Nine more souls slipped into eternity in the immediate results of the recent earthquake in Japan. In a country where less than one percent claim Christianity, we can't help but wonder if those nine are forever without Christ. It gives us greater longing to know that those we met while in Japan would come to know the Savior while they still have the opportunity.
Pray particularly for the more than 13,000 who are now homeless. Pray that through this crisis in their lives they will come to know the Almighty God who loves them and mercifully spared their lives.
Everyone from the 2007 Team is safely home, and to the best of our knowledge, all those we served while in Japan are also safe. May God give opportunities to share the Gospel with those around them.
-for the Team,
Sharon
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
Dear Blog...
It has been a while since we talked. I'm loving being here with the youth. They are very mature and passionate about living for God and are intentional about having positive attitudes. It is a joy to be around them! 
This weekend has been a emotional rollercoaster, but God gives me the strength for each day. I will be home soon. Pray for our safe travels and God's blessing on our last few days here.
The retreat this weekend was blessed by the Lord. About a dozen people came out. On Friday night we played round-robin and 4 corners and then a Japanese game that involved alot of running and freezing in place. It was fun!!
On Saturday we had a pancake breakfast... Mmmm! Then we met in the chapel to sing worship songs, hear testimonies from the teens and see them perform their mime. I can't even describe how powerful the mime is. It portrays the fall of man and the death and resurrection of Jesus and then a restored relationship with God. I was powerfully moved as were others. The teens who performed had obviously put hours and hours and hours into it. Afterward there was an explanation given in Japanese of what the mime meant and then they performed it again. And.... a woman got saved!!! She was very clear in her profession... she understood that she was separated from God by what she had done wrong. She said that she had felt the emptiness protrayed and that she knew this was the truth she had been looking for! Praise the Lord! She had never heard the gospel before and yet she was ready to accept to right then. Wow!
As a team we have done alot of work projects around the camp. A mountain of brush was moved out from the woods to be burned. Futons were aired out and the cabins cleaned, in preparation for the camping season. The teens have also visited English classes in small groups.
Last night (Sunday night) Haley and I stayed in the home of a student from one of the English classes, like when we stayed with Mickey. She is an older woman and her English is very good. Her husband is in a wheelchair. She is interested in foreign relationships and does some volunteer translation work for an international charity. This morning she took us to a shrine where she sometimes goes to pray. She wanted us to meet the shrine-master who went to Indiana State University and speaks excellent English. He showed us around the shrine. He explained how to wash with "holy water" and showed us a sacred room where they believe that the god lives. I had just read Isaiah 45 this morning. "If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble... I am God and there is no other..." My heart was broken for his darkness. His little daughter followed him around closely. My heart was broken for the fact that she will grow up never knowing anything but this hopelessness. As I left my emotions were a mixture of sadness and helplessness, but I have to remember that God is all powerful and He is always working to draw people to Himself. Salvation is His work. I believe He wanted me to see this my last week so that I will always remember to pray for the people of Japan.
This weekend has been a emotional rollercoaster, but God gives me the strength for each day. I will be home soon. Pray for our safe travels and God's blessing on our last few days here.
-Elsbeth
Friday, July 6, 2007
The Mistaks in Miyakonojo
We've been keeping busy here in Miyakonojo since the last time I wrote!
Furlough DVD Complete:
I helped Chris Sadowitz prepare for his furlough by making his furlough video. We compiled four years worth of videos and pictures together with narration and music. It took us five days of hard work and I think I have carpel tunnels syndrome but we got it done. The video is about 30 minutes long. My favorite part is the end where we included a lot of bloopers and outtakes. This is not your conventional furlough video!! I was glad to be able to help in this way. I never thought my computer skills would come in handy here but they have. I also was able to fix a missionary's computer just by plugging it in an touching it. I felt like Joe Stolz because that kind of thing happens to him all the time.
Evan, Elsbeth and Mariah
It sure was good to see some familiar faces from home! I only wish they could have stayed longer. Evan and I helped packed up some household goods for some missionaries who have left the field, while he was here. I'm glad Elsbeth was able to see everything here first hand since she might be coming back in the near future. Everyone here had been practicing saying her name and had finally gotten it down by the time she showed up. I think I experienced what Elsbeth must go through every time she introduces herself to someone. "Elisabeth?" "No, LLLLLzzzzBeth!!!" People need to here this several times I've found before they get it.
Mini-Volleyball
My Japanese friend Mitsuyoshi was in a mini volleyball tournament with his work. So I decided to go watch. I pictured maybe a few courts of people playing. Boy was I wrong! There were close to a thousand people there. I thought I would never find my friend, and even if I did, I thought there is no way I'm going to catch his game. As it turns out, we showed up just in time for his game and we happened to sit right next to the court he was playing on. Furthermore, Mitsuyoshi's boss is Chris Sadowitz neighbor and friend of many years! Mitsuyoshi and Ikuko are having us over for dinner on Sunday night. We are really looking forward to this.Mini Volleyball as a sport is something that I wish I could bring back to Hamilton Hills. I think JOLT would love it. The net is a little bit shorter and the ball is the perfect mix between being extremely soft and yet playable. Have you ever played with a ball that is so soft that it almost floats? This is just a little bit heavier than that so that it plays well. Yet, it is impossible to hurt your hand with it. The net is lower than in regular volleyball which makes it fun to spike. After watching Mitsuyoshi play, I had the opportunity to play with a friend of the Sadowtiz's who is a barber. Every monday a group of 50+ barbers and hair stylists get together to play. Some of these Gramas were pretty athletic. It keeps them young.
Hiroshima Golf Tournament
Two days ago, Chris and I went to watch Christian Pena play in a golf tournament up in Hiroshima. We got to live the life of priveldge of a pro golfer for a few hours as we followed Christian around. Christian had made Chris a badge that said Manager and I had a badge that said family. So, if anyone tired to tell us we couldn't do something we would just flash our badges! It was pretty funny.
We followed Christian around the course while he played his round. Whenever, he made a great putt we would hoop and holler like the colts had just won the Super Bowl. Very counter cultural...but hey...we had badges. Christian ended up shooting two over par for the day. He was even until the second to the last hole where he shot a double bogie. Not a bad first day I think!Chrisitain really has a heart for sharing the gospel with his fellow golfers. I think the Lord has gifted him for this and I was challenged by his heart to share with those around him.
Christian took us to this great resturaunt in Hiroshima where we ate Whale. Let me say that again in case you missed it. We ate Whale! Can you believe it. Never in my life would it have occured to me to eat a whale. And it was actually quite tastey. Especially when it was deep fried with a batter and a special sauce for dipping.
Future Plans
Today we are going to Miyazaki to activate our rail passes for the journey home.
Tuesday we are going to take a train to Hiroshima. There we will see the Peace Park and maybe some other sites if we have time.
Wednesday we will finish our journey up to Tokyo by train.
Thursday we fly home!
Our time here is growing very short. Please pray for us as we travel and reflect upon what we have learned here.
A few more things that make you say hmmm....
1. If you get in trouble here you don't dial 911 you dial 119. (No, I don't know this by experience....thank the Lord)
2. Tags are on the front of your slacks instead of on the back. I think this is actually quite handy. No more trying to twist around in the store to remember what your pants size is!
3. Japanese people are very "by the book". I watch people here do menial jobs with such ritual and precision and pride. The up side to this is that they do their job well. The down side to this is that....they do their job very well. Situations needing grace or special circumstances that aren't in the book can cause a halt in progress.
See you soon! Hopefully we can update again from Tokyo.
Furlough DVD Complete:
I helped Chris Sadowitz prepare for his furlough by making his furlough video. We compiled four years worth of videos and pictures together with narration and music. It took us five days of hard work and I think I have carpel tunnels syndrome but we got it done. The video is about 30 minutes long. My favorite part is the end where we included a lot of bloopers and outtakes. This is not your conventional furlough video!! I was glad to be able to help in this way. I never thought my computer skills would come in handy here but they have. I also was able to fix a missionary's computer just by plugging it in an touching it. I felt like Joe Stolz because that kind of thing happens to him all the time.
Evan, Elsbeth and Mariah
It sure was good to see some familiar faces from home! I only wish they could have stayed longer. Evan and I helped packed up some household goods for some missionaries who have left the field, while he was here. I'm glad Elsbeth was able to see everything here first hand since she might be coming back in the near future. Everyone here had been practicing saying her name and had finally gotten it down by the time she showed up. I think I experienced what Elsbeth must go through every time she introduces herself to someone. "Elisabeth?" "No, LLLLLzzzzBeth!!!" People need to here this several times I've found before they get it.
Mini-Volleyball
My Japanese friend Mitsuyoshi was in a mini volleyball tournament with his work. So I decided to go watch. I pictured maybe a few courts of people playing. Boy was I wrong! There were close to a thousand people there. I thought I would never find my friend, and even if I did, I thought there is no way I'm going to catch his game. As it turns out, we showed up just in time for his game and we happened to sit right next to the court he was playing on. Furthermore, Mitsuyoshi's boss is Chris Sadowitz neighbor and friend of many years! Mitsuyoshi and Ikuko are having us over for dinner on Sunday night. We are really looking forward to this.Mini Volleyball as a sport is something that I wish I could bring back to Hamilton Hills. I think JOLT would love it. The net is a little bit shorter and the ball is the perfect mix between being extremely soft and yet playable. Have you ever played with a ball that is so soft that it almost floats? This is just a little bit heavier than that so that it plays well. Yet, it is impossible to hurt your hand with it. The net is lower than in regular volleyball which makes it fun to spike. After watching Mitsuyoshi play, I had the opportunity to play with a friend of the Sadowtiz's who is a barber. Every monday a group of 50+ barbers and hair stylists get together to play. Some of these Gramas were pretty athletic. It keeps them young.
Hiroshima Golf Tournament
Two days ago, Chris and I went to watch Christian Pena play in a golf tournament up in Hiroshima. We got to live the life of priveldge of a pro golfer for a few hours as we followed Christian around. Christian had made Chris a badge that said Manager and I had a badge that said family. So, if anyone tired to tell us we couldn't do something we would just flash our badges! It was pretty funny.
We followed Christian around the course while he played his round. Whenever, he made a great putt we would hoop and holler like the colts had just won the Super Bowl. Very counter cultural...but hey...we had badges. Christian ended up shooting two over par for the day. He was even until the second to the last hole where he shot a double bogie. Not a bad first day I think!Chrisitain really has a heart for sharing the gospel with his fellow golfers. I think the Lord has gifted him for this and I was challenged by his heart to share with those around him.
Christian took us to this great resturaunt in Hiroshima where we ate Whale. Let me say that again in case you missed it. We ate Whale! Can you believe it. Never in my life would it have occured to me to eat a whale. And it was actually quite tastey. Especially when it was deep fried with a batter and a special sauce for dipping.
Future Plans
Today we are going to Miyazaki to activate our rail passes for the journey home.
Tuesday we are going to take a train to Hiroshima. There we will see the Peace Park and maybe some other sites if we have time.
Wednesday we will finish our journey up to Tokyo by train.
Thursday we fly home!
Our time here is growing very short. Please pray for us as we travel and reflect upon what we have learned here.
A few more things that make you say hmmm....
1. If you get in trouble here you don't dial 911 you dial 119. (No, I don't know this by experience....thank the Lord)
2. Tags are on the front of your slacks instead of on the back. I think this is actually quite handy. No more trying to twist around in the store to remember what your pants size is!
3. Japanese people are very "by the book". I watch people here do menial jobs with such ritual and precision and pride. The up side to this is that they do their job well. The down side to this is that....they do their job very well. Situations needing grace or special circumstances that aren't in the book can cause a halt in progress.
See you soon! Hopefully we can update again from Tokyo.
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