"Bonenkai"

On Dec. 16th, we had a Christmas/end-of-the-year "nabe" (nah-bay) party at the Center for the people who worship there (that is where we mainly minister from). In Japan, most companies, school teachers, etc. have a party in Dec. called a "Bonenkai" ("Forget the year party." Taka & I wanted to have our own version of that for our Center family in appreciation & prefer to call it a "give thanks for the year's blessings" party. Oh, nabe is when you put an electric (or earthenware) bowl in the middle of the table and boil veggies & meat, fish, etc. Then everyone just takes out what they want. We had a kimchi one. It was yummy!

Christmas Int'l Cafe

About 40 people came out for International Cafe last Saturday. The majority were there for the first time. I ran into one lady at the mall last week who used to come to Int'l Cafe but hadn't in a while, so I invited her to our Christmas one. She didn't show up, but apparently she'd told 3 of her friends about the Cafe & they came without her! In these shots you'll see MC Taka (yes, he is not wearing shoes...no one is), and some of the people & the cake:) Oh, & instead of having a Santa for kids to sit on, kids were happy to sit on Taka's lap as we acted as receptionists:)

Special Greeting From Taka & Aki

12/17 UPDATE: I just noticed that this link only goes to the homepage of elfyourself. Has anyone been able to see us when clicking on it?

Please go to this link to see a special greeting we've made for you.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1275793005

Bible Study

This is Hamasaki-san. Taka is doing a weekly Bible study with him in prep for his baptism. (We also decorated the church for Christmas 2 Sundays ago, thus the nice tree to study by:) The 2nd picture is of the window of Taka's "office". He decorated it with messages that passersby can read while waiting for the crosswalk signal to change. (There's a crosswalk right in front...maybe you can see it in the reflection...)

Thankful for Our Daily Bread

Had to take a picture of this slice of bread Taka came home with the other day. A man from our church gave it to him. It's huge! Can you imagine how big the whole baguette must've been? Hope this picture does it justice. (BTW, that's about the extent of our kitchen counter space!)

Sittin at Taka's feet

These pics are actually from when the summer team was here. Taka & the praise team were praticing for the service & one of the summer team members came early w/2 kids from her host family. The girls take lessons w/our English school but they had never been to a worship service before & were quite intrigued. Soon after entering the room, the younger girl - with no hesitation- walked straight up to the front & sat on the floor in front of Taka to watch & listen. I loved her sense of wonder & that she felt comfortable right away to go up & just sit & listen. Her older sister joined her after the practice ended & Taka showed them the songs & what was on his podium.

The Power of Your Love

During our worship service I sometimes like to just listen to praises being lifted up to God in song by the Japanese believers here...here's a sample of what I hear. This is the chorus of "The Power of Your Love" sung in Japanese, of course. For God so loved the WORLD....

Kitani-san's Baptism

On Nov. 18, Mr. Kitani was baptized at the beach, in the wind and the waves. The weather was kinda crazy, and sand was blowing everywhere (and getting into everywhere!...Taka discovered some in his pen later that day!), but Mr. Kitani didn't seem to notice it at all, as he was enjoying his baptism day. We gave thanks for the day & the Creator of the wind and the waves:) The sun peaked out of the clouds as Mr. Kitani & Tony came back from the water. Mr. Kitani became a Christian back in July & started a first step study for new believers with Taka soon after. Taka's been very encouraged by his sincere heart & his growth. Here are some photos from that day, along with a photo of Mr. Kitani on the 25th sharing his testimony at church.

Engagement Ceremony

On Friday, the 23rd (Labour Thanksgiving Day here), we had a small engagement ceremony for one of our church members Sayuri. Her fiance, Dai, came from Kansai (a 2 1/2 hr. bullet train ride from here) for the ceremony. Taka has been doing a Bible study with Sayuri & another young lady, Yoko, since we've been in Japan. Dai often stays with us whenever he comes to visit. We love this couple & are so excited for them. They have such big hearts for God & the hurting. Taka's been teaching Sayuri, but we've both learned so much from them. It is common to have an engagement ceremony in Japanese culture, with the parents often meeting for the first time. There is usually an exchange of gifts. This was a "Christian version" and Sayuri and Dai exchanged Bibles. The ceremony was a reminder that God & His Word are the foundation and to continue walking with Him. We will all be keeping them in our prayers as they prepare to marry next year. (I was working the audio/visual system so the pictures are a bird's eye view.

Typical Sunday Morning

Just thought we'd post some photos of our tea time that we have after our service on Sundays. 3 Sundays per month, Taka preaches at the Shimonoseki Christian Center, which is like a church plant. We average about 15 people in attendance, most staying afterwards for fellowship. On this Sunday, we were happy to have Kumiko and her son Kaikei back with us. Kumiko became a Christian last year & studied the Bible with Taka. In Jan. '07,she moved to L.A. It was nice to have them back and hear how she is growing in the States. We've had a man from Hong Kong worshiping with us while he's here on business for a few months. There is also a non-Christian Chinese woman who has been working in Japan for 8 years + who sometimes comes to our services, and regularly comes to our events. One Sunday, among the 15 people in attendance at church, there were 5 countries represented! (New Zealand, USA, Japan, China, and the Philippines!)

International Cafe

The second Saturday of Nov., we had our monthly International Cafe outreach. We had chicken/stuffing "casserole", green bean casserole, mashed sweet potatoes (Japanese sweet potatoes, which have purple skin), and pumpkin pie. It was an adventure getting everything ready by serving time, but in the end, it was all good. About 25 people came. In these pics, you can see what it looks like. We are doing a series on the "Love Languages" now. This month, it was "gifts" and that ties in with our THANKSGIVING to God for His gifts and love. Miraculously, Taka was able to have a clear mind to translate for the Cafe after spending 9 hours straight before that helping someone translate a message. ....and preach the next morning.

October Baptism

On a Friday afternoon church members gathered for the baptism of Ayako Doi. Baptisms are usually done at the beach, which is 5 minutes away by car, but due to a skin condition she has, it was a bathtub baptism. Ayako took English classes from the summer missions team that came. Hearing the Good News, she believed. I couldn't get a good pic of her actual going in the water, but perhaps you can see it on the camera screen of the person in front of me:) OH, & the last shot is of the entryway. These days I'm into showing how many people are somewhere by the amount of shoes in the entryway:) (Taking off your shoes before entering a house in Japan is a must.)

Ball Game

The other day we went to see the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters play in Fukuoka (2 hours from here) to see Trey Hillman&Dave Owen (the manager& coach of the 2006 Champion Fighters who came to our church in April to speak at an outreah event). Front page news a few weeks ago was that Hillman was not staying in Japan for a 7th season, so this was our last chance to see them in Japan. We think Hillman will manage a major league team in the States next season. They've both been a great encouragement. Also, Coach Owen got us free tickets to the game we went to with Taka's family. (Taka felt so cool going to pick up the tickets in the line that said, "Friends/family of athletes") We got to talk to them before the game, while they were practicing. In the pics you'll see us w/Coach Owen, Taka & his 'rents w/Owen,& Taka's bro, sis-inlaw & parents in the stands....the yellow balloon things are a 7th inning tradition. People inflate them and then release them all at the same time.

FEC Pt. 3 ~

Hello! I thought I'd actually put some pics of us this time:) I'm usually happily behind the camera but I did get in one photo w/one of the girls who became my sidekick during camp. Taka gave a message on the last night of camp. There was a message each night (& last afternoon), followed by breaking up into small groups to reflect on the message.The theme of the camp was "Jesus is the Friend You Need Most." Taka spoke from Ps. 139...about God's knowing us & everything, His always being with us & His love for us, whom He created (nutshell summary!). The pics you see are of Taka speaking & of Taka on two different days with his small group boys. Oh, the other shot is of another group of campers that were so cute, I had to take their picture.

FEC Pt. 2--Rise and Shine

6:45 am....that's the time that some tune (I can't remember what it was now...)would start playing throughout the campgrounds. Though the girls in my cabin were chatting into the wee hours of the night, they were all up & chatting by 6am...thus I was up, but it was nice to wake up to sunshine too. At 6:45 the music started playing & I could here someone in the boys'cabin giving a very loud & cheerful wakeup call of his own. At 7am, we'd gather in the cabin (the boys in theirs &girls in ours) for morning devotions.That was a treat:) Then we'd all head to one of the fields for the flag raisin ceremony. Any group staying at the camp would attend. The flag would be raised & anyone leaving camp that day would have a representative go up to the front to say goodbye.That was followed by all of us doing morning stretches to a tape recording. The last shot you see is of Taka & some of the boys headin towards the cafeteria for breakfast...

Friendship English Camp Pt.1

We just got back on Thursday from a 4 day English/Bible camp outreach that was held by some missionaries & churches from another part of our prefecture. We're tired, but it was a blessing & we pray for the seeds planted. I took a lot of pics, so I'll post just a few at a time. These are of the girls' cabin. I was trying to explain it to my dad on the phone...hard to do, so here are some pics! (The ones where you can actually see the tatami mats were taken after our final cleanup on the day we left.)

Church with a View (Kawanaka location)

Today, while I (Aki) was at church waiting for one of my students to arrive, I had a nice chance to stop & take in the view that I too rarely take notice of from the 2nd floor of our church. (In the shot w/the black car & our church sign, that's my student arriving:) These photos are different views from diff sides.You'll see we have bars on the windows upstairs (I took some shots from between the bars). There are no bars on the downstairs windows. I mentioned to Taka one day that that seemed "backwards." He said the bars are not to keep burglars out, they're to keep people from falling/jumping out windows. Always learning. The picture with a frame of blue is of the sky! I was going up to the 2nd floor & looking up at that window in the stairway, the beauty of the blue sky caught my eye. One of the other shots shows the sunlight coming in from that window onto the wall. In the shot where you see the roof w/the sun setting in the background...the background is also the sea.