In My Experience

I just finished watching a video posted on another social media sight about volunteering while on vacation.  I think they called it voluntourism.  I have heard much about how trips like this hurt those who are visited and pump up those who go.  I suspect this may often be the case.

I have been on two trips to visit sponsor children.  They were expensive and we may have caused some hardship for those involved in the countries we visited.  However, the moment of meeting my children and getting to spend the day with them will live on in my heart forever.  If I go on another trip I will probably do a few things differently, however, I would still consider going on another trip.

Sightseeing in Kyoto

At the end of July through the first week of August we had a short term team visit us here in Japan.  Although it took a lot of planning and hard work, we felt the two weeks were well worth the effort.  Each team is different, each location is different, but I wouldn't rule out the effectiveness of short term missions teams and trips.

One of the biggest reasons we feel this team was successful was because of all the preparation that happened on both sides of the ocean.  First, this was not a random group who just wanted to go to Japan.  A Japanese pastor, his wife, and I bonded with this group through our time at a youth gathering in California.  We formed relationships that caused the team to want to not only visit us in Japan but also to learn about ministry and to do ministry in Japan.

Fellowship with Japanese pastors

Second, as an NAB family we have a wonderful ministry called Gateway that trains and leads short term teams, especially to NAB mission fields.  Randy Schmor not only took time to train the team, he came to Japan to train us on what to expect and what they would be doing to prepare for their trip.

The team not only learned about Japan and our ministry, but also part of their preparation included intensive Bible study and learning more about what they believe.  In their youth group for the past year they have been going through a study on the foundations of faith which has helped give them a more solid foundation.  They, also, each prepared a testimony to share at some point.  I think they all had a chance to share at least twice.

American Culture Day @ Komyo Church

Another reason the team was so effective was their attitude.  They arrived with a willingness to help us out in any way possible and a humility to listen and to learn, to observe and to try to understand.  This willingness and humility are so important.  After 20 years on the field I am still learning new things every day.  If we arrive in a foreign country thinking that we can do ministry without any help because we have read all the books and watched all the videos, then we are not ready to get our passport.  But, if we do our best to educate ourselves and then arrive ready to learn more, we are ready to get on the airplane.

I have wonderful coworkers who were willing to do everything to help make this experience a success for all involved.  We all feel that it was a success.  The team got to stay in Japanese homes both in Osaka and Chita.  They helped with ministry in three churches as well as at a denominational gathering.  They got to experience Japanese history and religion through our sightseeing days.  And, they even got to spend some time at the beach!

The whole group (picture of a picture!)

We feel the biggest reason this team was successful was prayer support.  The missionaries had all asked their supporting churches and prayer warriors to be praying for the team.  But, the team themselves had a strong prayer base at their home churches praying for them as well.  We are so thankful for all God did over the two weeks they were here!  Praise and glory all go to Jesus!

If you are considering a short term mission experience, take some time to consider these things:
*Why do I want to go?
*Do the people on the other end want me to go?
*How have I/can I prepare?
*Am I ready to listen and learn?
*Is God guiding me into this?
*And, be sure to pray, pray, pray!
There are probably hundreds of lists of things to think about when deciding to join a short term team. These are just the thoughts that popped into my mind as I wrote.


Here are a couple of resources:

Gateway Teams - NAB ministry for those interested in serving on short term teams locally and globally
Gateway Ministry

Japan Harvest - a magazine ministry of JEMA (Japan Evangelical Missionary Association)  written, edited, and published by missionaries in Japan
Japan Harvest

The Trip that Changes Lives, Part 1

In 2004 I started my relationship with Compassion International.  In 2011 I participated in my first sponsor tour to visit my sponsor child in Peru.  It was the trip that changed my life.  (If you go back in the history of this blog to October 2011 you can find my thoughts from that trip.)  The experience was more amazing than I could have imagined-I had NO idea what to expect when I signed up for the trip.

Kids are kids!

Last month I participated in my second sponsor tour, another life-changing trip.  This time I went to Haiti, a small island country just south of the US.  I thought I knew what to expect since I had participated in a tour before.  Yes, some things were similar, however, Haiti is different from any country I have ever visited.

This time there were only 18 people on the trip, half the number of my Peru trip.  This provided an intimacy that joined our hearts and souls together quickly.  I am so grateful to have gotten to spend time with these lovely people and to now call them friends.

My family group visiting this family's house

The poverty level of Haiti was astounding to me.  I thought if I waited long enough and tried to form thoughts for a few weeks that I would be able to put into words what I experienced, but I am still having a hard time coming up with words.

Love!

When I got back from Peru I had severe wealth guilt.  I don't know if that is a term, but that is how I felt.  For months I couldn't go shopping and took super short showers.  I couldn't justify my 'wealthy' life knowing how the people in Peru were living.

When I got back from Haiti, however, I didn't have that same feeling.  I still can't justify the imbalance in the distribution of wealth in this world.  But, I think the poverty was so deep that I just could not/ cannot even think of comparing the wealth/poverty levels of there and here.

Hanging out with like-minded people who also sponsor children and encountering life in a completely different country are definitely life-changing experiences.  However, the biggest life-changer for me was, again, experiencing Compassion's ministry.

Our group with the office staff at one of the centers we visited

Every person I met who serves at the churches, child development centers, and in the offices has a love for Jesus and children like few others I have met.  These staff and volunteers believe loving children and their families, teaching them, and sharing Jesus' love with them is the most effective way to end the cycle of poverty.

And, walking through the villages, there is an obvious difference that child sponsorship makes in the life of a child and family.  Playing with and sharing time with the children at the centers was an incredible experience.  These faces are imprinted on my heart.

Family who benefits from Compassion sponsorship

Somehow I thought I was going to be able to write one blogpost about this trip.  I just had to add "Part 1" to the title of this post because it is getting too long.  Thank you for sticking around this long.  Please come back for the next parts soon.  I am sure there will be at least two more posts!

Silly selfies

Two Days and the Sunrise

A day of ministry and a day of Sabbath.

Our winter youth gathering last week was amazing!  I loved being part of it and watching the students praising, learning, and fellowshipping.

Chita youth leading the first worship song.
They were followed by the Inokoishi youth leading the next song.

This year the gathering was held in Matsusaka.  The church is next to an adult care center.  After a morning of being reminded of God's love for us, singing praises and having awesome fellowship, we practiced a couple of hymns and talked about what we'd like to learn from these amazing people.

Welcome JBC Youth!

There was an awesome sign to greet us in the room where everyone was waiting.  As we sang "Amazing Grace" and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," several people joined in the singing.  Then we had a time of question and answer with the residents.  We wanted to learn from their life experiences.

The students, and even the adults, were challenged and surprised by the stories of childhood before, during, and after the war.  Or, more precisely, the lack of childhood.  After many questions from our side, one lady decided it was time to ask the students a question!  She asked them about their education.  Several replied that they do not like school or studying, but that they will try harder.

Students at the care center

As a leader, it was wonderful to watch the day unfold, seeing God's fingerprints and guidance at every turn.  Our prayers and persistence are reaping fruit.  Most importantly, God is being glorified!


Since our gathering happened on Monday, Tuesday became my Sabbath.  I was thankful there were no other plans that day.

It was my first winter beach day.  My usual parking lot was closed but there is a park and community center right next to the beach so I parked in that lot and explored the park a bit.

A sculpture in the park surrounded by beautiful trees and plants

Winter colors

God's creation is amazing.  I walked through the park and then down to the end of the sea wall, both places I had not been yet.  It was basically a sunny day, but it was cold and windy!  (Not South Dakota cold, though!)

I know, I look like I am dressed for Alaska winter.
Amazing how the hood made all the difference in keeping me warm!

Where I sat to talk with God,rather than out on the open beach in the wind.

I finished the day at the tea shop in the shopping mall I pass on the way home.  I did, also, pick up some shells, of course.  I found some really beautiful ones when I stopped to bend down and look...

Stopping to pick up shells

Tea and reading time

This has gotten pretty long.  If you have stuck around this long, here are some recent pictures of the sunrise.

A little review

As I was preparing for my most recent newsletter, which will be coming out soon, I was looking through pictures from the last quarter.  I set aside several to use in my newsletter, however, I didn't have enough room.  So, I thought I'd share some here...

Our friend Shoppi sharing at our Ladies' Lunch 

Even Mrs. Naka's granddaughter enjoyed the dessert!

Origami fun- every other month at the nursing home behind our church

AGC rehearsal- Can you find me?!

At our most recent Live Gospel Cafe I got stuck in the office for the first half.
It was fun to listen from behind the singers.
This is one of the ladies who sang.
It was a beautiful night of praise.

During spring break we had a youth retreat at the newest JBC church.
Some of the youth even led the worship time.  Fun times!

Easter Sushi!!!

Yuri has returned!

Preparations

Today has been a day of preparations.

Tomorrow I will teach two Bible studies, one in Japanese on John and one in English on Mark.  I have enjoyed preparing for these studies each week.

On Sunday I will preach, so I have also been preparing for that.  Sometimes it is a challenge to figure out what to preach about.  Sometimes I am given an idea or a certain passage, but then the organizing of my thoughts takes a lot of time.  Sometimes things flow together quickly.

Although my thoughts haven't flowed smoothly today, it has been a good day of study.

Our monthly verse for April is Mark 16:15, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."  Using that as a starting point, I have been thinking about "Go" and what that has to do with each one of us as Jesus-followers.

When looking at various websites about how to prepare for life as a missionary, I found an article by a professor at a university that prepares people for ministry.  It is a well-written article to help churches prepare people for missionary service.

 Click here to read the article.

Please take a few minutes to read it, maybe share it with others at your church, on a missions team, with a pastor, with a family member.  Consider how your church is preparing people for life outside the walls of the church-where we are all called to minister.

Language

I've joined an online community for women who serve overseas.  Mostly I read the blog posts everyone else writes.  It has been good to read thoughts from other women serving overseas.  I have been challenged to think more about my life, ministry, and God.  Each week they choose a theme and people blog about it or contribute art or whatever.  I keep thinking that I will write something sometime.  So, this week I am going to write.  The theme is language.

Karuizawa Japanese Language School

Of course, when I first started to think about language, I thought about learning Japanese.  Learning this language has been one of the hardest, most challenging, most fun, most frustrating things I have done in my life.  And, I am NOT done yet!  I am pretty sure I will never be done learning this language.

Graduation celebration with some of my language teachers

I don't remember when it happened exactly, but I remember sitting in church one Sunday thinking, "Hey, I am understanding some of this sermon!  I am not just listening to pick out the words, but am actually getting the main ideas here!"  SCORE!  I was floored!

I know there are tons more languages than English and Japanese, but it is pretty cool that Jesus understands both of the languages I speak.  He hears me when I call out to Him in either language.

My first Sunday in Japan I remember sitting in church thinking that I had no clue what was going on, but Jesus did.  Now I not only sit in church understanding most of what is going on, but I also preach in this language!

Listening in church still takes much concentration

After I thought about these things for a while, the theme of language started to take me on a different path.  Language is absolutely necessary.  We need to communicate somehow, and language is the vehicle for communication to take place.  When I sit in my apartment by myself, I use language.  I think about what I need to prepare for tomorrow, I listen to music, I watch TV, I read a book.  All of these need language.

When I go to the ocean and sit on the beach, I use language.  I listen to the ocean, the birds, the wind, other people, God.  Different languages, but all needed for communication.

Maui

When I meet my friends or go to work or go to a meeting, more communication happens.  Some communication is non-verbal, which sometimes speaks louder than verbal communication, however, if we want to have conversations, make decisions, make plans, we really need to use verbal communication.  And, there is language again.

Languages are fascinating and amazing.  I am hoping we will keep our languages in heaven and yet be able to understand all the other languages and be able to learn them.  That would be so cool!

I know that learning Japanese has helped deepen my understanding of God as I learn Japanese words and phrases and study the Japanese Bible.  I can't imagine how my understanding would improve if I learned more languages!  Especially Greek and Hebrew!

Anything that deepens my understanding of God is worth the effort and hard work.
(I say this again to myself today to remind me of its truth and importance!)

Talking about things I love in one of my sermons

Coming Up

Our church plant is coming up on an exciting milestone.  We have been worshipping together in our current location for 6 years!  We have had a wonderful time learning and growing together.  I am thankful to God for His work in my life, in the life of His church, in the lives of the people who attend our little gathering.

On Sunday we will have a business meeting.  I know business meetings are generally not exciting events for most people.  However, it is exciting for us!  Members and regular attenders of Komyo Christian Church want to be involved in the life of the church, want to use their gifts to encourage one another, want to seek God and His direction for His church.  Exciting stuff!!!

Today I was looking through some old pictures and found a picture of our 'staff' from 2010.  On New Year's Day we took another picture.  Some of us have changed more than others!  (Yuri Nakano had not yet joined us in 2010 and she is on home assignment right now.  She was not purposely left out of these photos!!)

New Experiences

Sometimes I get excited about new experiences.  Sometimes I do not.  yet, almost always, I look back on the experiences with fondness, glad that I tried.

Melissa and I took an overnight flight to a country neither of us had ever visited or, actually, even had the desire to visit.  Yet, here we are in Thailand.

We are here to study, fellowship, worship, make new friends, and even have some fun.  (It is still summer here, so today after we arrived, we enjoyed one of the pools!  Fun!)

Everything is new, sounds, tastes, sights, people, language, customs.  It has been a fun and challenging day.  Ia m glad to get to have this new experience with my friend!

We are praying the week will draw us closer to God and each other as well as to our new friends.  We are also praying the study will give us new vision and direction for ministry.

God is already at work.  Thankful.

(I wrote this post on October 21st when Melissa and I arrived in Thailand.  I didn't realize that it hadn't posted, so I am posting it now, 10 days later!)

Here and There, Part 2

Two years ago we had our first baptism at Komyo Christian Church.  You can read about it here.

She and I have spent many hours together over the past few years delving into God's word and learning how it applies to our every day life.  I have truly appreciated our study times together, her questions, and the sweet fellowship we enjoyed.  I have grown from our times together, and I have seen amazing growth in her faith as well.

The last Sunday of July we had a farewell party for our friend as she moves from Japan to the U.S. where she will begin her new life as a Mrs.!

We miss her already!  However, it is also exciting to hear about how God is working in her life and how she is relying on Him for strength and wisdom each day.

God bless you!

For the first time

I have been learning a few things in the past couple of years about depression.  I have never experienced it myself.  However, it seems many people around me, especially here in Japan, have experienced it.

One of my friends from church is one of those people.  When she first came to church she was at one of the lowest points of her life.  Yet, God drew her to Himself.  Thankfully, we were just across the street from her apartment!

Since that time she has gone through many ups and downs.  She has learned about Jesus, His love, His sacrifice, His free gift of salvation and eternal life.  She has been quite consistent in attending church, even through times when she did not want to do so.

The transformation in her life is nothing short of a miracle.  We are all praising God together as we see the joy and peace in her life grow daily.

Last week she told me that for the first time in her life she truly does not want to die.  She is not afraid to die, she said.  But, really actually has a desire to live now.

Praise God for transformation!

A Word and A Song

 I love when we get to host ladies' lunches at our church.  Trying to break into conversations to start the testimony part of the program is always a challenge.  Even having the big blonde girl standing up front does not always get everyone's attention!

Today our friend, Kyoko, shared her testimony.  It was neat to hear how God put pieces of the puzzle together for her as she traveled through the ups and downs of life, leading her, ultimately, to Himself. So amazing how He does that!  She also sang a song for us, "You Raise Me Up."  She sang the first verse in English and then sang in Japanese.  I had never heard it in Japanese before and was really moved by the lyrics.



This afternoon was a blessed time of fellowship.  I loved hearing the chatter, watching the shared tears fall, and witnessing encouragement between friends.

One of those Days

This isn't from today, but it is my most
recent SB picture.

Today was one of those days... where I just felt the need to go to Starbucks.  Now, since I do not drink coffee, it was not for the caffeine!  And, since I have a lot of prep for various classes and such this week, it was not because I had time to kill.  I just felt I needed to go.

So, I went.

Melissa was there for a few minutes, too, so we had a nice chat.  Then, after she left, I pulled out my stuff and started studying.  After a while I realized that the lady next to me,with a comfortable personal-space-table in between, was studying English.

Well, if someone is studying English and a native English speaker is sitting a table away, shouldn't a conversation ensue?!  Since she is Japanese, I thought she might be a little shy about striking up a conversation and did the starting myself.

And, she was receptive to conversing!

We had a nice conversation in English and Japanese.  She decided that although she is Buddhist, it would be okay to come to our church for English class.  Since she likes baking and has a daughter the same age as my baking student, I suggested she join us.  She put it on her calendar!

We exchanged names and email addresses.

I guess that is why I felt the need to go to Starbucks today...

Nope, still here

Saying hello to the ocean
before the wedding

I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  I am still here.  I can come up with a thousand excuses for not having written for over a month.  I will stick with the main one: I let other things distract me.

It's not that I have to blog, like there is some rule I have to follow.  But, when I do blog, it helps me focus, see God's blessings, and share ways for people to pray for me and the ministry in Japan.

So, I will share a few lines tonight.

This evening I went to an event called Praise Night.  Apparently, it has been going on monthly for the past 3 years.  I don't know what made me decide to attend tonight-well, yes, I do.  God wanted to fellowship and speak to me.  I was in a room full of people in downtown Osaka, praising God and being encouraged and challenged.  It was a blessed evening!

Last weekend, I was able to attend a coworker's wedding.  How wonderful to watch two people vow to serve God together!  It was amazing to hear stories, see pictures, and watch them interact and be able to see God's fingerprints all over the place!  God's best is truly worth waiting for! (In every situation, not just marriage!!!)

Next month is going to be full to the gills with all kinds of fun and challenging ministry stuff.  Please pray for our church, for our physical and spiritual health, for open hearts and ears, and for love overflowing.

Thank you!

折り紙は祈り紙...

When I was in the US last year I folded a large number of origami cranes.  I gave most of them away to people to remind them to pray for me.  On some I had people sign their names and I brought them back to Japan with me.  I finally got around to hanging them up around my apartment.

As I folded the cranes I was praying for Japan, for the ministry in which I am involved here, for friends, and for the people who would receive them.  As I gave them to friends and family, I asked them to pray for me.  I even left some 'flying' around my home church.  I hope when people see them around the church or wherever they were placed around homes that people will remember to pray for me.



When I am sitting in my living/dining room, bedroom, tatami room, or office and I see the cranes hanging there, I pray for the people who signed their names and gave the cranes back to me.

What a blessing to be able to pray for each other.  Even when we are not in the same city, state, or country, we can still join in ministry together by praying for each other.  And, having a visual reminder is helpful for me!  In that way, these origami cranes become prayer reminders.  (The Japanese title of this post is a play on words which basically means that.)

Thank you to those of you who are praying for me and all of us here in Japan.  Please continue.  I cannot put into words how much your prayers mean to us!

In the background is the prayer quilt the ladies from West Center made for me!