LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE!

HELLO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND FELLOW ADVENTURERS!

I must preface this blog by telling you that this week was my daughter's birthday!  As you know she is a fellow missionary here with me in Japan. What an honor to share this part of my life with her!

 

Our cell group threw her a surprise birthday party! The cake is a huge pile of éclairs with lots of chocolate trimmings! Oishii!! Happy Birthday Sweetheart! 

 

Cell groups and one on one discipleship is the heart of the ministry here. I cannot stress the importance of relationship in the body of Christ. The mission here is to spread the Gospel and then take good care of those that God entrusts us with. It is a powerful thing! I don't think I have experienced it quite on this level before. We are a family, one body, and all the parts are vitally important.

 

 

 

 

 

In this demonstration, two blindfolded people work together to pour water into cups following the commands of another person that sees the big picture. 

 

We truly need each other in the body of Christ.  There is only One Who sees everything!  His name is Jesus! We must help one another in completing the work here as we hear from Him! Another person joined in to wipe up the spills...and there will be some! We must learn to forgive and love one another and keep moving forward. Awesome visual!

 

A couple weeks ago many of us from the Fuse Jesus Community went to the GLS Next Conference which is really for the 20 something group...but I wanted to go and catch the vision of a large group of Japanese people worshipping God! Here is what I saw!

 

 

I love to hear the Japanese people worshipping! What a beautiful sound it must be in the ears of our God! He is pursuing Japan with a fervent Love!

 

There were special guests and a talent contest in which two young Japanese men won IPad mini's. The Japanese people never do anything halfway. Some really fantastic talent! Well done!

 

The ministry time was awesome as well with many raising their hands to receive Christ for the first time. Thank you GLS Next for allowing a 50 something to join in. I loved every minute!

 

Fuse Jesus Community is the church I am a part of here in Noborito.  It is a multicultural bilingual church largely made up of young people.  I am one of the oldest people in this church.  I have been referred to as a "mother" to the young people here and I love it! 

 

 

Above you see one of our services with great worship and skits as well as awesome preaching!

 

A common occurrence after the Sunday evening service is a fellowship time with the entire congregation, complete with snacks and drinks. Love it!

 

After that we might attend a local festival if there is one near. In all the festivals the streets are lined with food vendors. The food is (mostly) delicious and relatively inexpensive. At this particular festival, the most interesting food vendor was the guy with whole, large grilled squid on sticks! And no I did not eat it! I do not find anything that large with eight legs to be in the least bit appetizing! Maybe one day!  Who knows! All I can say is... the Japanese do love to party!

 

I watched traditional Japanese dancing while eating my okonomiyaki at this particular festival, which is an awesome cabbage and bacon pancake topped with a sauce that tastes similar to A1 steak sauce. I love it! A Japanese lady here taught me to make it at home. Awesome!

 

Prayer has been intensifying personally and corporately.  I sense a shaking in the darkness here. I believe the light of God's Truth will be seen and understood by the lovely people of Japan! Join with me in praying for the salvation of this awesome nation!

 

Thank you for your prayers and support!  You are loved and appreciated!

 

Rhonda Hurley

 

PS:  I have to share this with my American friends and family even though it seems anticlimactic:

 

This is a nice public restroom here in Japan. Yes that is a child seat on the wall, because you will need 2 hands for this!

 

 

The handrails are for holding on while you do your business. Come Visit! :-)

 

 

 

 





SHORT UPDATE

HELLO THERE!

I have determined not to wait another six weeks before posting an update, so here is an up to the minute report of activities here in Japan!

 

 



 

Costco is an important part of our experience here in Japan. There you can buy American food that you miss like large jars of peanut butter, Hershey's chocolate syrup, and American cheese! You know, all the good stuff! 

 

We went right after prayer Friday night. It was a very crowded 45 minute train ride to Kawasaki City and a 15 minute Taxi ride to Costco. Four of us shared the cab fare so it was about the same cost as the usual bus ride from the train station to Costco and back. Joe, whom you do not see in this photo, was our guide. He has been in Japan for 5 years and speaks Japanese like a native. We chronicled this cab ride for the sake of our friend and fellow missionary Christina, in the middle, who rode in a taxi for the first time in her life! Glad to share the experience with you Christina! ;-)

 

On the ride back home, I almost lost my footing on the miserably crowded train when an elderly lady leaned on me and fell asleep standing up. The press between me and the other passengers kept her in the upright position. This is a common occurrence on the trains. Needless to say that was not a fun ride.

 

 

 

Yesterday we spent the day in Funabashi at the Coffee House Café Ministry. I love this ministry! Once a month Japanese people come to practice their English with native English speakers. Pastor's Tomo and Meg have themed questions to discuss with the patrons. Free coffee, tea and snacks are served. We all discuss the topics in English as much as possible. After all has been discussed, Pastor Tomo gives a short Gospel message that wraps up the theme for the day. I love to talk and meet new people, so this ministry is definitely for me!

 

Here are a few more pics of the Gospel Café ministry trip...

 

 

 

 

We had a great time!  We will be back on November 9th for another great time of ministry and fun!

 

We arrived back in Noborito around 7:15 PM. Just in time for a cell group get together.  Fellowship, worship, prayer and a message from Monica of the Brazilian team marked our time together.

 

 

 

This was actually a video that will not download to this blog as a video, but you get the idea. The song was "Nothing is Impossible!" Worship was intense and powerful! Japan will be saved! Thank You Jesus!

 

Home at 11:30 PM. Sleep!

 

 

More in the days to come!

 

 

I love you!

Rhonda

 

 

 





 

 



I love Japan!

Hi Friends, Family and Fellow Adventurers!

It has been about 6 weeks since my last posting. A lot is going on here and Jenny and I are loving Japan! The weather is cooling off and the humidity is lowering, thank goodness! It was so beautiful yesterday. We took a trip to Mount Fuji. Around every corner, there is a surprise! The landscape reminded me of home in Colorado...so beautiful!

 

 

These ships were docked at the lake in the Hakone area. Wow! So beautiful!  I think you can book a harbor cruise.

 

We started out at 6:30 AM.  It is about a 90 minute drive from where we live to the Hakone area. The lakes and the forest areas are absolutely breathtaking! And of course, Mount Fuji was not a disappointment! These photos do not do it justice.

 

Since our visas were granted six weeks ago, we have been busy with cell groups, discipleships, Bible studies, Kindergarten, much prayer and the Encounter with God Retreat. Here are a few pictures of cell group this past week. Joe led worship and Vaguinho from one of our affiliate churches in Brazil led the group discussion regarding the Love of God.  Check it out...

 

 

People from all over coming together!  China, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brazil, New Zealand and America all in one room!  All worshiping the same God! The Living God! It is a beautiful thing!

 

 

 Please continue to pray for us as we share the Love of God with the wonderful people of Japan. Pray for our words to be His Words and that they open their hearts to the drawing of the Spirit of God. I know without doubt that He is drawing them!

Two weeks ago several members of our church as well as many seekers joined together in the mountains of Uenohara  for an Encounter with God.  It was an incredible time of the Word of God with many powerful skits. A team from Brazil as well as many people from our local church led the Encounter. Months of prayer and fasting went into the preparation. Everything was set up before we arrived. Those of us who had never attended the Encounter before, did nothing but soak it all in. All I can say is WOW! what a powerful and intimate time with God! I would love to say more but there are two of these Encounters each year and I must hide the details for the sake of the future attendees! Not knowing what was coming next made this Encounter all the more powerful. 

There were opportunities to be alone with God. It was cool and quiet. There were beautiful forests, mountain views, and running creeks. Sorry I didn't get more photos!

Many lives were changed! I know mine was!

 

Let me think...What else is going on here...

 

Our Kindergarten had a field trip to the Ueno Zoo a week and a half ago. It was quite a packed train ride there. We left early so we had the pleasure of riding the train during rush hour! All the mom's were present as well as the main teacher and Jenny and I.  Awesome zoo!  Here are a few pics...

 

 This was just inside the entrance and was quite beautiful!

 

I know you have seen a kangaroo before, but this one would wave at the people looking through the fence. 

The Okapi is bizarre and beautiful! It has a striped back side and legs. Wish we could have gotten a better pic of this one.

 



 

And my very favorite of all! The giant panda. So cute sleeping!

 

The children were able to hold and pet rats, guinea pigs and rabbits. Yuck! on the rats, but they seemed to enjoy it. Sorry, no pics of the children, but they were adorable as well and had a great time!

 

 

 

After a day at the zoo we all went for a stroll through the "America Crossing" in Ueno.  As far as the eye could see, street markets.  Looking right and left at each intersection, more markets as far as the eye could see. Apparently this is Japan's image of America?? I don't know... there were some American products. At the entrances of many of the shops, men would stand on boxes and shout prices. It sounded like a bidding war. Actually, there were some really good prices. However, in most places it was so crowded you could hardly move. I will have to go back when I am not with children. Trying to hang on to them in that crowd was a little scary.

 

The following are photos of the residences of the former Marquis Maeda in the Shibuya area. The Marquis were Samurai that became Government Officials. In addition to his castle, he built two homes side by side, one traditional Japanese style home and a Western style home.

 

 



The front yard  and entrance of the traditional Japanese Style Home.

 

 

 

 

 This photo is a bit hazy but you can see the openness of the living areas in the traditional home.

 

 



The floors are tatami. The home is very open and sparsely furnished. It has a very calming effect.
 

 

The backyard is shady and calm. Very beautiful!
 

 

The front hallway leading to the living areas. Love the large open areas! The man taking photos is our friend Masayuki.

 

 

These photos are in random order because I have no idea what I am doing apparently! Anyway this is the stairway in the western style home of the Marquis Maeda.

 

And, of course, this is the front entrance to the Western style home.

 

And one of the living areas. It was nice but I have to say that I prefer the simplicity of the Japanese traditional style.
 

 

However, this is a coffee shop that is now in the Western style home and I did enjoy a great cup of coffee with my new Brazilian friend Monica and Emmy, the daughter of a fellow missionary. Emmy had ice cream instead of coffee! 

 



 

After touring the Marquis residences, we took the train to the downtown Shibuya shopping district. The photo above is with Monica in the Shibuya train station. The painting on the wall behind us was painted by a very famous Japanese painter and was lost for many years and rediscovered recently. It depicts the devastation of the A-bomb.

 

 

 

This is the view from the station.

 

 

Here are a few more street views of the Shibuya shopping district. By the way, great shopping area! Lots of brands I recognized.

 

 

 

 

And for my finale, here are some pics of Akihabara. We stopped here on our way back from Funabashi this past month after helping in the Coffee House ministry there.  This place is called "Electric City". 

 

 

You can see Sega on the huge red building in the distance. This city is all about electronics and computer anything!  If you need it, you can find it here.

 

At the top of the building in red you see the word "Karaoke" written in katakana.  And yes I can read it!  Karaoke is huge here in Japan! I have been to one of the karaoke places here locally for a party. You pay 500 Yen per person (about 5 dollars)  to sing your heart out for 2 hours in a private room with all the ice cream, coffee and soft drinks you can consume! It is really quite a deal and everyone gets a big kick out of it!

 

 

 



This is the ultimate "man" city! The streets are lined with tiny cramped shops and narrow aisled, crowded malls full of every part needed to quite literally build anything and everything electronic from scratch. It is absolutely amazing!



 

That is all for now! I hope you enjoyed the trip through Japan! I certainly do enjoy taking you along with me! 

 

We have a Family Camp coming up in November near Mount Fuji. There should be snow on the top by then, so more photos following! We will be going to a leadership training seminar in Yokohama in two weeks and working in Funabashi this coming Saturday. 

 

Our Brazilian friends will be leaving us this next week and we will be very sad to see them go! It has been a real pleasure and a great blessing to have them here with us!

 

Thank you for your prayers! Japan is coming to Jesus!

 

Much Love and Gratitude!

 

Rhonda