The Sweet Dropper

Sunday, July 26: We’ve had a good Lord’s Day today. Cooked breakfast here (bacon, eggs and toast). Japanese worship service at 10:30 am. Matt Cummins preached from Romans 6:11-14 on being ‘not under law but under grace’ in Japanese, but the preachers always provide English manuscripts for anyone who would like one. I was welcomed as an honored guest and spoke to the congregation at the end of the service on 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20. About 50 or so in attendance–surprising number of young families. Met most of them after the service. So many women expressed thankfulness for FPC Kosciusko’s support of Linda Wixon. She is very dear to them.

Mrs. Ishikawa brought her sister, Mrs. Kondo, by the church to visit me. Mrs. Kondo was the 2nd homestay family I had here 20 years ago. She is older now and in bad health and was on her way to dialysis treatment. We had a nice visit though, with some translation help. I gave both ladies a set of oven mitt/hot pads that Ruth Anne made. This visit was unexpected and very emotional for me.
 
Nelson went off with some teenagers to a convenience store to get their lunch, and I took Linda Wixon and Darlene Johnson to lunch. We had a leisurely lunch at popular ‘famiry restaurant’ (that’s what the signs actually read) Bronco Billy’s. An English-speaking church meets at the Nisshin Christ Church building at 4:00 pm. All Nations Fellowship had a crowd of about 45 people (Japan, U.S., Indonesia, Korea, Brazil, Uruguay, India, and Ukraine represented–appropriately named, huh?). Very good service. A young Korean-born pastor from a church in southern California preached on Lot’s departure from Abraham in Genesis 13, and it was very good. Most of the members and attendees have some connection with the nearby university as faculty or students. I was welcomed and given the opportunity to speak briefly to them in the early portion of the service.
 
In just a bit Linda will take JNP and me for a final meal at the kaitenzushi restaurant (click on the link) down the road. That’s the kind of place where you sit at the counter and the little plates of sushi come around on a conveyor belt in front of you and you take whatever looks good. It’s 105 yen per plate ($1.25). When you’re done, the waitress comes around and counts your stack of plates and hands you a bill. It’s the cheap way to eat sushi here.
 
We’re heading pretty early tomorrow, getting on subway around 6:15 so we can be at the Japan Rail office at Nagoya station around 6:45. I will purchase our train tickets to Narita airport, and we’ll be on our final train ride. Train trip is 2 hours to Tokyo, then 45-90 minutes to Narita, depending on which train we ride (direct, non-stop express is less than 45 minutes. Flight leaves Narita at 3:30 pm for Los Angeles. Keep praying for us.

Saturday, July 25: Quick summary: Shopping for family and friends before we leave on the 27th. Of course I can’t reveal what I’ve bought yet. Linda Wixon has been so kind and accommodating to us while we’ve been in Nagoya. She is a valued member of the MTW team. She is something of a mother to the young short-term workers. She is often the first face new Japanese people meet when they attend an event at the Nisshin Christ Church. Linda tutors students in English, gives American cooking lessons, hosts weekly ‘Moms and Kids’ events at the church which focus on family life, childhood development, and fun. A number of the ladies who enroll in these classes become interested in Bible study and become ’seekers.’

On Saturday evening we attended a fun night and talent show at Nisshin Church–mostly college students and the American missionaries and their families. We played some games (mostly in English, but some in Japanese), played ping-pong, and had snacks. Most everyone did some kind of talent-some silly, some serious performance. Some sang, some played guitar or flute. I sang and played ‘Your Song’ by Elton John to much critical acclaim. Matt, one of the missionaries, told me that they don’t do that sort of thing enough. There is a genuine love and affection shared here among the Japanese believers and the American missionaries. It was a sweet way to end a Saturday.

Friday, July 24: Our Japan Rail passes expire today (if you come to Japan, you really ought to look into this inexpensive way to use a super-fast, clean and effecient rail system–like nothing in America), so we scheduled a trip to Hiroshima–a bit over two hours by Shinkansen rail line. It was another overcast and drizzly day, but not enough to need to open the umbrella. Of course you know what one comes to see in Hiroshima. We visited Peace Memorial Park and the A-bomb Dome and the museum which chronicles in excruciating detail the history of the city, the war policies that led up to the dropping of the bomb, the immediate and long-term effects of the bomb on the people and environment, and the rebuilding of the city. I cannot yet put into words how sobering it is to stand on the t-shaped bridge that was the target of the first nuclear attack in human history. The Enola Gay crew didn’t miss by much, as the bomb detonated about 100 yards away and 600 yards above the city. Any serious student of World War II (and I am not one…my interests are still 19th century) ought to visit Hiroshima.

After seeing all the A-bomb history, it’s hard to be a lively, enthusiastic tourist, so we didn’t see much after that. I’m kicking myself for passing on the opportunity to buy that box of huge smoked oysters on a stick, vacuum-packed and ready to come back to the U.S. (Hiroshima is famous for its oysters, I’m told).

Thursday, July 23: Early start this morning as JNP and I did a bit of manual labor. We helped clean out a storage shed that belongs to the team. The shed sits on a property that is the site for a future church plant. The shed contains a lot of odds and ends–mostly home furniture that belongs (or belonged) to team members and is available for use by new team members and short-term workers as needed. There is also quite a bit of old office supplies and books from days gone by. When Linda Wixon opened the door, I saw that I couldn’t walk inside–it was that full. So we began hauling things outside. Linda and Peter decided whether to throw it away or keep it. The throwaways were then organized into ‘burnable’ or ‘non-burnable’, packed into a van or car, and hauled to the dump. We worked there until about noon. When we finished, I could walk inside and reach most anything inside the shed–very satisfying work…maybe I could try this skill I have learned overseas and apply it to the storage room in my own garage.

Andrew, one of the summer workers, took us to the onsen as a reward for our labors–and a great reward it was. Thursday evening, JNP spent time with the Bakelaars while I had the pleasure of being reunited with Rev. Takatoshi Mistumoto, pastor of the Megumi-no-Izumi (Fountain of Grace) Church. Pastor Mistumoto and I worked side-by-side almost every day during the summer of 1989. The church was just starting in those days. He and I walked through many neighborhoods distributing flyers and meeting people. I helped lead some of the first English classes held in the church. He took me out to eat (best meal I’ve had yet: Nagoya-style udon with chicken and clams!) and we visited for a long time, comparing photos and talking about Jesus’ work in building his church. Seeing him made me very happy and thankful.

If you want to see pictures from the first few days of our trip, click here.

Wednesday, July 22: Jet lag has not been bad, but I am usually wide awake when my 6 am alarm sounds. But this morning I was able to sleep until 8! Nelson and I caught up on some reading and correspondence, then walked to Nisshin Christ Church. Our hopes of viewing the solar eclipse were dashed by cloud cover. We were supposed to have a near 50% eclipse here. We later spoke with some people who caught a glimpse through a break in the clouds. At Nisshin Church we met Peter and Diane Bakelaar, who are members of the Nagoya team. Peter is leading the team while Wayne Newsome is in the States. Their son Evan is the same age as Nelson. The two of them went off for the afternoon. I had an extended visit with Peter and took two of the summer workers to lunch.

The day’s main work for us took place in the evening. Nelson was the invited guest of another English class–this one a bit more advanced than the one we visited the night before. I was asked to teach at a men’s study group. Most of the men are Christians of varying maturity. I spoke to them from Mark 1 about the baptism of Jesus; team member Matt Cummins translated for me. After my 30-minute teaching time was over, we had a 45-minute discussion. The men were eager to ask questions. We covered baptism, the incarnation, the Holy Spirit, and the nature of conversion! One man commented that after tonight’s meeting he should be well on his way to earning a seminary degree. Speaking of seminary, there are seminary classes going on the Nisshin Church as well. I had the opportunity to meet briefly with and encourage a handful of students who were studying together upstairs. The Presbyterian Church of Japan (PCJ) has an extension program that meets in Nagoya.

Thanks again for your prayers.

Tuesday, July 21: Tuesday we cooked our own breakfast in the apartment (omelettes and toast), finished laundry, watched some CNN, rested up a bit and then were taken to nearby Seto City, where we attended a meeting of the Rotary Club of Seto North–a club about the same size as that of Kosciusko, of which I am a member. We ate lunch there (beef curry, one of my favorites, but JNP did not like). I exchanged banners with the president and was asked to address the club for a few minutes. People were very welcoming and I exchanged many business cards. We met a Rotary exchange student from Finland who is about to return home after spending a year in Japan. We discovered that she is a believer, and she was very excited to meet an evangelical pastor. She found more Christian fellowship in Japan than she has back home in Finland. 
 
After the meeting we travelled on our own back into Nagoya and did the tourist thing–a tour of Nagoya Castle. Nagoya Castle, built in 1612, was one of the largest, most sophisticated castles of the Edo period. It was destroyed by an Allied bombing raid in May, 1945, but was reconstructed in 1959 and is now a seven-story museum about ancient Japanese history. We even made it back to the apartment by ourselves by subway, then by bus. Then we met at the church with some of the short-term workers–college students who have been doing what I was doing here 20 years ago. After that we had supper (Mexican casserole and grits, cooked by Linda Wixon) with an English class. Conversational English classes are one of the primary ways the MTW team establishes contact and builds relationships with local residents. The four class members ”interviewed” us as their English work for the night. We ended up talking about Japanese politics and American politics, Nelson’s impressions of Japan, and food. Around 9, Nelson and I walked to the local Starbucks, which was filled with college students cramming for exams (a university is nearby).

Monday, July 20: Said goodbye to Yamagata. Boarded Shinkansen for a 400 mile journey to Tokyo Station (done in about 2 hours, 45 minutes, including stops!), then switch to train for Nagoya, about 250 miles more. Weather changed from sunny in the mountains to drizzly along the coastal areas. Took subway to end of the line in eastern Nagoya, where MTW missionary Linda Wixon was waiting to pick us up in her car. Linda has been on the MTW Nagoya team since 1998. She is letting us stay in her apartment while we are in Nagoya. She is bunking with fellow team member Darlene Johnson, who lives just a few minutes away. Linda is so appreciative of this visit from members of one of her supporting churches. Returning to this area has caused a flood of memories to rush back into my brain. I served here as a summer worker in 1989. I remember the subway and bus stops and many of the streets, but much has changed. This area has grown significantly in the last 20 years. The Nagakute Church has relocated, its old building now used as a Christian school. Linda and the team work primarily out of the Nisshin Christ Church, which was not in existence when I was last here. We have a number of opportunities ahead to encourage the MTW team and to make Japanese friends as well.

BONUS: Link to a piece by columnist Mark Steyn on some of Japan’s demographic problems.

Sunday night, July 20: The Lord’s Day has been very good: breakfast buffet at hotel (VERY Japanese: nothing says ‘Good morning’ like onion rings, fried sardines, a chilled omelette and beef curryt good) . Taxi took us to Unification church (Sun Yung Moon’s cult) by mistake. They really wanted us to stay, but I told them I would stay if they let me preach Christ to them. They declined. A member drove us to the Presbyterian church. Wonderful people there. I spoke to them about our relationship with Kaz and about our church’s vision and values. We had covered dish dinner afterward, which was great. Members of the church shared their testimony with us. Many of them have come to faith in Christ and been baptized in the last five years. Nelson met some boys close to his age, and they spoke the international language of video games and movies. The boys were sad that Nelson is leaving tomorrow. A young lady in the church, Shio, went to Belhaven College with Danielle Temple and visited FPC Kosciusko a few years back.

Spent the afternoon at Kaz Yaegshi’s home. He is reovering from surgery in late June in which 55% of his stomach was removed. due to cancer. Good, edifying conversation. Nelson is an eager student of Japanese, and he is finding many tutors. Katie gave him a preschooler’s book to help him learn to write a little. Ate supper at Yaegashi home (sloppy joes, salad, fruit, and yogurt). Back at hotel, we walked through a giant grocery store right behind hotel, then came back to relax in the onsen spa on the top floor.