June 14, 2007
Two days ago we went to a Sushi Restaurant with the Sadowitz’s and the Pena’s. The Sushi Chiefs were in the middle of the restaurant surrounded by a conveyor belt. The chiefs would prepare sushi on different colored plates, which would determine the price of the Sushi. We were seated around the conveyor belt and could choose whatever we wanted to eat as it scampered on by. Sometimes the conveyor belt would cause you to make an unwise decision under pressure. For example, one time I snatched up a tasty looking Okra dish before gaining all the information that it was coated in a slimy fermented soy bean juice. However, other times I had enough information to let things pass…such as the fresh, raw horse meat. Chris tried to pressure me into it but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat Mr. Ed. (Especially a raw Mr. Ed).
The other day I met a Japanese woman named Tomo in the Coffee Shop. She is an interesting person for two reasons: 1) She is well traveled 2) She is a Japanese woman who has read the WHOLE Bible.
She told me that she enjoyed reading the Bible but could not believe/trust (same word in Japanese) that Jesus is the Son of God. I asked her why not! She sited the example of Jesus healing the guards ear after Peter had cut it off and the example of Jesus calming the typhoon as stories that made her laugh because they were so unbelievable to her. She told me that the ideology put forth in John Lennon’s song “Imagine” summed up her beliefs. How sad! I believe she is still searching though. At this point in the conversation we were interrupted by more people coming into the shop before I had a chance to challenge her view of Jesus and His ability to demonstrate power over creation. But the Lord knows what He is doing. She has plans to come back to the Coffee Shop and I’m praying that we will be able to continue our conversation.
You may have noticed that so far it has been only women who have been coming into the coffee shop. This is probably because the men work so hard at their jobs and hobbies. Chris was telling me that the Japanese will often pick one sport/hobby and dedicate their lives to the perfection of this one thing. What a contrast to Americans who are often jacks of all trades and a master of none. A common sport in Japan that the Japanese men will dedicate their lives to is Golf. So, the missionaries here have found that one place they can connect with Japanese men is on the Golf Course. So, yesterday I went Golfing with Chris Sadowitz and Christian Pena. You might remember me writing earlier that Christian Pena is an American who is playing on the Japanese version of the PGA. The Japanese tour is probably the third best pro golf tour in the world behind the PGA and the European tour. We also met up with a Japanese man who was about my age who is on the Australian Pro golf tour. So, needles to say, I was out of my league. But so was Chris Sadowitz so I wasn’t too lonely. We played a game called “High Low”. We split up into two teams (me and Pena vs. Chris and the Japanese guy). On each hole there was a possibility of scoring two points. One point went to the team with a player with the lowest score (always one of the two pros). The other point went to the lowest team score for that hole. So, what happened a lot is that both of the pros would tie for the lowest individual score which meant that no point was awarded. Then it would be a shootout between Chris and I to see which team could get the lowest score. We ended up in a tie at the end of 18. I got a few tips from Pena on how to improve my game, which was much appreciated.
The golf course was amazingly beautiful even though the mountains were cloudy and foggy. It did pour down rain on us for 3 or 4 holes which is not too bad during rainy season I am told. The service and amenities were also amazing. If you are interested in golf, you might want to ask me about this when I get back.
Most importantly Chris and Christian were able to continue to witness to the Japanese man (I have already forgotten his name…Japanese names are hard to remember because they are so different). I heard him asking some really good questions about life which gave open doors to talk about Jesus.
Today, Michelle will be speaking at MAPS (Mothers And Pre Schoolers). She has much to share but little time to do so with taking care of Toby. Hopefully, she will be able to do so soon.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Write A Caption
On Wednesday, five of us on the Team had the opportunity to be together in Chiba New Town. We enjoyed working together at Fellowship Baptist Church teaching a ladies English/Bible class, putting up the ceiling, burning bamboo, and sanding drywall. We also had our good friend Romi with us, who lives in Koriyama. You can probably tell that we did a lot of work and had a lot of fun. Here are a few captured moments… you can write you own captions!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Cleansing Fire
6/13/07
I found out how much wood a woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, because I must have chucked at least three truckloads of bamboo into a roaring fire today. The girls and I are in Chiba New Town for a Bible conference. We came a day early to hang out with the Keller’s and help Pastor Yoshida and his wife work on their new church. They got it for a great price but they’ve had to do a bunch of cleanup work around the outside of the building. From what I understand, there was a bamboo forest and a lot of thick brush on the property when they first moved in, which they promptly chopped down. So now, there are three gargantuan piles of brush and bamboo awaiting conflagration. I’m a pyromaniac; there I said it. So when I found out that Pastor Yoshida appointed me as the official “Brush Burning Coordinator” for the day, I nearly suffered a myocardial infarction. I immediately began arranging 20 foot-long bamboo shoots in the most ergonomic burning position possible and within 10 minutes I had a fire hotter than Michael Jordan in the playoffs. It got so hot in fact, that I nearly died several times. Bamboo not only burns like crazy but it also pops and explodes shooting blazing fireballs indiscriminately in every direction. The first time this occurred, I almost lost control of my bladder, but after awhile I got used to the attacks and learned to defend myself by sticking my head inside my shirt.
The insatiable fire and the searing heat reminded me of my dear friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter three whom King Nebuchadnezzar so rudely tossed into the fiery furnace. They refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue because they feared God more than man. And when they refused, the king ordered them to be thrown into the fiery furnace but first the guards were to make the furnace seven times hotter than normal. I have always wondered who was in charge of determining the hotness of the furnace and what he used to measure its temperature. How in the world could he tell if the fire was exactly seven times hotter? Did he carry around a really long thermometer that could measure extreme heat or what? Anyway, I’m not saying that my fire was as hot as the one into which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown, but I’m convinced that it was close because at one point I could actually smell my own personal flesh cooking. Yeah…and to be honest, I smelled pretty tasty.
On the way to Chiba New Town, I was able to talk with Pastor Yoshida in the car. He was telling me about the lack of missionaries and how hard it has been for he and his wife to start a church and pique people’s interest. They have been in Chiba for about 20 and haven’t seen much fruit from their labor. I know having the Keller’s here has been an encouragement. They (Mike and Sharon) have been working long hours cleaning up the church during the day and then teaching English until 10 o’clock at night. I don’t know how they do it. They’re an inspiration to me because they continue to work so hard without one complaint. Sharon even prepared a delicious dinner tonight for the girls and I, which made my tummy smile and even giggle a little bit, which was kind of embarrassing.
Anyhow, I hope all of you are doing well and thanks so much for the comments. It’s encouraging to know that people are reading the blog and praying for us while we’re gone.
I found out how much wood a woodchuck would chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, because I must have chucked at least three truckloads of bamboo into a roaring fire today. The girls and I are in Chiba New Town for a Bible conference. We came a day early to hang out with the Keller’s and help Pastor Yoshida and his wife work on their new church. They got it for a great price but they’ve had to do a bunch of cleanup work around the outside of the building. From what I understand, there was a bamboo forest and a lot of thick brush on the property when they first moved in, which they promptly chopped down. So now, there are three gargantuan piles of brush and bamboo awaiting conflagration. I’m a pyromaniac; there I said it. So when I found out that Pastor Yoshida appointed me as the official “Brush Burning Coordinator” for the day, I nearly suffered a myocardial infarction. I immediately began arranging 20 foot-long bamboo shoots in the most ergonomic burning position possible and within 10 minutes I had a fire hotter than Michael Jordan in the playoffs. It got so hot in fact, that I nearly died several times. Bamboo not only burns like crazy but it also pops and explodes shooting blazing fireballs indiscriminately in every direction. The first time this occurred, I almost lost control of my bladder, but after awhile I got used to the attacks and learned to defend myself by sticking my head inside my shirt.
The insatiable fire and the searing heat reminded me of my dear friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter three whom King Nebuchadnezzar so rudely tossed into the fiery furnace. They refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue because they feared God more than man. And when they refused, the king ordered them to be thrown into the fiery furnace but first the guards were to make the furnace seven times hotter than normal. I have always wondered who was in charge of determining the hotness of the furnace and what he used to measure its temperature. How in the world could he tell if the fire was exactly seven times hotter? Did he carry around a really long thermometer that could measure extreme heat or what? Anyway, I’m not saying that my fire was as hot as the one into which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown, but I’m convinced that it was close because at one point I could actually smell my own personal flesh cooking. Yeah…and to be honest, I smelled pretty tasty.
On the way to Chiba New Town, I was able to talk with Pastor Yoshida in the car. He was telling me about the lack of missionaries and how hard it has been for he and his wife to start a church and pique people’s interest. They have been in Chiba for about 20 and haven’t seen much fruit from their labor. I know having the Keller’s here has been an encouragement. They (Mike and Sharon) have been working long hours cleaning up the church during the day and then teaching English until 10 o’clock at night. I don’t know how they do it. They’re an inspiration to me because they continue to work so hard without one complaint. Sharon even prepared a delicious dinner tonight for the girls and I, which made my tummy smile and even giggle a little bit, which was kind of embarrassing.
Anyhow, I hope all of you are doing well and thanks so much for the comments. It’s encouraging to know that people are reading the blog and praying for us while we’re gone.
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