Here are some blog posts that we hope will make you feel a part of things, and help you understand how to pray better for us and Japan. Please see our external blog in Blogger, if this page does not display correctly.
Missionary Break
April 29, 2009 01:19
| JBF, Missionary, Retreat
| Permalink
BBQ & Bible. Messages & Mushrooms. Onsen & Octopus. Shrimp & Seaside. These and others are the makings of a missionary retreat. This past weekend we enjoyed a rare break from the craziness of missions...to the craziness of missionaries. Our annual Japan Baptist Fellowship 3-day retreat was at a seaside hotel in Ibaraki prefecture.Every once in a while we need to get apart from the work, and reflect
Sushi Movie
April 20, 2009 09:26
| Culture, People, Sushi
| Permalink
A friend recently forwarded this link to me which gives you an inside look at a sushi restaurant. Many popular "kaiten sushi" shops have a circular conveyor belt where plates are placed that revolve around in front of the seated customers. Customers choose the plates with sushi items that look appealing to them.This short video was taken by a foreign customer who placed a running video camera on the
Easter in Japan
April 17, 2009 02:03
| Church, Easter, Kids
| Permalink
Thank you for praying for our Easter outreach as a church this past month.We had many first time visitors on Easter Sunday. And we had a great time of fun together during our Kids Easter Party on April 5. Kids in Japan have no idea that Easter has anything to do with Jesus. But at least a dozen more do now!
Way Back When in Japan
April 11, 2009 02:45
| Cross, Culture, History
| Permalink
Justen and I took the last day of his school spring break to do a little cultural study. A local museum/park/cultural center near our home has an open-air historical Japanese village. You are free to wander about, touch, look and explore Japan as it existed a century ago. What an incredible change this country has gone through in a relatively short period of time in its history as a nation! For Japanese
Yakisoba Party
Yakisoba ranks up there as one of my favorite Japanese meals. This past Thursday we had a Yakisoba party to celebrate the college graduation of three of our church members. Here they are gathered around the table in our tiny dining room (Kaori and Justen in background).For those of you who don't know, yakisoba consists of soba (wheat) noodles that have been fried on a hot grill. Usually the noodles
Many Happy Returns
Question: What do all these people in the photo at right have in common? Answer: They've all lived somewhere in the midwest US during their lifetime.You might have guessed that about the guy at the far left in the photo (yours truly). But the rest of this bunch? Yes, this is a group of midwest "Returnees." Every year thousands of Japanese travel overseas to live as students, businessmen, and educators.
Protestant Christianity turns 150
This spring marks the 150th anniversary of Protestant Christianity in Japan. The first protestant missionaries set foot in the port of Yokohama back in 1859. Now they were real church planters -- overcoming all kinds of odds. In fact, Christianity was still a proscribed religion in Japan when the first missionaries arrived. The evangelistic work in Japan during this time often needed to be done discreetly
Japan in a Panic
Makoto first noticed signs of panic attacks when he was in the middle of an exam. The tension forced him to repeatedly make trips to the toilet. He couldn't concentrate at all. For the next exam, he made a point of arriving two hours early to make sure he got a seat near the door. That failed to calm him and he found himself in the same situation all five exams he took. After graduating from university,