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

Sayonara....

I'm sorry I've been neglecting the blog the last two weeks, but business just about swept me away.  I want to write about all the exciting things that happened, especially about my readers, but I need some time to think about what to write.  It's kind of like trying to condense a full novel into a one page summary.  God is so good, and I am just so thankful for your partnership in this ministry!  Check back around Aug. 2... I promise I'll have a final (very long) post by then.

I love you all!

Marabeth

Apology for the last post

In regards to my last post about the onsen - I just want to reassure everyone that this is a very normal, common part of Japanese culture.  It's almost like going to get your hair cut - people here do it on about a monthly basis.  The Japanese people are very proud of the onsens - my readers kept asking me, have you gone to an onsen yet?  So they were all very excited that I enjoyed it.  The idea is strange to foreigners, but once you experience it you understand it more.  I got a hint that I might have offended someone with that story, so I'm sorry, that was not my intent. 

Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji) + Shiraito-taki (Shiraito Falls) + Onsen (spa)

We had a very adventure-ful day yesterday!  We all really wanted to climb Mt. Fuji (except Jeanette, who did not enjoy her first attempt a few years back), but it's an hour away and we didn't have a car, so Shinozaki-san (the pastor), borrowed his dad's car and took us!  We started off the day at 7:00, arrived at Mt. Fuji by 9:30, started climbing at 10:00, and gave up by 1:30.  It's a beast of a mountain/volcano.  At 3776 meters high, it towers above every other mountain in the world (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it sure seemed that way!).  The path is VERY steep, and the rocks and soil are very loose.  I think we all fell at least once.  Our goal was to make it to the top, but unfortunately, the wind was extremely violent.  There were a few times that I just stopped and held on to rope pole and prayed that the huge water bottle in my backpack would keep me from being blown away.  We started at the 6th station and made it to the new 7th station (there are 10 stations, from bottom to top), where we ate lunch.  We all asked if we wanted to keep going, decided that yes, we did.  We stood up, took a few steps up the path, and almost got knocked over by a gust of wind so strong that it might as well have been a charging bull!  When it was done bullying us, we all looked at each other and turned around.  We didn't even have to say anything.  None of us were stupid enough to attempt suicide by continuing to ascend.  We took the wind as a sign from God to discontinue our journey.

When we got back down the mountain again, we decided to go see some gorgeous waterfalls that were about 30 minutes away.  I'm not even going to write about that, because the pictures below will do all the talking :)

Around 4:30 we arrived back at the church and ate some Yakisoba (a delicious Japanese noodle dish that I am officially addicted to).  Then, at 5:30, Shinozaki-san picked me and Ian up and took us to an onsen!  An onsen is basically a public spa that gets its water from a hot spring.  So, you go in and buy a ticket (500 yen ($5.50) for an unlimited-time pass to heaven) and then take off all your clothes!  Yep, that's right, everybody has to get naked (the male and female facilities are separate).  It may seem strange to us, but it's really normal here.  The idea is to get REALLY clean.  Then, you sit on a little stool and take a shower using really wonderful smelling shampoo and soap they provide.  Then, take your pick of which pool to relax in!  All of the pools, which are built using natural rocks) are different temperatures (they range from lukewarm to almost boiling hot) and they are all outside.  There are plants growing all around and a nice cool breeze in the air.  It is the closest I have ever been to heaven!  

Finally, Shinozaki-san took me and Ian out for dinner at a restaurant that is kind of like Denney's- good food and good company! A perfect end to a perfect day :)

And... here are the pictures!  (Sorry, they don't allow cameras in the onsen)

This is the 5th station, where we started.

The wind was so strong it was difficult to keep your eyes open, as you can see by Eric's stance.

Can you tell how steep it is?

We were literally walking through clouds!

The man of the day... Shinozaki-san!

Going down the mountain the fog was so thick that we could not even see 5 feet in front of the car.  It was pretty terrifying.

Shinozaki-san treated us to yummy ice cream cones!  Mmm raspberry!

Okay, maybe we're still kids at heart :D

My favorite lilies are ginormous here!

The scene made me think of those postcards and posters that say things like "serenity" and "peace".

A word from each of us!

I am sorry that I have not made a new post in so long.  Many of my readers had to reschedule lessons in week 3, so I was feeling a bit discouraged because of the slow pace.  But I am happy to say that 2 new readers have signed up and so I have been very busy working this week!  God continues to send us people who are interested in studying the Bible, and that is very encouraging to the whole team :)

I made this blog because I want you, my family and friends, to know what we are doing here. So, in this post, I wanted each of the team members to write a little bit about the project and how our past week has gone.  We each have different readers, so I thought you might like to hear Ian, Sarah, and Jeanette's perspectives as well as my own.  After that, I put up some pictures from the party this week.  Enjoy!

Marabeth:

This week I have had about 5 hours of reading sessions a day.  This is a good amount, because when you add in laundry and eating and English Bible Class, it keeps me very busy.  After 3 weeks, I feel like my readers are now good friends.  We have good conversations, and they always ask complicated questions!  Itosan said to me yesterday, "I think that sin, forgiveness, and faith are very important to understand in order to follow Jesus.  I used to understand just a little bit, but you are helping me to expand my understanding."  My readers are beginning to give me little gifts every time they come.  Daisuke gave me a yummy peach drink, an apple juice, a pen with a fireman on top (he is a fireman), and today he just dropped by unannounced with sandwiches for lunch!  Norie brought me a CD that she loves and asked me to listen to it.  She said, "I want to share the beauty of music with you."  Noriko wants to take me to see Mishima (the city next to Numazu).  Jeanette and Sarah are going to come too, and we are going to have "girl time".  Koji told me, "you came at just the right time to help me learn."  Already I am beginning to feel sad about leaving.  6 weeks is not enough time!  I feel strongly that God has sent me here, and I am thankful for all that He is doing in this church.

Ian:

This week was a teensy bit slow for me because several of my readers needed to cancel, but I was happy to have several readers come back from vacation to read with me again! I've begun to help Shinozaki-san's older son with his English, which is a slow process, but easy in a way because he already knows the stories that we are studying. One of my readers is a military officer in the Japanese army, and he came back this week after being sick last week. I really feel that he is genuinely interested in the Bible and Jesus, but he has a lot of other things in his life getting in the way. I'm also reading with several college-aged girls who are quite fun, if a bit shy. It's nice getting to know some people from halfway around the world who are the same age as me. My favorite event for the week was our weekly LST party. This week we divided our readers up into teams and gave them buckets full of themed items with which they had to make a commercial. The results were fantastic. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves,  and the silly nature of the activity really helped to bring people out of their shells for a little while.

Sarah:

My week has been amazing! It seems that every reading session I have turns into a great conversation about Jesus. Last year I had readers who were only interested in English and when I tried to talk to them about Jesus they would quickly change the subject. This year is completely different! All my readers ask amazing questions about the Bible stories they are reading. For example, Sachiko, one of my readers, and I were reading the story of when Jesus calls Levi to follow him. Jesus later explains that he did not come for the good people but he came so that the bad people could change their hearts and lives. When I asked Sachiko what she thought of the story, she said that she thinks she is like the bad person in the story. She then proceeded to explain in her broken English way that I was like Jesus in the story. I could have chosen an easy summer but instead I chose to come to Japan. I explained to her that I loved going to Japan and I loved the opportunity to help people practice their English. Sachiko quickly corrected me saying that I did not come just for the English, but I came so that people could read the Bible and learn about Jesus. She then smile and said, "Thank you for teaching me about Jesus". That is just one example of the many great faith conversations I have had this week. I feel God softening the hearts of several of my readers and my prayer is that their curiosity will continue even after I leave. 

Jeanette:

These past few weeks in Numazu have been such an amazing experience for me!  In the past I have only been able to do 3 week projects, but this year, I'll be here for 6 weeks and I truly believe it's a miracle and a wonderful gift and opportunity that God has given me.  Since I have common interests with all of my readers,  it has been easy to develop friendships quickly :-)

This past week one of my readers who teaches flower arranging invited me to her home for a private lesson.  When we arrived at her apartment, I met her daughter and we had a nice visit over tea and cakes and had a fun time making a beautiful rose bouquet.  After that, the mother told me how much she has enjoyed her LST sessions and that she feels the Bible lessons have been "so good for her" and that "she thinks they would also be good for her daughter".   She asked if her daughter could also start reading the Bible, so she signed up for LST and started reading with Marabeth the very next morning!   

Another one of my new readers is a friend of one of Marabeth's readers.  This friend told her about LST and so she signed up, even though she had already missed the first 2 weeks of the project.  This lady is an English teacher and she attended  a Christian college when she was younger.  There she attended the daily chapel services where she heard scriptures read and she 'enjoyed singing the hymns'.  She also said that one of her favorite English professors was a Christian and that one of her good friends is a Christian.  So not only is her English very good and she has a good understanding of what she's reading,  she also is very receptive to Christianity and what she is reading about Jesus in her Luke workbook.  Even though we have only had a few reading sessions together, she has already come so far in her understanding of who Jesus is!   

These are just a few examples of what amazing things God is doing in Numazu!

These are my favorite Japanese flowers.  I don't know their name, but I think they are beautiful!

They had to use all of the props in their bucket, and so Takahashi-san said that a hair clip was not only good for hair, but for plugging your nose to go underwater.  We all cracked up when he put it on his nose and pretended to catch a fish!

Things went really wrong when a gun got thrown into the prop bucket.  All of a sudden Eric, the American tourist was in danger of being shot!  Fumio was quite the terrorist...  :o

The "hair salon" commercial team.  This team won. Shinozaki-san pretended to be a woman and it was completely hilarious!

They had to advertise a travel agency!

They were trying to sell laundry detergent.  It was funny because Nobuki pretended he had accidentally wet his pants and needed to get the stains out!

This team had a little trouble... they were trying to advertise balloons, but their commercial didn't make a lot of sense.  I think they still had fun, though!

Thanks for reading my blog!  Next time I am going to write about Sarah Andrews, the missionary who founded this church and her work in Japan.  I found a book about her, and it was very interesting, so I want to share what I learned!

From modern to traditional...

If you did not read my last post about our readers and how the mission work is going, please scroll down and read that post first!  

Monday and Tuesday of this week was our second weekend here.  On Monday, we got a whirlwind tour of modern Tokyo by subway thanks to Eric, the missionary who lives here.  On Tuesday, Mr. & Mrs. Takahashi, members of the church here, showed us the more traditional side of Japan with an authentic tea ceremony and tour of Mishima Taisha, a Shinto shrine that is 2000 years old.

Again, instead of boring you with many words, I present to you a photo montage:

Enjoy! :)

Our first destination was Asakusa, a famous Buddhist temple that is teeming with tourists.

This was a fancy machine that made anko (very popular japanese sweet, red bean) snacks.  I generally like anko, but these were fried and I didn't like them.  Ian was very disappointed in me.

The walkway to get to the temple (about a mile long) was lined with vendors.  It was noisy and crowded and money was constantly changing hands.  Ian and I both thought that it must resemble how the temple was when Jesus got angry and started turning over all the tables.  Of course, this was a Buddhist temple and not Jewish, but I can understand why he was mad after seeing Asakusa.  

Finally we reached the temple itself!

These statues were outside the temple to keep evil spirits from entering.

People toss money into this in order to worship at the temple.

These doors led into the inner part of the temple, but because we were a) not Buddhist and b) not willing to pay, we could not go in.

Buddhists must drink from this water to purify themselves before entering the temple.

Eric and Sarah!

Jeanette on the subway!  It was really clean... and much nicer than the one in New York City!

Sarah grins as she ascends the escalator. :D

A view of Tokyo.

No, I didn't go to Ellis Island.  They have a miniature statue of Liberty.  Rotten copy cats! :P

Fuji Television Station- it looks like architechture from the future!

Shinjuku - the slightly less expensive than Harujuku fashion district.

"I'm going to dream in neon tonight, I think..."

This is Mrs. Takahashi in her traditional Kimono.  She has been studying tea ceremony (a very ritualistic and complex ancient practice) for 50 years.  We were so spoiled to have this opportunity, because if a person just came on vacation to Japan they would have to pay a ton of money to experience an authentic tea ceremony.  We got to experience it for free!  She teaches lessons out of her house, so her house was very beautiful and traditional.

Okay... I don't know how the Japanese do this.  It is very painful to sit like this for more than 5 minutes.  Even on Tatami mats!  She was merciful and provided us little blocks to sit on since we were foreigners!

When presented with the tea, one must bow to the tea, then turn the pretty part of the bowl clockwise towards oneself twice before drinking.

MMM.... this is expensive green tea.

I know it just looks like simple whisking, but don't be fooled, because there is serious technique involved to get the tea perfectly frothy.  When she is done, she draws an お at the bottom of the bowl.

Iansan learning the ritual.

You must bow to the calligraphy.  (It says "waterfall")

And now, bow to the teapot.

Sweet, delicious treats served before the tea.

Ta-dah.  Yummy!  Just one small cannister of this green tea costs about $50.00.

Now it was our turn to try and make the tea.  Again, it is a very complex ritual.  Poor Ian and Sarah had a bit of difficulty whisking due to their left-handedness.

Again, the steps and methods are very specific, and not easy to do.  I'm pretty sure we all butchered it in one way or another.

They are such a cute couple!  And so hospitable!  It is so wonderful to be a Christian, because you can more or less find a little bit of family in every part of the world.

 

When the tea ceremony was over, they surprised us with a delicious Japanese meal!

Tempura: shrimp, eggplant, and sweet potatoes.  Cold soumen noodles in a broth with a little bit of wasabi, and rice balls covered in tofu (my favorite part!).  Japanese cherries for dessert!  Wow we were so spoiled!!!

YES, WE ATE ON THE FLOOR!  ISN'T THAT AWESOME????

There were pigeons everywhere!

Jeanette and Takahashisan

Eric and Sarah

Usually, a person will walk a figure eight through this hoop to bring good luck, but it was a special day so instead it has a sign in front of it.

A monk on a motorcycle?  If I hadn't of seen it, I wouldn't believe it...

Takahashisan standing in front of the omikuji lines.  Basically, a believer will pay to receive a fortune.  If they like their fortune, then they tie it to the line so it will come true.

The main shrine.

Priests

Ema are small wooden plaques which one writes a major wish or desire that they want fulfilled (for example, I want a child, I want my mother to be healed of her disease, etc.).  It is more like a prayer than omikuji, which are more like fortunes.

So this is a Shrine to the horse kami (spirit).  Shinto is rooted in polytheism and animism (thus, "Don't kill the grasshopper!!!").  Basically, according to Christian belief, it's an idol.

A woman praying to the horse.  First you bow, then ring the bell (the long rope), then clap twice, then pray, then bow again.

Deer are believed to be sacred.  Kind of like... cows in Hindu belief.

Archery is a sacred sport.   We were very lucky to get to watch the ritual, because Takahashisan was there to explain that we were foreigners and were very curious.  He goes through many specific steps and bows before he even puts the arrow in his bow.

It is thought that archery helps focus one's soul.  Only the priests get trained in the skill.

And.... release!