Glimpses of Japan

Hello everyone!

I have not posted very many pictures on this blog, so this post will be a photo summary of the kinds of things we have done and seen, as well as some of the people we've met! Enjoy!

The outside of the Nakada Church.

Sorry, this is gross. This is the head of a tuna in the fish market. I had no idea they could grow to the size of a dolphin!

Ian and Yoshi!

Lauren and Mieko!

Me and Koichiro!

We got to see Ayako, a reader from last year, in Numazu!

Preston decorated a cookie at the Hawaiian party! It is so difficult to bake cookies in a microwave!

The ema tablets... the question is, which god is this talking about?

Even the mannequins look different here!

Don't use your handy phone on the bus. Don't even think about it....

Ian and Harmony battle to win the Spoons Championship!

Me all dressed up in Kiyomi's kimono!

People write wishes that the priests burn everyday. They are offered to the gods of the trees, horses, sun, water, etc.

It has been so much fun working with children this year. Mai is the cutest little Japanese girl ever!

People pay to pray with the Buddhist priests. The more you pay, the more likely your prayers come true, they say. The prayers are chants that are not understandable to most Japanese people.

The full-time missionary, Ken... silly!

Beautiful flowers.

At the parties, we usually play a game and then tell our testimony afterwards. This party was a balloon tower competition. I was trapped in "balloon jail".

My funny reader Mikio!

This is Buddha. Or one of many Buddhas, I should say.

Japan is such a beautiful country. How can they not see the creator?

Ian and his reader, Ikeda-san. Manly men.

Eating lunch with some of our friends from ACU, Tara and Dan, and a reader, Yuko.

The view of tea bush farms from up on a mountain.

Jesus cares more about what is on the inside, not outward appearances.

Hello Friends and Family,

I am sssoooooooooo sorry that I have not been so faithful to post blogs as I was last year. Due to time and internet access contraints, it has been difficult to post as often or as in depth. But, perhaps this post will give you a glimpse into how this project is going! First of all, thank you to those of you who have prayed for me to be able to sleep! God is good, and I have slept every night for the past week, and I am so thankful.

Okay... where to begin. Last year, I feel like I saw mostly the surface of Japan. It is an exciting place to be, completely opposite from America, and there are so many people here that need to hear about Jesus. But this year, I feel like I'm seeing what God sees when he looks at Japan... in other words, I'm seeing what is really behind the good-looking surface of Japan. Let me tell you about some of my reading sessions to explain.

I have a jr. high student, Kumiko, whom I read with. She is an extremely smart girl and speaks very good English. I was talking to her about school, and I asked her what her favorite subject is. She said, "social studies." And so I asked, "why?" She said, "it is very interesting, because we started by learning about how monkeys turned into people, and then about all the different emperors and periods after that." In the school systems here, they literally teach that evolution is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Countless readers have told me now that they believe the earth began and people were created by macro evolution. Of course, when they tell me that is what they believe, I don't say no that's not true, but I simply start asking them questions. For example, could an airplane be created out of a junkyard over time? What about the fact that there are males and females? What about the complexity and variety of life? Is it really just chance? It is amazing really, to see them starting to think and question what they have always believed to be the truth.

Last week, Oishi-san asked me, "what do you think about the Japanese religious situation?" I told him I thought it was sad. He asked why, and I told him that Buddhism and Shintoism are very conflicting religious beliefs, and that it must be confusing to have to adhere to both at the same time. Then he told me, "well, Buddhism is more just a way of life. We do not really read the book of Buddha, but we just use the Buddhist way for funerals and festivals." So I asked him what he thought of all the Shinto gods, and he said, "well, I like Amaterasu Omikami and Tsukuyomi, and Jesus..." And I said, "well, it's not really important which gods you like. The only god worth worshipping is one who is real." He said, "well, I don't know how to know which god is real."

Last Saturday, my readers Misaki and Hikari, (8 and 6 year old little girls), were showing me pictures of the swimming lessons they take in school. In one picture, there was a man wrapped in a white robe, with a crown of leaves on his head. I asked them who the man was, and they said he was the water god, and they prayed to him for safety before they started class. It is absolutely amazing to me that a priest dresses up like a god and the little children are told to pray to him in school.

There are two other things that are very difficult about this culture. The first is the overwhelming group mentality. A Japanese person should not rock the boat. For example, if 3 friends go out for lunch together, and one wants Chinese food and the other 2 want hamburgers, then they will all go out and get Italian food, even though none of them want it. It is almost impossible socially to do your own thing here. So if a person wants to become a Christian, it causes an extreme uproar in the family, because they are parting from the traditions of family and country.

The second is that any problems a person has or a family have must be hidden. If you have breast cancer and recover from it, then you lock yourself up at home, never come out, and never see your friends again. If you have depression, then you don't tell anyone, and many choose to commit suicide instead of seeking help (Japan is the country with the highest suicide rate in the world). It's so sad.

Of course, I am in no way saying that American society is perfect and that Japanese society is flawed. On the contrary, both countries have problems unique to the culture. However, these are the things I am seeing that make it so difficult for a Japanese person to become a Christian.

Here's the interesting thing, though. Many of our readers are searching for something more and something deeper. They see no hope where they currently are. For example, one of Lauren's readers, Yuko, came with us to Tokyo on our day off. We went to Asakusa, a famous Buddhist temple. There we saw many men chanting with a priest. We asked her about what they were doing and she pointed to a booth right next to us. Above the booth were sticks, some longer and others shorter. On them were written different amounts of money. She explained that in order to pray with the priest, you must buy a stick. The more expensive the stick, the more likely your prayers were to get answered. Then she said, "that is why I don't like this god, because you have to pay him to listen to you."

When we went to Tokyo, we had the opportunity to attend a church called International Bible Fellowship in Chiba. It has 120 members and has grown exponentially in the last year. They are loving on people, helping in the community, and as a result, many people have chosen to follow Jesus.

It is a slow process in Japan to share the gospel. Before you ask a person if they want to follow Jesus and be baptized, you must be sure that they fully understand the cost. It means no more ancestor worship, no more Buddhist funerals, and no more prayers at Buddhist shrines. It means changing their whole lives, and whole way of thinking. But I suppose that is how it is for anyone who chooses to follow Jesus... he asks us all to carry our cross daily. The statues that people pray to here do not ask anything of those who pray to them. But, in return they also give nothing back. Contrast that with the God who loves us unconditionally, who gives us eternal life, and who answers our prayers daily. So many people here need hope. And there is only one God who can give them hope.

"The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, "Why, it's just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a church of wood?... He is trusting something that can give him no help at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, "Is this thing, this idol that I'm holding in my hand, a lie?" ~Isaiah 44:19-20

"The LORD, your Redeemer and Creator, says: "I am the LORD, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. By myself I made the earth and everything in it." ~Isaiah 44:24

Thank you for your support and your prayers. The team is doing great, we all just wish we had more time with these wonderful people who continue coming to learn more about Jesus. Please continue praying for them to have understanding, and for their hearts to be open.

Love in Christ,

Marabeth

Short Note

My reader, Chiyuki, and I - purikura, an impressive photobooth!

The missionary's daughter!

I am so sorry for not updating on time! After an exhausting week (we studied the Bible for 71 hours with readers this week), we were all ready to collapse by the time Monday rolled around!

So I'm sorry, but this post will not be very long either, because today I have read 7 hours and I am really tired!

First up, I want to send out a prayer request: the whole team needs sleep! I had trouble sleeping 4 nights this week for various reasons (the biggest of which is bug invasions in the house), and I have to admit that the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. So please pray for us all to have sound sleep this week (it is very embarrassing to be yawning in reading sessions!)

Secondly, I just want to say that reading sessions have been going great! Readers are asking really deep questions and I have been able to share a lot, which is a big blessing. I am slightly going through a "culture shock"... because I am finally beginning to understand a lot of the ancestor worship, shrines, and such. The pastor here has a nice little English library written by missionaries, which I have been reading. The more I seem to understand, the more I realize I have yet to learn!

The party went great this week... 21 people came! Here are a few pictures from the week!

Also, FYI, I have started a facebook photo album "Glimpses of Japan"... it is dedicated to sights I see. I have decided to dedicate this blog to ministry, and just post the cool pictures on Facebook. If I have extra time this week (which is doubtful, as I'm looking at my calendar), I will post with more details. For now, please keep praying for the readers and the team's sleep! God is good all the time :)

"God can do anything!"

Hello Friends and Family!

I want to give you a heads up... this post is rather long, so... sorry 'bout that :) This week I have had 7 hours of reading sessions a day everyday! It is wonderful that my readers are so enthusiastic, but I have to admit that by the end of each day I am exhausted. It's funny because a couple of times I have caught myself talking really slowly to Ian and Lauren because I'm becoming accustomed to slowing down and enunciating really clearly. Then they laugh and say.... um... I speak English! And I'm like, "oh. right. sorry!" So I'm going to start off with just a list of my readers, who they are and highlights from reading sessions!

Kiyomi - a sweet, older lady who teaches Japanese to foreign businessmen. She did LST last summer, so she is a little further along. Last lesson we were reading the story of the good Samaritan, and she told me how she helped a poor man in Laos build a bungalow hotel so he could support his family. It was a good conversation about how Jesus wants us to care for others!

Miho - A housewife who is currently pregnant with her second child! She is always very diligent to read the story ahead of time and comes prepared with questions!

Saori - She works in a curry and coffee shop! She is very talkative and wants to practice English because she has family in Norway. When we read the story of Jesus' birth, she said that miracles are hard to believe.

Misao - Her English level is a little low, but she is full of energy and enthusiasm. We are doing the Matthew workbook (it is easier English than Luke). She has been studying with Ken, the missionary regularly. In our last lesson, she told me she only understands a little bit about God right now, but she wants to understand more. Our lesson was about the shepherd who lost a sheep and so he goes and searches until he finds his sheep. She understood very quickly that Jesus was like the shepherd and people are like the sheep. One of the questions was "Are you important to God?", and she didn't think so, so I had an opportunity to tell her how much God loves her.

Takatoshi - A 66 year old man who is good friends with Ken and has been doing LST for 4 years now! He is now in the John workbook (#3), which has really deep texts. The lesson last time was about baptism, when Jesus says that a man must be reborn by water and spirit. He started asking some really good questions, like "when were you baptized?", "did you ever have any doubts that the Bible is really true?". I was able to really share my story with him, and tell him about the Holy Spirit. At the end of the lesson, the party was supposed to start but he didn't want to quit talking! He said, "I really enjoy talking with you, and next time, I want to tell you about why Japanese people have such a difficult time knowing the truth." Please especially be praying for him, because he is really seeking.

Keiko - She is a very interesting woman, and we have a lot in common! She sings in a classical chorus, and she is a retired educator. She said she thinks Jesus teaches the right morals, but she is afraid to give up her Japanese customs (like ancestor worship), even though she said, "I don't believe them very deeply, but they are important to my family."

Chiyuki - an 11th grade girl who goes to Eiwa Christian school. She studied abroad in Canada for a year, so she is fluent in English. Unfortunately, she says chapel at her school is very boring, and I think she is disinterested in Christianity as a result. I am praying that her heart will open up and that she will come away from LST wanting to understand more.

Satomi - She is a graduate of Eiwa, so she is familiar with many Bible stories. She studied interior design in New York for a couple of years, so her English is also very good. Unfortunately, I think she has a similar view of Christianity as Chiyuki does.

Haruka - A sweet 14 year old who speaks very limited English. She also goes to Eiwa. We are doing a very basic workbook which has very easy English stories from many different books of the Bible.

Koichiro - He is married to Kiyomi, and just started reading this week. We are working on Matthew. Our last lesson was about storing up your treasures in heaven. He said that wasn't realistic because having a lot of money is very important! Well... at least he's honest!

Kumiko - An interesting junior high girl who grew up in Morocco (thus, she speaks English very well). She plays saxophone in brass band club, and her parents are LST readers as well! We have only had two lessons, but I am excited to get to know her better!

Misaki & Hikari - 8 year old and 6 year old sisters who are SO cute. Their mom lived in San Francisco for 6 years, and she has had them both in English preschool for 5 years. I am teaching them Sunday School style. They are adorable, and they are Keiko's granddaughters.

Noriko - A sweet lady who is very soft spoken, but very sweet. She has done LST for the past 2 summers, so she is farther along in the book of Luke. We have good conversations!

Mikio - a very funny retired engineer! He is a hoot. He has been working with Ken for 3 years and always attends English Bible Class. In our last lesson he asked me what a Honky Tonk is?

Please be praying for all these readers! They are all wonderful and I am so blessed to get to know them. It's been a great week. We are now up to 45 readers, and they are all scheduling regularly, so we are encouraged. Here are a few pics of reading sessions!

Me and Misao!

Risa and Lauren

Me and Chiyuki!

Ian and Sakiko

So there's that. And here's a few fun pictures!

Beautiful flowers!

Hiromitsu and Akiko asked to take us out to the hot springs in Hakone for our free day! It was wonderful :)

Well, that's all for now, folks. Hope everything back home is great!

Much Love,

Marabeth

And we hit the ground running....

Hello Friends and Family!

I am so sorry it has taken so long for me to write the first blog post! As it turns out, our only internet access comes from the pastor's computer in his office, so we can only use it whenever he is not in his office. Thus, look for a blog post from me once a week, every Tuesday morning. Last Tuesday night we arrived at the Nakada Church of Christ after 27 hours of traveling! We were all exhausted and very happy to fall in bed. The very next morning we held our first information, spent the day stocking the kitchen with groceries and getting to know the pastor, Maeda-sensei (Fumio) and his wife. That evening we held our second information meeting. Here's a couple of pics of our first 24 hours in Japan:

People arriving at the second information meeting.

Then, by Thursday morning we started our reading sessions! We have 40 readers total, which is amazing! It also means that we are staying very busy! In 4 days of reading, we have already studied the Bible for 50 hours with our readers. Here's a little breakdown of our schedule:

9:30 a.m. Team huddle and devotional (we are reading through the book of Isaiah, 3 chapters a day! You are welcome to join us and read Isaiah at home!)

10:00-12:00 Reading sessions

12:00-1:00 lunch

1:00-5:00 Reading sessions

5:00-6:00 dinner

6:00-9:00 Reading sessions

Suffice it to say, by Sunday we were all very tired. Sunday morning we attended our first church service - there are only 8 members! They very graciously welcomed us with a potluck lunch.

Maeda-sensei has a kumquat tree in our backyard! It was my first time to try a kumquat!

おいしい! (oishii- delicious!)

That evening, we had our first LST party! We played uno, had tea and cookies, and listened to a short message from the missionary, Ken. 24 people turned out, and it was a lot of fun!

By Monday, we were all ready for a chance to rest up, do some laundry, and learn our way around Shizuoka-shi! Here are a few pics of what we see when we walk out our front door!

Downtown

Sumpu castle ruins - America bombed Shizuoka during WW2, and this castle, which was an important historical sight, was destroyed- all but the outside. Now, the inside is a park.

The flowers are blooming! Beautiful hydrangeas are getting bigger everyday!

Overall, reading sessions have started off really well. Ian and Lauren each have a few readers that are REALLY searching and asking some deep questions about God and what it means to follow Jesus. We all feel blessed to have this opportunity, and are so thankful for your prayers and support. Ken, the missionary, has been working in Japan for 11 years now, and we are learning so much invaluable wisdom from him. He is married to a Japanese woman, Etsuko, and they have four precious kids! Next post I will write more specifically about the readers, but for this week, please pray that we will be clear communicators of God's love and for this church - it is really struggling right now, because it is so small.

Much Love,

Marabeth

Please Pray for our Long Term Missions in the Works....

Hello Friends and Family!

If you are reading this, it is because you received my letter regarding our mission trip to Japan this coming summer! Thank you so much for all your prayers and support! I don't think I can adequately put into words how important this work is, but I'll do my best!

Last year, when I went on the LST mission trip I was surprised by so many things - the culture, the English abilities of the people we were working with, and the faithfulness of the struggling church we were working at. I have been on many different kinds of short-term mission trips throughout my life, but it wasn't until I went to Japan this last summer that I felt called into long term mission work. With 127 million people but less than 600,000 Christian believers, Japan remains one of the LEAST evangelized countries in the world. The people I was reading with last year were GENUINELY seeking truth and searching to see if the Bible might offer some answers.

All of us from the team last year (me, Ian, Jeanette, and Sarah) feel called by God to do long term mission work in Japan. Let me explain what this means for each of us so that you can keep us in your prayers.

Jeanette and her husband, Brad, are currently looking to move to Japan to be vocational missionaries. Because of visa laws, it is best to be employed than to be a traditional missionary funded by a home church. Jeanette has already had offers of jobs as an English teacher in the schools. Brad, on the other hand, currently works for American Airlines and needs to keep a job within the airline industry. They have been taking Japanese language lessons from a private tutor for three months now.

They actually flew to Japan this past Thanksgiving (above is a pic from that trip) - Jeanette visited our readers from the summer and Brad did some work at Narita airport and investigated the possibility of still working for American Airlines. They did not have any open positions for him to transfer, but now there is a Boeing position open that he is planning on applying for. Please pray that God's will will be done regarding their job search and all the details - housing, etc.

Ian and I recently became engaged, as many of you already know! The current plan is to get married in a year and a half, right after Ian graduates. I will be in school one more year and Ian will work that year to save money. Then the plan is to get jobs as English teachers and move to Japan! Ian has been independently learning Japanese for 4 years now, and this last semester he began official classes at ACU. It was amazing because this year is the first year ACU has ever offered Japanese, and the class is taught by a native speaker. I will begin those classes next year. Please pray that we will be diligent in learning Japanese!

Sarah is also planning to move to Japan after she graduates. She is not sure yet in what capacity she will work, but she also began taking Japanese classes this year at Baylor. This summer she will be leading a team from Baylor to the church in Numazu where we worked last year. We decided to do two separate teams in order to be able to bless two churches and cities this coming summer!

I don't know how to put this into words, but there is an underlying sense of hopelessness that permeates Japanese culture. Buddhist and Shinto religious practices are largely ritualistic without relevance day to day life. And, with traditions that emphasize the group over the individual, the Japanese culture often uses shame to remind people of their responsibilities to society. This sense of condemnation combined hopelessness helps to drive both with the extreme work ethic that has produced Japanese wealth as well as the desperate behaviors that have led to high suicide rates (33,000 each year, and the number is rising by 3% annually), alcohol addictions and shut-ins (hikkomori- withdrawing syndrome).

We all see an enormous need for Christians to go and share the love of Christ with the Japanese people. God has already done incredible things in the hearts of the people we read with last summer, and we pray that the seeds we planted are even now being watered and grown. I have kept in touch with many of my readers through e-mail this last semester, which has been so wonderful. This semester, Ian and I have become friends with many of the Japanese students at ACU. At a party last month, Ian was able to meet the sister of the girl he did LST with two years ago! It was an amazing moment to realize that this girl is a Christian now because her sister became a Christian because of LST! One of our friends, Lindly, will be moving to Japan in February to teach English in the schools and to be a vocational missionary. Please pray for her to have a smooth transition and for her to be a blessing where God places her.

Thank you all so much for your help in this effort. We pray for God's blessing on you as you are a blessing to us and the Japanese people we are ministering to.

Arigato Gozaimasu!

(Thank you so much!)

Marabeth

The most incredible experience in the world!

"The rain and the snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.  They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.  It is the same with my word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit.  It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.  You will live in joy and peace.  The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!"

~Isaiah 55:10-12

I still don't quite know how to put into words the totality of the incredibleness of our mission trip to Japan.  It was so much more than I ever expected going into it.  My eyes were opened to a culture that is at once so similar to my own and yet dramatically different.  When I learned about LST, I had the misconception  in my head that the people we would be studying the Bible with would not be very proficient at English.  I thought there would be a language barrier. But there wasn't.  It was incredible.  In the duration of the project, our team read the book of Luke with 48 people on a regular basis.  Most of those people were incredibly close to being fluent in English.  It was like God cleared the way for us to really have spiritual conversations with these people.  Some had a little familiarity with the stories, but some people had truly never heard.  The culture is fused with influences from Shinto, Buddhism, and even Hinduism.  The syncretism is so confusing- even for them.  Not all of them, but at least a lot of them were truly searching for something more.  But, at the same time, it is so hard for them to shift away from the idea of "I am Japanese, therefore I am Buddhist."  6 weeks just did not feel like enough time.  But, it was such a joy to be able to share Jesus with them.  I have to remember that my job is only to plant seeds, trusting that God will faithfully water them.  I have to remember that God was at work in the lives of these people before I got there, and he will continue to be now that I am gone.

We saw so much evidence of this truth.  This was Ian's fourth summer to go to Japan with LST.  In that time, he has never had a reader choose to follow Christ while he was there.  He was getting a little discouraged, and was wondering if LST was really making a difference.  So he prayed that God would show him something to let him know the work was really worthwhile.  That very weekend, we made a trip to visit the church in Mito (the church he worked at the first two years), and he saw one of his old readers - she had been baptized 2 years earlier, and was now a member of the church.  And not only that- her mom and sister had been baptized!!!  And not only that, her sister is now going to ACU - our university!  He was so excited!!!  The thing is that when we share Jesus with someone- we never know what kind of impact it will leave.  Some of my readers may choose to follow Christ and I will never know until heaven.  But how exciting it is to share the truth of life with someone!  There was a woman that Sarah read with, Nanako, who had been very close to becoming a Christian about 10 years ago.  But just at that time, she had given birth to a daughter who has mental disability.  This caused her to doubt God, and just recently she has begun searching again.  This was her third summer to read, and on the last Sunday we were there she came and ate lunch at the full church luncheon, and she brought her daughter with her!  It was so neat to see the church ladies just embrace her daughter.  They showed the kind of love that Jesus asks us to show, and it was beautiful.  Also, there is a man named Segami-san who has been studying the Bible for over 40 years.  He wants to become a Christian so badly, but he finds it difficult to take that last little leap of faith.  He asks for all your prayers.   

My readers became true friends.  It was so hard to leave them.  Everyone was so kind and gracious.  The church members were so generous and hospitable.  It was so neat to see their dedication in a country where it is completely different from the norm to call yourself a Christian.  

While I was there, I got to read a book called "Messengers of the Risen Son in the Land of the Rising Sun."  In it, it talked about Sarah Andrews, the woman who founded the Numazu church where we worked.  She came to Japan 100 years ago, a single 23 year old woman who spoke absolutely no Japanese and had not a dime to her name.  It took all she had to get the ticket to sail to Japan.  It took her 3 weeks and she went through a lot of hardship and a lot of sacrifice, but she was passionate about telling the Japanese people about Jesus.  She perservered through countless trials, including WW2, but she lived her entire life in Japan as a missionary.  Because of her, 5 churches were built, all of which are still alive today.  I was privileged to meet people that follow Christ because of her love and dedication.  One 80 year old woman at the Numazu Church married a man who became a Christian because of Sarah, and because of that she became a Christian.  A few years later, she bribed her brother into going to church (literally paid him money to go sit in a pew every Sunday), and despite his resistance, he is now a pastor in Japan and the instigator of LST coming to Japan.  Now, her son and daughter-in-law are Christians, and her grandson, Nobuki, is going to ACU.  He will graduate with a degree in Bible this year, and hopes to be a missionary.  I didn't know any of this before going to Japan.  It is so incredible to realize that one woman's work could affect so many lives, so many years after she has died.  

While I was there, I started to have this feeling that Japan is sort of a forgotten country for missionaries.  When I would tell people I was going to Japan on a mission trip, the most common response I heard was, "what does Japan need?"  It's like just because it is an economically stable country, they need Jesus less than poor people do.  If I could ask you to pray for anything, it would be that God would send more Christian missionaries to Japan.  

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field."  Luke 10:2

Interestingly enough, this year is the first year that ACU will begin offering Japanese language courses.  Ian and Sarah are starting this year and I will start next year.  Please pray for us as we consider God's will going into the future.

Thank you so much to all of you who helped make this possible for all of us.  It has touched more lives than we will ever know.  Please keep living out God's love in your own lives, so that in every area of the world people will see hope in Christ.

Much love and thanks, 

Marabeth