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

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!

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.

Day 03 - Tsugaru

Sunday, 04 December 2005 AD



It's snowing!

Day 02 - Trip to Tsugaru

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!

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.

じゃまた / ja mata (see you later)

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

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!

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?

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

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.