by Whitey | Apr 18, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
Is it Friday again already? Life seems to be moving pretty fast these days. The days fill up quickly and the next thing you know it, another week has passed. It makes these Weekly Re-Caps hard to write. But here goes. This week I’ll talk about my new routine…
I’m getting into a pretty regular routine now that school’s full-time: I get up at around 6:30, have a shower, then have breakfast, coffee and quiet time. I leave for school between 8 and 8:30, depending on whether I’m biking or taking the subway. Biking takes more time and effort, but it’s good exercise, and I enjoy the trip. The subway is faster but really crowded that time of day, and more depressing; just picture a train car full of sleepy salarymen, office ladies and students, crammed in like sardines, most of them going somewhere they don’t want to be going, especially that time of day. Yeah, biking is better.
I’m in class from about 9 AM till 12:35 PM, then in the afternoon I need to spend at least 2 hours studying and doing homework. Then I have “missionary stuff” to do, which means anything from preparing for an ESL Bible study, to emailing supporters, to internship work. So there’s always something to do, whether it feels like ministry or not.
As I said, the days fill up pretty quickly.
Prayer Points: This week the new pastor, Uchiyama-sensei, arrived. His first prayer meeting was Wednesday night. That same night the outgoing pastor’s family left, and the moving company took their stuff away the next day. Pray-ers, please continue to pray for the church as it goes through this transition time. Pastor Uchiyama’s first Sunday as Nagoya Immanuel’s pastor is this weekend. Also, please keep praying for my studies (we’re moving quickly into new and uncharted territory!) and God’s guidance for my ministry here. Thanks!
And that’s a wrap for this week. If you haven’t been here all week, scroll on down and see what I’ve added — there was a bunch of new stuff this week. See you next week.
by Whitey | Apr 17, 2008 | Life in Japan, Photos, Videos
This past weekend, as I mentioned before, Zach came to Nagoya. I had the task of being his tour guide, which was kind of nice, because it gave me someone to do some site-seeing with (the locals, just like back home, take local landmarks for granted).
We met up Saturday morning around 10 at Nagoya Station. After a brief discussion we decided on three things to do: visit Midland Square (tallest building in Nagoya) and check out the view of the city; go to Nagoya Castle, where they were having a samurai parade and battle re-enactment (which was not nearly as cool as it sounds); and travel to Gifu (the neighboring prefecture) for the Fire Festival, which just happened to be going on Saturday night.
The Fire Festival was just as crazy as the name implies. Basically, a bunch of “bare-chested, sake-fueled men” (as the article read) carried around portable shrine things making lots of noise — typical Japanese festival stuff, but with the addition of fireworks being shot into the air, lighting up lanterns and sending ashes and sparks down on the aforementioned bare-chested men. There were also lots of booths set up selling various food and souvenir items. Zach got a bbq squid on a stick and I bought a huge bbq sausage on a stick; there were lots of things on sticks, now that I think of it. There were also lots of people.
Anyway, here are some photos and videos from Midland Square, Nagoya Castle and even Gifu (where it was too dark and far from the action to get good video on a cell phone but if you look carefully you may see some of those bare-chested men dancing beneath the flames).
Nagoya Castle and the surrounding cityscape,
as seen from Midland Square:
Fierce-looking samurai warriors:
Me! At the Castle:
Me again! On top of a replica of one of the
“Golden Dolphins” that adorn the top of the outside of the Castle:
More fierce samurai. Myself included:
Zach and his squid-stick:
The craziness just getting started in Gifu:
Lanterns on FIRE!
Going up the elevator at Midland Squre:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6KBFsyCbJU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]
Taiko drummers at the Castle:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBBKP0TzGTg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]
Craziness at the Fire Festival:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=958unGkOeFs&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]
by Whitey | Apr 11, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
This week…
1. I had my first full week of full-time language classes. Lots of review for me, since it’s the same stuff I took in January, but it’s moving much more quickly. I’m trying to take advantage of the ease of the current workload and memorize the words I missed the first time. And hopefully get ahead and stay ahead. Soon enough we’ll be into uncharted territory.
2. Things at the church have been chaotic, as renovations were being done, boxes and furniture were being moved in and out, and lots of stuff went out with the trash — all part of pastoral transition time.
3. Fellow missionary Zach came to Nagoya. I haven’t seen him yet but we’ve made plans to meet up and see some sights together tomorrow. Expect to read about the fun here.
If you’re a pray-er, please pray for…
1. My language studies
2. Pastor Saoshiro and family — this coming Sunday is their last one here.
3. Pastor Uchiyama and family — the new pastor, who begins next week.
Thanks! That’s a wrap for this week!
by Whitey | Apr 4, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
Last week I was away and off-line for a few days, so I didn’t get to post a re-cap. So this week I’ll attempt to sum up the past two weeks concisely, in point-form.
- Last Wednesday afternoon, I hopped the Shinkansen to Yokohama and found my way to the Wesleyan mission house, where I was hosted hospitably by the Probsts, WGM missionaries.
- Thursday was spent hanging out with fellow-GP-missionary Andrea, and our boss’s boss’s boss Wesleyan General Superintendent Dr. Jerry Pence, along with his two sons, sight-seeing in Tokyo. Photos will follow when I get around to it.
- Friday, Saturday and Sunday I attended several sessions of the Immanuel Church’s annual national conference. Friday night I gave a testimony in the evening service, and Saturday I gave greetings — in Japanese! — during one of the business meetings.
- Sunday night after conference I came back to Nagoya. Tired.
- Monday morning I wrote, survived, and passed my Japanese exam.
- Tuesday morning I had orientation and a placement exam for my full-time course.
- Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (today) I had class in the morning and studied in the afternoons. So far the new class is super-easy because we’re back to square one, covering the stuff I was doing in January, which was already pretty easy since I’d studied it before. But it’ll get much harder pretty soon I’m sure.
- Yesterday I also shot some photos in Nagoya Central Park and did some recording for a soon-to-be-released (maybe even tonight) podcast, in which I talk more about conference, the needs of Japan and the Japanese church, my studies and what’s going on here at the Nagoya church. Check back soon!
And that’s a wrap for now.
by Whitey | Mar 28, 2008 | Life in Japan
One recent weekend I was wandering around taking pictures and enjoying the nice weather (It’s spring here, you know, and that actually means something, unlike back in Canada). In front of Nagoya Station, probably the busiest part of the city, I saw the above-pictured group of people offering free hugs to passers-by. I watched for a while, while literally hundreds of people passed by and barely anyone stopped for a hug. If someone did stop, it was some really extroverted person. I saw others try unsuccessfully to persuade their friends to go get a hug, too. But still, hardly anyone stopped, though many looked and smiled or laughed or looked away like they were embarrassed.
It was an interesting sociological experiment to watch, as I’m sure it would have had different results in another culture. You don’t see a lot of public displays of affection in Japan, especially between people who have just met. Interestingly enough, Zach had a similar experience a while back, all the way up in Tokyo.
I’m not sure who this particular group was (This was one of the many times I’ve wished my Japanese was more developed) but they were nice enough to let me take their picture. I also got hugs from all five of them — which is five more hugs than I’d gotten since coming to Japan 3 months ago. Made my day.
by Whitey | Mar 27, 2008 | Life in Japan
I was wandering around in Sakae (a busy, trendy shopping district of Nagoya) one Friday night and heard what sounded like live music. I followed the sound a sure enough, there was a band playing on the sidewalk in front of a certain department store near a busy street corner. And they’re weren’t just your typical acoustic sidewalk musicians either. They were a full-on rock band, playing classic blues-rock style music, loud a clear, the only thing missing a lead singer. They were good enough (and fun enough to watch) that I stayed quite a while. I also took a lot of photos and even shot some video, but the department store closed and turned of their huge neon window sign, so the lighting wasn’t so good.
The best part of the whole show was when the cops showed up. Turns out the band’s cars (parked right behind them) were illegally parked. So right in the middle of another jam session, the guitarist and bass player had to take off and move the cars before they got ticketed or towed. The drummer and organist kept playing for a while, but paused after a few minutes while the organ guy handed out flyers. Soon, though, the other returned and they picked up seemingly right where they left off, without missing a beat. I was actually quite impressed.
You never know what you’re going to find when you go wandering the streets of Japan on a Friday night.
by Whitey | Mar 26, 2008 | Ministry News
The following is a copy of my April prayer letter, emailed yesterday (yes I know it’s not April yet) to my supporters. If you’d like to get these by email, drop me a line. Several have bounced back as failures, so if you’re supposed to have gotten one, let me know that to. You can use the form on the Support page.
Also, you’ll notice the letter says I’m going away. The blog will keep updating while I’m gone, as I’ve pre-posted (thank you WordPress!) a few things for later this week and Monday. So feel free to keep coming back to see what’s new.
—————————————————————–
Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a great Easter! I’m going away for a few days this week, and wanted to send out a quick prayer letter first.
I leave tomorrow afternoon for Yokohama (near Tokyo) in order to attend the Immanuel Church annual national conference. The conference will featuring worship services in the evenings, with guest speaker Dr. Pence (Wesleyan General Superintendent). It’s also when the Immanuel pastors and leaders come together to give reports and do some planning for the coming year, and when pastoral appointments for the coming are announced.
For my small part, I’ll be bringing greetings during one of the sessions. I’ll also have the opportunity to get together with the other Immanuel Wesleyan Federation (IWF) missionaries. IWF is the partnership between Global Partners (Wesleyan missions), World Gospel Mission (another missions organization) and Immanuel General Mission (the Japanese church). This will actually be the first time for all of the current North American missionaries to be together at the same time, so I’m definitely looking forward to it.
Please pray:
1. For safe travel for everyone attending.
2. For God’s leading and anointing on Dr. Pence’s ministry.
3. For God’s blessing on the leadership of Dr. Isaac Saoshiro, IGM’s president.
4. For the pastors who will be making transitions this year.
5. For my greetings — I’ll be attempting to do them in Japanese in front of a big crowd!
6. For my Japanese exam and studies — I get back to Nagoya on Sunday night, have my final exam (for the part time course) on Monday morning, and then begin full-time studies with orientation and a placement exam on Monday! Busy, busy…
Thanks, everyone, for your continuing prayers and encouragement! You all mean a lot to me!
Blessings,
– robin
by Whitey | Mar 21, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
Highlights of my week, in convenient, numbered form:
1. Sunday we had a “mina kuukingu” (Cooking Together) event at the church, where we broke into groups and enjoyed a time of making Indian flat bread, and then eating it with a super good Indian curry. For dessert — crapes. Yum. There was a great turn-out, a few of whom were not regular attenders or members.
2. Monday I studied for what I think was my all-time high for one day: 6 hours. That’s about one hour before class, three hours in class and 2 hours after. It was tiring but much needed and beneficial.
3. Wednesday after class I met up with my friend Kenji for lunch, a visit to a music store (he wanted to stock up on guitar strings), a Starbucks session and various other wanderings. Not a big deal, really, but it’s nice to have friends here, even better to have Japanese friends in my own age bracket. In Osaka I hung around expats mostly, and my Japanese connections were mostly students who were older adults or kids.
4. Speaking of my year in Osaka, my former bosses Hideki and Kayoko are scheduled to be here in Nagoya tomorrow, so I’m getting together with them in the afternoon.
5. Last but not least, I got to do some good, old-fashioned idol smashing (see previous post for the full story).
by Whitey | Mar 21, 2008 | Life in Japan, Thoughts on Missions
I hesitated to share this story because I don’t want to come across as culturally insensitive or religiously intolerant. So first let me say that I do respect people of other religions (here in Japan it’s Buddhism and Shinto), whether I agree with them (or even understand them), or not. I would never purposely do anything to offend someone. I would never enter a typical Japanese person’s home as a guest and start criticizing them for having a family shrine or Buddhist altar in their house. If I visit a public temple or shrine I try to be quiet and respectful and to not disturb people.
On the other hand, I will celebrate for and with someone who leaves all that behind and embraces Jesus Christ.
And now that I’ve gotten that disclaimer out of the way…
Last night I had the rare privilege of helping the assistant pastor destroy a couple of Buddhist shrines. And it felt really, really, really good.
An elderly lady from the church had them from before she became a Christian. Actually, she came to Christ several years ago but her husband, who died back in November, became a Christian more recently, about a year before passing away. She couldn’t bring herself to destroy them, either for fear (in Japan, religion seems to be more about fear and superstition than anything) or because of the family connection, or both. So she brought them to the church for us to take care of, and for some reason the pastors thought it would be a good experience for me.
What they didn’t know is how much I enjoy breaking stuff.
Unfortunately we live in the city so burning them was out of the question for safety reasons. Plus the neighbors might complain. But we did have some good hammers. And boy, we wrecked those shrines and everything in them — real good. I mean, Buddha’s head just went flying. There was broken wood, nails (I almost impaled myself at least once) torn paper, dust, incense and other wreckage everywhere. It took about a half hour to dismantle everything, and another 10 minutes or so to clean up after ourselves.
Good times.
Seriously, though, it really was a good experience. I’d never seen such literal, tangible idolatry before I came to Japan. Being a part of someone’s deliverance from that felt good (even though I had nothing to do with these people coming to Christ, just laying the physical symbols of that past to rest). It was like something out of the Old Testament during one Israel’s times of turning back to God. It was a symbolic breaking away from the past. It was an outward, visible sign of a changed life. It meant freedom from the past, from superstition, from false gods, from evil spirits.
For Japanese people, making that kind of break is difficult. Not just the getting rid of physical symbols of the past, but actually breaking away from generations of family and community and society tradition in a homogenous, conformist, group-oriented society.
What I saw last night, for me, symbolized what I’d like to see more of. Changed lives. That’s why I’m here.
by Whitey | Mar 15, 2008 | Weekly Re-Cap
I’m getting pretty bad at keeping up with these weekly re-caps, aren’t I? Either I’m a day early or a day late or I just don’t know what to say.
Honestly it’s been a pretty quiet week in real life as well as on this blog. That’s not to say I haven’t been doing anything, just that even while living in a foreign country you get into a routine. Routines aren’t bad. In fact, I’m looking forward to getting into more of a routine myself. It helps me get things done.
Life will have more routine for me starting next month when I’m a full-time Japanese student and when I take on more ministry stuff through the church. In the meantime, I’m trying to enjoy the flexibility and freedom I’ve got now. I’m also trying to use my free time more constructively and creatively. It’s good to exercise the other half of my brain at least once a week; it’s refreshing. It’s also, I believe, good preparation for potential future ministry (see previous post).
I’ve got some new ideas I’m toying with, now that SkitZo MaN is going into retirement. I haven’t given myself any deadlines or anything, though — that would make it too much like work, and I don’t need more stressors. I just need something relaxing to do when I’m not nose deep in Japanese textbooks.
The next couple of weeks I’ll be busy with preparations for my final exam, the annual conference and the full-time course. That may or may not mean fewer web updates. In the meanwhile, if you’re a pray-er, please keep me in your prayers. And have a great weekend, wherever you are.
