SPRING IS HERE!

Hello Friends and Family!

 

Spring is finally here and we are so glad! We were told by many of our Japanese friends that this was an unusually cold winter with the most snow the Tokyo area has experienced in the last 20 to 30 years. It was beautiful but a slight hindrance for a large portion of the population who do not have cars (including us). On that note, I want to show you a photo of what I call a Japanese SUV...

 

 

This is one of the smaller SUV's. It is not unusual to see a mom driving one of these things with three seats. A third seat might be on the inside of the handle bars facing the rider; there are different configurations. The most amazing sight I have seen is a mom with bags of groceries hanging on her bike, three children in seats, and a baby strapped to her body. Think of this the next time you complain about having to put your children in the car and drive across town-- in the pouring rain! Wow! I admire these resilient moms!

 

I have just experienced my first sakura season. You know all those fantastic photos of cherry blossoms that you see on the internet in the advertisements of Japan? Well, they are absolutely true! What a beautiful season here in Japan and the Japanese people take the time to discover the beauty each year as if it was the first time. Here are a few photos of our personal hanami.

 

 

 

We found this quiet creek, canopied with sakura blossoms, in Yokohama. The blossoms last for the better part of two weeks. When the time comes for the blossoms to fall, they look like snow falling in the spring breeze. Totemo subarashi desu!

 

Much is going on here. Fuse Jesus Community is a cell group-based church, and we are preparing to multiply and spread out. This means our current cell groups will divide up and start new cell groups in different parts of the city. It is an exciting time, reaching further! What an awesome group of people! It is an honor to be a part of what God is doing here in Japan!

 

 

 

Girl's Night was an anointed time of testimonies, worship, prayer, and sugar!

 

 

 

A larger house shared by three young men was lent to us for the event, so we could accommodate all the  girls. It was transformed from a man cave into something all the girls could enjoy, complete with candles! It was a wonderful time of sharing God's Love and teaching what it means to have true Christ-centered relationships.

 

 

On Easter Sunday, Fuse Jesus Community had a sunrise service on the roof of our church building. It was cloudy but our spirits were not dampened! We still celebrated the "Son Rise". We had a wonderful time sharing God's Word, worship, food and fellowship.

 

 

I am a part of the "No Limits" cell group and we frequently fellowship outside the cell group or church environment to encourage camaraderie with our current members as well as many new friends not yet familiar with church. We were so blessed by new friends at our latest outing, a picnic in Ikuta Ryokuchi park.

 

 



 

There is much more that I have not shared. It has been a long time since I have blogged about my activities here, so I will bring you up to date with a photo montage of my activities since Thanksgiving, before I sign off.

 

We were gifted tickets to Kabuki Theatre in Shinjuku.

 

 

We were blessed by a visit from Lucas, a friend from Brazil

 



 

New Years Eve traditional Mochi-making event

 



 

Visit to Imperial Palace grounds in Hibiya

 



 

A few of our friends were anxious to meet the Emperor

 



 

Fun at Tokyo Station, Hibiya

 

The masked guy is to scare your children into submission! No Kidding! He was hanging out in the Station.

 



 

A beautiful night out with friends at Canal Café in Iidabashi

 

 

 

PAZ Japan fosters an afterschool program for local school children on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons which is now expanding to include Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Jenny and I will be heading up the two additional days, where we will be teaching English and Bible to children ages 6 to 8 years of age. Please pray for me and Jenny to be guided by God's Wisdom and Love for these beautiful children.

 

Thank you so much for your prayers and generous support! Your partnership with us is much appreciated!

 

Kami Sama ga shukufuku wo shimasu! (God Bless you!)

Rhonda



VISAS GRANTED!!

HI EVERYONE!!

This is just a short blog to let everyone know that Jenny and I received our Religious Activities visas today! We are so excited we can't sleep, so I am writing this blog at midnight!  We had two weeks left on our tourist visa and were looking at buying airline tickets for a short vacation in South Korea in order to extend our stay until the visa process was complete. That will no longer be necessary. 

 

We are looking forward with anticipation to  what God has in store for the great nation of Japan, and so blessed to be a part of it! I want to thank all who pray for us and all who support us!  You are loved and appreciated! 

 

Rhonda

FOOL FOR CHRIST!

KON BAN WA FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SINGING IN THE RAIN

KON BAN WA FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

All is well here in Japan. I think the tropical depression is finally past and the rain is letting up a bit. We have had a good couple of days. It has been a bit cooler and that is a good thing! I love opening all the windows at night, allowing the breeze to blow through the apartment and falling asleep to the sounds of the street. 

 

I am getting to know more people and loving it. I do my best to reach my word quota on those who do speak English! God knows I do like to talk and not being able to communicate is tough! In the meantime I will smile, hug and love as much as possible! I like to do that too!

 

This past Friday night, Jenny and I were walking to an 8:00 PM meeting. It was dark and raining. There were lots of people walking and riding bikes home from work, when a woman rode past us with her small child in his bike seat. They were both in rain coats with hoods, rain and wind swirling in their faces, and the little boy was singing at the top of his lungs as they rode past.  It was a beautiful thing! Still makes me smile!...and complain less! 

 

It is time to turn out the lights and open the windows...

 

Oyasuminasai!

Rhonda 

WHERE I AM

KON BAN WA FRIENDS AND ADVENTURERS!

I just completed two weeks in Japan, and I have to keep reminding myself of that. It doesn't seem like a long time when I say it but it feels like I have been here much longer than 2 weeks. I am sure it has something to do with the steep learning curve and the drastic changes that have taken place in such a short time. The language barrier makes it hard to figure things out, like-- what exactly am I eating! Hey as long as it tastes good and it is not wiggling, I just eat it! I have been asked twice if I have tried the octopus. I understand that eating it live, is a real sensation!

 

Riding bikes and walking is our main mode of transportation locally. We are learning the train system for inter-city travel, as well. We arrived in the rainy season and now there is a tropical depression that has increased the rain. Not much fun on a bike with the wind blowing your raincoat open and the hood off your head. When I get where I am going, I am frequently soaking wet. I washed a few wash cloths by hand the other day and because of the constant rain, I hung them inside the apartment to dry--It took 5 days (just to give you an idea of the humidity level). Thankfully, there is  a small laundry with dryers two doors down. It makes life much easier.

 

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to travel to Iwaki, Fukushima, where the terrible earthquake and tsunami took place in 2011, to attend a Gospel Choir event in their honor. It was absolutely awesome! One choir was made up entirely of people from Iwaki, one of whom said "You have to just keep singing!" What an inspiration!

 

 

The "Celebrate" choir includes people from our church in Noborito. It was a powerful tribute to the wonderful people of Iwaki!

On the way to Iwaki, our first stop was Shinjuku. This photo is of the Fashion College, in a building called the Cocoon. What I saw of Shinjuku reminded me of a very clean New York City. I definitely want to pay this place another visit!

I am studying Japanese and learning to write Hiragana, one of the Japanese alphabets. It is pretty cool or sugoi as they say in Japan. I get excited when I pick up a word or two from a conversation that I actually recognize and understand. I am praying for Divine intervention! Please agree with me that I can learn the language!

Things are in the works here, and it appears that working with children is in my future. A few things that have been talked about are kindergarten teaching assistant this next school year, teaching  private English lessons to children, starting a new Sunday school for the children, and taking care of the children for one of the ladies cell groups so they can study the Bible and fellowship uninterrupted. I am excited to serve in whatever capacity I am needed and God chooses. Please pray for wisdom in the decision making process.

Blessings on each and every one of you! Thank you for your prayers. You are in mine!

Rhonda