Now that the internet is up and running, I plan to keep everyone up to date on the latest happenings around here. In the past few days, Jenny and I have made a trip to Yokohama, Japan with our lovely new friend Hitomi. Yokohama is a Japanese Naval Port and according to the History Museum it is called the "Foreign City" of Japan. It is very westernized and modern. Here are a few pics:
Unfortunately the amusement park was closed or I would have definitely had a great time on that ferris wheel! When we walked past the old sailing ship above, which is now a museum, they were playing "Home on the Range" over loud speakers. I had to laugh!
PAZ Japan has a church in Funabashi, Japan, pastored by a young Japanese couple, Tomo and Meg. As an outreach, their church has a coffee house. Once a month on a Saturday, people are invited to come and practice their English with native English speakers. The cost is 300 yen, which is about $3.00 for all the coffee or tea you can drink and free snacks. The pastor has a theme that begins with questions written on the board to guide the English discussions at the tables and ends with the pastor preaching a short Bible sermon to round out the session, which then provokes more questions about the Bible. Love it!! What a great outreach! Jenny and I are now two of the native English speakers in this outreach! We had so much fun! Can't wait till next time! Sorry, no pics of Funabashi...maybe next time!
On our way to Funabashi, we met a young Mongolian woman on the train. She struck up a conversation with us. She spoke some English and we discovered that she knows Christ, she doesn't like Japan, her husband works in Tokyo, and they live with her uncle, she has had heart surgery, and she has no friends here. She eagerly gave us her phone number. We told her we would call her and she said "I am waiting!" I think this was a Divine appointment!
Last night we were invited by Kokoro, one of our new Japanese friends at church, to the Awa-Odori Folk Dance Festival in Kyodo, Japan. The narrow streets of the city were packed with on-lookers as the festival began. The dance troops danced through the streets close enough to touch. The women were beautiful and poised as they danced and the men were wild and vibrant. It was beautiful and colorful! Being a foreigner and ignorant of what this festival is about, I enjoyed it as a cultural experience. Some of the fine Japanese cuisine that was available through the local vendors were hot dogs on sticks, served with mustard and ketchup, snow cones, cotton candy, popcorn and beer! Somehow that stopped my cultural experience in it's tracks for a moment! Here are a few dance pics for your cultural enjoyment!
After the festival I did have the chance to enjoy Takoyaki which is a fried, ball shaped, Japanese snack. It is generally filled with chopped octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger and green onions. Ours had rather large chunks of octopus in the center. They were covered with barbeque sauce, mayonnaise and thin fish flakes. Very interesting! And chewy! Probably won't make a habit of it!
I came home and Googled the festival to learn the words that were chanted in Japanese as the beautiful dancers made their way through the streets of Kyodo. These are the well known words of the song they sang: "It is a fool who dances and a fool who watches! If both are fools, you might as well have fun dancing!"
Little did they know that one on-looking fool was a fool for Christ and all the while I was praying for their salvation! God do a mighty work in Japan!
Oyasumenasai!
Rhonda
