August 13 - photos, memories & other thoughts

Crafts at the English Conversation class - for adults and children.
The parent of a girl who came to EEC is in the center of the photo.
Aiko-san, a seminary student is next to her in pink.

Dear Friends - It's been one week since the team returned from Japan - it now seems so long ago.  There were some on the team who returned to work the next day - I don't know how they did it.  Tsuguru and Erica are still in Japan and will soon return.  The routine of "pre-mission" life is returning and beginning to feel normal.  It was a great blessing to share mealtime with 15 or more people and to have wonderful conversations and a lot of playfulness to season our meals.  I miss the joy of being with our brothers and sisters of the Chino Christ Church - so very loving, thoughtful and generous.  I miss the excitement of visiting new places and being a tourist - I visited Yokohama for the first time this year.  But most of all I miss the fellowship of the nine team members I spent 15 days with.  It was a great blessing to work alongside of them in serving God and the people of Japan, and to have their love and support while doing so.  It was great to enjoy the laughter of joyfulness and shared good times, and it was also wonderful to shed tears with them as some shared the struggles and pain they've encountered in life recently.  But most of all, I thank God for this opportunity to once again be a member of a mission team.  There were lessons that I hope will stay with me forever and will grow stronger and stronger within me every day.  There are the relationships that were strengthened and will be deep within my heart forever.  But most important was the growth of my trust and faith in God - I do not want that to ever diminish.  So once again, and maybe for the last time with this blog, thank you for your support and prayers for this mission.  Your support impacts us far greater than many of you will ever know.  God bless us.  Don

Our welcome at the Chino train station by members of Chino Christ Church.

Michelle in her "Tako-Girl" outfit for MeBIG - the
Chino Christ Church sunday school program.

This is what happens when men let women dress them.

"Row, row, row your boat..."

The Taisho-koto group performing for us.  Kawano-sensei is still the youngest
member and its only male member.

A group photo of the taisho-koto group and the mission team.

Crazy Hair Day.  You have to make-do when you don't
have any hair.

The ladies who prepared lunch for the campers joining in the singing and dancing.

Tara and Megumi-san, one of the two seminary students helping us out.

The mission team and seminary students.  Who forgot their camp t-shirts? 

Captain Hook - otherwise known as Koby.  A hit with all the
campers and adults.

Monica and Danny teaching the English class in the carport
of the church.

Shizuka and Kaori teaching the Bible lesson.  I don't remember reading about
Moses playing the ukelele while leading the people of Israel out of Egypt.

Two of the girls teaching Kawano-sensei how to make a bracelet during
their craft class.

Erica giving help to a girl during crafts.  "Do as I say, not as I do."

This grandfather came to EEC every day with his two grandsons.  It would
melt your heart to see the younger boy snuggle up in Grandpa's lap.

The Pre-K group during the English class.  Talk about cute...

Danny, Egawa-san & Tsuguru as we began our hike.  It is 4:30AM - why
are these people smiling?

We were almost at the peak when the sun rose over the far-off mountains.

The view from the top.  You can see the clouds enveloping the valley below -
where Chino lies.

Don, Egawa-san & Danny at the peak of Mt. Moliyasan.  

Our day off - a trip to Matsumoto for sightseeing, shopping, and eating.

Michelle taking a photo of the bee larva
she ordered at the restaurant.  It had us all
"buzzing" after we tried it.

Michelle also ordered horsemeat sashimi.  Not
a single negative comment about it.  "Neigh..."

The prayer of millions...the cross rising above Japan.

Kaori, Erica, Tsuguru and Shizuka taking their turns on the taisho-koto.
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound..."

August 3 (forgot to post)

Dear Friends – It’s 10:45PM Sunday night - it’s been a very long and emotional day.  Six of the nine team members are still up, working on a poster that the mission teams give the Chino church every year.  Each of the team members writes a message to the church and those messages are attached to a poster.  Tara has created cards with our pictures attached, looking like little treasure chests.  Translations of our messages will be added to the poster and the poster will then be hung in the church for members and guests to read.  On the wall are group photographs of all eight teams that have come to Chino.  It is a great blessing and very humbling to see the pictures and to read the messages from past mission teams.
The morning today started with a prayer meeting at 6:30AM.  Kawano-sensei’s messages for us every morning are wonderful stories tying together the day’s activities with passages from the Bible.  They have given us a history of the Chino church, insight into the people of Chino, encouragement for the work we are doing, and the hopes and prayers that he has for his church family.  They always prepare us for the day and set our hearts and minds upon what God has in store for us.
Next came the MeBig program at 9AM.  This is their Sunday School program.  MeBig stands for Memory Verse, Bible lesson, and Games.  Tsuguru gave the Bible lesson using magic to illustrate his message.  The kids were intrigued by his sleight of hand tricks.  Pastor Roland and Pastor Raynold should include card tricks during their sermons at Crossway Church.
After MeBig we presented the worship service.  Danny was the worship chairman, Michelle, Koby and Erica presented their testimonies, I gave the message, and all of us led the singing.  The testimonies were very personal and powerful – with plenty of tears and sniffles.  You would need a cold, cold heart to not be touched by the sharing.  It is a great blessing for all of us to hear how God responds to our needs and is able to bring about healing to our broken hearts and spirits.
For dinner we went to the Gusto restaurant, which serves Japanese and American food.  The Yumoto family joined us, except for dad.  The Yumoto family has done so much to serve the Chino mission teams through all the years – but they are not the only ones.  There are more and more church members who help out with EEC and serve us by preparing meals and driving us places – usually the onsen.
It’s hard to believe that this is our last night in Chino.  The first couple of days seemed to go by much more slowly and then the time just starting accelerating.  In the past, I have been very sad at this point of the mission – knowing I might not see these people again.  But I think my peace comes from knowing the day will come when I am reunited with them forever.  Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us – please know that your prayers are evident when we reflect upon all that has occurred in the past 1-1/2 weeks.  I know I say this every year I have gone to Chino  - more of you have to seriously consider serving here in Japan.  Please talk with the mission team members when we return – my reports barely touch the surface of all we have experienced here in Chino.  It’s time for me to go to bed.  We have a lot of work to do tomorrow before we board the train to Tokyo at 10:26AM.  We want to make sure the church looks better and is cleaner than before we came.  I don’t know when I’ll be able to write my next entry – but there will be one coming.  God bless you all.  Love, Don  

August 6

Dear Friends – It’s 8AM Wednesday morning – our last day in Japan.  It seems like we just arrived.  As I write, the TV in our room is showing the commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima sixty-nine years ago.  The pain and sorrow in the eyes of the people is very sobering – a reminder of the pain people inflict upon one another.  How fortunate we are to have a God who can rescue us from that inhumanity and suffering.

We arrived in Yokohama safely on Monday and were met at the train station by Kumi, Fumi and Tyler from the mission team to Sendai.  After a short visit, Kumi and Fumi left us and will stay in Japan to visit family and friends.  Tyler joined us to do all the tourist things – shopping and eating.   We spent the rest of the day in the area around our hotel – next to the Chinatown district.  Seems a little strange to be in Japan and to see so many Chinese restaurants.  Yesterday, on Tuesday, we went to Asakusa for the day.  It was about 40 minutes away by train and subway.  We had to take a detour because of delays on the railway.  Thank goodness for Shizuka who was able to get us to Asakusa by an alternate route.  After lunch, we split into smaller groups for an afternoon of heavy-duty shopping.  Tyler was easily the champion shopper among us.  Many of his family and friends will be happy to receive their gifts – they will probably be happy to see Tyler, also.
Today we will check out of the hotel at 10AM, deposit our luggage in a storage locker, and do some final shopping and sightseeing.  We’ll go to the Narita airport about 3PM or so until our flight leaves about 7PM.  It’s a good thing Shizuka is our mission team co-leader – she keeps track of all these details and gets us everywhere we need to be on time.
Writing to you on this blog is like showing you a handful of photographs of our stay.  They fail miserably in expressing all that we’ve experienced here in Japan.  And while they give you some images of what we’ve seen and who we’ve encountered, they do not express how our hearts have been touched nor our lives changed.  We give great thanks to all of you who supported us financially and with your prayers.  And as has been said before, you are here with us in all we do – embedded deep within our hearts.  As Paul expressed in his letter to the Thessalonians –“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers…”  This will most likely be my last post from Japan – I will try to post some photos after I return home.  God bless you always.  Love, Don    

August 2nd

Dear Friends – It’s 11:55PM Saturday night.  Five of us just got back from the Laundromat and I finally have a chance to sit down and write to you.  The day began at 4AM when Egawa-san picked us up to go for a hike at a nearby mountain.  We got to the starting point at 4:30 after driving on a one-lane road that didn’t seem headed for anywhere in particular.  But Egawa-san found the place he was looking for to park his car and we began our hike.  If I were by myself I would have quit after five minutes.  But being with Danny, Tsuguru and Egawa-san, I had to show my toughness.  What a dumb thing to do.  The trail to the peak was strictly uphill – there was no point where the path was level or downhill.  I was surprised that there was plenty of light for us to see.  The sun rose just before we reached the peak at about 5:20.  I’ll have to admit the view at the top was worth the effort of getting up so early and struggling to climb.  We could look around in every direction and have a terrific view.  We were looking down on the clouds which enveloped the valley areas below us.  It was so much easier to go down the mountain, but much tougher on the knees.  I’m sure they will be aching tomorrow.
This morning, we then went to Matsumoto – it’s about a 40 minute train ride.  We got there about 9AM and walked about the city visiting the castle, shopping, and having lunch.  I found out that Michelle is quite adventurous when it comes to eating.  We went to a restaurant that served horse meat sashimi – raw, sliced horse meat.  She also ordered bee larva.  That didn’t taste bad at all.  Everyone seemed to have a different idea of what it tasted like.
Then for dinner we went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Higuchi.  We went to their home last year, also, and had a feast just like this year.  A few women from the church were there to help Mrs. Higuchi with the cooking and cleaning up.  After dinner we had some fireworks – sparklers and some fountains.  I think boys of every age love playing with fire and things that go boom.  The dinner was an amazing presentation of many, many foods.  Before coming to Japan, we sent the Kawanos a short biography of ourselves that included which Japanese foods we enjoy eating.  I think many of those foods ended up be cooked and prepared for us.  But as good as the meal was, the time spent talking with the church members who prepared the meal was the best part of the evening.  Every year it seems we are becoming closer and closer to these dear brothers and sisters.  They work so hard to bless our stay in Chino.  It’s 12:30AM now and I need to get to sleep.  I wish there were more time to share all that’s happening with the team members – make sure you talk with us when we get back.  Love, Don      

August 1

Dear Friends – It’s 10:15PM Friday night – half of us are still up after a long and tiring day.  It was the last day of EEC and there are mixed feelings about that.  We’re happy to be finished – it’s been extremely tiring, but it also means we will not get to see all the kids for the rest of the mission.  Today was “Crazy Hair Day” at EEC.  The adults and children looked terrific.  I was considering participating but having crazy hair implies that you have hair.  The time seems to be passing so quickly and we want to slow it down.  Monday morning we will be leaving this wonderful community and these marvelous brothers and sisters in Christ.
Tonight we had a barbecue for the mission team members, and children and their families from the EEC.  We have this at the end of every mission to Chino and there were 40-50 people in attendance.  It is a great time of eating and spending time with the parents of the children from EEC.  There are always some who speak English, so it is great to speak without having to go through a translator.  The weather was great when we set up in the late afternoon, but black clouds rolled in very quickly and we had to move everything inside.  It was amazing how fast we were able to make that change.  We looked like a colony of ants at work.
After the barbecue we considered going to the onsen.  The only problem was the time – it was already 8:20PM and the onsen closes at 9PM.  To close at that time they stop admitting people at 8:30.  If you thought we moved fast to move the barbecue inside, you should have seen us rushing about to get to the onsen.  The clerk didn’t want to let us in, but Kaori talked with him and promised we’d all be out on time.  A lovely smile on a lovely lady can work miracles.  It’s a good thing we didn’t have Koby trying to get us in.
Tomorrow is a free day for us.  There are no planned ministry activities, so we get to do “touristy” types of things.  Egawa-san wants to take us on a hike in the mountains beginning at 4AM.  He says he can have us back at the church by 7:30AM.  It looks like there will only be 2 or 3 of us joining him.  I’m glad Danny is such a big, buff guy.  He can easily carry me on his back when I can no longer walk.  Then at 8:30AM, the whole team will be traveling to Matsumoto for a morning and afternoon of sightseeing (possibly the castle there), shopping, and eating.  I know that Danny can carry me on his back again.  I need to get to bed so I can get in a few hours sleep before tomorrow’s hike.  The blessings we’ve received so far during the trip are much more than we deserve and could ever hope for.  Thank you for your prayers that are so important for all we do.  Love, Don  

July 31st

Dear Friends – It’s 8PM Thursday night.  We’ve finished dinner and will have a team meeting in 15 minutes.  I’m going to use this time to begin today’s entry.  It’s been raining really hard for about 30 minutes now – with a lot of lightning and thunder.  Some of it has been very close causing people to jump when it happens.  Not to brag, but it doesn’t effect me that much.  The rain is always important in restoring the earth – but tonight it has been used by God to restore our energy and spirits.  After a busy day, many of us were beginning to drag after dinner.  (I’ll return to writing, soon.  We’re ready to start our meeting.)
It’s 11PM, the meeting is over and we’ve finished a lot of the preparations for tomorrow.  I finally have time to sit down again and write.  I share a room with my good friend Don Kobayashi (Koby).  What I don’t understand is how his half of the room is always so much neater and cleaner than my half.  I’m not implying that he is messy, or anything like that, but…I wonder where he puts everything.  Maybe I should check my duffel bag to make sure there are only my things in there.  It does seem like there is less space in there than when we first came to Japan.
The rain has gone away, the weather is very calm right now and so are the team members.  The conversations are much more quiet and there are some people actually working quietly.  EEC went very well for the most part – there were only a couple of issues we talked about in our meeting tonight.  The kids who come to EEC are no different from what we see at the VBS (Vacation Bible School) at Crossway Church.  Some of the children are very cute, some aren’t; some of the children are very bright, some aren’t; some of the children are very well behaved, and some need a good spanking.  As we have gotten to know these children better and better, we will miss them all.  Today, Shizuka shared with me that a boy at camp asked her, “What do I do to become a Christian?”  This is a boy I saw from my first year in Chino, 2009.  And I understand he was attending from before then.  He is a boy that would have driven me nuts if he was in my class while I was teaching.  It seemed he was constantly doing things he shouldn’t; going places he shouldn’t go to and touching things he shouldn’t be handling.  If it were up to me, I would have tossed him from the camp years ago.  But fortunately, I was not in charge of the camp.  So he continues to come to camp and is one of our success stories.  If you want to pray for us, pray that there would be many more success stories like that here in Chino.  There’s so much that is going on that I haven’t shared with you – just know that God’s presence has definitely been felt this week.  Thank you for your prayers.   Love, Don    

July 29 - part 2

Dear Friends – It’s 10:30PM Tuesday night – we’ve finished our meeting to begin the EEC tomorrow and there are still six other people still up with last minute preparations.  The EEC (English Experience Camp) is a large focus of our trip to Japan and people want to present an excellent program.
This morning I was watching people come into the sanctuary to get ready for our daily prayer meeting.  Chi-chan gave a greeting to everyone – her laughter is so infectious and pure.  It lifts everyone out of their early morning blues.  She is God’s gift to us.
This morning after breakfast we had a concert by the Taisho-koto group that Kawano-sensei belongs to.  The taisho-koto is a stringed instrument that is a cross between a guitar and piano.  There were 11 members, including Kawano-sensei, that played for us.  They played Japanese tunes as well as Amazing Grace.  After the concert, the mission team members were given an opportunity to try playing the instruments.  It was fun even for us non-musicians.  We then had lunch together.  We sat at 5 different tables, with each table having two team members and two or three taisho-koto players.  It was a lot of fun getting to know a few of the musicians much, much better.  We then had Kaori from our mission team, and Satomi-san from the Chino church give their testimonies.  They were both very good, but I was especially touched by Kaori’s testimony.  I guess I’m always surprised by the struggles and difficulties that people face – thinking that “good people” are immune from them.
We spent the afternoon decorating the church for EEC and getting materials ready for the classes.  It didn’t seem like it was very strenuous work, but people were very tired this evening.  We would covet your prayers for the next three days of EEC – for energy and good health,  wisdom in making decisions, and an abundance of God’s love, mercy and grace - that we might exhibit those same traits.  Thank you and God bless you.  Love, Don