omf serve asia japan

Day 13 - I still call Australia home

2005-12-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 14 2005 AD

Day 13 - Snowflakes keep falling on my head..

2005-12-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 14 2005 AD

Spent this afternoon nearby the church passing out pamphlets to peoples' mailboxes. Finding the mailboxes can sometimes get tricky.. it usually requires going round to the side of the house, almost like entering one's backyard in order to find the front sliding doors, before stepping into a little porch area to find the mailbox. Occasionally the owner would be home, in which case you said gomen kudasi (please excuse me), introduce yourself and let them know that you're from the Itayanagi Chapel and request that they read the pamphlet. Gets alittle getting use to to as it feels like you're invading someone's property.

Today's tracting outing was more challenging because we had to negotiate through knee-high levels of snow! It was quite a unique experience, some people refused the flyers, but most obliged and took the pamphlets courteously. Despite being caught in a snow storm, near frozen limbs, soggy clothes and socks, tracting is an important ministry as it one of the most effective ways for the church to initate a relationship with the local community.

Micah and Alex even had time to make snow angels in the crispy fresh snow!

Day 13 - OMF Prayer Meeting

2005-12-14T14:28:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 14 December 2005 AD

The morning kicked off with a short devotion, carol practice before heading to the northern part of Aomori, Ajigasawa where the Elliots reside for a prayer meeting with other OMF missionaries based in Aomori.

Car rides tend be a good time for some to catch up on much needed sleep. I tend to think long car rides are sweet for conversations. The OMF missionaries that drive us around share many stories with us about themselves, the church and just how God has worked in the lives of many people in Japan.

The cedar pine forests that we entered on our way to Ajigasawa were breath-taking. The amazing thing about the forest is that it during WWII, the land was totally wasted and had to be replanted from scratch.

After morning tea, we spent some time singing carols. We met two short term workers staying with the Elliots, John from Ireland and Shirley from New Zealand.

The meeting was productive, encouraging and inspiring in that we spent most of the time praying, giving thanks for the work God has been doing in Japan and around the world as well as asking God to provide for the needs of gospel workers in order to further proclaim His kingdom and His glory.

ps. the Christmas tree at Ajigasawa Chapel had edible christmas decorations!

Prayer points:
- Thank God that he is a relational God who listens and answers prayers
- Thank God for the opportunity to hear and pray about gospel work in Japan and abroad.
- Ask that God will continue to raise up godly men and women to continue the work of the gospel for His kingdom and glory.

External links:
http://www.ajigasawachapel.com

Day 12 - a full day

2005-12-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 13 December 2005 AD

Preschool
- English class

Kanagi
- Lunch with the Messers. Curry!

Team went to senior home

Went to gallery
- Next door neighbour

Kids prepared for Christmas Skit. Others in the team talked to the parents.

Prayer points:

Day 11 - Sickness setting in...

2005-12-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

Monday, 12 December 2005 AD

Uh-oh.. a number of our team are not sleeping well or getting sick

Prayer points
- Pray for those who are sick and not feeling well.
- Pray that the rest of the team don't get sick as well.

Day 10 - International Chapel

2005-12-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 11 December 2005 AD

Third service for the day.. this time in English!

4 people shared their testimonies tonight. Hoi Yan, Grace, John from the team went up and shared before Masao Nakahara, who had been baptised earlier in the day at Ichigawa Chapel (where the Elliots pastor), gave another moving testimony.

John Elliots' sermon was on Luke 1:26-38. The main idea of his talk was that having an attitude of trusting and obeying God in the little things makes it easier to say yes to Him in the difficult patches of life.

We had a supper to celebrate Masao's baptism and the team got to meet many people from around the world, including:

The Ongs - OMF workers from Singapore/Malaysia.
Michael and his wife Svetlana - from England and Ukraine.

Prayer points:
- Thank God for the provision of His word and His faithfulness.
- Pray for Masao who was baptised today. Thank God for his salvation and for sharing his testimony at the International Chapel. Pray that Masao will continue to grow in his love, trust and obedience to King Jesus.
- Thank God for bringing people from around the world together at Itayanagi, Japan to worship Him !

Day 10 - Kanagi Chapel

2005-12-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 11 December 2005

Shortly after the service at Itayanagi Service, Grace, Hoi Yan, Debbie, John and Alex set off for Kanagi Chapel which involved catching two trains.

We were fortunate to catch Japan's only train that has it's own fireplace! Apparently you can cook food (except fish) with it too! Hopped off at Ashinokouen for a scenic walk to Kanagi Chapel and had afternoon tea with Armin and Heike before the service.

Alex shared his testimony at the service, with Hoi Yan doing the translation.

Prayer points:
- Thank God for two new people visiting the Kanagi chapel this afternoon. Pray that Armin and Heike may be able to follow these people up.

Day 10 - 11am Itayanagi Chapel

2005-12-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 11 December 2005 AD

English Class
Team members helped Ruth out with teaching English Class this morning. Children paired off with a team member and went through picture cards and went through pronounciation.

Ruth taught the children to sing 'Away in a Manger' in English.

Morning Service.
3 people shared their testimonies this morning: Huy, Tin Lok and Catherine.

God answered our prayers! Ryo and Mikio, who we met at Young Life came to church for the first time. They didn't stay throughout the service as Ryo had to go back home for a family lunch, but they got to hear some testimonies and got a taste of what happens at a Sunday church service.

Prayer points:
- Pray that God will seed the ideas about Christmas in the children and parents who attend this morning's English class
- Thank God that Ryo and Mikio came to church for the first time. Pray that they will come again and be receptive to the gospel message. Ryo said that he'll come along to the Aussie Night.
- Thank God for the opportunity to encourage each other through the sharing of testimonies this morning.

Day 09 - Starcraft in Mogawa

2005-12-10T22:40:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 10 December 2005 AD

Tsugaru Church - Kanagi Chapel held a Christmas craft class in Mogawa, a town in Aomori Prefecture without a church. Several members of our team joined Heike Messer and her mother who flew in last week from Germany to teach people to make straw star crafts.

We had some left over cookies and cake left over from the Children's Christmas Party earlier today, so Ruth shared them with the hyper active children who waited for the parents while they did their craft class.

It was quite freaky on the way home.. first time in a snow storm!

Prayer points:
- Pray that the Lord will use the Christmas craft classes held my Heike and her mother on 10th in Mogawa, 17th in Shiura, 17th in Imabtsu, 23rd in Kanita for His glory. Neither of these four towns in Aomori Prefecture have churches. Pray that small groups can be started in each of these towns.
- Two of the women who attended the Christmas craft have attended Kanagi Chapel services once or twice. Pray that Heike may build relationships with these women through these craft classes.
- Thank God for a long yet productive day.
- Thank God for a safe journey on the roads home during the snow storm.

Day 09 - Kids' Christmas Party

2005-12-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 10 December 2005 AD

Great news, despite lots of snow, the kids' christmas party was well attended.

More details later!

Day 09 - Touch me with your love

2005-12-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 10 December 2005 AD

Ruth gave us a recipe to make a pear cake this morning.

The cakes will be used for a Kids' Christmas Party this afternoon. The Japaneses appreciate how much time, love and effort Ruth puts in baking cookies and cakes all year round.

Even though baking cookies seems to be a long and ardious process I'm beginning to see just how valuable Ruth's cooking ministry is in supporting the work of Martin in teaching God's word to the Aomori region.

ps: notice how Grace looks like Beth Orton in the last photo.. hence the song title for the post hehe :p

Prayer points:
- Thank God for the time, love and effort people put into baking the cakes. Pray that this will point the people to Christ.
- Pray that Ruth's cooking ministry will continue to be fruitful in building relationships with the community and supporting Martin's teaching ministry.

Day 09 - 6:30am tracting

2005-12-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 10 December 2005 AD

Rural Japan's biggest need? People need to hear about Jesus and for relationships to be formed in order to bring people to the churches. With Shinto-Buddist temples and shrines scattered everywhere, this part of japan is in many ways unreached in regards to the Christian message. Another barrier is simply geography. A single town is not usually large enough to support a church, so anyone going to a church is likely to need to travel some distance to attend church or any outreach functions at the church. Trains don't run very often in rural areas and a car is usually required to drive to the church. This limits the number of children, poor, and wives with husbands who are not happy about involvement at church.

One thing that we're doing with the Itayanagi Chapel is tracting in the surrounding villages. Putting things in people's mailboxes is not illegal in Japan and it is a fairly common method of announcement (assuming that the organization has more available labor-time than money for stamps).

By providing flyers introducing the long-term missionaries along with a gospel tract, it's an opportunity to create awareness within the community about the church and an invitation to check it out.

Prayer points:
- Pray that God will work in people's hearts to make them responsive to the gospel
- Pray that the Ghents will be able to form relationships with people in surrounding villages so that the gospel may be proclaimed

Day 08 - Young Life

2005-12-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

Friday, 09 December 2005 AD

The youth group at Itayanagi Chapel is called Young Life. Tonight, we had pizza, jam sessions, played games and shared testimonies.

Prayer points:
- Thank God for Itayanagi's youth group. Pray that the people who attend will grow in their faith and live it out in their lives.
- Pray that Ryo and Mikki, Aaron's junior high friends will come to Sunday's church for the first time.
- Hoshi shared with some of the team that it is hard to be a Christian in school because they get ridiculed for what they believe in.
- Micah is leading the group at the moment, but due to work commitments next year, may not be able to lead regularly. Pray that God will provide someone will be able to lead on a regular basis.

Day 08 - Don't mind doing it for the kids..

2005-12-09T04:18:00.000-08:00

Friday 09 December 2005 AD

And we'll paint by numbers
Till something sticks
Don't mind doing it for the kids
So come on
Jump on board
Take a ride, yeah
(You'll be doin' it alright)
Jump on board
Feel the high, yeah
'Cause the kids are alright

yeah.. the kids are alright.

Prayer points:
- Thank God that the owner of the preschools around the Tsugaru prefecture, though he isn't a Christian, is happy for the Ghents and short-term workers to visit the schools.
- Pray that these events may be great opportunities to tell children about the true meaning of Christmas.
- Pray that as a results of these visits, may seeds be sown in those who hear the great news about King Jesus.

Day 08 - friday, i'm in frost..

2005-12-09T03:45:00.000-08:00

Tin Lok, Julie and Alex woke up to go tracting at 6:30am. The sun hadn't quite risen yet, so it was biting cold!! In order to stay warm, we had to do star-jumps and run around like madmen while waiting for the kids to arrive at school.

Slowly, kids turned up and we handed out our leaflets promoting a kids' Christmas party run by the church. By the time we finished, the sun had risen and it was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies!

Prayer points:
- Give thanks that though it was cold, the weather was great today.
- Pray that kids will be interested in coming along to the Christmas party
- Pray that their parents will be open to taking they're kids along to this event.
- Ask that kids may hear the Christian message through this event and for seeds to be sown.

Day 07 - the kids are alright!

2005-12-08T21:52:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 08 December 2005 AD

Preschool program

Part of our mission trip involves visiting 14 pre-schools to provide some entertainment to the children. Did some goofing doing the chicken dance, sung 'My God is so big' along with actions and handed out the cookies we baked the day before. Martin and his son Micah, told the children the story about the birth of Christ through storyboards. way cool!

Team Lunch
- Ghents, Messers and Ongs

Working with the Ghents in northern Japan are two OMF couples (the Ongs from Singapore and the Messers from Germany), who are serving at Kanagi and Hiraka Chapel respectively. One of their strategies is teaching conversational English classes as a
means of meeting people in the areas where they are planting churches.

Downtime
- played bball @ gym
- Catherine went to the onsen
- The girls just rested and chatted.

Clean-Up
- yeah baby! conditions in kitchens, toilets, bedrooms and general quarters back to a state that's acceptable. How long we'll keep it this way is another matter..

Din din
- John, Debbie, Joyce made a yummy rice bake!

Conversation cafe
- Huy got to share his testimony with Mr Fujimoto at the conversation cafe.

University Bible Study group

Grace and Alex went along with Martin to Airi's home near Hirosaki University for a bible study group. The group consists of four people, all of whom are fairly new Christians but it was so encouraging to see them so enthusiastic about applying God's word in their life in particular trusting God in all situations in life.

After the study we had a time of sharing. The Japanese students asked us how did God help us in making decisions about what to do after uni and how we came to do short term mission in Japan. Everyone also shared their favourite bible verse and the reason for them chosing it. Reminded by how much God's word can be a rebuke, comfort and a challenge..

Christians meeting around God's word! Yay!

Prayer points:
- Thank God that the preschool program went well today. Pray that the schools will allow this church activity to continue.
- Thank God for raising up workers from all over the world - the Messers (from Germany), the Ongs (from Singapore) and the Ghents (from Canada).
- Pray for Mr Fujimoto, who works 7 days a week as a manager at a car dealership. He gets 1 day a month off, and has indicated that he would like to visit the evening service this Sunday. Thank God for the opportunity for Huy to share his testimony.
- Pray for the university bible study group that they may continue to be enthusiastic about seeking to do God's will, rejoicing, trusting and loving him through all circumstances.

Domestic Day!

2005-12-08T04:55:00.000-08:00

Today was truly D-Day - domestic day :P
We have to bake 950 christmas tree and star cookies this week, so this morning was the beginning of the cooking. The Ghents own a christian bookstore/cafe next to the church, the only one in the prefecture, so Ruth Ghent has really good baking/craft skills! All of us are hoping to learn!

After a few hours, lots of kneading, sprinkling, baking we made 200 cookies!!!
Meanwhile Joyce and Tin-Lok went wreath making with Ruth and some older women.

We then had lunch by the two most inexperienced 'cooks' in the team - Julie and Grace!! hahaha fried rice and miso soup. mmm well people didn't die and I think it tasted alright :P

After an arvo of resting in the arvo, we practised our skits for the Ghents ready for the zilions of christmas parties we have this week!
Good ol John - token aussie dude, gets to be Santa, Joseph hehehe...

"Jesus brings peace on earth"

After another trip to the 100 yen shop (its so good and cheap!)
We had a quick dinner and went down to Wreath making again - but this time there were HEAPS of PEOPLE! lots of cute kids as well as middle aged women and one old grandma.

I love wreath making - its so fun. Here in Japan, plastic christmas trees are looked down on, so all trees are REAL so our wreaths were of course taken from trees and we pulled off branches, cut, wired and added various nice decorations :)
We had a lot of fun!

This is my kid and her wreath. - Misaki's Wreath!

Day 03 - Tsugaru

2005-12-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 04 December 2005 AD

It's snowing!

Day 02 - Trip to Tsugaru

2005-12-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

During orientation in morning, we learnt about the different religions in Japan. It seems that Japanese mix and match their beliefs to suit their own situation. For example, it would not be uncommon for someone in Japan to have a Shinto wedding to receive blessing and protection, while also having a Christian wedding and a Buddhist funeral.

In the tradition of previous Serve Asia Teams, we had our team photo at the front of the headquarters before catching a train to Tokyo. Next, we caught a bullet train to Hachinohe, before catching a train to Namioko. There, Martin Ghent, Micah Ghent and OMF Short Termer Louise met us at the train station to drive us to Tsugaru Chapel.

All up we travelled around 7hrs today...

Day 01 - we're here!

2005-12-03T23:56:00.000-08:00

Friday 2 December, 2005

Hi all, alex here.

Arrived at 6:00am at Narita Airport. Most of us slept ok on the plane.

This was taken moments after stepping off the plane. Got through customs quickly and were greeted by Byran Thompson (from Wisconsin, US), the coordinator for OMF's short-term teams in Japan and Kenton Samuel (Wolvehampton, UK).

Today, the temperature in Narita was -5 degrees celcius. A team of seven from Melbourne also arrived shortly.. five went with Byran by car to OMF Headquarters with the majority of the luggage. The rest of us got our JRail passes exchanged and then set off to catch a train to Ichikawa.

Hopping off at Ichikawa, we walked for a while to OMF Headquarters. We settled into the place known affectionately as Caesarea Philippi, dropped off our luggage, had a brief orientation session before heading to 7-Eleven for ready-made quick-filling take-away goodness. When it comes to food, the team basically has a budget of 300 Yen for breakfast, 400 Yen for lunch and 500 Yen for dinner.

After lunch, we had some more orientation, learnt about the do's and don't's of japanese culture and got to put it into practice by going on a cultural scavenger hunt. That was a whole lot of fun.. basically being let loose in the streets of Ichikawa.

Note: According to our orientation program, when walking the streets, Bryan told us that we ought always bring along your passport, phone card and money.

Curry for dinner was yummy.

Arrived in Tokyo!!

2005-12-03T17:15:00.000-08:00

Once we arrived in Narita airport we were met by Bryan and Kenton from OMF headquarters at 6am and after what seemed like ages we finally arrived in Chiba (Tokyo) at the OMF headquarters at 11.
What happened in 5 hours? up with the Melbourne Team at the other side of the airport and took a train to Ichikawa station, and then a short 10 min walk to the OMF headquarters.

We had lunch! which was 7-eleven :P 7-eleven food is pretty nice and tasty even though its all packaged :P We loaded up on about 500 yen worth of food each and brought it back.

An extremely tiring day followed as most of us didn't sleep much on the plane. But we persevered through an afternoon and evenings worth of training by Bryan.
One of the highlights of today was the scavenger hunt! in order to learn about Japanese culture, we ventured into the area near Ichikawa station to 'learn' japanese culture. Involved things like using the japanese payphone, finding out how much things cost, finding items at the 100 yen shop we've never seen before, but we took the opportunity of course just to explore and do a little shopping. All of us forgot our tiredness for a little while.
For those who haven't been to a 100 yen shop, its very interesting - its weird actually because the australian equivalent is probably your Variety Stores like the Reject shop or something. But in Japan, they're got really interesting and cheap things you can buy. I bought a cute nail cutter and tweezers amongst a few other things.
Another thing that they have is CD stores that sell new cds and also ex-rental CDs / second hand ones - so its cheaper too.

Very happy to go to bed in western style beds and bathrooms!

It's so cool to be working with people from so many different places! Bryan is from the US, Kenton is from the UK, we have the Melbourne team, and a girl from Canada joining us who's also chinese.
Praise God for the way he has already saved people from all nations and pray that he will use us to reach out to the japanese.

じゃまた / ja mata (see you later)

2005-11-30T19:25:00.000-08:00

Only a sleep away till we fly for japan. QF21 01DEC SYDNEY - NARITA (Japan) 2215 0610+1

Many thanks to our friends and family for your prayers, msg's and SMS's of encouragement.

Please pray:
- For unity for the team; we are from 5 different churches
- Special events eg Christmas parties - that we will clearly communicate the true meaning of Christmas
- Good health for all team members; safety in travel
- That God will use this team to raise up more long term workers for Japan.
- For Martin and Ruth Ghent (long term OMF missionaries) who are planning our programme.

arigatoo gozai masu.

til the next post in japan.

3rd orientation meeting

2005-11-26T23:30:00.000-08:00

Back row: John, Tin Lok, Huy
2nd row: Hoi-Yan, Grace, Alex, Ed
Front row: Joyce, Debbie, Julie

Finally, we managed to get a photo of the entire team together.

Tonight we had our final orientation meeting before we fly out for Japan. In a productive evening, we cleared up numerous administrative issues and prayed for the Ghents and our mission trip.

The following is what was decided for team roles and responsibilities:
1. Co-ordinator - Debbie
2. Medical person - Alex
3. Rosters - Grace
4. Thank you cards - Huy (English), Hoi-Yan (Japanese)
5. Music - Joyce, Tin Lok, John (action songs), Ed
6. Accountant - Huy
7. Drama/ Christmas presentations - Hoi Yan, Alex, Tin Lok, Julie and John (Christmas powerpoint)
8. Christmas parties - Grace, Joyce, Julie (games)
9. Video - Julie, Tin Lok
10. Photos - Joyce and Debbie
11. Photocopying - Grace and Ed
12. Gifts - all

Meet the Ghents!

2005-11-25T18:51:00.000-08:00

The long-term missionaries we'll be partnering with in Aomori are the Ghents.

Martin was born in Ontario to dairy farmers in 1959. Ruth Mae was born in 1961 in Connecticut the youngest of 6 children. They were classmates at NBBI. After graduation in 1981,they married and moved to Toronto. They worked in CLC bookstore for a year, then as assistant pastor in EMBC for 4 years, before going to Japan as missionaries with OMF International in 1986. The first 4 years were involved in language training and gaining experience by assisting an established church. They began their current church planting effort in 1991.

They have a multitude of hobbies (woodworking, stained glass, sewing, cooking etc) which God is using for His kingdom.

They have 4 adopted children. Bethany (16), Micah (14), Aaron (11) and Naomi ( 9)

Where are we going?

2005-11-24T15:30:00.000-08:00

The place we're heading off to is Aomori, the northern-most city of Honshu, the main island of Japan. The prefecture is famous for its apples. The other thing that Aomori is famous for is snow. Apparently in some places, there is an accumulation of 3 meters during the winter (over 5m in the mountains).

Above is a map of the north of Japan. Tokyo is south, on the Pacific coast. The big island to the north is Hokkaido, the "Pacific Northwest" of Japan.

There are 650,000 people living in the Tsugaru region. They live in 3 cities and 23 townships. It is a vast region that takes about 3 hours to go north to south and 3 hours east to west.

This region, although still more traditional than many other places in Japan, is entering a new age. New roads are cutting distances down, shopping malls encourage mobility and openness, older people are not as insistent on young people following traditional religions.

OMF has planted churches in the 3 cities and now with OMF missionaries, the Elliots and Ghents there is an advance of the work of Christ into the townships.

2nd orientation meeting

2005-10-30T20:29:00.000-08:00

Back row: Grace, Ed, Huy, Alex, John and Tin Lok
Front row: Julie, Hoi Yan, Robyne and David

Last night, David and Robynne Hayman, OMF veteran missionaries came to speak to us about cultural do's and don'ts in Japan and sharing the gospel in that context.