Missions Festival

My dad emailed me a video of my pastor singing a verse and chorus of "How Great is Our God" in Spanish during the worship service. Hearing a minute's worth of my favorite Sunday of the year (Missions Festival), made me really miss home and my home church. Hearing my pastor sing really made me miss the Latino Ministry. Hearing our church worship team and congregation worshipping God in multiple languages gave me goose bumps. "Every tongue, every tribe, every people, every land giving glory, giving honor, giving praise unto the Lamb of God." That is what heaven is going to be like. This is why we do missions. This is why we tell others about Jesus. For my whole life I've loved the mission festival at church. I've loved hearing the missionaries talk about what they're doing overseas. I loved hearing about our church's vision for missions (20/20 vision). I loved singing songs in other languages and hearing John 3:16 in multiple languages. That feeling I get every year was no less when I watched a minute-long clip of my pastor singing in Spanish. Though I couldn't be at Grace for my favorite week of the year, being in Japan doing missions and serving God during that week is just as great. I am  "Livin' the Cause." I don't need to be sad I'm missing the festival because I am out doing it rather than hearing about others doing it. God brought me here at this time for a specific reason and I find great joy in that. God is good. 

Any Road, Any Cost

Leaving the safe and familiar 

With their hearts set on a heavenly prize

There were some who laid down their nets

And some who laid down their lives

Not sure where they were going

But they did not have to know

'cause they knew who had called them

And they said, we will go

(chorus)

Down any road at any cost

Wherever you lead we will follow

Because we know that you've called us

To take up our cross

Down any road at any cost

It may be fear that we're feeling

We see what we must sacrifice

But you promised you'll go with us

So we'll trust with our lives

(repeat chorus)

It's your love that compels us

To do what you've called us to do

And be completely abandoned to you

(repeat chorus)

Because we know that you've called us

To take up our cross

Down any road at any cost

~ Any Road, Any Cost by Point of Grace

One More Broken Heart

I see people merely existing 

I see vacant eyes full of pain 

Lives broken and abused 

Hiding hearts scarred and stained 

(chorus) 

As long as there's one more broken heart 

One more crying soul, I'll go 

And I will love them, Jesus

As long as there's one more needing you 

One more I can show your love 

As long as there's one more broken heart 

Could it be that it could make a difference 

If I care the way you care for me 

When they look into my eyes 

Let it be your eyes they see 

(repeat chorus) 

Let me show them that you love them 

Won't you help me bring them in? 

Lord, I promise you again

(repeat chorus)

~ "One More Broken Heart" by Point of Grace

Sunday meals

Today we went to Sendai Bible Baptist Church for their service. Afterwards there was a fellowship lunch. Here's what it was:

Dinner at a restaurant:

Happy Sunday

Dinner last night sitting on the floor

Oyster Farming

Today eight of us and two from the Shiogama church went back to help oyster farmers Jun and his parents. Wednesday we helped cut the rope to the right lengths. Today we put shells in the rope where the oysters will grow for two years. When I say "in the rope," I mean in the rope. You stick the rope on a contraption that holds it up about three feet off the ground. You use a crank to loosen the strands. You then pull apart the strands in one area big enough to squeeze the shell between the strands. You place the shells a fist and a half a part and as you continue unraveling the rope to make room for the shells, it gets harder and harder to pull the strands apart. When the rope has all the shells on it, you crank the strands tight again then wrap them up in a basket. Each basket can hold five ropes. Once you have seven to ten baskets full, you take a forklift over to Jun's fishing boat where you then drive out to the oyster beds, lowering the ropes into the water and tying one end onto the line held up by buoys. They will stay there for two years until the oysters are fully grown. 

We left the church at 5:00am this morning to arrive by 7:00am. We took a quick mid-morning break, an hour long lunch at noon, and another fast break mid-afternoon, and finished at 4:00pm. We completed 200 ropes, each containing about 30 shells. Quite a task, but oh so much fun!

I have such an appreciation and respect for the oyster farmers now that I know all it takes to grow these crops. The tsunami took out all their crops and they had to start completely over. Every year they put in more shells, each taking the two years to grow. The tsunami also took out their boat and many other supplies. They are having to start from scratch all over again. And they rely on those crops for income. They probably had to tap into savings and take out loans in order to buy a new boat and start over. And they now need to wait two years to earn money from them. However, the government needs to test the oysters for radiation levels. Their income will depend on the level of radiation. And if the radiation is too high, they won't be able to sell the oysters. Though we made a very small dent in the total number of shells Jun and his family will plant, we have saved them days of work which benefits them greatly. The result of our hard work over the past several days won't be seen for another two years, but we know that we have helped strengthen relationships the farmers have with the church and impacted their views of both Christians and Jesus Christ Himself. 

Please be praying for Jun and his family and for their crops, the rebuilding of their home, and for their salvation, for all we have done this week is worth nothing in comparison to their souls being saved. We know the Holy Spirit is at work.

Prayer Walks, Sushi Bar, and Japanese Bath House

Today was a good day. We first helped with a few little projects for the church since it was rainy all day and we couldn't do our yard work outside in the rain. Before lunch a group of us went to the supermarket down the street to get some "comfort foods" including bananas, bread, rolls, cheese, Pringles, and ice cream bites. I was happy to do so because I was able to make a cheese sandwich before lunch - strips of chicken with curry on top and of course rice. I didn't have much of that at all. 

This afternoon we went to a peninsula about twenty minutes from the church to do prayer walks at various locations. My favorite location was the coast. It looked as if it had once been a beach, but the destruction from the tsunami in that area took everything out. Even the stairs leading up to the beach were all completely covered in packed down sand, making it hard to climb up. The view was amazing. With it being rainy as well, the ocean seemed that more powerful and ominous. 

For dinner tonight we went to a sushi bar. Yum right? Ha no. I ate a bit before going. It was a cool place with conveyor belts of sushi going around. At each table there was also a little screen you could order things from. Guess what I had. Four large slabs of fresh pineapple and two slices of cake. Best. Sushi bar. Ever. I didn't have a single bite of sushi :)

Theeeen we went to a Japanese public bath house. Yupp that's right. You go get undressed, sit at a little vanity, wash your hair and your body in front of a mirror, then walk with only a hand towel to one of several little hot tubs. The one few girls and me chose was the one that was hottest and had jets. They quickly got too hot and went to a slightly cooler one. I stayed in for a good while (until I got light headed), letting the jets massage my calves and shins (from Charlie horses and a lot of walking) and my upper back and shoulders. Once you get passed the awkwardness of everyone being naked, it's very relaxing and soothing. Definitely a cultural experience. 

Things to pray for:

~ Cierra got sick last night (Monday night) with a low fever and stuffy nose

~ My left calf is still tight from the Charlie horses, my shin muscles are sore from so much walking and makes it hard to walk, and my neck has been weak and feeling like the pain behind my ear will start at any time

~ tomorrow is our first day of oyster farming (what I'll be doing with five others) and going to the temporary housing

~ open minds and good attitudes for the team

~ relationships would be strengthened between the Japanese people we will be in contact with and the church and missionaries

~ God's presence and love would be made known to the Japanese people here. So many are without hope and carry guilt for having survived such a tragedy while many people had to die.

Praises:

~ Katee and Kristy are feeling better

~ Our change of plans today was God's plan all along because we needed the low key day

~ I could eat meals today (little praises are good too)

Everyone's overall good attitude so far despite changes in plans, food, lack of sleep, dreary weather, etc. 

~ God is sovereign and in control over everything we are doing here

Japanese Culture

Sunday was our second day in Japan. We had a church service at the Shiogama Bible Baptist Church here where we sang one of our gospel songs and they seemed to enjoy it. After church we went to a little park a few blocks down the hill from the church and played with a few kids. Kristy ended up getting dehydrated from the heat and lack of water and had to be driven back up the hill in a car to go rest because she could barely walk. Lunch was rice (obviously) and a soup. I did not like the soup (naturally) but Tim was happy to eat it for me. I ate the rice but ever so slowly because the chopsticks are hard to use. It's been two days of using chopsticks and I can't eat with them quite yet. I'm managing, but it's not easy and I spend half the meal struggling to pick up any food. It's a tad comical at times. Other times I really just want to give up and grab a fork. But I'll get the hang of it after six weeks in Asia. 

After lunch, a group of us went on an outing - Maddie, Becca, Alicia, Miriam, Yana, Cierra, Jenna, John, Russ Lunick (former missionary to Japan), and me. We headed out walking along the side of the narrow roads on what is apparently the "sidewalk." It's wide enough for one person. On your left you have cars whizzing past you. On your right - a concrete half wall, barbed wire, and some giant yellow and black spiders. Yupp. Aya had told me Saturday night the spiders like to hang out there. But when I first saw one, I screamed. Literally. They are at least three or four times the size of the largest spiders we have in Minnesota. And their webs are huge and they just sit there...staring at you singing, "ha ha hahaha. Ha ha hahaha." And when I say spiders plural, I mean SPIDERS!!! Over the course of our half hour walk, I'm sure we saw at least thirty. No joke. Some like to congregate together in a massive web. At one point I saw about five giant spiders hanging out together. Sorry, but I took no pics of the spiders. I'm pretty sure everyone else with me did, so you'll have to see their pics to know what the spiders looked like. 

We stopped at the bay on the Pacific Ocean. Russ explained to us that was where this city could watch in horror as the 20-30' wave came rushing in, first pushing the bay water into the streets then crashing down itself onto the city. How horrific a sight that would be. The Japanese government worked very hard and fast to rebuild Japan to help reduce the chance of disease, vermin, and more water damage from the sitting water. In most places, you can't even tell there had been an earthquake or tsunami a year and a half earlier. Unbelievable. 

We then proceeded to our final destination - a Shinto shrine. Now, I at first was unsure about whether or not I should go see a shrine. However, this is a Shinto shrine and not a Buddhist temple. Shinto has become the Japanese "way of life." To be Shinto is to be Japanese. One reason it is hard for Japanese to become Christians is because they would need to no longer practice Shinto. With your identity as a Japanese tied into Shinto, one would almost cease to be Japanese if he stopped practicing. Many Japanese sync Shinto with Buddhism. I have heard some Christians still incorporate some Shinto in their lives, though I don't know if that's true or not. Though there are deities involved in Shinto, Russ explained it in an interesting way. If you place no meaning to it, there is nothing wrong with walking through the torii entrances and being inside. Shinto emphasizes nature and natural things. If we had gone to a Buddhist temple, I would have more hesitation because of the worship of Buddha and the Buddha images in the temple. I would most likely feel the spiritual darkness there and wouldn't feel the most comfortable. However, the Shinto shrine has no images of any deities within it and it felt like a neutral place. 

Inside the shrine area was beautiful. It was everything I expected to see in Japan - cobblestone walkways, finely pruned bonsai trees, traditional looking buildings, the torii gates, small fountains in the middle of little pools of water. It seemed so peaceful and tranquil. 

Today, Monday, is our day off. We will have choir rehearsal in the morning (it's only 4:00am Monday), then head into Sendai to go shopping and whatnot. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we start ministry. 

Please continue to keep my team and me in your prays:

~ unity among our teammates

~ unity between us and the Japanese church

~ overall health of the team (Katee is also not feeling well)

~ patience for me with the chopsticks

~ a good attitude for me about the food as I am well beyond the "honeymoon" stage in this area of culture and am starting to feel that hunger almost all the time

~ for the Shangmai church and their ministry in the area. They are a congregation under 100 people and are working towards planting four more churches in surrounding areas

Gyuza

Tonight we all went to various people's homes for a traditional Japanese dinner. Tim and I went to Sato and Aya's home. They are interns at the Shiogama church in Sendai. We prepared and ate gyuza, or potstickers. They were actually pretty good! They were served with sticky rice and an egg and onion soup type thing. After dinner we each had some ice cream. So delicious. AND I didn't get sick! PTL! What a wonderful first official night in Japan!

Sendai, Japan

We made it to Sendai, Japan! Gorgeous view from the church overlooking the city

Kon'nichiwa

Hello from Japan! My team and I made it safety to Japan around 7:30 local time. We left the airport around nine and loaded a bus that we would then ride north to get to Sendai. Around midnight we stopped at a truck stop for five hours to sleep. The church in Sendai isn't able to receive us until 8:00am, so stopping at a rest stop to sleep was the best idea. It is currently 3:00 when I am writing this and there are several of us wide awake unable to sleep anymore. The bus is rather tiny and there isn't much room to spread out, but we're managing. We have already experienced both super nice toilets with fancy buttons and the not so fancy "squatty potties." I have yet to use a "squatty potty," but I know my time will come very shortly. We have already experienced some other cultural differences besides the toilets. They drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is therefore on the right side of the vehicles. Not too shocking, just a bit strange when looking out the front windshield while driving. 

The plane ride was long but uneventful. It was about an eleven hour flight and I maybe slept twenty minutes. I completed many sudoku puzzles on the tv screen in front of me, as well as watch an episode of CSI. We were all very impressed with Singapore Airlines. The seats were pretty comfortable and we had foot rests to use if we wanted as well. We were served dinner and "breakfast," along with a light snack between the two meals and offered water and orange juice frequently. And one cannot forget the hot towel to freshen up both at the beginning and end of the flight. For dinner I had the international selection which consisted of smoked salmon and a beef stew. Thankfully the beef stew was not already mixed, so I was able to eat most of the potatoes and two of the green beans that weren't covered in gravy. I decided to try a tiny bite of the salmon, though it did not look or smell delightful. I managed to rip off a tiny piece of the rubbery fish and eat it. Lets just say I didn't like it. And my stomach reminded me of that over the next two hours. No joke. I was able to eat the crackers and cheese (a Swiss spread) and the roll. Jenna and John were kind enough to also offer me their roles. Following the meal we all got a single serve container of Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream. Best part of the meal. Jenna didn't want hers and gave hers to me. For a snack I had a Hershey bar. That was delicious. For our "breakfast" we could choose between chicken and pasta (which the flight attendant said had pork) or chicken noodle. Thinking chicken noodle sounded like what the soup would be, I chose that. Not the same thing. The really thin angel hair pasta that was kind of sticky mixed with what was apparently chicken though I couldn't tell what kind of meat it was. I decided to try it anyways. I got the eeby jeebies after one bite of the noodles. But thankfully there was a chocolate something for dessert! The first few bites were absolutely delicious! Then the next bite - yupp, there was something in it. Found out shortly after it was pear. Not terrible, but not a good combination with chocolate. I couldn't finish the delicious chocolate mousse. But once again I was able to eat the roll. But for breakfast in Los Angeles I had a heapful of scrambled eggs and two hard boiled eggs with a banana. I was able to get a good amount of protein. 

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It's now 3:15am and a group of us just ventured out to use the bathroom. There were a few "normal" toilets and we were all pleasantly surprised to find them heated! After being chilly inside the bus with the temperature around 55 or 60 degrees outside, something as simple as a heated toilet seat makes us quite happy. Especially so early in the morning. 

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Please be praying for my team. In a few hours we will be arriving at the church and we will begin a full day. Pray for us as we deal with jetlag, exhaustion, slight dehydration for some, hunger, and spiritual and emotional rejuvenation. Please pray especially for me as I am beginning to realize the extent of my food limitations. Pray I can either find a few local foods I do like that are healthy and/or that God would strengthen my stomach to withstand the new foods that I do try, as well as mentally being able to try new foods my mind tells me I won't like. Pray God keeps me healthy despite feeling limited in my range of foods my body can handle. 

Praises:

~ We made it from Minneapolis to Denver to Los Angeles with no problems and we had a restful night in LA. 

~ We made it safely from LA to Tokyo and we all quickly got through immigration, got all our luggage, and had no issues at customs. 

~ We have great leaders here in Japan with us who know the culture and language that will help us through the next fourteen days. 

~ We have all remained in good spirits despite the stress of flying, the tiredness, and hunger. 

Thank you so much for your continual prayer for both me and my team! This will be one of many updates on our trip, and I hope that you can get at least a small glimpse into our lives over the next eight weeks. 

P.S. - I wrote this before having access to wifi. The time posted does not reflect the time I wrote the post.