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!