Singing in Shrine.MOV

Tsugaru Short Term Report 2009

August - September 2009

Background

I'll start with a little background on how I ended up coming to Japan on a short term mission. I have been interested in Japanese culture (traditional and modern) since before I gave my life to Christ. When I realised my life was God's, I felt that he wanted me to work full time for his church, particularly somewhere that didn't know Jesus. Over the years I became aware of the small size of the church in Japan (less than 1% of population!). So I began to pray. I felt maybe he wants me to go to Japan! So I emailed OMF asking about short term possibilities. And here I am!

Mission

I had a good idea about the culture before coming but I don't really know the language so I was ready to be unable to communicate well with people. Which was hard as everyone has been so welcoming and friendly! I would love to get to know people and talk to people but I could not! Very frustrating. But communicating with facial expressions has been good enough for now!

Before coming to Itayanagi I had no idea what to expect. I knew it was rural so I was expecting UK rural. A few houses dotted around here and there. But I came here and there are cities and towns all over the place with rice and apple fields in between! So the city boy within me felt a bit more at ease!

I had no goals other than to serve the Ghents so I hope I have done that and been of some use! The Ghents have made me feel at home here and it has been great to get to know them and to learn from them! I have learnt a bit about cooking, teaching English, mowing grass, cutting wood, de-rusting a roof, setting up for church events, picking blueberries, and even church planting! Oh, and I set up a new church website and connected it to various social websites. But that's what I do! And I've been happy to put those skills to use to build up the Kingdom in some way!

I had no idea how bad the Japanese people are spiritually before coming here. Within about a week I could feel that this place has such a deep rooted darkness that causes families to break apart, people to hide away by themselves and even people to kill themselves. There is a serious lack of love, peace and hope here in Japan. These things that come from a realfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people here in Japan that do not know of the God who made them. The God who loves them.

I come from the UK where literally everyone has heard about God and Jesus, who died for us. People have heard and have the chance to act upon that knowledge. But here... people have not had that chance that we sometimes take for granted! Even after all these years! It's crazy. But that is what I have learnt while being here for this short time. And that is what I will take back with me and share with people who will pray about this land. This people.

And I will be back! I'm not sure what God wants me to do, or how to go about it! But if I can see even one Japanese person come to know and love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then that is worth dedicating my life for.

Thanks for this opportunity!! And may I see you again!

I will be praying for this work and that God uses even the smallest of actions to stir up people's hearts and minds. And I'll also be praying for a church revolution, of which God can easily bring about if he wills it! Amen!

Debriefing Short termers

As a couple, we always enjoy having short termers come. We enjoy getting to know them, and love seeing what God has in store for them while here. Sometimes the very gifted are sent to use their gifts, and others are sent to learn humility and servanthood. Sometimes the less gifted are used in amazing ways in their humble transparent way. And still other times people are sent so that we leaders learn. Its amazing that God can dream up so many different opportunities for his children to be put in situations where they need to go to their knees and trust and beg.

So we really like debriefing time. Its an opportunity to learn a little about what God did during the time we were allowed to journey together.

Snow in Japan

Snow. By Nuala

Before I came to Japan, I read somewhere that a lesser-known past time in Japan is “snow walking”. I could understand “cherry blossom viewing” which I had heard of, but was slightly sceptical of the idea that anyone would wish to spend hours gazing at mounds of icy whiteness. In New Zealand the only snow I had had any contact with was hard and is up on the mountains; so can you imagine my delight when I got to Itayanagi in Japan and saw my very first snowfall? This soft, fluffy stuff drifting down wasn’t like anything I had imagined snow could be; it was like someone had blown up a million feather pillows in the sky. It gathered into big marshmallowy piles and could be scooped into the best snowballs imaginable. A few days later we were walking around town delivering pamphlets and the sight of the snow blanketing everything was beautiful. Some weak sunlight squeezed through the clouds and shone gently on glistening mounds of powdery snow perfectly capping every surface. No sharp corners were to be seen. The snow smoothed, softened and beautified. I finally understood why it was a national pastime to gaze upon Japanese snow.

Tsugaru Short Term Report 2009

Tsugaru Short Term Report

August - September 2009

Background

I'll start with a little background on how I ended up coming to Japan on a short term mission. I have been interested in Japanese culture (traditional and modern) since before I gave my life to Christ. When I realised my life was God's, I felt that he wanted me to work full time for his church, particularly somewhere that didn't know Jesus. Over the years I became aware of the small size of the church in Japan (less than 1% of population!). So I began to pray. I felt maybe he wants me to go to Japan! So I emailed OMF asking about short term possibilities. And here I am!

Mission

I had a good idea about the culture before coming but I don't really know the language so I was ready to be unable to communicate well with people. Which was hard as everyone has been so welcoming and friendly! I would love to get to know people and talk to people but I could not! Very frustrating. But communicating with facial expressions has been good enough for now!

Before coming to Itayanagi I had no idea what to expect. I knew it was rural so I was expecting UK rural. A few houses dotted around here and there. But I came here and there are cities and towns all over the place with rice and apple fields in between! So the city boy within me felt a bit more at ease!

I had no goals other than to serve the Ghents so I hope I have done that and been of some use! The Ghents have made me feel at home here and it has been great to get to know them and to learn from them! I have learnt a bit about cooking, teaching English, mowing grass, cutting wood, de-rusting a roof, setting up for church events, picking blueberries, and even church planting! Oh, and I set up a new church website and connected it to various social websites. But that's what I do! And I've been happy to put those skills to use to build up the Kingdom in some way!

I had no idea how bad the Japanese people are spiritually before coming here. Within about a week I could feel that this place has such a deep rooted darkness that causes families to break apart, people to hide away by themselves and even people to kill themselves. There is a serious lack of love, peace and hope here in Japan. These things that come from a real faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people here in Japan that do not know of the God who made them. The God who loves them.

I come from the UK where literally everyone has heard about God and Jesus, who died for us. People have heard and have the chance to act upon that knowledge. But here... people have not had that chance that we sometimes take for granted! Even after all these years! It's crazy. But that is what I have learnt while being here for this short time. And that is what I will take back with me and share with people who will pray about this land. This people.

And I will be back! I'm not sure what God wants me to do, or how to go about it! But if I can see even one Japanese person come to know and love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then that is worth dedicating my life for.

Thanks for this opportunity!! And may I see you again!

I will be praying for this work and that God uses even the smallest of actions to stir up people's hearts and minds. And I'll also be praying for a church revolution, of which God can easily bring about if he wills it! Amen!

Wind the bobbin up and snowmen’s body parts

Hello. We are the Gelsthorpes from Newbury in England and we arrived in Japan on the 1^st of October. After spending a few days in Tokyo we took the long train journey up to Itayanagi and the Ghents. We arrived on the 6^th of October feeling exhausted from jet-lag but also really excited about being here, this was something we had been planning and talking about for months! We have been here for three weeks now and have been overwhelmed by all the work the Ghents do here, their hospitality, their kindness, their busyness, their love for the Japanese people and their desire to serve God.

On our first full day here we went to Harvest Chapel, a church which they are physically building themselves. It is here that we are starting a new English conversation class for adults. Despite our preparation of interesting games and the finer points of English grammar our first week was a relaxed chat about English and Japanese culture. This included a comparison of our opposing snowman styles (for example 2 or 3 segments). The last five minutes of the lesson is an opportunity to give a testimony or to share our thoughts on a bible verse. This week we had an encouraging discussion on prayer. Despite the impression one gets that the Japanese are very closed to the gospel there is a real interest in some people to discuss what really matters.

We have also started a Saturday morning parent and child group which our 2 children, Grace and Isaac, love. The idea is to teach some English songs, play games and do some craft activities. This week we made “English” crowns and sang such classics as “wind the bobbin up” and “listen to the music and clap your hands”. Understandably, our single young Japanese punter had no idea what she was singing but she seemed to catch some of the enthusiasm of our children. Sometimes you wonder what something like that is really bringing to the table but then this is what it is all about; coming along side people and befriending them hoping to share with them what is most important. Please pray for the contacts we have made in these groups – that we will be good friends and good witnesses to them all.

The Long And Winding Road

Greetings!

I'm Gary from Liverpool located in sunny England. Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu! (That is one of the few Japanese phrases I know, impressed?) Anyway, the title of this particular blog post has nothing to do with my short time here in Japan! It's a Beatles song. Whenever I was introduced to people, one of the first things they exclaimed was BEATLES!! I understood that word among all of the Japanese, so that was comforting!

Since being here, I have learnt a lot about what the Ghents have been doing the past.. many years while being in Japan. The Long And Winding Road then makes sense! Being a Christian in Japan is tough compared to other places in the world. The social pressure to conform to the "Japanese" traditions and way of thinking is huge. Planting churches here is like climbing an escalator the wrong way. It's as if you aren't really getting anywhere!

But there are now 4 fellowships around the Tsugaru area that the Ghents have been involved in creating as well as a few lovely church buildings shattered around. God has indeed been working! Things may happen slowly, but the Kingdom is growing!

I have mowed grass, cut wood, moved wood, cleaned up rubbish, scrubbed rust of a roof, created a new website, been involved in English lessons and helped cook! And much more! These computer hands have never even dreamed about most of the things they have done over this short month! And it has been a real joy! I have loved having this opportunity to serve the Ghents and the Japanese people, even in this small way!

It's been difficult not being able to speak with and get to know these lovely Japanese people due to my POOR language skills. But hopefully next time I am here, I'll know the lingo! And I do think I'll be back to Japan to do whatever God wants me to do here. I just hope that I'll have the same love, passion, determination and endurance that the Ghents show daily.

So yeah, with that I'll say bye! Well, after I whole heartily encourage anyone reading this to pray for Japan and maybe to even give some time up to come over for a bit. You are needed!

See ya! *bows*

Gary (^-^)

Tyndale Puppet Show

During our stay in Japan, our team has been doing evangelistic concerts. We played in churches and schools hoping that God will use the music ministry to reach the unreached. During our concerts, one of our most important message is presented through our puppet show. The puppet shows are mostly directed at children, but at the same time, it also speaks to the parents if they were also present at the time. The children love it especially with the cute puppets we borrowed from Tyndale and the wonderful music and voices uniquely done by our friends.

We currently have two puppet shows. One of them is the parable of the Good Samaritan where it teaches to love your neighbours even if it gets difficult. The other is the parable of the Unforgiving Servant where it teaches to forgive others. We believe, with these parables Jesus taught will be very effective in the nation of Japan where these teachings have been lacking. We hope that the message will be planted through our puppet shows. As the children learn from our puppet shows, we pray that God will teach them how to love those around them. We also pray that during this process that one day, these people will be able to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Kelsey

They say the camera adds 10 pounds...

"We were on NHK." This has become a handy phrase among our team as we continue trying to get into schools around the city. While at a kindergarten last week, our team was filmed for the NHK news. We were filmed singing songs with the kids and doing our puppet show! Our team didn't realize what a major step forward this was for the church in Tsugaru. While watching the clip back that same night, it was a small miracle that the church was mentioned nation wide. 

We pray that God would use even this small video clip to make people aware of the church and to hopefully continue to bring people out to our concerts while we are here. 

On top of the witness this clip has been, it has also been quite the souvenir. It has been sent all over Canada. It has been a good way to show people back home the ways that we are involved and our family and friends are still in constant prayer over the ministry here. 

- Rebecca

Lighthouse Cafe

Lighthouse Cafe put on an awesome cafe night for all who were willing. We had a great time hearing some of the performances from a couple outside people, including a world touring shamisen player who goes by Yoshi. Yoshi even invited Adam to jam out with him on a song.

The small cafe made for a great intimate setting filled with great music. Our Girls did a great job of cheering everyone up with an A Capella version of lean on me. Adam couldn't stand still when Yobu (Job) sang some of the teams favourite Switchfoot songs. Colin also got to share his own original song and Adam, Kaitlyn, and I got the privilege of closing off the night with a couple songs. The whole night was great for mingling and getting to knowing people and I would love to do another one.

"When the moon hits your eye..."

Made pizza from scratch for the first time. I now know how to make pizza dough... sauce is a different story - I wasn't in charge of making that. Had an interesting experience with onions. Usually when one cuts onions, they cry. I wasn't cutting onions, Soo Jin was. I began tearing up anyway 'cause I was making dough right beside her. But yeah... it took a while to make everything, but I'm glad that I was helping out, and learning along the way - one more thing to add to my repertoire of eggs, pancakes, and instant noodles! The final product turned out well - the pizza was great! And... don't know what much else to say, 'cause I'm not one to go on and on about food! So yeah, fun stuff!

-Job

"Together forever and never to part." -Rick Astley

It's been 2 ½ weeks that I've been living with the Japan team. This isn't my first time on a mission trip, so I'm not unfamiliar in living with a bunch of non-relatives under the same roof – biggest team I've been with was 10 other people! (That's not including my brother.) Anyway, living with the Tyndale team has been fine so far – no big issues... unless I'm the cause of trouble and nobody has told me yet! But yeah, I feel that the team has good cooperation just with living together – grocery shopping, shower schedules, washing dishes – everyone's open to do whatever needs to be done. Night times can be crazy – it gets to the point where everyone laughs at the most insignificant things, but it's hilarious. Yeah... I think that's about all I've got to say for now. Good times.

-Job

Amazed and Excited.

Japan has been such an experience and has not fell short of the expectations I had coming here. One of the most surprising things for me is how much I felt at home the moment we touched down. A lot of the residential housing and things looked very similar to when I going visit family in Trinidad and most of the other things were very similar to Toronto. It is so awesome to see what God is doing in Tsugaru Church and related Chapels. I can't wait to see what God is going to do next and the anticipation only builds as we participate in some of the activities that have helped the church get to its point today. I always doubted the effect of street playing and handing out tracks until I heard some of the Testimonies of some of the people here. We had our first concert on Saturday Night and we had a blast. The Ghents told us after how many new people and old church goers came that night. I can't explain the awe and excitement that comes along with seen a lot of what God has done, knowing that your currently a part of his work, and knowing that he's going to do so much more here.

Nick.

New Team

Check out the new team that arrives Saturday May 16. We look forward to all God is going to do through and in them.
Their blog ad is on the right.

Tseven Weeks In Tsugaru - 5

In Japan people normally go to the shrine for NYE and New Year's Day, but the church runs Mochitsuki (rice pounding ceremony) as an alternative for people to attend. People from all the different chapels came along. We had a great time pounding the rice and feasting on all things mochi as we welcomed in 2009... and it was also an opportunity to give thanks for God's goodness over the year.

Two of the ladies from the English class came along dressed in their kimonos, but even more exciting was that Martin was able to speak to one of them and ask some challenging questions.

It was so much fun to celebrate the New Year with the church family - very different to how I've celebrated in the past. All in all a great start to the year (except when the mochis expanded in my stomach and I realised I had defintely eaten one too many...)

Tseven Weeks In Tsugaru - 4

We bid farewell to the Brisbane team at the start of the Christmas week... before going into top gear for the Christmas Eve service. Many joined the service that night and we had a special time.

 








A Ghent family Christmas tradition is to go to their winter hideaway straight after service for a much welcomed break with the family. And short-termers have the privilege of going along! No pictures here though, it's a secret hideaway. You'll have to go yourself and ask the Ghents to take you. Contrary to popular belief the Ruth and Martin do take time to rest and relax! I wouldn't have believed it until I saw it myself.

I also got to meet Ruth's sister and her family who are also serving Jesus in Aomori - a little further west in Aijigasawa.

- Sharon

Cold Ice / Hot Water

Never let it be said that Short Term Missions are all work and no play - thus far I seem to be managing to incorporate both rather well! Some of the church members held an impromptu get-together at the ice skating rink in Aomori for a couple of hours on Saturday. We shared the fun and laughter of a good skating session (or in my case, a good learning-to-skate session). The rink is a large and impressive building, with a very high ceiling and two divisions of ice: the inner rink, a simple rectangle with a roped-off area for little learners; and the large oval that surrounds it. There was a good mix of skill levels on display, from the speedy teenagers zipping past (often going backwards) to the women practicing their figure-skating spins, and the toddlers just learning to find their balance with the guiding hands of their parents. Oh, yeah, and then there was me - the (comparatively) tall Westerner who could barely stand to begin with, but who eventually found his balance and even a little bit of pace! This was achieved via a handful of really quite spectacular falls; the sight of me laughing aloud while sliding across the ice on my back no doubt offered some amusement to my fellow skaters... All in all, it was a great time to spend with friends, and everyone who attended seemed to enjoy themselves.

Of course, all of those falls did result in a few sharp aches and pains, and so I decided that a soothing visit to the onsen was the best course of action on my day off. There are many to choose from, but as I already intended to have a look around the Furosato Centre, I didn't have to think much about it. Usually I'm not the basking-in-the-heat type; I always avoided the sauna at my local gym, for example. I was just in the right mood for it that day, though, and so sinking into that steaming bath was bliss! I no longer noticed my ice skating pains, or much of anything else either - I was entirely relaxed. It took me about an hour to finally muster the will to leave, and my relaxed, care-free feeling followed me out the door. (In fact, that almost proved to be a problem. Every time I tried to make a decision about what to do with my day, I couldn't help thinking "Whatever, doesn't matter, it's all good...")

Something tells me I'm going to miss the opportunity to go to the bathhouse when I leave here.

- Jonathan

Tseven Weeks In Tsugaru - 3

Christmas time presents unique opportunities for events for short-termers to take part in. We had a fantastic time visiting pre-schools around the area each morning - singing songs with them, teaching them an Aussie Christmas song and presenting a Nativity play before Martin or Ruth gave a short talk and closing with "Silent Night" - a song everyone knows. Little faces welcoming us with smiles at each pre-school made getting up a lot easier! To finish off the week we had a YoungLife sleepover, a special kids club on Saturday afternoon then Harvest Chapel Christmas party.

Monday...
Tuesday...
We baked hundreds of cookies to give out.
We also ate tray loads which were accidentally burnt! (or were they ;) ??)

Wednesday...

We also visited a local nursing home.
We ran the same program as we did for the little ones!

Thursday...
For a musical break, we went to the concert the accappella group invited us to at Hirosaki University.

Friday...

No sleep for us, it was the beginning of the YoungLife sleepover!

Saturday...

YoungLife sleepover finished... and then it was straight to Kodomokai. We had handed flyers out at the local elementary schools to invite them along to kids club at church. A great turn-out!

And last, but not least, the Harvest Christmas party!
Yes, that's right, we slept well that night!


It was a busy week, but don't worry we still had time to play!
There was definitely something in the tea.

- Sharon.

Tseven Weeks In Tsugaru - 2

The week can pass fast with events! I had arrived less than a week ago, but already we had held:
- Pizza night with university students the Brisbane team met at Thanksgiving
- Two cooking classes with Ruth
- Aussie night
- and a Christmas party
...this was all on top of the normal schedule!

We had lots of fun at Aussie night - Aussie themed games and food, a bush dance, and Deon (Brisbane team leader) shared his story of how he came to be friends with Jesus.

We had a good turn out at the Grace Christmas party even though we had little idea who would be coming. God obviously knew and we met lots of knew people, as well as seeing others that had been coming along to other events already.

Running events can be tiring work, but it was clear that they were such great opportunities to draw people together to hear about Jesus and experience what Christian community is like. People responded to our invitations to events, again showing the openness of people in Tsugaru.

It's also been really good getting to know regulars at the churches, both the Japanese and English speaking groups, and especially Martin, Ruth Mae and their two daughters. Car rides with the Ghents are always really interesting. The stories and insights they have about ministry in Japan eye-opening and extremely challenging - am learning lots from them.

- Sharon

A Snowy Retreat

The Tsugaru church went on their retreat last weekend, from the 17th-18th. As a short termer I had the privilege of coming along, and enjoy a neat couple of days. The facility which held it was up in the mountains, offering a beautiful view of the plains below. There was also a fair bit of snow, which led to the obvious pasttime to get things started...

...sledding! (And the building of a snowman was also undertaken by a few.)

Everyone had fun shooting down the slopes on sleds and snow tubes, although the walk back to the top was very tiring. When the fun was finished, it was time to head indoors and start the next part of the retreat. These two days provided two opportunities for the Tsugaru Church: first, the chance to pray and seek the direction that the church will take in the year ahead; second, the time to relax and fellowship together.

I joined the children's activities while the adults were 'in session'. (What use would I have been, after all? I don't speak Japanese...) The kid's games were quite entertaining in respect to language as well, though. They were explained carefully and in a very detailed way, but of course I didn't understand a word. It was an interesting experience, knowing that the four-year-old next to me knew what we were supposed to be doing, but I didn't! I had to observe for a while to figure out what was going on, but thankfully was able to join in after a short time.

As the retreat progressed, everyone spent time chatting and playing games well into the night. Getting up the next morning wasn't so easy, though. A worship service was held at the retreat on Sunday morning, and then everyone said their goodbyes and parted ways. I got the impression that the retreat was enjoyed by all who attended, and I hope the church was encouraged by their time to pray and discuss the year ahead.