The Evening Read™

The Fujihara Delivery Service promptly arrived at 9 am to sweep us off to Tiene station to meet Wakako and Tim for the last time. They sent us off from Chitose promptly at noon, but not before Tim helped us find Hokkaido‘s famous caramels.

We literally didn’t know who was going to meet us at the airport until Tim called Peter while we were waiting for our train to Chitose Airport. It was then that we found out our schedule for the day was to meet Bobby and Claire Ryu at the airport, walk the town of Kobe, and then head to their home for a few days.

A local Starbucks held our fancy, so we ran in there for some initial conversation, as the rain started up again once we were out on the town. They’re a pretty modern couple, and their term with Asian Access is nearing it’s end. It’s sad to hear, but exciting to hear how much the Lord has blessed their ministry.

After a little shopping we met Bobby’s friend, Tetsu. He’s a local business man working in marketing. He wanted us to experience the best. So first was an appetizer of special tako-yaki (That’s Octopus balls, for the rest of us). There we learned more about him and his relationship with the Ryu’s. I almost forgot to mention, that the Ryu’s friend, Rosette. She just finished her master’s in psychology and is seeking to actively use it to address social problems in Japan should the Lord will.

As if twenty pieces of tako-yaki between the six of us was not enough, we had to follow up with another local delicacy, okonomiyaki. It’s like a Japanese pancake. But we choose to top it with mochi and cheese. And we ordered two, plus appetizers. After two hours of conversation, we managed to finish it all. Rotating conversation partners throughout the night, we walked the town a bit to attempt to justify our hiyu-kiarori dinner.

Now three-fifths of us are sitting around with laptops, chronicling the day and catching up on emails.

That means I’ll actually get the posts in order and put up the videos. I hope you’ve been able to enjoy them. Our tour is a whirlwind, and just when we’re ready to start doing ministry, it’s off to another church to start our hajime all over again.

Watch the short video.

After a late morning with our homestay families, Tim and Wakako picked up Raye and I to do a little tourism. And by tourism, we mean a short prayer walk in the Rose Garden on a nearby hill. Above the garden is a plot of land which Ohno-sensei, Kando-san, and Tim have a vision to build a wedding chapel for the purpose of outreach. Already the three perform wedding services, but they want to do more than just a single five minute “consultation” and the the ceremony itself. Right now, Tim and Wakako are learning “The Marriage Course” which was developed by their sending church. It’s an extension of the ALPHA course, and allows for the Gospel to be introduced through post-marital counseling.

_Interlude

To extend our understanding of the vision behind just this plot of land, Raye and I were taken to meet Ohno-sensei and his wife in their home on the edge of Sapporo. We were running early, so we stopped at Starbucks. Tim loves Starbucks. And Raye and I both loved the azuki cream frappachino. It beats a green tea latte any day.

Meeting Ohno-sensei and his wife was an amazing experience. They both shared their testimony (Ohno-sensei read his in English) and spoke about how they came to be interested in this method of ministry. His wife’s heart is particularly for church planting because through that type of ministry, she was brought to the Lord.

After our short time with them, we went to the home of some unbelieving friends of the Clarks. The house was once again full of people. There were four kids running about, while with broken Japanese, I attempted to start and hold a conversation. I wasn’t doing too well, but then we found out we could get away with mostly English. I direly hope to begin my studies again and start practicing on a regular basis.

As if the party wasn’t rowdy enough, the neighbors brought their Dachshund, Mocha. She ran about an played, while we made jokes about the host’s wedding anniversary. When he got home late, he found out that he forgot, and ran in the rain to buy her a bouquet of flowers. We were all quite impressed, and got a laugh out of it, too.

Unfortunately, I forgot their names, for there were too many to learn. But please keep all of the Clark’s unbelieving friends in prayer. That has been the heart of ministry here in Sapporo and these relationships have been fruitful and beneficial for the growth of the church network.

On the drive home, Raye and I both agreed, we had too little time in Sapporo. And we haven’t even left for Osaka yet. I think we’ll both enjoy it, but find it unbearably hot!

Well, I was quite surprised to see Raye tonight, but learned quickly not to bring up her loss of an opportunity to see Arashi. They ran out of tickets. Instead, we saw the Fujihara and Kojima families along with their American friend, Denise. She’s an ESL teacher from Nebraska who has been visiting Sapporo every summer for the last fifteen years. I must say, I’m quite jealous!

The Fujihara‘s brought sushi and the Kojima‘s and I prepared bread and cold ramen. It was a tasty meal, and we rounded out the evening with a little singing. Mr. Kojima loves to play his ukulele.

Today is Tanabata, one of my favorite festivals, although it’s essentially astrological worship. It tends to be more of a children’s event, which takes the spiritual edge off, but nonetheless, I’ll see if I can get some photos of the streamers. It’s supposed to rain while Raye, Denise, the Clarks, and I tour the town and meet Ohno-sensei for the first time. Ohno-sensei and Tim are working on building a wedding chapel as an outreach opportunity on one of the nearby hills.

To start the morning, my body decided to wake up at 4 AM, because that’s when the sun rises in Sapporo. How unnatural, but yet beautiful. I think this is technically the furthest north that I’ve ever been. After breakfast, Eri-chan came down for breakfast. She’s the Kojima‘s eldest daughter, who studied English in Pasadena last year. So we traded photos and talked about our travels for a while. She got home late last night because she was working at the Sapporo Dome during the Arashi concert, to which Raye desperately wishes to attend. I just found out that they ran out of tickets, so she’ll join us for the homestay dinner tonight. The Fujihara‘s live right around the corner and there’s another American in town who regularly serves with these families, so we’re having a party.

But first, I went Sapporo Evangelical Free Church this morning, to attend service and meet Koji-sensei. SEFC was planted nine years ago and they’ve already started a now four year old sister church. They hope to natively plant a third in the area in conjunction with the denomination. Worship was excellent. The whole worship team, nay, the whole church is gakusei. Koji-sensei has been working with Campus Crusade for Christ at Sapporo University, which is just across the street. That, plus cell groups, ALPHA courses, and CCC trips, they’ve been able to get the churches growing. Unfortunately, with a large student population, SEFC is in need of a Philippian fellowship. You can read a little more on the church at their website. We studied sin and it’s effects, starting in Amos 1:13-2:5 where the Lord pronounces judgment on the various nations around Israel. It was pretty intense, but unfortunately, I didn’t know enough Japanese to follow along. Thankfully, he had slides with the verses he was reading, so following those in my own Bible helped significantly.

During the fellowship lunch, he and I spoke about ministry opportunities and his own personal vision for the Gospel. It comes down to pretty much either becoming a full-time missionary or teaching English. There’s simply no other way. One could consider becoming an exchange student, but at an even greater cost. His vision wasn’t originally for college ministry, but because of the location of the church, the doors were opened for it and he’s very thankful.

Economically, many students graduate and move to more favorable parts of Japan. As a result, Koji-sensei has been able to train and send a small army of evangelists all through Japan, connecting them with local churches in their new towns. It was all very exciting, but the financial predicament of the church worries me.

Do not be anxious in anything, but in everything, with prayer and petition, present your requests to God and the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

His disposition remains very genki (cheerful, positive), and I can rest assured that He knows his God is Jehovah-Jira.

After that, Tim took me to meet an unbelieving friend of his, Fujito Ito. He and his wife studied and met at Cal State East Bay (Then Cal State Hayward) and they knew right where Monterey is. Unfortunately, they were on their way out, so we only had a few minutes. Fujito is currently living in Tokyo and has been for a few months, but now that things have settled, his wife and three year old daughter will move from Sapporo to be with him. Oh, the stories I could tell about that predicament! So, please, keep him and his extended family in prayer (we met them all, it seemed!), for as a family, imagine what doors would open to them for the Gospel!

While I did that little journey, Raye went to Grace Community with Wakako. Mrs. Kojima said she enjoyed hearing her testimony, and that the worship and study was good. I’ll have to hear more about it tonight.

Today’s adventure began with attempting to get from the Morgan’s home in Soubudai City to Haneda Airport. According to our research on trains, it was going to take about four transfers. First I had to get to the closest transfer station, then hop onto a different line’s express to Yokohama and finally, switch to the direct line to the airport.

Well, according to our notes, I was supposed to switch from Odakyu-sen to JR Sagami-sen. That required running between two stations with my luggage. However, when I arrive the map was only in kanji and I didn’t know how Yokohama was written. After purchasing the supposed proper ticket, I spent ten minutes on the platform realizing that I was in the wrong place. Thankfully, I knew enough Japanese to ask for a refund on my ticket.

In panic, I just stood before the map, trying to decipher things. At that exact time, I’m certain that many of you were praying over dinner, for I finally got to gumption to ask the older gentleman next to me which train went to Yokohama. Bad news, neither, for I was on the wrong line!

He walked me over to the proper train line, which was on the other side of the one on which I had arrived. There in front of the ticket booths, a lady overheard that I was going to Yokohama, and she gave me an extra ticket she had purchase. Profuse thanks were in order, then off I zipped to Yokohama on the express.

But that’s not all, because I needed to get to Haneda which should’ve been by express. I asked the attendants which train to take and proceeded to ride the local train. For those of you who don’t know, local trains stop at every stop. Every. Stop. Thankfully, the Morgans agreed that I should leave an hour early, just in case.

Finally I got on the right train and proceeded to attempt to check in. With an e-ticket. Which I couldn’t print.

Well, that’s all over now, and as I suspected, Raye found me. (Yay for pink shirts, orange backpacks, and red luggage with green terry-cloth ties!) Now, we’re on our way to Chitose, outside of Sapporo where we meet our Asian Access cohorts for the first time!

Excitement abounds!