Japan Journal 2009

Hello all!

This is the final entry before the Japan 2009 blog maker signs off. I think the entries will remain for a while, so you can feel free to relive the memories again and again (I know you want to). We arrived back in Indiana at 1:30am on Thursday morning safe and sound. As I write this entry, my brain is covered in a thick layer of jet lag, so the following may or may not make sense. I make no guarantees.

We left the church in two waves: an early bird group at 4:45am and a brunch group at 11:20. I was fortunately part of the late group ;). We gathered in the sanctuary with all the church members who could come and had a final time of prayer together. There were tears on both sides. It was extra sad this year because it was Troy and Rachel's last year to go as the leaders of the trip. In future years, they hope to come back as part of the trip, but not as leaders. They will be taking Japan 2010 off to do some concentrated summer ministry here in the States. At this point, Ryan and I are considering stepping up as trip leaders for next year. Please pray for us in making our final decision and for Ryan to be able to get time off of work if that is what God would want us to do :).

The hour bus ride to the airport began our journey back. I must say, it was wonderful during the Sapporo to Tokyo flight, and even the Tokyo to LA long-haul wasn't bad. I don't know that all of our guys really appreciated the movie selection of "Confessions of a Shopaholic", but we made it through the 9+ hours well. Once we arrived in LA, however, we all had to lament that we were no longer privileged to benefit from Japanese efficiency. Through customs, baggage check, and gate security, it took an hour and 40 minutes of our hour and 40 minute layover ;).

This being said, we were all thankful that we made our flight, could read all the signs around us now, and understood everything that was being said over the loud speaker. We arrived in Chicago with a little more time on our hands and so we indulged in a tried and true American meal at Chili's. It was delicious.

Arriving in Indy, we caught our 4th wind and danced our way back through the terminal into the waiting arms of a group of stalwart, red-eyed family members and friends. You could tell we were all tired, though, because the greetings were quick, the baggage was gathered even quicker, and lickety-split  we were in the car and all headed home. Now we are adjusting to living with less than 90 people in the same building, having no schedule taped to the wall to tell us what to do, and having to make our own meals again ;). We are really looking forward to resuming the fellowship with believers back here in the States.

Thanks again for all your partnership with us on this trip. We'll continue to process all that God did during the two and a half weeks, and we're looking forward to sharing more with you as time allows. We miss you already Grace Church Sapporo, and we can't wait to do this all again next year!

The countdown has begun - less than 12 hours before our first group boards their plane back home. Group two`s domestic flight in Japan leaves later, and we all meet up in Tokyo for our trip back (except for Sam, who is our trail blazer and is flying through Seattle instead of LA). It has been a wonderful trip, and the Lord has taught us much!

Yesterday, most of the group spent the day in Otaru, a nearby city on the coast. They ate lunch by the beach with the church members (it was a holiday, so all the students were out of school), did some shopping in the famous glass-blowing district, and finished the afternoon with a few hours of games at a rented gym back in Sapporo. There was only one casualty - poor Ruth Kamidate, who sustained a back injury during a game that, I believe, involved piggy back rides and tape...I wasn`t there, so I`m still not clear on what the goal was. We are glad that she is home now and is back to being able to get around the church.

In the evening, the Coopers and the Dicks met with the leadership team here at the church to get some ideas on the table for Japan 2010. Pastor Kamidate had us focus on two areas - Ministry to Sapporo alongside the church members and the building up of believers between the two churches. With those two overarching goals, we were able to affirm some past ministries and get ideas for new ones. The ministry we are most excited about right now is the potential concert to be held next year in Ajito Cafe with our new friends! They already have hinted that they would love to have our group play there, as it would be beneficial to both sides and fun for all!

For our last day here, we spent the morning in reflection. Troy had a list of questions for us to ponder and journal about so that each team member can look back and remember all that God has done and taught. We then trucked down to Ajito Cafe one last time and spent an hour with our small groups sharing from what we had written. It was a good time to process the past two and a half weeks out loud and to affirm each other in how we have seen God work in each other`s lives. We also had a chance to say a formal goodbye to all the Ajito staff. They had quite the goodbye present for us! One of their staff, who was trained on a traditional Japanese mandolin-thingy in Osaka, played a traditional celebration song, and the rest of the staff did a cool little dance along with it. Our time ended with hugs, pictures and not a few tears - along with a promise to return next year.

For lunch, we went to the famous Sumire Ramen restaurant (yes, of the same name as our own beloved Sumire Ishida who spent a year with us in America from Grace Church Sapporo). Sumire means Violet - a lovely name for Miss Ishida, and though Violet is not a color that has anything to do with Ramen, it does not negate the extreme tasty-ness that was had by all! The only unfortunate part of of the Sumire Ramen experience is that I always lose a shirt to the large amounts of grease involved in Ramen. One is supposed to slurp and shove the ramen noodles in one`s mouth, and I, evidently, slurp with a vehemence that endangers the integrity of my clothing. This year, I lost the left hand side of my sweatshirt. It was worth it.

This evening, some of our group went with the ladies of the church - our wonderful and lovely cooks - on a final shopping trip. We were taken to what I like to refer to as the `Stewardship Wonderland` called JUSCO. This is one of the few shopping places in Japan where a shirt doesn`t cost  the equivalent of $150, and the style is super modest. Glory! After an hour of shopping, we all ate dinner together at the food court - and the meals ranged from fried octopus nuggets to chocolate banana cream crepes. Hallelujah!

The rest of our group (and a majority of the church members), however, ventured out to a Sapporo Fighters baseball game this evening. They are still there as I type. Anticipation for the game served to draw the two groups closer as the week progressed. As each other`s limited Japanese and English ran dry, opportunities to lift our fists and yell `GO FIGHTERS!!!` increased. Signs were designed. Plans to paint faces were made.  Realization that a large group of crazy Americans is probably enough to get everyone on television struck. Plans to paint faces were abandoned.

We look forward to hearing how the time at the silver dome went.

All that is left now is to wrestle our clothing and souveniers back into our shrunken suitcases (I swear my suitcase lost a few inches around the waist while we`ve been here). The battle of the zippers may attain epic status. We will keep you updated.

Thank you all for your prayers as we have journeyed through these two and a half weeks. We cannot wait to sit down with many of you face to face and tell of our personal experiences. Please pray for our return trip home, as many of us are still a bit sick and are nervous how we will fair with the long hours in a dry airplane. We love you all! I will try to update one more time to let everyone who is not from Indy know how the trip went!

Hello friends and family!

I am happy to report that a large number of people were able to come to our second concert today. This second concert was part of the church`s regular Gospel Hour at Megumi Kyokai (Grace Church) on Sundays. We were surprised to find the room packed once again with many many visitors. The Outsiders played a couple songs and shared the reason that we keep coming back to Japan was that we at Castleview and the church members at Megumi Kyokai all share a belief in the same God. Then Pastor Kamidate took the stage and shared the gospel clearly and even included a few references to Mick Jagger (his biblical tie in was fantastic. You can ask Rachel Cooper, Laura Jarrett, Alicia Bechtle or Ben Boswell for a better idea of how he did this...they can do the bilingual thing). The basic gist of it was how Mick Jagger sings * I can`t get no satisfaction`, and that is really the heart cry of all of us - we cannot be satisfied by anything but God.

It is amazing how the Lord is doing such massive amounts of work here in this church. Three people trusted Christ as their Savior after the concert today and are already working to make sure they can attend this church every Sunday to grow in their new faith. One of those new believers is the older sister of Mayuko - a young woman who came to Christ during one of the Outsiders` first summers here. The Lord is now using Mayuko to redeem her family! Two more people have committed to a weekly Bible study to learn more about this Jesus whom we proclaim. They start meeting this Wednesday with two of the church members who volunteered to go through scripture with them. There are also 8 other Japanese people who have expressed interest in learning more about Jesus. Praise the Lord - it is only the power of the Holy Spirit that can tug on the hearts of independent and sinful people - which all of us were at one point. We are so thankful that he is indeed mighty to save.

I have slipped updstairs to do the update, but that by no means indicates that this church is done with their Sunday of fellowship. Right now, the youth of the church and our team are sharing an hour of musical worship and testimony time. Many of us on both sides have been looking forward to this because of the chance to hear what the Lord has done individually in each other`s lives. This is another lesson our team is learning. Just because the church service ends does not mean that this church disperses and heads home. The church members spend most of their evenings and afternoons here (when we are here and throughout the year), and they spend almost all Sunday together. They linger over long lunches and find time to have good conversations over the afternoon and evening. Their hospitality is overwhelming as we continue to see it remain constant over these two and a half weeks. Tonight we will head to an all-you-can-eat Yakiniku restaurant (again, suffereing for the Lord over here), and then spend the rest of the evening until bed time with whoever can stay.

Prayer Update:

1) huge praise! FIVE members of the Ajito cafe staff came to the concert and heard the gospel today. And now they have met even more of the church members here and we hope the relationship will continue to grow.

2) One of the members from Nakajima`s church in Takikawa (the other city we went to this year) came to support Sapporo church`s ministry. We are excited at this show of support in a country where jealousy between churches can run high!

3) Please pray for our planning meeting for next year (to take place Monday night). Leadership on both sides wants to be obedient to what God wants to take place here in Japan in the future.

Thank you to all of you who have stuck with the updates and spread prayer over our whole trip. Our next two days will be days of fellowship with the church and reflection on what we have learned over the past weeks!