Roku????

Game Over!

2005-08-04T22:31:00.000-07:00

AHhh, its all over very soon.. the final member of the team is taking off in just over an hour's time.... The other 5 are safe back in England so praise God for that.

Thank you once again for reading our blog and if you pray, for praying for us.. Greatly appreciated..

Gomi!

2005-08-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!
Waaaa, I can"t believe this is my last post in Japan- the time has really flown in. Thanks so much for all your prayers, comments and support while we"ve been muddling along!
On Monday we left Sendai. It ended up being rather in a cloud of dust as we arrived just in time for the shinkansen! However, quite a few of our Japanese people arrived at the statue in the station and proceded to give us a right royal send off, so it was crazy enough! One particularly enthusiastic individual decided he wanted to come with us and that the only way he could earn his air fare would be to dance in the station for coins. The concept was quite entertaining in itself but the practical demonstration was even better!! The train left the station with many mad Japanese running alongside- thank goodness none of them fell off the platform!!
We reached Ichikawa in one piece, and had a lovely sleep which ended somewhat prematurely as we decided to head off for the fish market. It was amazing!! We saw giant tuna being hacked to bits, and wriggling fish being decapitated in front of us... supremely cool in a gruesome way! Hehe then we headed to try and see some sumo wrestling practice, but the noble art is a closely guarded secret it would seem and so it was impossible. In the end we met a couple of the wrestlers, who were very kind and allowed us to take their photo.
After that we went to electric town and another place I can"t remember the name of, and to Shinjuku to go up in a skyscrape which was ace, and to harajuku, home of the immortalised Store My Ducks, which was possibly my favorite. Then we finished up with a meal in Shibuya and tottered off home.
It"ll be good to see you guys. God bless you for praying. I hope I get to meet some of the people who commented that I have never met before. God bless!
Natania

Head Cha La

2005-07-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

In one week`s time, the team will be out of Tokyo and off back to the UK (apart from me, I leave on Friday for Hong Kong). Geee man, time really flies.... the last few days, we have been preparing and having a kids camp....Taking care of 40 kids for 3 hours is probably the tiredest thing I have done on this mission!! I dont think I am as cut out for it as some of the others on the team!! Especially when they start to climb on you and practice their black belt karate... Anyhow, its all good stuff... The kids have learnt new songs, learnt a bit of english, learnt the story of Jesus and Jairus's daughter as well as a memory verse.... bare good stuff...

Yesterday, we had a dinner and karaoke night... great fun/good bantering.. some of the japanese were so nice.. they gave each team member individual presents ranging from bookmarks to sumo wrestler cards to 'make an onsen in your bath' to Dragon Ball Z charactors... kamekameha indeed... as usual, karoake was mental but great fun again... we all gladly sung the Dragon Ball Z theme tune..ahhh, memories of my youth... Ruth and Natanya sung Heart of Glass yet again...

Only a few more things before we leave.. we have kids camp again tomorrow morning followed by a Passion of the Christ Evening at night.. we will be showing the Passion (edited) and there will be a short talk.. Potentially its a powerful witness so pray that many peeps come to it... then on Saturday, we have an evangelistic dinner up North.. On Sunday, an evangelistic church service followed by a farewell party.. pray that many people will come and be touched by Jesus...

RIghty, thanx for reading once again... ummmmmm, some random very generalised stuff about Japan now such as
- When people wait to cross the road, they never wait in the sun... Always in the shade.. even if its 3 metres away; you gotta wait in the shade
- Gallery is a hard word for some Japanese speakers to pronounce.. apparantly they might spontaneously combust so use it with a lot of precaution...
- Boys dont give girls poems here... if they do, they are certified wierdos apparantly...
- Very limited speaking/no drinking/eating/talking on your cell phone on the train usually.. but if you can, watch an anime tv show on your cell phone, play on your PSP or just sleep... its all very civilised.. no one fights for a seat... if you ask someone to sit down, they are indebted to you!! and unless they can return the favour, apparantly its indebted for you for life!!!!! be careful who you offer a seat to!

Thanks you for reading....
Vato

korre wa calpis des keh??

2005-07-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh; one more week to go in Sendai... Its crazy how fast time flies.. Last week, we had the last of our open houses and international cafes.. Praise God that numbers have been good throughout and that new people are still turning up and hearing the Gospel for the very first time... Many people have heard the name of Jesus and what he actually did for the first time on this trip so praise God that we could change some of the darker misconceptions some of the people here in Japan have about Christianity.... (think boring 'Christian' highschools where its pseudo Christian morals, no Jesus and boring chapel and songs)....

ANyway, this week we have a different plan.. we will be having a KIDS Camp on Wednesday and thursday..It'll be totally new for me.. I havent done anything with kids since I was a kid (apart from playing with my niece and that usually involves watching Sky Sports).. AHhhhh so pray pray.. coz Kids are great witnesses... at church, a few people became Christians because their kids came home and said things like 'daddy, whats a soul??'.. 'mommy, i want to go to church today.. what happens when we die?'.... parents often send their kids to these english kid camps so lets pray that God can work with strength.....

Here are some other random thoughts
1- Calpis is a great drink... sure, it sounds like something not so polite but its really great... glass of calpis in London costs like 2 pounds, here its like 50p
2- Pot noodle technology here is at a different level!
3- They are selling Mariah Carey cds for 50p.. if anyone wants one, drop a comment.. she realy must have fallen off BADLY here in Japan!
4- No one on the team knows what 'bare good' means..
5- 'Lets Marry' (in japanese) can either mean 'do you want to marry me' or 'i do not want to marry you'.....talking about confusing for the people here!!!

Hey ho!

2005-07-20T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We had a couple of days of glorious weather there but all good things must come to an end, and it is now raining cats and dogs and worms and fishes once more! :p and speaking of cats, today is the day that Ruth and I leave our beloved wee Gakusei centre and move to the Grace`s house, complete with its own cat! It`s sad to leave Sendai centre because we had such fun　here and its convenient, but also we`re moving to Izumi Chuo, and what with my utter lack of any sense of direction whatsoever, getting to Nagamatchi for meetings could potentially be a nightmare. So please pray 1- that we`ll quickly learn the best ways to get around and 2-nothing bad happens to poor Snowball while he`s in our care!!

On Monday the team went to Matsushima, which is the 3rd　most beautiful place in Japan, reputedly. I thought it was gorgeous, although I did not feel so warmly towards the slimy sea urchin thing we tried at lunchtime- we got one and tried it between the five of us. Presentation wise it looked amazing, but sadly my tastebuds did not agree! The tempura I had after was delicious though, so all was well. If nothing else the team was bonded by the experience! Hehe
Matsushima is beautiful and we had a boat ride around some of the islands. We also almost got eaten by mosquitos, who discovered that no matter what their feelings may be towards sea urchins, (i did not ask) they adore jambe du simon very much!!

on tuesday evening we had separate boys and girls nights out- very fun, only the `boys` were rather more feminine as a group than one might have expected! as girlies, we did sticker photos (amazingly ott) and ate copious amounts of food as well as the obligatory KARAOKE! We discovered that what unites us as girls has `no borders` as one of our japanese friends told us- ice cream, singing and chatting span continents. We had some great conversations about prayer too. ...

thats all for now folks! got to dash to the `royal` cafe ce soir.
keep the news/comments/prayers coming our way!
ruth and natania!

Final OK!

2005-07-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Final OK! is japlish at its finest. Taking a combination of english/japanese and original japlish, Final OK! is the latest incarnation of a truly horrible yet beautiful language. Final in this context means 100% or definately or certainly. I know it does not make sense but thats how it is. OK means OK! Originally, we had Final Answer! Taken from a game show not too unsimiliar to Who Wants to be a Millionaire... So people used to go around saying 'final answer'. But now, its all about Final OK!! Its a flexible word; can be used as a statement. 'of course, its Final OK!!... or a question... 'Final OK???' which will usually be replied with 'not final OK' or 'yes, Final OK!!!'.. Remember, you also have to say it in a japanese accent. That is 100%. That is FINAL OK!!!

Apart from learning japlish (okay, maybe only I am learning japlish), the rest of the team has been busy here in Sendai.. Last week was productive and we praise GOd for it. Quite a few people came to our OPen Houses and Cafes... Some people actually heard the name of Jesus for the first time ever in their lives... a few people started to read the Bible for the first time as well... others heard the full gospel as well.. people here are all at different stages so lets pray that God continues to work in their lives and leads them foward, bit by bit at the pace he wants to lead them....

This week, please pray for more good gospel conversations.. that people come to a girls/boys evening on Tuesday... and that more peeps come to the international cafe.. a few team members are now meeting up with people one on one to read the Bible so thats awesome as well..

ikedakemas!!!

2005-07-12T00:48:00.000-07:00

Time to blog again!!!

Its been a few weeks since I have blogged... Hope that everyone has been entertained by Natania!! Time is really flying by here... we are getting some momentum and things are looking up so praise the Lord... We have had a round of open houses and cafes and people have been interested in the gospel so praise God for that.. even if nothing else happened in this trip, we praise the Lord that we could introduce the concept of Jesus to some people for the very first time.. Japan is a dark place.. there are very very few Christians (a church of 40 here will be like a church of 4000 in the UK.. seriously guys, thats what its like here) and in general, most people do not think at all about spiritual matters and questions like what is the point of life.. there is a huge peer and societal pressure in the land.. we need more Christians here! Come!!!!!!!!! Come right now!!! or when you can!!!!

In other news... I have had the great expierence of going into an all woman's college.... never again i say!!!! Have also had some fun times doing karoake, going to a hot spring and just hanging out with my team and the Japanese students..Am also getting used to sleeping on a floor and not having a daily shower though i dont think i will continue that habit when i get back to Hong Kong.... in a way, i have not had such great culture shock since Hong Kong is quite similarish to Japan in many aspects.. in some other aspects, its a lot different! And yeh, the food here is great.... Sakura, Misato, Taro, Soho-Japan, Ikkyusan and all those other places in London can not compare with the price or quality here!!!

Please pray for the open houses and cafes this week.. we were building up some momentum at the end of last week so please pray that it will continue this week... that more people will be interested in Jesus, will open up their lives and will hear the Gospel preached powerfully!

ps... it is not me who requested Barbie Girl by Aqua.. I proudly requested such great tunes such as MC Hammer!!

Ben

Me again... :)

2005-07-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hey all!
Much as I hate to inflict myself upon you twice in a row no-one else has had time to blog for awhile　so i`ll have to do!
We`re all well and enjoying working and learning and singing... err, did I say singing?? Haha how silly of me. It`s not like anyone on this team would ever go into a kareoke, let alone get up and sing Barbie Girl... or would they?? I`ll leave that to your own imaginations, suffice to say there was much hilarity involved! ;)
On Thursday Ben Hung and I went to the ladies` college、 to Jim Grace`s English class、 while the rest of the group went to a different college, also to English classes. I really enjoy the conversation classes and they are a good opportunity to tell people about our cafes and open houses. After the class Ben and I headed back to the Grace`s for a super lunch and some chill　out time before the Bible study. The Grace`s host a weekly meal and Bible study called Grace Kai, and it was really immense to sit down with the Japanese and read and study together　from Mark. Some of the guys in the group I was in were so keen, their English is excellent and they really try to understand some of the trickier concepts.　Some of the guys Ben and I met at Grace Kai came to the cafe on Friday night, so　it was really a worthwhile experience.
On Friday Simon, Ben Bell and I went back to the Grace`s for another English group,this time it was a pot luck lunch with some English games for some local housewives. It was really good fun and again a good chance to talk about why we`re here and learn about Japan.
My time is almost gone, so much more to say, I went on my homestay with a lady who plays piano and has a grand piano in her living room- classic!! She`s also a sensei (teacher) of Japanese calilgraphy which I`ve been dying to have a go at, so I did some Kanji and Katakana on the back of a fan, which was cool! We spent some time looking through the Bible for things I could try- it`s calligraphy lesson ministry!! Hey, whatever works!
Yesterday we had another excellent service at the Church. I`ve had to leave out so many details but that`s the bones of it, God bless you all and please keep praying!! xx

lovely weather for a barbecue...

2005-07-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

hello from Sendai! Yes, we're here, praise the Lord!
The journey to sendai was class! The trains are such a step up from the `rattle rattle clank stop die` NI trains- 200 mph and you hardly feel it!
Since I last blogged we`ve finished orientation and been unleashed into sendai- it`s amazing. The welcome we received from the church was warm and loving, and that has made all the difference.
Gary's church does English lessons before the service, we had two little girls and one of their mothers. They are very quick at snap, although they did think that pictures of my high school play were of Hallowe'en!
Such fantastic people, and a lovely place. Even I can find my way around Sendai on the metro and streets BY MYSELF!!!! Ruth and I are staying in the Gakusei centre which is really nice and more spacious than we expected, but a metro journey away from the church, plus a wee walk which almost haad me wandering aimlessly around south sendai! However I got there by God's grace-very surprising and much fervent prayer went on!
We worked hard to get posters ready for advertising our open houses to come, and then we did something I've been dying to do-conveyor belt sushi! Sadly for him, James' feindish attempts to make us run shrieking from the restaurant were unsuccessful- he suggested we order something gross in the hope that he could cackle at our disgust but actually Ruth and I were made of sterner stuff and rather like fermented soya beans! Mwa ha ha:)
Thank you somuch for your prayers. Please don't stop,they are so important
Love to all, thanks so much for comments, keep em coming! I feelso special. Audrey, Sam- nice to meet you (ish!)! :) Jonny please email me, I have lost your address!
Gotta go socialise, farewell and God bless!

Jurassic Park!

2005-06-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we got here fine, still in one piece, although I did have an annoying twitchy-leg-thing going on during the flight. The OMF building here in Tokyo is a great place to spend the orientation, and it's been great to learn that the church here has grown so much over the last few years. I keep forgetting that I'm in Japan, though: we spend a lot of time in a lovely, air-conditioned room, surrounded by fellow westerners!
We did a quiz in town today, it was good fun and I great way to learn more about Japanese culture. People like riding their bikes on the pavement here, and they also like driving their cars at great speed through small gaps, so I've feared for my life on several occasions.
We had our first Japanese lesson today, we'll be scholars by the end, I have no doubt!
I also discovered what losing the circulation in your entire lower half feels like. Splendid! We had a traditional Japanese meal, which included (not obligatory though) sitting in a traditional Japanese manner. I could have crossed my legs, but being the limber person I am, that wasn't happening.

Please be praying for our journey to Sendai on Saturday, and our settling into the church there & seeing how we can best serve it.

Simon

So much for the sun cream...

2005-06-28T23:28:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are in Japan- we made it! Hurrah!
It's our first day (ish) in Japan and as may have been expected it's been a bit of an adventure all round! Being from the very wee island of Northern Ireland I think I was possibly the only one who was impressed by the hugeness of Frankfurt and Nerita airports- but huge they definitely are!
One thing we can say for sure is that ten and a half hours is defintely too long to spend on a plane- there are only so many times you can play I spy people!! Losing eight hours was a very weird experience, but I'm sure they'll turn up in the end! I expected to be a lot more drowsy and sleepy right away, but when we arrived in Nerita airport around 8am Japan time we were surprisingly fresh faced. We were met by Gary Weston, and taken to Ichikawa, thanks to the prowess of Gary and James, our marvellous navigators. God bless cars with air conditioning! When we arrived it was pelting with rain, no sign of the sun, hence the comment about suncream, but it still felt like a microwave, the humidity is mad.
After we arrived and had lunch we went for a fabulously energetic march around Ichikawa, which has lots of wee nooks and crannies and is quite pretty. I'll be sorry to leave because the OMF offices are like a fantastic hotel,and I keep finding cool wee things in my room, but I've been told not to expect that in future- it's a cardboard box on Sendai main street for me next! Also I'm not sure how popular we are in Ichikawa now after Ben Hung managed to bring traffic to a standstill at a train level crossing by pressing a button just to see what it did! Hmmm...
We also met some very cute Japanese children who were only too glad to practice their bits of English on us! Bless. We also met an assortment of wild animals on the road but that's another story! hehe
Long old blog. Long old day. Very tired but must stay awake for training. Awake i say! Awaaaaaaake... Take care, keep praying for us, we are very tired! Love ya all!
Natts

Blogging officially dummy-proof

2005-06-20T01:12:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to get on the blog and even post something! So well done Ben, its dummy-proof. Hope all is well with the rest of you team members....

In a microwave

2005-06-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, like no one else is blogging right now.. I'm not sure exactly what to write here.. Being a team blog, its different from my 'personal' blog where I can really rant, rave and write things which no one above 24 is going to read.

Man, its so hot in London right now. I feel like I'm in a microwave.. or like a pork dumpling being steamed up.. For me, I know its hot when my glasses start slipping off my face because of the sweat. Yesterday was the first glasses slippage day since last Summer. Summer has arrived and that means we're off to Japan sooner rather than later.

So yesterday the team met up minus Natania. It was good to pray together, go over some of the plans, the itinerary (cant spell that work) and just chat. It also involved a 10 minute walk up a steep hill to James's house which nearly killed me in the heat. But its all good.

There's quite a lot of planning and preparation that has to take place over the next few days or so. Writing talks, Bible studies, making t-shirts, planning kids camps, planning open houses, evangelistic dinners, what to cook, what to wear, bla bla bla.. Please pray that we prepare diligently and by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we prepare not for our glory but God's. At church today, the preacher (Rico Tice) was on fire (not literally) and gave a great sermon on 2 Thesalonians 1:7-12 and how we have to preach the gospel so so urgently. The basic point is.. where will your friends be in 150 years time?

2005-05-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

Here we go..

Ben