Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
The Holidays and a Surprise Visit
Well, the Christmas holiday season is in full swing here with all of us missionaries. Amy and I have started decorating our house, not much to decorate but we're having fun none the less. Today we (Amy, Ben, Benny, Caren, Debbie, and Vanessa) helped Tim and Christine decorate their house and ate cookies and drank hot chocolate/apple cider. It was so much fun! The house looks beautiful but more importantly we had a great time bonding.
For those who hadn't heard, my dad came and surprised me with a visit last week. He arrived on Friday night. Dad had it video taped. That night was actually the night before my debut as one of the worship leaders for the Fuse Jesus Community. Needless to say I was incredibly nervous. To lead worship you have to not only sing in English and Japanese, but also to have all the songs that I'm singing memorized. I was so stressed on Friday and Saturday that I was almost sick to my stomach.
Well the night that Dad came we finished up worship practice and I wanted to go home and practice my Japanese for worship the next day, but everyone else wanted to stay and "have a meeting to discuss what to do for street performances once it gets too cold to do music". The whole point to the meeting was actually to buy time until my dad got to the church. Everyone else was so excited for my dad to come and they kept dragging the meeting. I started getting really frustrated, mainly just because I felt so unprepared for Saturday.Dad walked into the room, I jumped across 3 ppl and threw myself into his arms. It was so good to see him! After dad and I left the church we headed back to my apartment to get some clothes for me, because Dad and I would be staying at the new church building for the Noborito church. It was so weird having my dad walking through my house. I've pictued it in my head so many times at what I wanted to show him and what he would think of it.
That night we talked for a little bit but went to bed pretty quickly. The next morning (Saturday), Dad brought out all the presents from different people from church and some family. There were so many presents! Thank you to everyone who sent them! I got a lot of coffee, chocolate and a whole bunch of other things. Then we sat around the house and talked until we had to leave for the Fuse. It was so amazing to have Dad come to the Fuse. It's another one of the things that I have been dying to show my parents and basically everyone at home. It was even more special that Dad was there on the week that I was to lead worship.
Dad and I went out for tempura for lunch. Which is basically fried food. We had prawn (shrimp), pumpkin, green beens, and squash. Plus of course rice and mizo soup. Dad did good, he ate all the food. Then we walked around Machida and I took him to the 100 yen store. Then we had a street performance after that. Joe and I sang a couple songs together but mainly it was just Joe singing and playing guitar.
Worship went well. I messed up on the first song and completely forgot the Japanese for the second verse of it, but the rest went really well! Once I got really comfortable being on stage I completely relaxed and I really enjoyed myself. It didn't matter if I messed up. The chorus of the second song became my prayer for worship that day, especially after I messed up.
The chorus says, "Jesus we're living for Your name. Never be ashamed of You. Our praise and all we are today. Take, take take it all."
After the Fuse we went out to eat with everyone, but quickly went back to the house so Dad could get some rest. It was so nice being able to spend time with Dad!
On Sunday we went to Shibuya and Shinjuku and walked around ALL DAY! The only time we sat down the whole time we were out was at lunch (which was Burger King). We went to the busiest Starbucks and we walked around Shibuya and all all the different stores there. In Shinjuku, we went up the Shinjuku towers and looked out across Tokyo. You can see for miles and miles up there. The city just stretches on until you can't see it anymore, it just doesn't end. Then we went to a park near the towers and walked across it to an old temple. There was a wedding going on inside the temple. That's probably a sight I will never see again while being here in Japan and it was so great to see it with my dad. After that we walked back to the train station and towards the Christmas lights they had up.
On Monday, the Fuse Jesus Community had our Thansgiving meal. We had so much food! All in all we had about 30 people come and Dad spoke and gave the Thanksgiving message. He did amazing! Then after dinner a group of people all came back to the new building and had dessert. The last of the people left for the night around 10pm...and the celebrations started at 3pm. It was a long and great day!
Tuesday we had the team breakfast like normal, then we all went out for curry for lunch. I had a bean and chicken curry and dad had just chicken curry. Curry here is amazing. We usually go to a restaurant called New Dehli and the owners love us because we all go about once a week. The food tastes amazing and it's fairly cheap. We get a salad, all the nan we want, nice size bowl of curry, and a drink for 780 yen (about $8).
After curry, dad and I met up with Mark and Yuiko for coffee and to talk. It was really amazing to have 3 of the biggest role models in my life meeting and talking. Dad has influenced my love of music and my relationship with God and all my standards and most of everything in my life. Mark and Yuiko has influenced my love for missions and being a worship leader.
Then Ben, Joe, Vanessa, Debbie, Amy, Dad, and I all went hiking. We were going to go walk through some old houses here in Noborito but they were closed for the day. We hiked around for a couple hours, climbing up and down lots of hills and stairs. We were all exhausted!!!!
Wednesday Dad, Ben, Benny, and I went to the old houses and walked around then Dad and I went out for sushi with Yas. Yas and his two daughters (Sarah and Fiona) had stayed with my family in the states 8 years ago. Dad tried boiled octopus, raw octopus, scallops, sea urchin, ikura (salmon eggs), crab, and shrimp sushi. I think he liked all of them except the sea urchin and the ikura. The only new thing I tried this time was the sea urchin. Sea urchin looks kinda like cat food and has a TERRIBLE taste! Other than that I had ikura, crab, and shrimp. Not too adventureous, but this is my 4th time having sushi.
After sushi we went to the Fire Deptment and we got to talk with the chief, look at all the vehicles, and watch them train. Dad loved it. I got bored after we hit the hour and a half mark. We were there for two hours. But I was glad Dad got to visit the station. I know he was really looking forward to it.
That night we all went out for a Japanaese BBQ. We had the typical meets beef, pork, and chicken, but we also had pigs tongue and diaphram. The odd thing...the last two things were my favorites of the night. We didn't get home that night until nearly 11pm and still didn't go to bed for a couple hours.
Thursday Dad left. It was a really sad day, and yet at the same time it wasn't nearly as hard as it had been when I had left the States. I miss Dad a lot, but I also know I'm right where I'm supposed to be right now. God has given me a peace and I know He's given me that because I'm directly in His Will.
I'm so glad I got to spend a week with Dad. I wouldn't trade that week for the world.
The next month is going to be a busy month for all of us short termers. Two of us leave on Thursday (The Bens...they're here from Grand Junction, Colorado and have been here for the past month). Then on the 15th Vanessa leaves for the States and on the 18th Caren will leave as well. It's weird to think we're loosing half of our team.
Also this next month we will be having an International Food Party for the Fus and that night we will also have communion. That's on the 12th. On the 19th, we will have our Christmas program. For that we have a gospel group coming to sing with us. On the 16th, Joe and I will be singing Christmas songs for our Japanese class. On the 28th, we are having a Fuse Jesus Community Day Trip and we will be going ski-ing for the day. We'll leave the night before and take a bus all night, ski all day, then take a bus back that night.
Thank you for all the continual prayers and support. It is all felt here. None of us would be here without all the help from everyone back in the States.
For those who hadn't heard, my dad came and surprised me with a visit last week. He arrived on Friday night. Dad had it video taped. That night was actually the night before my debut as one of the worship leaders for the Fuse Jesus Community. Needless to say I was incredibly nervous. To lead worship you have to not only sing in English and Japanese, but also to have all the songs that I'm singing memorized. I was so stressed on Friday and Saturday that I was almost sick to my stomach.
Well the night that Dad came we finished up worship practice and I wanted to go home and practice my Japanese for worship the next day, but everyone else wanted to stay and "have a meeting to discuss what to do for street performances once it gets too cold to do music". The whole point to the meeting was actually to buy time until my dad got to the church. Everyone else was so excited for my dad to come and they kept dragging the meeting. I started getting really frustrated, mainly just because I felt so unprepared for Saturday.Dad walked into the room, I jumped across 3 ppl and threw myself into his arms. It was so good to see him! After dad and I left the church we headed back to my apartment to get some clothes for me, because Dad and I would be staying at the new church building for the Noborito church. It was so weird having my dad walking through my house. I've pictued it in my head so many times at what I wanted to show him and what he would think of it.
That night we talked for a little bit but went to bed pretty quickly. The next morning (Saturday), Dad brought out all the presents from different people from church and some family. There were so many presents! Thank you to everyone who sent them! I got a lot of coffee, chocolate and a whole bunch of other things. Then we sat around the house and talked until we had to leave for the Fuse. It was so amazing to have Dad come to the Fuse. It's another one of the things that I have been dying to show my parents and basically everyone at home. It was even more special that Dad was there on the week that I was to lead worship.
Dad and I went out for tempura for lunch. Which is basically fried food. We had prawn (shrimp), pumpkin, green beens, and squash. Plus of course rice and mizo soup. Dad did good, he ate all the food. Then we walked around Machida and I took him to the 100 yen store. Then we had a street performance after that. Joe and I sang a couple songs together but mainly it was just Joe singing and playing guitar.
Worship went well. I messed up on the first song and completely forgot the Japanese for the second verse of it, but the rest went really well! Once I got really comfortable being on stage I completely relaxed and I really enjoyed myself. It didn't matter if I messed up. The chorus of the second song became my prayer for worship that day, especially after I messed up.
The chorus says, "Jesus we're living for Your name. Never be ashamed of You. Our praise and all we are today. Take, take take it all."
After the Fuse we went out to eat with everyone, but quickly went back to the house so Dad could get some rest. It was so nice being able to spend time with Dad!
On Sunday we went to Shibuya and Shinjuku and walked around ALL DAY! The only time we sat down the whole time we were out was at lunch (which was Burger King). We went to the busiest Starbucks and we walked around Shibuya and all all the different stores there. In Shinjuku, we went up the Shinjuku towers and looked out across Tokyo. You can see for miles and miles up there. The city just stretches on until you can't see it anymore, it just doesn't end. Then we went to a park near the towers and walked across it to an old temple. There was a wedding going on inside the temple. That's probably a sight I will never see again while being here in Japan and it was so great to see it with my dad. After that we walked back to the train station and towards the Christmas lights they had up.
On Monday, the Fuse Jesus Community had our Thansgiving meal. We had so much food! All in all we had about 30 people come and Dad spoke and gave the Thanksgiving message. He did amazing! Then after dinner a group of people all came back to the new building and had dessert. The last of the people left for the night around 10pm...and the celebrations started at 3pm. It was a long and great day!
Tuesday we had the team breakfast like normal, then we all went out for curry for lunch. I had a bean and chicken curry and dad had just chicken curry. Curry here is amazing. We usually go to a restaurant called New Dehli and the owners love us because we all go about once a week. The food tastes amazing and it's fairly cheap. We get a salad, all the nan we want, nice size bowl of curry, and a drink for 780 yen (about $8).
After curry, dad and I met up with Mark and Yuiko for coffee and to talk. It was really amazing to have 3 of the biggest role models in my life meeting and talking. Dad has influenced my love of music and my relationship with God and all my standards and most of everything in my life. Mark and Yuiko has influenced my love for missions and being a worship leader.
Then Ben, Joe, Vanessa, Debbie, Amy, Dad, and I all went hiking. We were going to go walk through some old houses here in Noborito but they were closed for the day. We hiked around for a couple hours, climbing up and down lots of hills and stairs. We were all exhausted!!!!
Wednesday Dad, Ben, Benny, and I went to the old houses and walked around then Dad and I went out for sushi with Yas. Yas and his two daughters (Sarah and Fiona) had stayed with my family in the states 8 years ago. Dad tried boiled octopus, raw octopus, scallops, sea urchin, ikura (salmon eggs), crab, and shrimp sushi. I think he liked all of them except the sea urchin and the ikura. The only new thing I tried this time was the sea urchin. Sea urchin looks kinda like cat food and has a TERRIBLE taste! Other than that I had ikura, crab, and shrimp. Not too adventureous, but this is my 4th time having sushi.
After sushi we went to the Fire Deptment and we got to talk with the chief, look at all the vehicles, and watch them train. Dad loved it. I got bored after we hit the hour and a half mark. We were there for two hours. But I was glad Dad got to visit the station. I know he was really looking forward to it.
That night we all went out for a Japanaese BBQ. We had the typical meets beef, pork, and chicken, but we also had pigs tongue and diaphram. The odd thing...the last two things were my favorites of the night. We didn't get home that night until nearly 11pm and still didn't go to bed for a couple hours.
Thursday Dad left. It was a really sad day, and yet at the same time it wasn't nearly as hard as it had been when I had left the States. I miss Dad a lot, but I also know I'm right where I'm supposed to be right now. God has given me a peace and I know He's given me that because I'm directly in His Will.
I'm so glad I got to spend a week with Dad. I wouldn't trade that week for the world.
The next month is going to be a busy month for all of us short termers. Two of us leave on Thursday (The Bens...they're here from Grand Junction, Colorado and have been here for the past month). Then on the 15th Vanessa leaves for the States and on the 18th Caren will leave as well. It's weird to think we're loosing half of our team.
Also this next month we will be having an International Food Party for the Fus and that night we will also have communion. That's on the 12th. On the 19th, we will have our Christmas program. For that we have a gospel group coming to sing with us. On the 16th, Joe and I will be singing Christmas songs for our Japanese class. On the 28th, we are having a Fuse Jesus Community Day Trip and we will be going ski-ing for the day. We'll leave the night before and take a bus all night, ski all day, then take a bus back that night.
Thank you for all the continual prayers and support. It is all felt here. None of us would be here without all the help from everyone back in the States.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
So much to do so little time
Well, praise God I officially have a new laptop. It's an HP. Very nice! Thanks to my parents for finding it for me and to Gene and Joyce Galat (friends of our friend Tremont that are here visting for a couple weeks) who brought the computer with them.
But with having a new computer means I have to get caught up on all the things I fell behind on during the past month. (blog, newsletter, Fuse stuff, etc) So I've spent the last couple days trying to get caught up. It's been interesting. I've had to go through all the pictures on Facebook and pull them off there and resave them to my computer, I've had to type out a months worth of Tuesday morning meeting notes, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
I never really realized how dependant on my computer I am. It makes things so much easier and faster. I've also realized how much I love Windows Vista. I've tried working on other computers during the past month with other processing systems...it's been interesting to learn about them.
Gene and Joyce Galat arrived last week and they will be helping Tim and Christine with the new church building the church in Noborito bought. They will be helping them plan out the renovation plans for it. They will stay until October 28.
Christine, Debbie, and Vanessa all leave on October 27 for just over a week to go to Indonesia for a short little missions trip. That will leave us short three people for a Fuse meeting, but it's okay because we're using that as a great opportunity to get more Japanese helping out.
We also have two new short-termers coming on October 29. Both are named Ben. They will be staying about a month and are from Grand Junction, Colorado. From what we've heard they are both computer guys so it'll be great to have someone help Joe out with all the tech stuff. (Joe is our computer fix it man)
This month we also have 4 birthdays within the Fuse team. Joe Motter (not the Joe mentioned above...this Joe is our drummer...this Joe also goes by the nickname of Mochida) had a birthday on the 5th. Vanessa's birthday is tomorrow (19th). Amy's birthday is the 23rd. Tim Huber's birthday is the 25th. Lots of birthdays, though, means lots of cake and lots of fun!
Not much else is going on right now, and I have to keep working on more catching up work. I can't wait until I'm all caught up. :)
But with having a new computer means I have to get caught up on all the things I fell behind on during the past month. (blog, newsletter, Fuse stuff, etc) So I've spent the last couple days trying to get caught up. It's been interesting. I've had to go through all the pictures on Facebook and pull them off there and resave them to my computer, I've had to type out a months worth of Tuesday morning meeting notes, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
I never really realized how dependant on my computer I am. It makes things so much easier and faster. I've also realized how much I love Windows Vista. I've tried working on other computers during the past month with other processing systems...it's been interesting to learn about them.
Gene and Joyce Galat arrived last week and they will be helping Tim and Christine with the new church building the church in Noborito bought. They will be helping them plan out the renovation plans for it. They will stay until October 28.
Christine, Debbie, and Vanessa all leave on October 27 for just over a week to go to Indonesia for a short little missions trip. That will leave us short three people for a Fuse meeting, but it's okay because we're using that as a great opportunity to get more Japanese helping out.
We also have two new short-termers coming on October 29. Both are named Ben. They will be staying about a month and are from Grand Junction, Colorado. From what we've heard they are both computer guys so it'll be great to have someone help Joe out with all the tech stuff. (Joe is our computer fix it man)
This month we also have 4 birthdays within the Fuse team. Joe Motter (not the Joe mentioned above...this Joe is our drummer...this Joe also goes by the nickname of Mochida) had a birthday on the 5th. Vanessa's birthday is tomorrow (19th). Amy's birthday is the 23rd. Tim Huber's birthday is the 25th. Lots of birthdays, though, means lots of cake and lots of fun!
Not much else is going on right now, and I have to keep working on more catching up work. I can't wait until I'm all caught up. :)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Computer Crash and September
Well, I had planned to be writing at least once a week so as to keep everyone up to date on everything that's going on here. Unfortunately as most people know, my computer hard drive crashed a couple weeks ago, so I've been without a computer. That was a really rough couple days originally and it's still difficult because I'm still waiting for my new hard drive to arrive. I completely lost all of my pictures, music, personal documents, fuse videos, fuse powerpoints, and all the information that I'm constantly working on for the Fuse.
But God is good. My music and all the Fuse videos and powerpoints were on the Fuse hard drive that Vanessa had, so I'll be able to get that back. The other Fuse information that I was working on I was always sending to Mark to have him check so we had the latest copies of it all saved with him. Most of my personal documents my parents have (All my support information, addresses, etc). And most of my pictures are on facebook and other friends from here had pictures from those days too so I'll be able to get most of my pictures back as well. Yes it will take a lot of work and a lot of hours to get everything back on my computer again, but like I said God is good. I am able to get the information back for the most part.
At the beginning of September, all the members of the Fuse team went on a retreat. Basically we stayed in a really cheap hotel, but it's run by the government so it was pretty good actually. We stayed right on the beach for three days and the grand total cost per person....$60. (U.S.) It was really nice. We spent the time having team building games, prayer, group Bible studies, meetings, and just some relaxing time. It was so nice! When I get my computer back and running again I'll put up pictures from it. (They're all still on my computer)
The rest of September was actually busy, but also not really. We were constantly doing things and the month went by so quickly, but we didn't really do anything huge.
We did have the first FUSE DAY OUT on the 21st. It was just a day at the park and then karaoke that night. Unfortunately I didn't go. The day before I got really sick with strep throat. I typically get strep a couple times a year, but this time it wiped me out. So Mark, Yuiko, and I figured it would be better if I didnt spend time around everyone (especially the health conscious Japanese) while I was sick. But Praise God! I was only sick 4 days this time. Typically it takes me at least a week to get over strep, but I was able to sing at worship practice on the 25th.
The month of October is quickly approaching and with it comes 4 Fuse team birthdays, new people arriving, a new church starting, and more Fuse events. It also means I have been here 4 months. Sometimes I think "Wow, it's only been 4 months!" and yet other times I think "Ugh, it's only been 4 months!" 1/3 of my year here is done. That's so hard to believe. I feel like very soon it'll be time to come home and yet I also feel like I have so long before the year is done.
God's working here. That I'm 100% sure of. I see our prayers being answered every day. I'm seeing people's lives changing. It's amazing to be part of this. It still constantly, daily amazes me that God picked me to be here working with this new church plant. He could have picked any other person to work here, but no, He picked me. That's an amazing feeling.
Prayer requests for the next month: The Brazilian church here will be starting another church on Sundays at the beginning of the month. Please pray that they will have lots of Brazilians and Japanese come. The Brazilian population here is growing. We get to move into the new church building for the Noborito church this month. Gene and Joyce Galat from Tremont will be coming in the middle of the month to help with the renovations and we already have a couple teams lined up to come help too. Please pray that everything runs smoothly. Please pray for my computer and hard drive. I should be getting my new hard drive by next week and then it'll just take awhile to get everything moved onto there. Please pray for patience and speed while I work on my computer. Please pray that we continue to see more people coming to the Fuse and more people accepting Christ. We have more people coming each week and we have lots of regulars now as well.
Thank you to everyone who constantly followes this. Thank you for all your prayers.
But God is good. My music and all the Fuse videos and powerpoints were on the Fuse hard drive that Vanessa had, so I'll be able to get that back. The other Fuse information that I was working on I was always sending to Mark to have him check so we had the latest copies of it all saved with him. Most of my personal documents my parents have (All my support information, addresses, etc). And most of my pictures are on facebook and other friends from here had pictures from those days too so I'll be able to get most of my pictures back as well. Yes it will take a lot of work and a lot of hours to get everything back on my computer again, but like I said God is good. I am able to get the information back for the most part.
At the beginning of September, all the members of the Fuse team went on a retreat. Basically we stayed in a really cheap hotel, but it's run by the government so it was pretty good actually. We stayed right on the beach for three days and the grand total cost per person....$60. (U.S.) It was really nice. We spent the time having team building games, prayer, group Bible studies, meetings, and just some relaxing time. It was so nice! When I get my computer back and running again I'll put up pictures from it. (They're all still on my computer)
The rest of September was actually busy, but also not really. We were constantly doing things and the month went by so quickly, but we didn't really do anything huge.
We did have the first FUSE DAY OUT on the 21st. It was just a day at the park and then karaoke that night. Unfortunately I didn't go. The day before I got really sick with strep throat. I typically get strep a couple times a year, but this time it wiped me out. So Mark, Yuiko, and I figured it would be better if I didnt spend time around everyone (especially the health conscious Japanese) while I was sick. But Praise God! I was only sick 4 days this time. Typically it takes me at least a week to get over strep, but I was able to sing at worship practice on the 25th.
The month of October is quickly approaching and with it comes 4 Fuse team birthdays, new people arriving, a new church starting, and more Fuse events. It also means I have been here 4 months. Sometimes I think "Wow, it's only been 4 months!" and yet other times I think "Ugh, it's only been 4 months!" 1/3 of my year here is done. That's so hard to believe. I feel like very soon it'll be time to come home and yet I also feel like I have so long before the year is done.
God's working here. That I'm 100% sure of. I see our prayers being answered every day. I'm seeing people's lives changing. It's amazing to be part of this. It still constantly, daily amazes me that God picked me to be here working with this new church plant. He could have picked any other person to work here, but no, He picked me. That's an amazing feeling.
Prayer requests for the next month: The Brazilian church here will be starting another church on Sundays at the beginning of the month. Please pray that they will have lots of Brazilians and Japanese come. The Brazilian population here is growing. We get to move into the new church building for the Noborito church this month. Gene and Joyce Galat from Tremont will be coming in the middle of the month to help with the renovations and we already have a couple teams lined up to come help too. Please pray that everything runs smoothly. Please pray for my computer and hard drive. I should be getting my new hard drive by next week and then it'll just take awhile to get everything moved onto there. Please pray for patience and speed while I work on my computer. Please pray that we continue to see more people coming to the Fuse and more people accepting Christ. We have more people coming each week and we have lots of regulars now as well.
Thank you to everyone who constantly followes this. Thank you for all your prayers.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
English Camp 2009 (pictures)
The BLUE DOLPHINS!!!...Yea I didn't pick the name, the kids did!
Amy playing "Go Fish" with the girls in our room.
The girls didn't listen to us when we told them to go to bed early because we had to be up early. They stayed up past midnight. They were all a little tired then next morning.
Doing the "Hokey Pokey"
The great bonfire! One kid from each team came up to light it all at the same time.
Andy dressed up as the "Water Ninja" when we all went swimming. The kids loved it!
Swimming. Well, the kids swam. The water was only a foot deep, so the adults just watched. Then later the adults were all given tubes of bubbles....that kept us all entertained for a good hour. haha!
The boys thought it would be fun to put their meal tickets on their foreheads. You have to admit they all look so cute. (By the way the American in the picture is Tim. He's one of the missionaries that arrived a couple weeks ago.)Wednesday, August 26, 2009
English Camp 2009
Well, it's been a week since we all went to the English Camp. It was a lot of fun, hard work, but fun.
We first arrived at the English Camp a little after 9am and had a quick meeting with the other 3 families that were there. We just mainly discussed how we were going to run the camp and what to do with the kids who came. We weren't going to have any specific English "classes" the kids were just not aloud to speak in Japanese for the two days.
When the kid first started arriving, I will admit, I was really nervous as to how I would communicate with some of the ones who didn't speak very good English. But everything went really well. We all played games, made up chants for our teams, made up special handshakes, ate some really great food, went swimming, painted rocks and coffee cups, and just had a great time.
It was a really busy schedule, but everything just flowed. We played "Go Fish" with the girls that roomed with us during our free time. They loved it! Monday night we had a big bonfire and a mini-fireworks show. The whole camp was very well done.
Christine was in a group with some of the young mothers and their kids, and she was able to have some really great conversations with them. One of the mothers said she would like to come to the Fuse sometime.
After all the kids went home, Debbie, Tim, Christine, and I all went our to Andy's house. (Andy was one of the leaders who put on the camp) We all just spent the evening eating dinner and relaxing. It was so nice to talk with Andy, his wife (Mami), Kenji (another leader), and his wife (Nozomi). It was encouraging as well. They gave us ideas for the Fuse and offered to help if they could.
We first arrived at the English Camp a little after 9am and had a quick meeting with the other 3 families that were there. We just mainly discussed how we were going to run the camp and what to do with the kids who came. We weren't going to have any specific English "classes" the kids were just not aloud to speak in Japanese for the two days.
When the kid first started arriving, I will admit, I was really nervous as to how I would communicate with some of the ones who didn't speak very good English. But everything went really well. We all played games, made up chants for our teams, made up special handshakes, ate some really great food, went swimming, painted rocks and coffee cups, and just had a great time.
It was a really busy schedule, but everything just flowed. We played "Go Fish" with the girls that roomed with us during our free time. They loved it! Monday night we had a big bonfire and a mini-fireworks show. The whole camp was very well done.
Christine was in a group with some of the young mothers and their kids, and she was able to have some really great conversations with them. One of the mothers said she would like to come to the Fuse sometime.
After all the kids went home, Debbie, Tim, Christine, and I all went our to Andy's house. (Andy was one of the leaders who put on the camp) We all just spent the evening eating dinner and relaxing. It was so nice to talk with Andy, his wife (Mami), Kenji (another leader), and his wife (Nozomi). It was encouraging as well. They gave us ideas for the Fuse and offered to help if they could.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
a little update
Sorry, it's been awhile since I last updated things here. We've been really busy with the Fuse changing days, some missionaries leaving, and some new ones coming.
Brad, Becky, and Matt have left to go back to the States to go to school this fall. Brad and Becky left at the end of July, and Matt left a week ago. We all miss them tons, but we're all glad to have new people coming too. Vanessa came two weeks ago (she went to ORU with Debbie) and Tim just got here last week. (Tim's from the Ontario, Ohio church) Caren will come next Tuesday, she's also a friend of Debbie's from ORU. Joe is coming the first week of September, he's from Colorado. Vanessa, Tim, Caren, and Joe will all be here at least 6 months.
We are still praying for more missionaries to come. Specifically next spring when Debbie, Amy, and I will be leaving. We're currently looking for missionaries who have a heart for the Japanese and love to hang out and have fun but also are responsible enough to be able to live on their own and keep up with the many responsibilities we have here. If you know anyone who would want to come, or you would like to come, please feel free to Facebook me or e-mail me if you have questions. Or go to pazjapan.org and e-mail Tim and Christine Huber.
Lots of things have been going on with the Fuse. Originally we started with the plan to have meetings on Sunday mornings, but just like in any other country...college and high school kids don't like getting up before noon on the weekends. So we switched the meetings to Saturday afternoons at 3pm. We had a rough start the first two weeks because we changed times right as it became Obon (pronounced "oh" - "bone") season. It's basically the Japanese version of Day of the Dead, where they celebrate the life of their ancestors. So most of our friends all went home, and couldn't come to the Fuse for a couple weeks. But things are doing great again, we just had another meeting yesterday, and everyone was back again.
We all went for sushi last week, I tried three new types of sushi this time. I had red caviar, bbq eel, and sea snake. The caviar was great! I absolutely loved it. The eel was ok, it has little bones in it, so it had almost a hairy texture. The sea snake was terrible! That goes in the category of food I will not eat again. It had a mushy texture and tasted like bad fish.
Mark has been taking us to the beach. We have to catch a train at 5:30am to ride the train for an hour to go out to the ocean. We're all learning how to surf. It's a lot of fun, but very painful. Right now the only time anyone is aloud to surf is 5pm - 8am. Even though it's an early morning, we all have a blast!
Next Monday and Tuesday (8/24-8/25) we will all be going to an English camp and taking care of some kids. It's not a Christian event, but it's run by members of the Noborito church. All of the camp counselors will be Christians and people from the Noborito church. It's going to be lots of fun!
Brad, Becky, and Matt have left to go back to the States to go to school this fall. Brad and Becky left at the end of July, and Matt left a week ago. We all miss them tons, but we're all glad to have new people coming too. Vanessa came two weeks ago (she went to ORU with Debbie) and Tim just got here last week. (Tim's from the Ontario, Ohio church) Caren will come next Tuesday, she's also a friend of Debbie's from ORU. Joe is coming the first week of September, he's from Colorado. Vanessa, Tim, Caren, and Joe will all be here at least 6 months.
We are still praying for more missionaries to come. Specifically next spring when Debbie, Amy, and I will be leaving. We're currently looking for missionaries who have a heart for the Japanese and love to hang out and have fun but also are responsible enough to be able to live on their own and keep up with the many responsibilities we have here. If you know anyone who would want to come, or you would like to come, please feel free to Facebook me or e-mail me if you have questions. Or go to pazjapan.org and e-mail Tim and Christine Huber.
Lots of things have been going on with the Fuse. Originally we started with the plan to have meetings on Sunday mornings, but just like in any other country...college and high school kids don't like getting up before noon on the weekends. So we switched the meetings to Saturday afternoons at 3pm. We had a rough start the first two weeks because we changed times right as it became Obon (pronounced "oh" - "bone") season. It's basically the Japanese version of Day of the Dead, where they celebrate the life of their ancestors. So most of our friends all went home, and couldn't come to the Fuse for a couple weeks. But things are doing great again, we just had another meeting yesterday, and everyone was back again.
We all went for sushi last week, I tried three new types of sushi this time. I had red caviar, bbq eel, and sea snake. The caviar was great! I absolutely loved it. The eel was ok, it has little bones in it, so it had almost a hairy texture. The sea snake was terrible! That goes in the category of food I will not eat again. It had a mushy texture and tasted like bad fish.
Mark has been taking us to the beach. We have to catch a train at 5:30am to ride the train for an hour to go out to the ocean. We're all learning how to surf. It's a lot of fun, but very painful. Right now the only time anyone is aloud to surf is 5pm - 8am. Even though it's an early morning, we all have a blast!
Next Monday and Tuesday (8/24-8/25) we will all be going to an English camp and taking care of some kids. It's not a Christian event, but it's run by members of the Noborito church. All of the camp counselors will be Christians and people from the Noborito church. It's going to be lots of fun!
Monday, June 22, 2009
New Pictures and a Video Too!
This is Brenda. Her parents and grandparents go to the Brazilian church and she has become my shadow when we're at church.
This is the view of the subway. We were standing on the platform just after getting off to go to Jesus Lifehouse Church.
This is one of the bridges in Downtown-Tokyo. You can drive under it to go thru town, but if you drive on top of it, it's like taking the expressway.
Jesus Lifehouse.....need I say more.
We went to Cosco....This is the coffee aisle. I was in heaven!
Just another picture of Cosco....I love that place.
Matt and Joe playing in the rain.
This was a dinner/dessert we had one night. Brad and Matt came over for dinner and I made fried rice and Becky made popcorn/kettlecorn. Brad and Becky made this sauce mix of (I believe) ketchup, mayo, and BBQ sauce....It looked terrible.
This would be Becky getting ready to eat a popcorn kernel dipped in "The Sauce"
This is where drinks will be served at The Fuse.
This is one view. Unfortunately it's pretty dark in the room most of the time so most of the pictures came out kind of dark.
Another view. There are "chairs" and "benches" all over and that's what Becky is sitting on. They're pretty nice, but you definately have the feel of being in a club or a jazz cafe.
This is Debbie pretending to sing and dance on our stage. It's not a huge stage but it's so cool! Becky teaching Brad how to dance with streamers.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The past week
Well, it's been about a week since my last written blog. So much has happened in this past week!Tuesday's missionary team meeting went really well. We had scrambled eggs, oranges, bananas, toast, and oatmeal for breakfast. Then for the first hour we talked about our prayer requests and then we all prayed for each other. Then we talked about the basic plan and set-up for the Machida Youth Church (Fuse). That part of the meeting went for nearly 3 hours.
Tuesday night we all went out to Machida and went to the mall to go shopping for a bass guitar. We ended up getting an amazing deal on a Fender, but even better than that, we're now friends with the college guy that helped us buy the bass and he's planning to come to the Fuse when it starts.
While we were at the mall, Amy, Brad, and I started walking around and looking at the different stores. We walked into one store that makes homemade facemasks and body soap. One of the young ladies working there offered to put some of the facemask cream on my hand and Amy's so that we could see how it would feel. When the young lady was wiping off the cream she looked at my hand and started asking if I was ok. I looked to where she was pointing and saw she was asking about my feckles. She then noticed I had them all over my face and my arms too and started to get worried and asked about them too. I tried not to laugh and explained that they were just freckles and that they were ok, that they didn't hurt. The poor girl.
After we left the mall we went to the building that we're renting for the Fuse and we prayed over the building, all the people who would walk through the doors to the building, and all the leaders of all the church's in Japan.
Wednesday, we had our first Japanese language class. I had a lot of fun in the class, but others struggled a bit because there wasn't very much English being spoken. I also tried tea for the first time here in Japan and a little cake that is filled with a red bean paste. The red bean is very popular here to make different kinds of desserts because it's a sweet bean. At least that's what everyone says. I DID NOT like the red bean cake. Becky loves them so she offered to finish mine. The tea was an orange tea. It was ok. I actually most likely would have liked it if there had been sugar in it. It was just a little too strong for me.
Wednesday night, we went to see the Tama Gospel Choir. It's a southern gospel choir that is for Christians and non-Christians. They have the most amazing voices! They actually invited us to join for the night, which was a huge honor.
Thursday we had two more Japanese classes. I personally struggled a lot with the first class. The beginning of the first class goes faster than the Wednesday class and then it slows down. But after that first 1/2 hour I was completely lost, and I started to get frustrated.
Although the second class we have with Yas, the Japanese pastor for the Noborito church. It's a Bible class. It's also my favorite Japanese class. We learned how to write our names in Katakana (one of the two main character language systems they use in Japan) and how to say who our favorite Bible character was.
Friday we all went to Mark and Yuiko's house for lunch and talked more about the Fuse. Then that night we had our first worship band practice at the church. We're doing songs from Jesus cLifehouse which is the Hillsong church in Japan. We'll be singing the songs in Japanese and in Enlglish. It took us 2 1/2 hours to learn one song.
Saturday night we went to a Brazilian church service. It was very different from the Japanese services, but in a good way. Brazilians seem more at ease with showing their emotions that the Japanese. We had communion that night. We each paired off with one another and shared our bread and juice with each other then prayed specially for the person we were with. It was amazing because there was such a big language barrier but it didn't feel like there was. Brad translated the sermon for us. He did an awesome job at it.
Sunday us girls went to the last half of the first morning service and the first half of the second morning service so that we could say hi to everyone and they would all know who the new American girls were. After church, Kengo and Brad came over and we introduced Kengo to American junk food. He loved it!
Kengo is a new believer. He was recently saved about a month ago and plays lead guitar for the Fuse worship band. He's going to the university by our house to study business.
Sunday evening we went to the English/Japanese service, but because Tim is currently in the Phillipines they forgot they would need to have someone there to translate. So Joe sat in the back with us and translated for us.
Monday was our day off, but there was a group of about 10 people that were coming for dinner and we had to clean the house and make dinner. We made curry, rice, and salad. We've had some interesting adventures making rice. The first time we made it we put too much water in, and it came out like rice oatmeal. Then Monday night when we made it we didn't put enough water in it, so the bottom of the pan burned but the top was too underdone. So finally on Tuesday night, Yuiko told us how to make rice.
Matt got into town on Monday, so he came over. Kengo, Christine, Mark, one of Brad's new friends, and Brad came over as well. It was such a fun night, full of laughter and jokes.
Tuesday we had another team meeting, with the same food as last week. Then that night we all went out to Machida to pass out flyers for the Fuse. That night was absolutely AMAZING!
We got to Machida around 6pm and went over to the building where we'll be have church services and again prayed over the building and everyone in it and around it. We also prayed for divine encounters, and all the leaders of the churches across Japan. Then we all split up into groups of two and stood and handed out flyers till 7pm in different places around the outside of the station. Brad and I were together in a group and we talked with quite a few people.
At 7pm when everyone else joined up with us we were all talking and still kind of handing out flyers. I approached a group of 5 girls and one guy and we all started talking with them. We ended up inviting them over to our apartment some time and we gave them our names to find us on facebook. We talked for about 15 minutes.
After we left that spot we walked around Machida looking at different stores. Mark left about 8pm and then the rest of us went for dinner at an Italian restaurant. We went home after that.
On the train home though, we saw some girls that we had noticed at the restaurant. Becky went over and started talking with them and by the end of the train ride we had all traded e-mail addresses and had invited them over for dinner sometime as well.
While walking back to our apartment Tuesday night, Becky, Amy, and I started singing a hymn and working on having 3 part harmony for it. Then a gentleman turned around and complimented us on how nice we sounded. We all talked for awhile and he started asking about the Noborito church and he seemed very interested in coming sometime. So I ran back to the church while Amy and Becky talked with him (his name is Ken). After I got back we talked for just a little longer and then we all headed home.
Wednesday we had class again and at the end of class Brad started talking with to men that were in the class with us. One was from Nepal and the other was from Nigiria. They both said they were going to come to church on Sunday this week.
Wednesday night we had our second worship band practice and it went much better than the first. We're starting to figure out each others stregthens and weaknesses so we were able to work on a second song we completely learned it that night.
Thursday morning was class again. Then for lunch we all went to a sushi buffet. I had crab salad, crab and fish eyes salad, jumbo shrimp, regular shrimp, and egg wrapped sushi rice. My favorite one though was the crab and fish eyes. I was not a big fan of the egg wrapped sushi rice. Becky had tuna, eel, and crab. Brad had octopus, crab, tuna, and shrimp. Matt had tuna. Amy had shrimp and crab. Then we had another Japanese class after lunch.
Friday we went back out to Machida to pass out flyers and Brad met another guy who said he would come. That night we had worship band practice and it went really well!
That brings us up today and since the day isn't finished I'll write about it in my next blog. I should also be putting up new pictures soon as well.
Your hands and feet in Japan........Hannah
Tuesday night we all went out to Machida and went to the mall to go shopping for a bass guitar. We ended up getting an amazing deal on a Fender, but even better than that, we're now friends with the college guy that helped us buy the bass and he's planning to come to the Fuse when it starts.
While we were at the mall, Amy, Brad, and I started walking around and looking at the different stores. We walked into one store that makes homemade facemasks and body soap. One of the young ladies working there offered to put some of the facemask cream on my hand and Amy's so that we could see how it would feel. When the young lady was wiping off the cream she looked at my hand and started asking if I was ok. I looked to where she was pointing and saw she was asking about my feckles. She then noticed I had them all over my face and my arms too and started to get worried and asked about them too. I tried not to laugh and explained that they were just freckles and that they were ok, that they didn't hurt. The poor girl.
After we left the mall we went to the building that we're renting for the Fuse and we prayed over the building, all the people who would walk through the doors to the building, and all the leaders of all the church's in Japan.
Wednesday, we had our first Japanese language class. I had a lot of fun in the class, but others struggled a bit because there wasn't very much English being spoken. I also tried tea for the first time here in Japan and a little cake that is filled with a red bean paste. The red bean is very popular here to make different kinds of desserts because it's a sweet bean. At least that's what everyone says. I DID NOT like the red bean cake. Becky loves them so she offered to finish mine. The tea was an orange tea. It was ok. I actually most likely would have liked it if there had been sugar in it. It was just a little too strong for me.
Wednesday night, we went to see the Tama Gospel Choir. It's a southern gospel choir that is for Christians and non-Christians. They have the most amazing voices! They actually invited us to join for the night, which was a huge honor.
Thursday we had two more Japanese classes. I personally struggled a lot with the first class. The beginning of the first class goes faster than the Wednesday class and then it slows down. But after that first 1/2 hour I was completely lost, and I started to get frustrated.
Although the second class we have with Yas, the Japanese pastor for the Noborito church. It's a Bible class. It's also my favorite Japanese class. We learned how to write our names in Katakana (one of the two main character language systems they use in Japan) and how to say who our favorite Bible character was.
Friday we all went to Mark and Yuiko's house for lunch and talked more about the Fuse. Then that night we had our first worship band practice at the church. We're doing songs from Jesus cLifehouse which is the Hillsong church in Japan. We'll be singing the songs in Japanese and in Enlglish. It took us 2 1/2 hours to learn one song.
Saturday night we went to a Brazilian church service. It was very different from the Japanese services, but in a good way. Brazilians seem more at ease with showing their emotions that the Japanese. We had communion that night. We each paired off with one another and shared our bread and juice with each other then prayed specially for the person we were with. It was amazing because there was such a big language barrier but it didn't feel like there was. Brad translated the sermon for us. He did an awesome job at it.
Sunday us girls went to the last half of the first morning service and the first half of the second morning service so that we could say hi to everyone and they would all know who the new American girls were. After church, Kengo and Brad came over and we introduced Kengo to American junk food. He loved it!
Kengo is a new believer. He was recently saved about a month ago and plays lead guitar for the Fuse worship band. He's going to the university by our house to study business.
Sunday evening we went to the English/Japanese service, but because Tim is currently in the Phillipines they forgot they would need to have someone there to translate. So Joe sat in the back with us and translated for us.
Monday was our day off, but there was a group of about 10 people that were coming for dinner and we had to clean the house and make dinner. We made curry, rice, and salad. We've had some interesting adventures making rice. The first time we made it we put too much water in, and it came out like rice oatmeal. Then Monday night when we made it we didn't put enough water in it, so the bottom of the pan burned but the top was too underdone. So finally on Tuesday night, Yuiko told us how to make rice.
Matt got into town on Monday, so he came over. Kengo, Christine, Mark, one of Brad's new friends, and Brad came over as well. It was such a fun night, full of laughter and jokes.
Tuesday we had another team meeting, with the same food as last week. Then that night we all went out to Machida to pass out flyers for the Fuse. That night was absolutely AMAZING!
We got to Machida around 6pm and went over to the building where we'll be have church services and again prayed over the building and everyone in it and around it. We also prayed for divine encounters, and all the leaders of the churches across Japan. Then we all split up into groups of two and stood and handed out flyers till 7pm in different places around the outside of the station. Brad and I were together in a group and we talked with quite a few people.
At 7pm when everyone else joined up with us we were all talking and still kind of handing out flyers. I approached a group of 5 girls and one guy and we all started talking with them. We ended up inviting them over to our apartment some time and we gave them our names to find us on facebook. We talked for about 15 minutes.
After we left that spot we walked around Machida looking at different stores. Mark left about 8pm and then the rest of us went for dinner at an Italian restaurant. We went home after that.
On the train home though, we saw some girls that we had noticed at the restaurant. Becky went over and started talking with them and by the end of the train ride we had all traded e-mail addresses and had invited them over for dinner sometime as well.
While walking back to our apartment Tuesday night, Becky, Amy, and I started singing a hymn and working on having 3 part harmony for it. Then a gentleman turned around and complimented us on how nice we sounded. We all talked for awhile and he started asking about the Noborito church and he seemed very interested in coming sometime. So I ran back to the church while Amy and Becky talked with him (his name is Ken). After I got back we talked for just a little longer and then we all headed home.
Wednesday we had class again and at the end of class Brad started talking with to men that were in the class with us. One was from Nepal and the other was from Nigiria. They both said they were going to come to church on Sunday this week.
Wednesday night we had our second worship band practice and it went much better than the first. We're starting to figure out each others stregthens and weaknesses so we were able to work on a second song we completely learned it that night.
Thursday morning was class again. Then for lunch we all went to a sushi buffet. I had crab salad, crab and fish eyes salad, jumbo shrimp, regular shrimp, and egg wrapped sushi rice. My favorite one though was the crab and fish eyes. I was not a big fan of the egg wrapped sushi rice. Becky had tuna, eel, and crab. Brad had octopus, crab, tuna, and shrimp. Matt had tuna. Amy had shrimp and crab. Then we had another Japanese class after lunch.
Friday we went back out to Machida to pass out flyers and Brad met another guy who said he would come. That night we had worship band practice and it went really well!
That brings us up today and since the day isn't finished I'll write about it in my next blog. I should also be putting up new pictures soon as well.
Your hands and feet in Japan........Hannah
Saturday, June 6, 2009
the latest pictures
This is the street right outside our apartment building.
This Venga Venga. This is one of the other groceries stores we go to. They're more expensive than Life, but they have much more of a variety, especially of meat.
This is what a typical vending machine looks like up close.
This is what it looks like when you walk right inside the door. Me and Amy's room is the one of the left and then the living room is the room on the right.
This is where we hang out unbrellas, right outside our door.
This is our apartment building. Our apartment is on the second floor all the way in the back.
This is what you see when you step outside our front door.
This is the view from our balcony.more pics
This is our first worship practice. Moving from the far left to the far right, we have Kengo, Becky, Joe, Me, Amy, and Yuiko.
Us and Mark outside the Noborito church.
Us with Christine outside Noborito church.
Our first japanese class.Friday, June 5, 2009
Some more pictures
This is Mark, Yuiko, and Hana. Mark is the pastor for the Machida Youth Church. Yuiko is the worship leader. And Hana is just CUTE!
Hana and Hannah hanging out togther.
Hana and I bonded over books
This means Jesus in Japanese.
This is "Hannah", "Amy", and "Becky" written in Japanese....lol the names are in that order too lol
This is Katakana....this is what we're learning to write right now.w
Lol Becky stretching. We get bored in the mornings since we're up by 5am and so now we take weird pictures of each other.
Lol Becky stretching. We get bored in the mornings since we're up by 5am and so now we take weird pictures of each other.
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