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