"The stone was rolled away....His perfect love could not be overcome..."

Another day, another blog post.  There’s a lot to write about this particular past few days…I’m most likely going to consolidate some stories and just hit the highlights and the take-away points. If you’re really interested in more details, well… ask me in person, I guess!

We’ll start with the social highlight of the week – my first trip to Tokyo! I had so much fun reconnecting with Sayaka and China. It was great to explore the big city for the first time, and having a Japanese speaker with me made it so much easier to feel confident. I love Japan, but it is not very “foreigner friendly” for people just trying to tour around alone. The train system was feasible and some restaurant menus, but otherwise, I’m quickly realizing how much you need to study the language. While in Tokyo I saw Skytree, Shibuya, Roppongi, and Akihabara.

Kakidori!! 

And dinner on Thursday may have been the biggest highlight of the entire weekend, because we found an avocado café !! For those who don’t realize this, Sayaka and I spearheaded an avocado party when she was in the US last time. Everything we ate had to include avocado in the recipe. And they have a café, in Tokyo, where the entire menu is avocado. It was SO amazing!! She and I were overjoyed to find it and try things. We had avocado nachos, avocado margarita pizza, and an avocado filled with cream cheese, salmon, and salmon eggs.

Almost to the avocado cafe!

 Excellent, and fairly reasonably priced. It was one of those random hole-in-the-wall places but I’m so excited that we had the chance to try it together! I’ve really missed my WSU-KSGD girls. I’m so excited to be in Osaka next month and spend even more time with them.

<3 

Seeing how Japan’s group focused culture works has given me a new appreciation for the friends from Japan that I’ve met. I mean, it’s uncommon for them to form new groups, and it’s rare for new people to be accepted into a group that’s already been formed. It’s such an honor for me to have been friends all of these wonderful women and feel like they reciprocate the friendship.  I didn’t realize when they were at WSU how difficult it would have been to do the same thing in Japan… I’m so lucky. So incredibly lucky. 

As for other adventures this week…I started driving! Driving on the left side of the road, anyhow. It’s confusing, but really kind of empowering. I feel like the world is just that much more open to me now! Claire, bless her sweet self, took me out driving on Wednesday so I could get the hang of things. And she showed me how to get to JICA, which I also did (successfully) and Friday evening! Rachel and I lead worship for the JICA service, with Jesse (from Angola) on bongos. It was actually a lot of fun! I’ve never done anything quite so… leading-esque. I’m doing a lot of leadership stuff here. It’s a little weird, since I try so hard not to be the “take charge” kind of person. That got me in so much trouble as a youngster, I’ve worked hard to tone that quality down. But this summer, I’m seeing it emerge a lot more. Not sure if this is a good or a bad change. I just hope that the rest of the team isn’t put off by this particular factor.

An old group picture, but still a good one!

Speaking of the team, really, they just continue to be more awesome! It’s so much fun getting to know everyone better and better, and I’m learning so much! Really, it’s like being in house full of people who are all experts in things I don’t know enough about. Everyone’s studied Biblical languages a little bit, and Andrew has his degree in it. Justin’s a film and broadcast guy, Alletha is biology, and Rachael, music (especially theory and history). So we make for a crazy mix, but it’s great. J Strengths and weaknesses are all able to be so complimentary. God knew what He was doing with this group, that’s for certain.   I love it. So much.

The 5am return to TICA

It’s so much fun! We were adventuring on Mount Tsukuba at 2am on Saturday morning, driving these narrow mountain roads, passing Yakuza drift racers, singing hymns, and trying not to get lost. Our morning hike turned into a shunpiking adventure down the mountain, around Tsuchiura, and back to the city. It was early and crazy, and such a blast. Seriously, the adventures that make stories that make memories. :D

God is teaching me so much about what His community looks like this summer. It’s so wonderful. It’s also scary to think about going back to the States. Similarly to when I was in Haiti, you have to return knowing new things and being unable to completely explain them to other people, because they weren’t in that situation with you. With the Haiti team, there were others returning with me. This will be different, since my team in Japan will be all over the country.  I’m going to have to work hard to communicate the things I’ve learned and seen, and also have patience and not expect other people to just “get it”. Though I am so excited to see what next semester has in store. I’ve already gotten some new ideas since being here.

I had a really interesting conversation with Asuka, a non-Christian who has been regularly attending the church here with her husband (who is a Christian). She has some great insights into both Japanese and Christian culture, and said some things that really made me think. I'll write about that later, maybe. For now, it still needs to be processed. 

We're really tough, you know. 

 I'll end this blog post with some pictures from me, Addie and Hudson playing with the photo booth on my laptop! 

May the force be with you??

Parlez vous français??

*Forever, Brian Johnson

"Though the world moves like mad... You alone are faithful..."

Walking from Tsukuba Center to TICA....
the gorgeous Japanese countryside!

Wow! So much has been going on the past few days, it’s almost overwhelming just to think of writing it all down. I’m ending each day feeling both super productive and exhausted, as well as energized. We have been doing a lot of work in and around the church that has been “dirty work”. It’s a lot of organizing and cleaning, de-junking random closets and storage rooms and cupboards, and many hours in the heat, humidity, and/or crawling on our hands and knees. This week became the “renovate the church” week. Basically, there are 3 or 4 major projects on the to-do list for this summer and it seems that we are trying to do all of them in the same 72 hour period. Not that it’s a bad thing – get all of the mess cleaned up and put away ASAP. It just makes for some very long days. Father’s Day was on Sunday, so everything we are doing needed to be finished by then. Our painting projects were thrown off schedule as we had to buy more paint (the store was closed one day), and then the next day, return the paint twice because the wrong color had been purchased. Until we finish painting, we couldn't move the furniture back or organize all of the miscellaneous supplies, books, etc. So everything was on hold until that was finished.

 Despite the exhaustion, we have also had a lot of opportunities to meet more people. Between all of the Bible study groups and meals on campus, there are many new connections to be made. I am constantly counting down the hours until our next trip to the university. And what I want to do the most is just go meet new people!

Some of the ladies from the
JICA Bible study

Me and Qiuxia, one of the XA
students from China

It’s a little tricky now though, since we have a larger group. I am learning that I need to communicate a little better. And also to have grace and patience with people who don’t or can’t operate on my time schedule. That’s one of the biggest things I am needing to continue realizing day by day. My vision for this city and community is pretty much limited to 9 weeks. But there are people here who see a much more long-term vision. If what is most important long term is me renovating the church building, then that’s what is most important! If fellowship with the university students is the priority, then it needs to become my priority. If me stepping back and not trying to take over the agenda is difficult, that probably means I need to work on that area more.

Still attending Japanese language class
to gain new vocabulary!

We’re having a great time as a team, though! No matter what project we did, there’s been a crazy story or hilarious moment. All of our crazy days sweating for hours working and moving things have resulted in lots of laughs and good quotes. We’re experimenting with new recipes and trying fun things at the grocery store, and have recently even begun adventuring out into the city unaccompanied! Gasp! ;) Okay, I’d done that before the rest of the team got here, but it’s fun to keep testing the limits. Alletha’s friend Hiroyuki came to Tsukuba yesterday and we went out to dinner. Two of us had to take a bus there since his car is too small, and so I got to ask the lady at the bus station how to get to the mall that we wanted. [Basically, it was “ Sumimasen… nihon go chotto dekimasu. Busu wa LaLa Gardens ni dore desu ka?” And the nice lady wrote everything down in romanji for me! But I understood the explanation!] It was actually really fun! I’m getting this sense of fearlessness about getting around – which may be bad, but so far it is just empowering! The dinner at a conveyor belt sushi place was really awesome. I spent just over $10 and got a really wonderful meal of 5 different types of sushi, edemame, pineapple, and a matcha cake for dessert. Afterwards, we thought it would be possible to take the bus back…so we sent Hiroyuki in his car alone. What we realized later was that the buses stopped about 45 minutes before we wanted to leave. So, it was a late night walk home (approx. 90 minutes) with all of us a little perplexed at the craziness of the situation, and poor Justin nearly dying as he hopped on crutches all the 3.5 miles back.

Sayaka

China

On Thursday I get to go into Tokyo for the first time! I’ll be meeting up with China and Sayaka from one of the WSU-KSGD groups! Haven’t seen either of them in over a year and I am so excited! It’s gonna be really great to catch up with them. China works there now, so Sayaka and I are staying the night at her apartment. Please be praying that this could open doors for some good re-connection and conversation with these sweet girls who I absolutely love! I'm looking forward to seeing the country through their eyes. It’s beginning to already seem like I leave much too soon. I’ve got 5 more weeks in Tsukuba, and another week after that in Osaka. But really, there is so much to see and do! So many people on campus I want to meet! And I’m finally catching on to a little bit of Japanese. Leaving is gonna be sad. Luckily, it’s far enough off that I can stop writing about it now. Hahah! 

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity of living here. Really, I’m learning so much about Japan, God’s work here, other people’s stories and experiences, and just missions work in general! Some things are confusing to me, and some systems are a little bit frustrating and inefficient. But other parts of life here are really eye opening and spark new ideas and thoughts about what might work in the US world of international student outreach. It’s making me really excited for next semester because there are so many things I want to try! God hasn’t really given me a big “Ah-ha!” moment yet. But I’m having a lot of small realizations that I trust will turn into a cohesive picture eventually. Keep praying for that, I guess. I want to take away from this trip what God wants me to, not just what I think I want to.

Weird selfie after a very long day...
;)

 *Those Who Trust, Salvador

"As distant hearts begin believing...Redemption's bid is unrelenting...."

Konnichiwa!!

View of Tsuchiura, neighboring city

Yes, I realize it has been more than a year since my last blog post. I'm sorry....that's totally my bad. :P
Since I am in Japan this summer, several people have asked me if I would be updating my blog occasionally. Answer? Yes! This post will be a little bit of a synopsis of the trip so far, and I'll try and include a bunch of pictures. Hopefully later I will have more time to post about thoughts and observations, etc. But it's nearly midnight and I am determined to get this finished! So here goes.

Shinto shrine at Tsuchiura's "Turtle Castle"

Tsukuba is quite the city. It is a little Pullman-ish, to tell the truth! The city was planned and built only 30 to 40 years ago for the purpose of becoming a science university and research city. So here it is, in the middle of the rice paddies, a 200,000 resident research city. It's beautiful, and green, and modern, and intelligent, and a weird clashing of Japanese traditions and those of the 7-8% foreign population (pretty much a record high for any city here). They have these awesome signs in the city center declaring "Rural? Urban? No, Rurban!" and "Tsukuba: Take a walk, meet a PhD". Yes, it's pretty much true on both counts.

And I have!

What am I doing here? Wow, so many things! My main goal is campus ministry at the University of Tsukuba. The Chi Alpha group is about 7 or 8 students meeting weekly for a Bible study that goes through the Book of Hope. Part of their outreach strategy is to advertise it as free English practice, since apparently it is uncommon to be able to talk with native speakers at no cost. A lot of those that attend are actually graduate students from Africa! I was here by myself for about 10 days before being joined by four students from Evangel University ( the big A/G college in Missouri). We're going to be working together to do outreach on campus, plus a lot of miscellaneous projects around the church. The Evangel team seems awesome - and it is really nice to have some partners in this venture, and peers to talk to about what is going on in Japan. Learning about other people's hearts for this country has been so cool. I love seeing the passion that the foreigners here have for the lost. Really, it's uniting us together on this crazy mission. I have no doubt that fruit is going to come. There's a revival ready in this place!

The central plaza for Univ of Tsukuba

The church is awesome! It's the coolest slice of multicultural and multi-denominational Kingdom that I've seen. There are Christians from the US, UK, Philippines, Kenya, Eritrea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Japan, India.... all here in Tsukuba for one reason or another, all learning what community looks like. It's really impressive, actually. We don't see this much diversity in the US churches. And we rarely see this much diversity as far as church backgrounds, either.

Walked to this cool rose garden
for some post-church fellowship!

There are people coming to Tsukuba International Christian Assembly with Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, A/G, Baptist, and zero church backgrounds. But because Japan is only about 1% Christian, you just cling to what is accessible. And here, finding a church is hard. Finding an English speaking church is hard. TICA is so diverse that everything is in English and also in Japanese.

Speaking of the language, I'm sooo grateful for all of my Japanese friends who have taught me vocabulary. Minna wa sugoi! Arigatou gozaimasu!!! I have used almost every word I know already, in the short time I have been here. Every little piece is helpful. And I am learning to understand a lot more spoken Japanese, even if I can't really reply. But I can register key markers, like if things are questions and what kind of question, what tense the verb is in, and some subject/topics. I've had a few conversations already in "Japan-glish", where we are both using the words that we know and nodding in agreement at the things we sort of understand. Being able to read hiragana has been amazing. Working on katakana, and it's coming much faster here than it was in the US. Pretty much for survival since very few signs are in English. I really enjoy going out by myself though, because I'm forced to try out the things I do know. And it's payed off! At the very least, people can usually understand what I need, even if I cannot understand what they say as a reply. For example, I successfully asked a group of girls for directions on campus, and they didn't bat an eye at my question. But I only got about 20% of the directions they gave before I was totally lost in the vocab.

The students from Indonesia at the university undergraduate club "matsuri"!
Basically a food festival where each club has a booth. :) 

Chi Alpha members playing
Ticket to Ride at our first social event

Random things about Japan that I am finding confusing, hard, or weird include: the way you dispose of trash, driving and walking on the left side of the road, reading almost anything, and talking with or asking questions to store workers (I had to play charades to explain needing anti-itch hydrocortizone cream. It was not the easiest conversation).

Random things about Japan that I am finding fascinating and awesome: vending machines everywhere! I'm eating "mystery food" almost every day because I can't read the label. And I am constantly pleasantly surprised. Things are delicious. And healthy. Vegetables and fruits are all different sizes than we see in the US. The carrots (ninnjin) are massive and the watermelon (suika) are tiny! The "bowing" culture is new to me but kind of fun to figure out. Paying in yen is also legit. And taking the bus!

I love the grocery store!!

My first vending machine purchase

I guess that's pretty much the basic overview. I'll do my best to write more next week that's a little more in depth with stuff. Thanks to everyone who is praying and encouraging me and the team! Excited for the weeks ahead! :)





* Relentless, Hillsong

Sunset over my new "backyard"
<3 <3 <3