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Saturday, 30 October 2010

My apartment faces West, giving me the potential for great sunsets IF I'm home at the right time. While waiting for Miki to come over for dinner the other day, I happened to look out my window to see this lovely view. To be able to enjoy brilliant colors that God has created makes me appreciative for the eyesight He's given me as well!

I asked Miki if she had any requests for dinner and she said that she thought breakfast food sounded good. Pancakes, eggs, and coffee--totally reminded me of the times my brother, sister, and I would ask Mom to make breakfast for dinner. I left Miki in charge of the pancakes (which were super fluffy and oh so delicious) while I made eggs. God blessed our time of fellowship, enjoying good food together and talking about Jesus!
Thank you for your prayers!! Last weekend Osaka hosted the Franklin Graham Festival, and boy was it exciting to see God working in our midst. I heard that it was the largest Christian event in the Kansai area since Dr. Billy Graham was here over 30yrs ago. Japanese Christians said they were greatly encouraged by seeing and joining with other brothers and sisters in Christ...to know that they are not alone...and some in attendance likely heard the Gospel for the first time. Please pray that local churches will be faithful in following-up with those who've made decisions and that new Christians will connect with other believers to grow in their faith! Pray that God's Word will continue to bear fruit here in Japan!!

A Reason for Hope (short video clip worth watching!)
http://mediasuite.multicastmedia.com/player.php?v=pf6w0861

On the final night of the Festival (10/24) there were an estimated 10,000 people in attendance; and throughout the 3 day festival, an estimated 30,782 people were in attendance!!!

Christians from churches all over the Kansai area sang in the choir and played in the orchestra.

Various Christian musicians performed each night as well. The talent level was incredible!

Matt Murton plays for the local professional baseball team, Hanshin Tigers. Each night he shared testimony of his coming to faith in Jesus and that his identity is found in Jesus Christ rather than being a ballplayer.

Rev. Franklin Graham and his translator faithfully delivered God's Word. Each night the Christ-centered messages pointed to the fact that religion cannot save us and our works cannot save us--Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. To come to God we must come in the way that God has ordained--through faith in Jesus Christ.

It's estimated that over the 3 day festival 1,765 commitments to Christ were made.
We rejoice that sooo many heard the Gospel and have believed in the Name above all names, Jesus Christ!
I went to Uji a couple of months ago, but since the garden area surrounding Byodouin is so beautiful and the town of Uji itself is quiet and relaxing, I'd really been wanting to go back there again when the weather cooled off. Yuko-sensei and I ended up going there last there last Thursday and had our Japanese class at a cafe along the river.

Different view of Byodouin temple

For those of you who might be missing Japanese food, I hope these pictures make your mouth water!! Uji is known for green tea and thus a number of foods are green tea-flavored, such as the jelly and ice cream above and the soba noodles below.

After lunch and class at the cafe we walked down to the river and played near the water. It'd been raining so the river seemed to be high and flowing quickly.

Then to our surprise and disgust, Yuko-sensei discovered a DEAD inoshishi (wild boar) among the rocks! Yuck!!
Sports Day

A couple of weeks ago my friend Keiko invited me to join her family at her nieces' kindergarten undokai (sports day). In the life of Japanese children, sports day is one of their highlights at school each year, as they and their classmates participate in a variety of activities all day with proud families cheering them on. I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to attend sports day last year (with my host family) and this year (with Keiko's family), to enjoy this aspect of Japanese culture. We never had this kind of activity day when I was in grade school.

Kids march onto the field with their classmates during the opening ceremony. The different hat colors (according to age group) make it a lot easier to spot the kids you know.

My favorite event will come as no surprise to those of you who know me. This is called tama ire and it's a version of basketball. The idea is to throw as many of the soft, baseball-sized balls into the basket within the allotted time.

Prizes are not awarded to the class or individual children who "win" their particular heats or events, but rather the idea is to enjoy running around, dancing, and being active.

Parents watching their children perform through the lenses of cameras.

Saturday, 02 October 2010

Here are some pictures from an event I attended today called Gospel on the Street. Several Japanese musicians--a couple of Gospel choirs, some duets, and soloists--performed in the shotengai next to Kyobashi station. People continually passed through on their way to/from the train station, shops, and restaurants, so some stopped to hear a song or two, while others stayed much longer (in total the concert lasted about 3hrs). I was impressed with the level of talent and variety of musical styles we got to hear. I was even more pleased that the musicians made a point of sharing why it is they sang/wrote the songs and explained that the songs were all intended to lift up the name of Jesus Christ.

WINGS Gospel Choir

Yukari ★ Gospel

Takayoshi Fukuhara

Maki and Little Lily
The process of getting a driver's license here is definitely more time consuming, difficult, and expensive than our system in the States, but that just comes with living in a different country. It's all a learning process and makes for good stories...later. Even so, I'm relieved to be done with this cultural lesson and am happy to now be licensed on the roads. As a city-dweller I don't necessarily have a need to drive on a daily basis since I can easily go just about anywhere by train and bicycle. But there are times in the past that I've gone with friends on roadtrips and really wished I had a license, in order to split the driving so one person didn't feel so tired. Hopefully I'll get some good use out of this fairly soon! When are my roadtrip buddies coming back?!

The six of us in the picture above passed the driving test for "foreigners" and spent the whole day together at the driver's license bureau, as there are a number of steps yet required even after passing the driving test. Two of the girls are Japanese, but since one got her license in the US and the other got hers in Mexico they had to take the driving test in Japan as foreigners. The other countries represented are Argentina, Philippines, and South Africa. It was fun getting to know everyone and having people with whom to share the experience.

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

As Long as You Are Glorified

Shall I take from Your hand Your blessings
Yet not welcome any pain
Shall I thank You for days of sunshine
Yet grumble in days of rain
Shall I love You in times of plenty
Then leave You in days of drought
Shall I trust when I reap a harvest
But when winter winds blow, then doubt

Oh let Your will be done in me
In Your love I will abide
Oh I long for nothing else as long
As You are glorified

Are You good only when I prosper
And true only when I’m filled
Are You King only when I’m carefree
And God only when I’m well
You are good when I’m poor and needy
You are true when I’m parched and dry
You still reign in the deepest valley
You’re still God in the darkest night

By Mark Altrogge
from the Come Weary Saints album

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)
Last night Miki and I went to an Indian restaurant in Umeda called Cante Grande. We thought the huge mural on the outside wall was worth a picture!

The ambiance of the restaurant was fun, giving us the feel that we were in a different country. And better yet, the food was delicious--curry, kebab, rice, salad. Something interesting about this place was that rather than serving naan with the curry, they served chapti (very much like a tortilla). I kinda missed the naan but enjoyed trying something out of the norm.

I chose the curry/kebab set and Miki got the curry/tandoori chicken set. Couldn't go wrong with either one.

To our amusement, the hot chai they brought us after dinner was served in glasses rather than mugs, making them it impossible to hold them with our bare hands. Soooo, we got creative and found things in our purses that could be used as hot pads while sipping the HOT chai.