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