I feel more and more like God is calling my heart to stay here… at least for a while anyways… hrmm.. anyways. That can be prayed for at a later date :].
Today was another great day. The kids were a little bit better behaved, but still equally as energetic (God does work miracles that don’t make sense). But ohhhhh man. Tired. Really tired today. I have no idea why… but every night I feel exhausted but I can never fall asleep until a while later… hopefully tonight is different, but regardless of whether I’ve been sleeping a lot or a little God has supplied me with enough energy to play with the kids and whatever other random stuff that goes down ^^V. ugh… spacing out a bit… what else happened… my mom and I got to go down and have dinner with a relative… something like my mom’s dad’s cousin or something or another… I didn’t really get it. but he has the same last name as my grandpa so I guess we’re related somehow. It was a nice time to practice my Japanese since they spoke little English… then came back and found Randy had crashed for a bit… he went to sleep with a headache… something about a lack of sleep, lack of caffeine and maybe stuff he usually doesn’t eat. I’m not totally sure. But regardless… prayer for his head and everyone’s health in general would be appreciated! And also… I might as well add it now since I’m not sure I’ll have time tomorrow night… my mom and I are leaving early… on Thursday sometime… so if you all could pray for us to have a safe trip back too that’d be awesome!... okay bed time… oyasuminasai! ^^V

OUR NBF TEAM

2010-08-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

I know I have not blog in a while. I've been letting my NBF teammates do their blogging. You know first timers excitement. Also my computer gets possessed every time I come here. I started this blog 3 day ago and because circumstance, possessed computer and trying to update the VBS highlights am now almost ready to post.
It is now day 15 in VBS days only, meaning I finished my third VBS of the Summer. 25 days chronologically, 19 days in Japan. Things have really heated up spiritually in Nokendai but I will let my colleages share about it.
These are my observation of the NBF Teammates

IN HER ELEMENT
I’ve been able to observe Karen in the last few days leading up to our VBS in Nokendai. Although she has been out of teaching for many year to raise her family, Karen is so enthusiastic about teaching the children about Jesus. Making her plans, using her God given talents for creatively presenting the gospel. She is indeed in her element. She has that excitement of a new teacher, ideas just start bubbling out of her. Day 4 we had a sudden thunderstorm which wiped out PE at the Park. She pulled M&M Bingo out of her bag of tricks and kept the kids busy for an hour. She has been such a blessing to the team.
ONE TOUGH COOKIE
Katherine has been a really trooper enduring exhausting heat, tight living quarters and even tighter traveling being forceably pushed into a train and enduring an allergic reaction to peanuts. We found out how desperately we needed her her when she was unable to lead singing because the allergic reaction. I have been relying on her for the cues for the hand motions changes. She is the most competent song leader of anyone on the team. She gave testimony on Wednesday. Many were move by her trust in God when difficult things happen to her.
EVERYONES SON
Austin has been a surprise. Yes, he is a goofy teenager. He has that youthful carefree way about him. At NBF he has become somewhat of a chick magnet. (He has unceremoniously step into Matt S.'s shoes) He say it can be irritating and exhausting sometime. The big surprise for me it his level maturity while praying. His understanding, remembering all the needs and the way appropriated words flow seem to flow from his mouth. His gift may be pray. (Karli, I know he hasn't written to you but he's doing a good job and keeping everyone laughing. My first impression (back at Newport High) was not good but that another story. His standing with me is much higher now. He play the piano at the nursing home. Of course he forgot his music so he played by heart from his heart. Had some people in tears.
FATHER/SON TEAM
What a bonding experience for Randy and Garrett. Although Garrett is the age of the VBSers but he had the responsibility of JMT member. Randy is handling a large group consisting some energetic boys. (Kosei, Teru and Kaoru for those former JMTers) Garrett gave his testimony Thursday and did a great job.
OUT OF HER COMFORT ZONE
Lucy, as in a previous blog saying she is "out of her comfort zone." The thing is she made herself available to God. Well, she must be channeling Ev, Karen and Sharon because she doing a great job with the little ones. (Lil' Sara, Mimi, Daiki, a new rugrat named Takumi and many others)
FIRE AND BRIMSTONE
Ev showed another side of her on Wednesday. Unknowingly on Tuesday we were told by some of the mother's that some of the children had been "disrespecting" one or more of our team members in Japanese. Wednesday she got up on her soapbox (figuratively) and told them in "no uncertain terms" that we may not know what they are saying about us but God does! (You had to be there, She reminded me of an old time fire and brimstone preacher.) She and Al work so great together. Have you notice they share the same email address, they sign for each other. One thing I am learning the power of two in ministry. A family of believers, like the Sakanashi's and Eng's, can also be a powerful witness.
(Sorry, I can't put the pictures where I want them to be so they are all at the beginning of the blog.

Karen-Good times!

2010-08-10T05:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Japan! Today was the second day of VBS. The kids are effervescent and busy. Processing each day's activity is ongoing as there are so many new experiences. We're working hard- it's really hot and humid. On the upside, my skin is dewy and soft! Seriously, though, the Lord is good and faithful. He's provided energy and has helped me traipse around Tokyo with my sore hip. It's about 9:45 pm and we're all tired and getting a little punchy while planning for tomorrow's activities. Just thought you'd like to see our very exact way of measuring ribbon for tomorrow's craft. Ev said it's a foolproof way for measuring a yard. And, it works!! Thank you for you're prayers. I feel them.

Al: VBS Day 2

2010-08-10T01:06:00.000-07:00

God has been really blessing this team. I am amazed at the cooperation and flexibility this team has shown. Unexpected changes keep popping up and this team has dealt with them with patience, grace and a smile. The biggest change was choosing divide the children into 3 groups instead of two. We had brought enough craft for 24 and we brought enough craft for 4 6th graders. With 28 kids, I knew didn't have enough craft. But with 8 6th graders, we had enough craft for the younger kids. We went to Daiso and Livin to buy enough age appropriate craft for the older children. Another God sighting was that we bought 24 knapsacks for the kids, but Ev and I were concerned that there might not be enough so we bought 4 more. So we brought 28 knapsacks to Japan and we had exactly 28 VBS children on day 1.

Today began at 5:30 as we started waking up and taking our turn at the bathroom. It takes a while for 10 people to shower, clean up and get ready with only one bathroom. Today Tom has the head chief cooking eggs, toast and spam for the team for breakfast. We said a quick prayer at 7:20 and were out the door by 7:30. We caught the train from Kenritsudaigaku (our local stop) to Nokendai.

After a brisk 15 minute walk, we arrived at the Nokendai community center at 8:30. We quickly set up all the posters and electronics. Children began arriving at 9:00. At 9:15 while Tom was leading the kids in a game of Duck Duck Goose, we gathered for a quick prayer before starting VBS.

Today Randy gave the preparatory set by telling about how bad stuff like decaying leaves and poop enriched the rain forest soil. He related it to how God could use bad things for good.

Ev told the story of the 'Lost Sheep" and gave the "Bridge Illustration to show how sin separates us from God and how only Jesus can bridge that gap between man and God.

During recreation time Tom had the students running relays on little 4 wheel scooters.

Then Katherine gave her testimony sharing how God her faith in God gave her comfort in times of personal stress.

We closed by singing the VBS songs.

We the cleaned up the community center and had lunch on the floor of the community center. At 1:30 we began the PE in the Park session. There was a 30% chance of storms (rain and lightning) today but God held back the rain and we were able to go outside. Tom brought out 8 fishing poles and he taught the children how to cast. The kids were casting at targets until 3:00. We dismissed the kids with a hearty, "See you tomorrow."

We then walked to the train station and reached our apartment by 4:30. Then Karen, Lucy, Katherine and Ev bundled up our laundry and headed to the local Laundromat. The apartment has a washer but not a dryer. We hang clothes outside to dry but humidity doesn't allow them to totally dry.

While the gals are at the Laundromat, I was able to find time to write this blog. I am not totally relaxing as I am also washing all the towels in the washer and will hang them out to dry when I finish this blog. Tom is off at Daiso looking for PE supplies. Austin is also at Diaso. Randy is napping as he suffering from headaches. Please pray for him. Sharon and Tim are having dinner with relatives tonight.

This evening we will go out to find some dinner, debrief about the day, plan for tomorrow and hopefully hit the sack by 10.

Please continue to pray for our health and energy levels. Tomorrow we will be heading to the nursing home after a pizza party where all the parents are invited. We will be sharing God's Word with the parents and later with the residents at the nursing home so please pray that God will open their hearts and minds to His love and grace. God continues to be our strength.

Lucy: being challenged but having fun at the same time

2010-08-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

The first day of VBS was awesome! I was pretty anxious, because I don’t have experience working with groups of kids, and the kids I am shepherding are preschool through 3^rd grade. It’s like they never run out of energy! But I feel blessed to have a team that is so supportive of each other, and the way Sharon, Ev, and Karen helped me through the morning was such a Godsend. I know I’ll still need all your prayers because I feel so out of my comfort zone, but it’s great knowing that God works in spite of my weakness and He can touch the hearts of the kids when I can’t on my own.

On the flip side, we had a ton of fun. The kids took to the songs and hand gestures really fast, especially the parts where we have to jump! And we played a lot of great games, including us adults. I got a great picture of Ev running so fast, she’s just a blur! (She's the adult in the background in the blue shirt.)

Shirley: NBF Day 1

2010-08-09T06:11:00.000-07:00

When it rains, it pours...and that can be a good thing!

It was raining this morning when we got up at 5:30AM. We loaded the car around 7:30AM and the rest of the team took the train. We met at NBF just about the same time since we were stuck in rush-hour traffic. People worked quickly and we were set up before 8:30AM. Our first VBS student arrived at 8:45 AM. They always come early on the first day!

We had 28 children today, just amazing. Even though it rained, Mr. Tom had plenty of games for them after lunch, also. What a blessed way to start the week. Hope the kids keep coming every day! We actually expect more on Wednesday when it is Costco pizza day! Thanks for praying for us, but I think this is just the beginning...

Catching up...

2010-08-08T05:55:00.001-07:00

August 8, 2010
Oookay… I’ve been slacking off on blogging. A lot. Haha. But here goes a recap of… well. I guess the last week…?
The end of TMK VBS… was soooo good. The new kids really opened up and the ones from previous years were their usual energetic selves. I gave the intro and my testimony in Japanese… and well. I just hope they understood what I was trying to say lol…. Speaking of which I just found out I’m giving my testimony tomorrow too so prayer for that would be appreciated. ><. What else… crafts went pretty smooth… towards the last couple days it was kind of sad though because some of the kids were leaving and we had to give them their crafts… it’s kinda hard to say good bye. Even though we only got to hang out with them for a week it’s really hard to say bye ><… they’re soooo cutteeeee!! Ugh. Haha…
Post VBS we were invited to go to Yamanaka with the Reasoners. It was suuuuuper nice there. We stayed next to the lake in a cabin…. Somewhere around the base of Mt. Fuji. We had some fun… but more than that we got to rest and relax a whole bunch… enjoy God’s creation and such… we ended up canoeing across the lake (me and lizzie) and eliot took a kayak… which was nice… enjoying the lake and the sun and stuffs… good barbequing and food and stuff. Rest is awesome. Haha… then the next day we went up to Mt. Fuji later in the day and climbed from the fifth to the sixth station… that was a lot of fun… a good workout… and rough on the feet on the way down haha. Me and eliot got up there and waited for 30 minutes for everyone else… which was kind of nice… sitting there enjoying the scenery… then to omiyage shopping… then… stuffs. Yeah. the next morning we woke up suuuuuuuuuuper early and had breakfast at denny’s… then saying good byes to the Reasoners… which was hard… after living next door to them and serving with them the previous week… we met up with the Nokendai team without any hiccups… took a tour around parts of Tokyo… which was really good. It was a really good experience… a good mixture of having a good time and experiencing the darker parts of Japan… it was really good how Richard explained the Meiji shrine we went to… their prayers and wishes inviting the darkness in… and learning to pray against it… it was a good time because I haven’t been in that kind of intensive time of praying for a while… it also reminded me that a lot of younger kids… those that have grown up in the church in particular… either don’t fully believe or fully understand then reality of the battles we fight… it was a very spiritually dark place… and saddening as well. Seeing a whole bunch of people lifting their praises to false gods… most because they have never heard the word of God and they don’t know any better… it was a good reminder of why we’re here… and the battle we’re here to fight.
Anywhoooooo… then was onto nokendai… it’s been good here. Different. The atmosphere here is different with new team members and such… but in a good way. We had a day to rest… a day to shop around a bit and go to the fireworks…. One of the days in there I felt really exhausted and rested for a long time…. But I guess it was much needed rest. Today (Sunday) I felt much better… ended up going to church… seeing the kids was… once again. A huge blessing. Seeing their faces light up as they saw us and seamlessly jumping into well. Jumping on people. (namely us. Haha)… but it was lots of good fun. And I’m really excited and feeling renewed for the next few days! Oookay… well. I suppose I should go off to think about my testimony tomorrow… and get to bed soonish.

OH! And there will be pictures to come… (I super duper promise!... sometime soon…)

Ev: God is in control

2010-08-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

Today was a lesson about who really is control through a series of events. First we had arranged to be at the nursing home today at 10 AM but when we got there we found out there was a miscommunication about the day. The nursing home was not expecting us. We have now arranged to come at 3 PM Wednesday afternoon after the pizza party. Please pray for the service that many people would be open to the message in words and music about God's amazing love and grace towards them this coming Wednesday. Next in the afternoon we realized that we had another miscommunication about the coloring booklets for the kids to use during down time. We had not copied the booklets for the kids yet so we had to do it the next day. Finally,in the evening Shirley gave us the VBS count for the week - 3 pre-schoolers, 5 1st to 3rd graders, 6 4th to 5th graders, 8 6th graders, and 3 7th to 8th graders!!! We had not excepted that almost half would be olders kids! Shirley and Koichi had been praying the last 3 years that older kids would come because so often these kids have activities or just lose interest as they get older. It was a wonderful answer to prayer but not what we planned for but God did! Karen and I had expected maybe 4 older kids and again our plans were "disrupted" so we are planning to go shopping for more craft materials today before church. Today God showed me that He was in control, and not to worry and just be flexiblity and go where God leads. It was also encouraging to me that the devotional thought in our book today was "May be the thing that bug you the most is the thing God wants us to grow the most in." Tomorrow we will begin our first day of VBS. I know God will use all of us to share His incredible love and grace to the children but just as amazing He will be challenging us to respond to this same love and grace by giving more of our lives to Him. Thank you for all your prayers. They are being answered. God is so good and so faithful. Blessings, Ev

Lucy: learning a lot about living authentically

2010-08-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

I’ve been having such an AMAZING time meeting our missionary partners here in Japan. Not only are they super nice and helping us see the sights this past week (I am so overwhelmed by all the Hello Kitty dolls in the stores! And Pokemon and Power Rangers and Super Mario brothers too!), I am encouraged and even inspired about how they are seeking to live authentically as a followers of Christ. We met with Koichi and Shirley Tamura, Gerald May, Richard Nakamura, and Larry and Alma Oline, and all of them have talked about how reaching people is not about programs or handing out tracts, but building relationships and letting people see how their lives are different because of Jesus.

They got me thinking about what we’ve been learning back home at LCC, like how most people nowadays who start following Jesus do so because they’ve been friends with a Christian who lived authentically loving Jesus. I guess I kind of thought that missionaries were somehow superhuman or something, but meeting them has shown me that they are just like us with the same struggles and challenges, like finding a good education for their kids or how to make ends meet. But what’s different is that they love Jesus enough to hear His calling change their lives and live out here, and they let themselves be seen by those around them.

This is making me think more about what my life is like back home. Am I (we) living authentically? Can those around us see what our lives as followers of Jesus are like? Things like saving face, avoiding conflict, busyness, and distractions are talked about as barriers to Jesus here in Japan, but I see those things as also barriers at home and in myself sometimes. I'm thinking that being here is not so much about what I do in Japan, but about how being in Japan for this short time changes what I do when I get back…

Ev: missionaries are an encouragement to us

2010-08-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday we took trains to Mikata to the TEAM center. We had the opportunity to meet Gerald May who had been serving in Japan 27 years. He shared with us the challenges of ministering in Japan and he took us around Tokyo. We went to the Municipal Building had a great view of Tokyo. On Friday we met with Richard Nakamura and his son, Branden, at the TEAM center. Richard shared about his ministry and vision. We had a chance to go to the Meiji Shrine where we prayed as a group for the Japanese people. It was here that I saw young special needs girl pray and clap to the gods. Her face was full of joy.
I was deeply saddened by the fact her prayers were going up to empty ears. As we headed back, Richard saw a woman sharing tracts about world peace and he spoke to her about Christ's love and passed out a 4 spiritual law to her. As he talked we prayed for God to open her eyes and heart to the truth. We were amazed at Richard's boldness and his heart for the Japanese people. He had given us the 4 spiritual laws in Japanese with English subtitles and told us to pray to see who God wants us to give them to. We will be worshipping Sunday morning at a local church and at 3 PM at Nokendai. Al and Karen will be sharing their testimonies so please pray for them. We are eager to see what God will do this week. Please continue to pray for all of us.

Randy Eng, Our Amazing Partners in Japan

2010-08-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

From left to right, Lucy, Ev, Al, Karen, Katherine with Japan missionaries Gerald May and Shirley Tamura

So far, the most impactful part of our trip for me is getting to know the Tamura family, and TEAM members Gerald May, Larry and Alma Oline. These are truly exceptional people that have submitted their lives to Christ and love the Japanese people with all their hearts. A thriving family of five with 3 busy girls and demanding careers to manage, the Tamuras find a way to run a church, including worship, writing and giving the message, children’s ministry, etc. Both Koichi and Shirley don’t seem to have any down time - Koichi often leaves by 7:00am and gets home at about 10:00pm and is also a great father, and Shirley has a full time job as assistant dean for the University of Maryland and somehow is available and nurturing as a mother. Gerald came to Japan 27 years ago to teach English because he didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do after college. Now he is a Pastor within the TEAM organization and supports NBF up to a couple of times per month. Larry used to be college professor in Florida who lost his wife later in life. Upon retiring, he thought he would end up in missions in Israel, but met Alma a recent widow and Japan missionary through a mutual friend at TEAM. Together with the Tamuras, they planted Nokendai Bible Fellowship. It’s humbling and inspiring to see the obedience and sacrifice of these people. It’s also amazing how diverse their backgrounds are, and how the common bond of Christ has brought them together as a team to reach the Japanese people through Nokendai Bible Fellowship.

Tom: Fellowshipping with the Reasoners

2010-08-05T05:42:00.000-07:00

Tim, Sharon and I had some time between VBS's. The Reasoners invited us to a Send Retreat Cabin on Lake Yamanaka at the foot of Mt. Fuji. This was the first time I have had to see Japan outside of Tokyo and the areas around the VBS Locations. It has been a great time to decompress, rest, recreate and fellowship with our missionary partners. We climbed Mt. Fuji. Visited a local nursery.

Shirley: TEAM Japan

2010-08-05T03:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you who want to learn more about this missions group, here is a link to the TEAM Japan website and a terrific little video clip about what this missions group has done and is doing in Japan right now.

TEAM Japan

Shirley: TEAM Center in Mitaka

2010-08-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

We took a 6:42 AM bus to get on our 7:19 train this morning for Tokyo, specifically, Mitaka station, where the TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) Center is located. We made great time, caught the 7:07 train and were in Mitaka as planned just a little after 9AM. After a short, but very hot walk to the center, we had our orientation with Gerald May, our TEAM missionary who graciously continues to help us at NBF (Nokendai Bible Fellowship) in Yokohama. I hope this train ride impresses on everyone again how FARRRR away NBF is from central Tokyo and how LONGGGGG it takes to get from point A to point B no matter how close it may look on the map!

After some talking and discussion, Gerald took us to Shinjuku, a major train stop on the Yamanote Line, and we went up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to the observation deck on the 45th floor. Clear skies today and a great view of the endless, sprawling city, but it sure was hot today, even for us locals!

They will spend the night in Mitaka at the center, meet up with Tom, Tim and Sharon, Richard and Jon around 10AM on Friday morning and return to Yokosuka in the evening.

We pray for a fruitful time there with Larry and Alma Oline (our dear friends and now retired TEAM missionaries who planted NBF with us in 2001) and any other TEAM missionaries they may happen to meet there, possibly the Sloans and the Jordans.

DSak - Reflections of Japan

2010-08-05T01:18:00.000-07:00

Our God is a Sovereign, compassionate, merciful, loving, and mighty God. All praise and glory be unto Him forever. His Gospel truth has the power to turn lives upside down and irrevocably change their course. His Gospel truth is desperately needed in so many parts of the world, is ritualized and taken for granted in many others. But once in a while, the seeds of His truth fall upon fertile heart soil, and compels a heart to pursue a dangerously transformational Christ-like life. I pray that God instill a passion in me that puts me amongst the least of these, that I might give my life without reservation for the Glory of my Heavenly King who withheld nothing from me. May no other pursuit of this life satisfy or fulfill me, but I pray I find joy and satisfaction in declaring the love of Jesus.

How can I begin to articulate all which God has shown and whispered to me these past two weeks? In my heart I still wrestle to understand it all, but perhaps I am simply not meant to understand it all in this life. I have eternity for that. My heart has been refreshed by the trip and I have been richly blessed by the company I was blessed to keep, and the children I got to serve and minister to. Their smiles were truly priceless. My heart has been broken by the deep need of the people of Japan.

I confess, I spent more time in Japan reading the Kenya team’s blog than attempting to write on our own. Their stories were incredibly compelling and touching. I was also slightly intimidated by the gifted writers on the Kenya team and wondered if I could possible write something that could be as significant. Their testimonies of the poverty they witnessed and continue to witness are heart-wrenching and demand action. Their sentiments stand true – our world is not as it should be. The Bride of Christ – the church – is not as it should be. But more on that later. =)

As I meditated on what the Kenya team has been sharing, and what God has been revealing to me through this trip, I came to realize some things.

1. Japan and Kenya are two completely different countries at opposite ends of the spectrum. Japan represents what some would consider the pinnacle of human innovation – technologically advanced, civilized, no where in the land would you find poverty like in the slums of Nairobi. In Japan, convenience and efficiency are maximized, trains and buses take you almost anywhere you need to go (and they’re almost never late!). Vending machines and shops line streets, giving the people access to almost anything they need, and all within walking distance. And the Japanese people are proud of what they have achieved, despite being a small island nation they stand as one of the most influential nations on the planet. Kenya on the other hand is a developing nation that many consider to be “third-world”, still lacking much of the basic infrastructure that those of us living the “civilized Western world” take too much for granted. In Kenya, people have to travel great distances to get the most basic necessities of life – food and water – if they can get them at all. In Japan, more than half the population live in massive metropolitan centers (amongst the largest in the world). In Kenya, the majority of the population lives in conditions no human should have to endure. Kenya and Japan are two very different countries.

2. The people of Japan and the people of Kenya are not so different – both are living in poverty. In Kenya, the poverty of the people is a harsh and glaring reality, visible to anyone who dares take a walk through the slums. The need of the people is apparent, and heartbreaking, and seemingly so very easy to meet. The people of Kenya are physically impoverished. In Japan, they have everything they could ever want or need. At least materially. But all that they have built, all that they have achieved stands as a towering monument – an idol that stand between them and the love of Christ. The people of Japan pride themselves in their achievement, but their pride prevents them from realizing their deepest need of all – the love of Christ. The people of Japan are spiritually impoverished. Some might argue they are rich spiritually because of the prevalence of Shintoism or Buddhism, I will contend that any sort of “spirituality” aside from the worship of and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is empty idol worship that only adds to the poverty. A poverty that many of the Japanese feel but fail to realize. The people of Kenya and the people of Japan both need the love of Christ more than anything else.

I have been reading a book called Spiritual Warfare by Dr. Karl Payne. Right before I left for Japan, I read the chapter titled “Demonic Warfare: Blatant or Stealth?” In it, Dr. Payne made a very compelling argument – all the more so because I saw it to be true in Japan. Dr. Payne writes,

“…it should be no surprise that the more sophisticated a person or society assumes itself, the more subtle and crafty the enemies’ subterfuges must become to be effective. Demons attempt to destroy their enemies. They do not play at their work or take vacations. They work in deadly earnest. Demons approach their assigned responsibilities from a win/lose mentality. They fight to win and work diligently to make Christians lose… ridiculing Christianity and demonism as emotional hocus pocus and the sign of a weak, gullible mind could be a very effective way to keep a proud, self-made, rationalist, and empiricist, impressed with his own education, opinions, and accomplishments from even exploring the possibilities of spirituality in general, demonic warfare specifically, or the Gospel message of new life in Jesus Christ. The cost of honest exploration might seem too great a price to pay among skeptical colleagues. Satan and his demons are masters of creating confusion and deception, and understand that to be effective it is necessary to fight smarter, not just harder. People who are critical of Christians, Jesus, the Bible, Christianity and miracles are essentially looking for reasons to reaffirm their belief that religion is just the opiate of the naïve, and a mental crutch for the weak-willed people who are looking for someone else to think for them. Overt activity that challenges their basic anti-supernatural worldview could, therefore, become counter-productive. Why wake up people who are spiritually asleep, haplessly bobbing on the waves of naturalism and happily adrift in a sea of moral, ethical and religious relativism? If someone or something made the mistake of rousing them from their stupor, they might actually become motivated to take some type of aggressive action. A more effective plan is to let them stay drugged in their hubris and religious skepticism, sound asleep and devoid of any understanding of spiritual realities.” [p. 137-138]

That, to me, pretty much captured the state of Japan in a nutshell. The Japanese people are a very proud people. Proud of their education, proud of their accomplishments, proud of their own strength. They are a very self-sufficient people and believe in working diligently. They grasp and are very good at working at things with all their hearts, but their motivations remain self-serving. Many seem content just to let things go the way they are, in Japan rocking the boat, so to speak, is considered a big social taboo. In Japan, the cost of following Jesus is incredibly high. My dad and Richard-sensei had a chance to sit and talk to a gentleman from the TMK church who literally had to give up everything to follow after Christ, and he shared about how he barely had enough to feed and care for himself now. His struggle is that before he had everything he needed and there was no cause for worry. After choosing to follow Christ, he lost all of that material security. For some, choosing to follow Christ means facing a level of social rejection that many of us from the US simply cannot understand.

The spiritual opposition in Japan is powerful. The enemy’s stronghold is formidable. The material wealth of the Japanese and their pride makes it hard for them to see their need for Christ and to admit that they are in need of the Savior. On the spiritual side, numerous “Christian” cults (Jehovah’s Witness, Children of God) who proclaim their version of the gospel have made many people very wary and skeptical of Christians as a whole. It seems the enemy is using Japan’s wealth to keep them “happily adrift” in their spiritual poverty. What’s harder, because everything in Japan is so expensive, it is becoming harder for missionaries from abroad to stay there. The government of Japan prohibits and non-Japanese citizens from holding jobs, so it is very difficult for the missionaries to support themselves through working their. Satan and his forces have lost the war, but they are fighting tenaciously to take as many people down with them as they can. By the grace of God, and the willingness of His people to faithfully follow Him, we can reach the hearts of the Japanese. But it will take time.

Richard-sensei shared a sobering insight with us. Missionaries have recently celebrated 150 years of missions in Japan. 150 years, and barely 2% of the population claims to follow Christ. Something needs to change. At Urbana 2009, one of the keynote speakers from Kenya blasted many of us. For many of us coming from American churches, we think the most important part of missions is money. The speaker basically told us, we can keep our money. If we want to see change happen in Kenya, we have to invest our lives and our time into the lives of the Kenyan people. A sentiment that is very true for Japan. It is very costly to live there, but the only way to win the trust of the people and instill even the slightest amount of curiosity or interest in what the church, in what Christ has to offer, we need to invest not just our money, but our time, our love, every part of our lives to loving them to Christ.

For many Americans, it seems this concept of having to commit so extensively and for such a pro-longed period of time is terrifying. But this is exactly what needs to happen! Are we, as the Church of Jesus Christ, committed to building HIS CHURCH? Or our own? Are we more concerned with our plans, our agendas, our budgets, our buildings, our programs than with sharing the love of Christ at all costs? Have we made the church our church instead of Christ’s? These are some of the questions Richard shared that weighed on his heart, and they’re good questions to stop and ask.

God’s certainly given me a lot to think about from my time there. Many priceless memories. The children I got to meet and serve were truly priceless. Far too many memories to recite for an already long post. My prayers remain with the NBF team as they to prepare to minister to the children in Nokendai. May your hearts be open though to what God has to show you. For me many of the most impactful things God revealed to me came not through the VBS itself, but through other times either listening to Richard-sensei or John-sensei, or just being out in the city and observing the people around me.

May the God of grace and mercy be with the Reasoner family, the Nakamura family, the Smoker family, the May family and the Tamura family (and many of the others there!) as they serve and minister to the people of Japan.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” [Philippians 1:3-11]

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." [Philippians 4:8]

Kelly - Home is where the heart is...

2010-08-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

At first I was going to title this "home" or "happy to be home", since Dave and I have safely and uneventfully returned to the US, but if is true that home is where the heart is, then, I'm still back in Japan. Yes, when I wasn't napping, I was being Dad of the house and getting things back in order (leaving for Japan always seems to leave the house looking like a tornado hit it... remnants of craft preparations etc... oh and the drink we forgot to dump out before leaving) but my heart, was not here - I was going through the motions, taking the garbage out, collecting the recycling - I even began asking myself, is this plastic, PET bottle, burnable... then I realized that I didn't need to worry about that... (that's a living in Japan in-side joke.) My thoughts constantly are drifting back to the team just prepping for their week of VBS at the Nokendai Bible Fellowship; to Tom, Sharon and Tim who are taking some very needed time to renew their strength with the Reasoners at a camp near Mt. Fuji. How I wish I were there, yet my heart also knows there's a reason Dave and I needed to be back.

I do want to thank all those who supported us. I know Dave and I are different, I really need some time to process all that's gone on to fully take this all in. That's why I'm truly grateful that my boss approved attending the Willow Creek Leadership conference as a part of my Leadership development training. While I might be somewhat jet-lagged, I'll be attending the conference Thursday and Friday, and I'm truly wondering what God has in store for me there. And, I'll be "working".

My prayer concerns now:
For the seeds that have been sown, that the soil they fell on, is fertile soil, that thorns and weeds don't grow, that birds are kept away...
For those I have had the privaledge of meeting (and those I haven't) who are called to stay and water those seeds, and tend the ground removing the weeds.
That God would send the rain
That He allows the sun to continue to rise, at least until this harvest is done.
That there are still harvesters, that they are there when the harvesting needs to be done, that none of these fruits rot away...

I know that TODAY Japan may not yield as mighty a harvest as other fields, but I also know that our good shepherd will leave the 99 to look for the 1... and I do believe Japan's season coming...

After a coupl o days... - austinyip

2010-08-04T14:07:00.001-07:00

Day 1: after arriving...
dudee. this place is so weird. when we arrived in japan i walk 2 steps off the plane into that tube thing and i felt the humid sticky air.. bleck. we walked into the airport and the people were speakin some crazy fast japanese at me and the only thing i could do is sit there and say english..? i felt bad about it but i guess there is nothing i could do about it. later after we got some train tickets, i went to the money exchange, and left for the train. after we had a few train transfers, lucy realized i left my check in bag.. but at this point i was too tired to even care that much (this is at around 3 or 4 am seattle time o_o) on the train, i was hugged up right next to a window, and i was about to take a picture and then another train went the opposite way soooo fast! i freaked out and screamed, and if you didnt know, in japan no one talks or communicates physically on the train. this was the surprised scream (if youve heard the different screams of mine..) and the people on the bus were like dude this guy is so weird man and some people were laughing at me inside -_-'(BUT IT WAS FUNNY). we got off the last train and walked to our apartment. dude. these apartments are THE most coolest apartments ive ever seen in my life. they are amazing quality and im amazed at how awesome the place im staying at is (pictures on facebook later!). we then met with shirley and her kids, emma claira and amelia. we ate some SUSHI there which was amazing, and then we went back to our apartment, we were exhausted at this point.

Day 2: exploring
exploring... when we woke up today, it was a very chill morning. we ate some toast with eggs, and left to shirleys apartment which is only 2 floors up. we hung out there til aorund lunch, and i got to know mimi(amelia) better. day one was the day i got ot know emma more :P. then we left to get lunch. i dont think ill ever eat ever again. the ramen i ate here was so amazing it makes me feel like i never ate ramen before. the yummy broth explodes with flavor fulfilling my taste buds with every sip, the noodles so smooth and so easy to eat. absolutly the most amazing lunch. and its only day 2, (lunch was only 4 dollars and i couldnt finish the bowl). then emma took us on a tour to all the major stores around the apartment. they have such good deals on some shtuff, and some of it is really expensive. i got some shorts for 5 dolla cause i left my suitcase, and it arrives on day 4 so i needed more shorts -_-' then we went to some electronic stores and i saw the COOLEST phones EVAAAAAA. they all flipped up and had some turney slidey things and had all this weird jazz i havnt ever experienced before. i want a new phone.we went back and we were all exhausted. later that night we went to sherleys to eat potstickers (yum!) for emmas 12th birthday!!

day 3:
this is the day when we woke up early to get onto the train so that we can sit for the 2 hours that it took to get to tokyo. when we arrived, we walked to the team house where we met gerald. he talked to us a lil about why we were here, why he was there, and some of his testimony and how he ended up in japan. its really amazing how God has used his life to influence others in japan! he then took us to a katsu resturaunt. omygoodness. this is THE best katsu ever to be tasted. the pork was so juicy and easy to eat and the sauce was just perfect. it by far is and will be the best and only katsu that will exceed my expectations. we toured around tokyo more after lunch, saw a fantastic view of the whole town of tokyo, and all the buildings. it is soo crazy with weird and cool buildings. lastly, we went back to the team house to stay the night, in beds. BEDS. so comfy. i slept pretty well until i....

day 4:
woke up at 4:30 due to jet lag. i sat in my room for 2 hours, then i finally got out of bed to go hang out int he breakfast room. i ate some coffee cake, which was pretty freakin good. they make good shtuff there! after breakfast, we met up with the reasoner family, the nakamuras, and tim sharon and tom. our team, along wiht the nakamuras went to lunch in town, then took a prayer walk into the shrine. the shrine was kinda creepy. i felt terrible for the people who were praying there not realizing that theres a true and real God out there that they can have a relationship with rather than pay for a favor from their "God". we left and went into town to explore tokyo. it was interesting... it looked kinda like a new york city kinda thing with the moving ads and songs playing out in the huge cross walks! we then split up for dinner, and i got some mcdonalds. i tried ordering, and the lady was kind and patient with me cause i had to get branden nakamura to translate for me :P she knew i was from america and wrote "enjoy your meal <3" on my napkin ;P she was probablyl the best mcdonalds person ive ever "met". then we went out to wait for everyone to meet up again, and heard this amazing drummer. he was drummin like crazy on some buckets! God really put some talent into that mans arms! after we left we were on the train, and there was this couple with a baby. the baby, as usual, kinda goin nuts. a spot next to them became open. and me, tired of my TERRIBLY UNCOMFORTABLY SLIPPERS (mom these are so bad, they have no "kush" and i just cant stand them.. they are comfortable like you say for about 5 minutes of walking, and the rest just hurts my feet cause my feet just dont adjust to the foot) sat down next to them. towards the end of the ride the baby started going for my free fan that i got off the street. i handed the baby the fan, and got off the bus leaving the family with the fan. we said bye, but then dad (randy) told me i shoulda given them one of the 4 spiritual laws booklets (we handed these out to whoever God guided us to give to). i didnt have anymore, so i asked him for one. he quickly searched around into his bag and got me one and i ran over and the doors started closing and i chucked the booklet and it landed perfectly ontop of the baby stroller. i then started to fall asleep on the train rides on the way back to our apartment where we are staying. i am so tired...

Al: Ultimate train experience

2010-08-04T00:40:00.000-07:00

When I shared about arriving safely in Japan, I forgot to share with you our experience on the Keikyu Express train. We boarded the Keikyu Express in Shinagawa. The train was crowded but we were able to get on. At the next stop even more people got on the train. As I watch them crowd on, suddenly the people at the entrance surged inward like a tidal wave. I realize that the conductors had been pushing the people into the train. We were really crowded. There was absolutely no personal space. One man was pushing against me and I had to push back to keep from falling over. This pushing match lasted for atleast 2 more stops. Karen was laughing the whole time. We wanted to take a picture but no one had enough room to reach their backpacks and I couldn't even reach into my pocket to pull out my camera. What was really interesting was that even though bodies were packed together with full body contact, no one made eye contact. As soon as the train began to move every one quickly pulled out books or focused on their cell phone or just seemed to sleep.

Al: Safely in Japan

2010-08-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

We made it to Japan safely and without incident. We all were at SEA by 11:30. When the Engs tried to get their boarding pass they were rejected and sent off to special services. After about a half hour in line, Randy decided to try the kiosk again but this time he was accepted and was able to get their boarding passes without going through special services. We went through security and stopped at Wendy’s for lunch. We got to the gate at 1:35 and boarded ready to begin our 10 hour flight to Narita. Everyone was too excited to sleep on the plane. I watched 2 movies and learned to play Bejeweled.

When we landed at Narita and deplaned, the first thing you noticed was the hot humid air. We went to the JR office and bought our train tickets to Shinagawa. The clerk said she would book us on the 5:44 NEX express. The current time was 5:30. She then started entering our data onto the touch screen. For some reason she had to enter us in twice. But the time I got our tickets it was 5:36. We hustled out of the JR office, down the escalator onto the train platform and approached the train. I told the conductor that we were in car 4. He told us to get on car 12 and told us to walk to our car from inside. We got to car 8 and the train started to move. We got to car 4 and finally got a chance to relax on the hour ride to Shinagawa.

At Shinagawa we while we were waiting for the Keihye Express to Yokosuka, Lucy noted that Austin didn’t have his suitcase. He had left it in the airport. We decide to push on to Yokosuka and have Kohichi help us with Austin’s luggage. We pulled into the Tamura’s apartment complex at 8:45 pm. 8:45 pm is 4:45 am, Seattle time. Ev and I had been up for nearly 21 hours. Shirley graciously had soup and sushi waiting for us when we arrived. It was great to get re-acquainted with the Tamuras.

Koichi called the Airport and learned that they had found Austin’s suitcase, praise God! The airport staff was minimal so they asked us to call again in the morning to make arrangements to ship the suitcase to Yokosuka.

Praise God that he got us here safely and watched over us. Please continue to pray for our health and quick adjustment to the time zone.

Shirley: NBF Team Arrived Safely

2010-08-03T07:13:00.001-07:00

Happy to report that the NBF team has safely arrived in Yokosuka. They were at our doorstep around 8:45PM. After a quick dinner, they are in bed now, hopefully, having survived a very long day of travel. Pray for a good night's rest and renewed strength by morning. Praise God for His travel mercies. Good night!

Last Day at TMK

2010-08-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

Today we finished our first VBS. The week seemed long as we were going through it but short nearing the end. Everyone is tired but a good tired. The kids have been great especially the consistent comers. Many of the kids have other classes to take and sport to practice so not all of them can come every day. You have probably noticed that I have just been presenting the facts of what we are doing, not my feelings or impressions. It will take me longer to process all that has happened this week. I hope to be able to share with all of you something a little deeper than just what we did. And again thankyou for getting me here. Many of the children and parents (mostly mom's) have asked us to come back. I'm beginning feel that I am bleeding you, my supporters, dry, coming to you year after year asking you to support me. I do love coming here. The people I have met, the relationship that have been built and the blessings God has thrown my way have really been life changing. I feel more focused serving God here. I wish I could be that focused back in the states. But I get lazy and complacent and life has its distractions and temptations. Frankly I am doing many of the same things I do at my teaching. Here it is much more important and more appreciated. I'm getting selfish because I feel I am getting more blessed and rewarded than what I am giving to those I am serving. I think I getting a little brain dead. This probably won't make sense when I read this tomorrow morning. Well, thank you for this experience.

PE @ THE PARK

2010-08-02T15:27:00.001-07:00

Kelly - A day of mixed emotions...

2010-08-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

One thing I've grown to realize on these mission trips is that at a certain point, i really lose track of what day it is. Even more confusing on this trip is that our day one was a Thursday... OK I'm babbling here... The point of the babbling is that today was Sunday, a Day of rest for the team and a day to praise and worship our Lord and Savior. It was good, no joyful, to be able to worship the same God, in a church thousands of miles away... to sing songs of worship and know (that even though I didn't know the meaning of all the words I was singing) that God was pleased with what He heard. Joyful too that the TMK is growing - not by huge numbers, but enough to notice and ask/ verify the perception with Jon Reasoner.

Tonight at the BBQ there were about 40 of us. And while many of those attending were missionaries, some of the kids were there and they even brought friends! Hoping and praying we see them tomorrow. Some new moms :), but no dads except those already at TMK :(. I still hope... I must hope... I know one day they will come... I just wonder what it will take to win their trust and get them curious...(remember the 5 things from the current message series at LCC...)

You could kind of sense already the reason for the title... but the real reason for the title was the news we learned last night. Because Missionary out-reach to Japan is sooo expensive and the growth or "return" is so low, many groups will no longer be sending missionaries to Japan. The Southern Baptist's for example are actively discussing discontinuing sending missionary families here to Japan (they will send short-term individuals.) SEND will continue to support this field but there are 4 families who will not be returning to Japan at this point since they have not been able to raise enough support. I talked more with Richard and learned that once he returns for his home stay (the period the missionaries return home to raise their support) he will have to raise $14K per MONTH in support! My heart was breaking as it felt like bean-counters were choosing places like Kenya where $25 will feed 300+ kids for the day verses this land where less than 1% know our Lord and Savior. The business side of me goes "well, doesn't it make sense that we put our money where we'll get the biggest bang for the buck?" That thought just angers the very depths of my soul. But, as Richard and I talked, we realized, maybe it's Gods way of directing our paths. I know in my heart, that the church here really hasn't grown since I first came here in 1983, so it does make one wonder what have we (the christian church) really been doing here in Japan for the past 27 years??? Richard and I have both been sensing over the past few years that we need to change our approach here in Japan. I forget who said or defined insanity as "doing the same thing time after time and expecting different results..." So what do we think God wants us to do differently? To work side by side with the people of Japan. Richard is working/applying for a different VISA, one that will allow him to work here - two reasons - first is to be able to work next to the people here, so trust can be built, and second, it's getting almost unreasonable to expect to raise $14K per month (we both know that for God nothing is impossible, but maybe He is making it harder so we begin looking to outreach in different ways.) Besides, if tent making ministries were good enough for Paul, surely it might work for us today - look at the Tamura's, the Hyodo's... PLEASE be in prayer for Richard's VISA application. If he gets it, then the entire family gains this status and even his kids could work during the summers! Be in prayer for the Reasoners too, Chieko Reasoner has also applied for this type of VISA. She's applying since she was a Japanese Citizen and her return would be easier than the route for Jon to apply. Be in prayer too for the remaining families, that God would provide for them.

OK, I need to rest, getting really spacey here...

Day 3: FEATURING SHARON!

2010-08-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Today, Sharon was our spotlighted team member. She introduced Rainforest Day 3: "Chimi-chan get's lost" and her testimony along with the Bible stories. From experience being the featured team member on Day 1, it can be exhausting. The children were enchanted by Sharon's rendition of "Chimi-chan get's lost" with Tim as a Jaguar and featuring a real beetle. ("Chimi-chan get's lost" parallels "the parable of the Good Samaritan.")

The craft for Day 3 was fuse Beads. The children already knew about them so they jump right at them and did a great job. The hard part was getting the right iron temperature.

Thoughts of Japan...

2010-07-31T06:52:00.001-07:00

July 31, 2010
Geeze… I feel at a loss for words to properly describe my time here. It’s been a few short days, and I’ve been through a number of trains of thoughts, all in pretty different directions. The first is that the Japanese kids here are soooooooooooooooo cute! The way they’ve opened up in the short time we’ve been here… their crazy cheesey grins and devious fake whistling as they greet us is always one of the best parts of my day. Whether it’s been watching them copy the song motions or picking them up and spinning them around… I can’t help but fall in love with the people (especially kids) of Japan every time I come here. In that line of thought it has been very easy to fall into the trap of thinking everything is great and peachy… I’m just here on vacation, having fun playing with little kids and working on my Japanese… but God has faithfully and patiently been reminding me of how spiritually dry this country is. As mentioned by other bloggers, on day 2 of the TMK VBS one of the mothers called around starting a panic of catching a fever from the rain, which consequently drew kids away from PE in the park for that day. Something that I and many others on the team attribute to Satan trying to hinder God’s work through us here. In putting those two lines of thought together, my heart breaks. These people who are so wonderful and serving… kids who are so cute, energetic, and… well… pure the way only children are… but them being here in this country where Satan’s hold is so strong… It all feels so overwhelming; like there’s nothing I can do to change a WHOLE country… but God being God… has lovingly reminded me of a very important fact. He is an all powerful God who is much bigger than any hold Satan can ever place. Which is my third major line of thought that I’ve been through: Hope. The hope that only God brings… in giving His son to die on the cross for our sins. Something which I take for granted so much when it comes to thinking of myself, but also something that has given me the extra push in the morning to get up and go see the kids… to share God’s love with them that they might know the same hope I have for them… I’m really not sure where I’m at right now… I guess I’m kind of tired and just not sure what to think… soo…. Prayer for the people of Japan and for our time here to be used by God and not hindered by Satan would be awesome!

Hmm… I guess I might go over the stuff that’s been happening… VBS has been good. Like. Reallllllllllllly good. It surprises me (in a good way) to see so many of the kids eager to sing songs, memorize verses, and just be kids…hanging out with the missionary families has been a huge blessing… whether it’s having good laughs and fun or drawing on the experience and wisdom of those who have served here…my confidence in trying to speak Japanese has slowly been improving… the kids actually understand the instructions I’m trying to give on how to do the crafts and such… ughh. I’m starting to space out… so if anything else comes back to my mind of stuff that’s been going on I’ll add it later… pictures too!!! Ughh. I said that last time ><… well. Okay. I won’t promise it’ll be next time, but I’ll definitely try to post more soon haha… ><…

Kelly - Our God is an Awesome God!

2010-07-30T05:46:00.000-07:00

Sigh, God is good. As I sit here contemplating what to write, I sit here in awe. While we didn't have the adventures the Kenya team had trying to get to our destination, I know after two days of VBS that there is opposition to our being here. It is subtle, yet very disrupting. Despite these disruptions though, mostly what I see is God's awesomeness. As Tom mentioned, day one was full of unusual events that caused us to rely on God for very unexpected things, like one of the local, very influential, moms creating a "panic" around us doing PE in the park in the rain - here we were praising God because it dropped the temperature significantly for us - but our enemy used it to cause trouble! Tom showed his flexibility and we called it quits early, respecting the mom's concerns. During our daily debriefing time we spent in prayer over this and, today, Someone calmed the storms, and we had a wonderful PE in the park!

Another way God has shown His awesomeness was in this: we came as a Lighthouse team of 5, yet we serve at TMK with a VBS "staff" of 15! We are blessed by the presence of four missionary families who have chosen to help out at our VBS. You all know of the Nakamura and Reasoner Families but this year we also have help from the Smoker and Mays (I ask their forgiveness if I spell their names wrong...) families as well! Charles Smoker and his daughter Ashley (I hope I spelled her name correctly) will be able to help us as well as Emily and Josh Mays! That amounts to the 5 Lighthouse team members; Jon, Chieko and Elisabeth Reasoner (Elliot is working full time at one of the Summer Bible camps); Richard, Alisha, and Brandon Nakamura (Keri, Hanna, Kayla and Nat are in California with Keri's mom - prayer support needed there!); Charles and Ashley Smoker; and Emily and Josh Mays! How God provides, and in abundance.

As for me personally, while this was a better day for Tom, not so good for me... (maybe because it was my day to do the opening and give my testimony...) felt tired and drained today, probably cause I may have done too much yesterday and my knee was "tender" today. (or maybe it was that Kenya team and me wondering if I should have sent our sound equipment with em... just joking.... God will do as He wills - but I think God just wants them to be less reliant on technilogical wow and more on the gifts He's given 'em - and God has indeed Blessed the Kenya team!) In any event, still felling a little out of place with the little kids, glad Dave and Tim are here to play with them cause today I really had to take it easy - again God provides - but it made me turn more of my thoughts towards the parents - unfortunately that came out during my testimony - which didn't come out very kid friendly but I pray it did speak to the adults there.

Asking all of you out there to keep my knee in prayer.

By His Grace - at the end of day 2,

Kelly

TMK Day 2

2010-07-30T00:36:00.000-07:00

Day 2 went a lot smoother than Day 1. (Sharon says it's because I was done with my Rainforest Introduction and my testimony) Day 1 was alright but for me thing didn't go as smoothly and I had hope. I was nervous during the Introduction and testimony. My back hurt and the PE at the Park didn't go well. First it was raining. I had a communication problem with the games. A parent was very concern that we were playing in the rain although it was 80+ degrees out. She called other parents to take the children home early. She was afraid they would get fevers. (Praise God her kids showed up today and also it didn't rain during PE @ the Park although it poured during the night right to the end of the VBS) Our VBS schedule went so much smoother. PE @ the Park went 100 % better. We played KickBall, or as the Japanese call it, "Kick Base". My back didn't hurt. I even was able to play "kick base" with younger kids. (Sorry we don't have any pictures of PE @ the Park. Everyone was having too much fun playing with the kids.)
I am totally blown away by my JMT teammates. Tim and David have learned by example from Kelly and Sharon. Their faith makes my faith look one dimensional. I am so grateful for them.

TMK VBS: Day 1

2010-07-29T03:25:00.000-07:00

The first day of vbs! Things were awesome!!! The moment the kids showed up I couldn’t help but smiling because there were so many familiar faces! And at the same time there were a lot of new faces… a good mix for a great VBS :] soo… for starters. The song time was very encouraging (especially since I’m leading songs). Last year was kind of hard at first because none of the kids really started doing the motions until 2-3 days into the VBS, but this year all of the kids were following along on the first day! It was great… let’s see… craft time was good… I’m not sure how the story time was first hand but it sounded like the kids were having a lot of fun and learning the verse really well. Today’s verse: I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. The concept of sin and God’s forgiveness for it isn’t something that’s easily understood by the Japanese people, so continued prayer for God using us to reach them. Lunch was delicious… then there was PE in the Park. It was really fun and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. It’s been a lot of fun hanging out with the missionary families and kids too: Some old ones from last year and meeting some new ones too. They’re all pretty awesome and a lot of fun to hang out with :). Ooookay. I’m kinda tired… even though it’s only 7:22 here… but still. Long day. Lots of running around with kids. Ohhh… not to mention playing with one of the little kids for an hour or something while we waited for him to get picked up. Fun for part of it… but also quite tiring haha. Kids have too much energy… and everyone is looking pretty tired tooo…. So continued prayer for God to supply us with the energy and sustenance we need would be appreciated! Mmm… where was I… dinner… hanging out… blogging… and we’ll see what else happens later tonight. One of the missionary kids really wants to watch a movie, but people are tired too…. I guess we’ll see. Until next time…. Bai bai! ^^V

P.s. I’ll try to come back and add pictures later….

VBS TODAY

2010-07-28T01:18:00.000-07:00

Elisabeth Posing
Male Bonding

Today will be our first day of VBS. This year we had an extra day to prepare which is such a blessing because it is so hot. It looks like the only semi cool day will be our first day of VBS. All the others day are supposed to be in the high 90's with heat indexes over 100 degrees. Please pray for cooler weather. Although we only have 5 team members from LCC we have tons of help from the Nakamura's, Reasoner's and the Smoker Families and May children. The Smoker Family is another missionary family who run a sport ministry. God provides.
What has most amazed me is the Spiritual maturity of the Sakanashi Boys. Tim is lead morning worship, David prayer. They are such good role model for the Lighthouse youth, the children in Japan and for me. Kelly and Sharon, you've done a fine job.

First Full Day...

2010-07-27T00:52:00.000-07:00

Sooo. It’s our first full day here. I feel pretty well adjusted to the time difference already (praise God!). We’ve already gotten a taste of some delicious home made food… some delicious food from Yaoko… and our setup time today was pretty productive! Everyone is still recovering from traveling and all, but aside from that we got quite a bit done.

Sooo… a summary of my day today… woke up around 7:15 or so… showered… ate breakfast… had nice relaxed morning of discussing plans for the day, praying, and a short time of worship… went over to the SEND center where we stuffed mailboxes/prayer walked for a bit… then as the day got hotter we headed back to the center and relaxed a bit. It’s kind of ridiculous how hot it is this year… ughhhhh. Be praying for the weather!! That it would cool off enough to do our outside activities, or….. if it’s God’s plan for it to be hot then to show us what he wants us to do :]. Hrmm… let’s see…. I guess I left off where we went to Yaoko to do grocery/lunch shopping… I’ll try to include a couple of pictures of lunch at the end ^^V...
then we got to work. Putting together signs, taping posters up, etc. At the moment we’re just hanging out… trying to cool the house down before dinner. We’ve been invited over to have dinner with one of the missionary families here so that should be fun! And that just about brings us up to date…

Oh p.s. the first thing I got to drink after landing was a CC Lemon in memory of Matt’s… uh… encounter last year. ^^V more blogging to come! Hopefully…haha…

*EDIT*... or more like update I guess. Now that the day is almost over and all... let's see... where'd I leave off... oh yeah! soo... we went to have dinner at the Smoker's house... and it was awesome! home made curry rice + spinach salad!!! and watermelon (which for those of you who dont know.... is AMAZING in Japan, but also quite expensive...) plus these delicious ginourmous cream puff thingamabobs that were quite the treat :]... thennnnn....... back, changed, went for a nice couple mile run with Charles, one of the missionary families, chatted for a bit along the way... played some ball with Lizzie... and had a pretty productive night! now i'm quite exhausted and.. well... my shirt. is... kinda grossly a different color ( if you know what I mean.. haha..) sooo. I'm gonna shower and call it a night pretty soon. be praying for energy as a lot of us are still feeling pretty jet lagged and the heat + having lots to do tomorrow is gonna need lots of God's help! ^^V goooood niiiiighhhhtttt :D

SUCH A WARM WELCOME! (IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.)

2010-07-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

We have arrived in Japan! Our flight though long was uneventful. We made it through customs surprisingly quickly. (PTL) Our bus (Limo) ride to Higashi-Tokorozawa (Love that city) took a little longer because of traffic and rain. Yes, rain. Actually this was a blessing because the weather had been extremely warm just prior to the rain. We were picked up by Jon Reasoner and Charles Smoker at the Higashi-Tokorozawa bus station. I found out a few days ago that one of my LCC VBS helpers, Nozomi S. was coached by Charles Smoker in soccer. Charles does a sports ministry here in Japan. (Small world!) At our apartment just 15 minutes for the Send Center (TMK), Chieko had prepare inari sushi for us and Elizabeth had made signs to show which rooms we would be staying in. Such a warm welcome.
Please pray that God will use us here in Japan and that He may be glorified.
PS: I strained my lower back just before leaving Seattle. Pray that it won't slow me down.

TMK Arrived!

2010-07-26T01:20:00.001-07:00

WE MADE IT! Just taking a few minutes at an internet kiosk to put up a quick post! Man is it hot here! First thing you feel when you step off the plane is the heat! (Or probably more the humidity). It's overcast now, but in contrast to Seattle overcast, it's not actually cool or cold out. =P

By God's graces, we made it through SeaTac without any problems and rather quickly! The flight was fairly uneventful, it felt like a really long time! I ended up watching Clash of the Titans, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Green Zone, and a Japanese movie called Rinko's Restaurant.

Now we're just waiting until our bus leaves for Tokorozawa. It seems like we'll be grabbing a quick bite to eat here at Narita. 4 minutes left! Thanks everyone who's praying for us! We ask your continued prayers as we make the last leg of our trip out to Tokorozawa and as we begin preparing for VBS this week! Hope the Kenya team is doing well and our prayers are with them too!

DSAK: T-Minus 24 Hours and counting (give or take... XD)

2010-07-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well the Kenya team is off! God bless their journey and may His grace cover them as they travel and as they serve. Being there to see them off today made me realize it'll be our turn to head out in less than a day! It's exciting! At the same time it makes me a little nervous because I don't feel as ready or prepared as I'd like. But God is good, and I trust that as I prepare to the best of my abilities, God will provide for where I feel weakest. I must admit, I'm a little nervous to be working with the kids. For the past 6 years I've served in youth ministry, so working with younger children is a little out of my element. But it'll be a good challenge, and hopefully God'll equip me to be able to just love and serve the kids @ the TMK VBS. Please continue to lift the team in prayer, as we get ready to go. Please pray for the children we'll be ministering to. Please pray for the missionaries (the Nakamura's and the Reasoner's) who we'll be serving with. God is sovereign, God is good, and I'm excited to see what He has in store.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'" ~ Romans 1:16-17

Tom: Crunch Time!!!

2010-07-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

Posted by Tom
We, I mean many of the Japan Mission Team members, have just finished the Lighthouse VBS. We had nearly 70 child who I have affectionately been calling SQYDS (squids). Son Quest Young DiscipleS. We are having our evening performance tonight where the children will demonstrate some of the things they have learn at VBS for their parents and other family members.
The TMK Team will be departing SeaTac Airport this Sunday around 2:00 pst. We are all very excited and are anxious to get to Japan. We are all frantically packing and repacking to meet the new weight standards. Please pray for our team and the people we will be serving in Japan, for relationships we will be making and that God's love will shine through us.
We are all praying for our sister team and former Japan Mission Team member, Matt S, who are leaving for Kenya tomorrow, Saturday, July 24th. You may follow their journey on their blog: http://lcckenyamission2010.blogspot.com/
They will also be sharing the love of God through VBS songs, crafts, work projects and concerts to slum areas in Kenya.

Matthew 28:19 (New Living Translation)Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Shirley: NBF VBS 2010 Postcard

2010-07-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

We are SO excited to see you in a few short weeks! May the Lord prepare a straight path for each of you (and us) too. We pray the Lord would bring us lots of new as well as returning students this year. We are praying for all of you!

Here is our flyer:

Al: Our Schedule

2010-07-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

Its hard to believe that the TMK team leaves in 12 days (July 25) and the NBF team leaves in 21 days (Aug 2). This year we are sending two teams to Japan. Both teams will do the 5 day Gospel Light VBS program called SonQuest Rainforest. The TMK team will be doing their VBS at the Tokorozawa Migumi Kyokai (Tokorozawa Grace Church) where Jon and Chieko Reasoner are serving as the missionaries. TMK is a church mission sponsored by SEND International Missions. Richard Nakamura, another SEND missionary, will be joining the TMK team. Richard and Keri are working on establishing a house church in East Tokyo.
The NBF team will be heading to Yokosuka and doing their VBS for the Nokendai Bible Fellowship. The Nokedai Bible Fellowship was started by TEAM missionaries, Alma and Larry Olines. When the Olines retired, Kohichi and Shirley Tamura stepped up and began leading the church.
We are very excited to begin our time in Japan and to have the privilege of working along side these missionaries. As we prepare, please continue to pray for open hearts in Japan, and for God to work through and in us as we serve. Blessings, Al