I arrived in Japan on January 8th, and was immediately struck by a sense of 'estranged familiarity'. So much of what I saw around me at the airport, on the train, around Tokyo, looked just like the sights I'm used to in England - but with a cultural twist! That's what makes travel so exciting, you get to see how other people go about living their daily lives, which often looks a bit different to the way you do!
I took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Namioka, and met Martin Ghent at the train station. He gave me a quick briefing about Tsugaru on the car journey to Itayanagi, and then a quick tour of the church. There was little time to hang around, however, with a youth group meeting in the church in only a few hours. I met Sharon, a fellow short-termer who had worked with the previous team from Brisbane, and offered to do 'anything' to help out.
In this case, 'anything' meant being a target for one of the games in the "Young Life" group. I was handed a few towels to cover my clothes, and then had my face caked in shaving cream! The kids began throwing popcorn at me, trying to stick as much as they could to the cream. (Wow, I'd only been in Japan for a day and already people were throwing things at me!) It was good fun, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Through the rest of the evening, I tried to provide as much background support as possible. Working with the kids was difficult as I can't speak Japanese, but that doesn't mean I couldn't help with the clean-up!
It was an entertaining introduction to the work of Tsugaru church, and I've no doubt there'll be many more stories to tell in the month ahead. But as a starting point, it's good to be reminded that very small or even very unusual acts can be of service to God.
- Jonathan
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