Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Well, today is Thanksgiving. Since it is an American holiday, today wasn't much different than any other day, except that family and friends were on my mind a bit more than usual; wondering what football game is on and whose ahead, missing the smells that fill a house from a roaring fire and delicious food, and catching up on all the details of everyones' lives. But, I certainly did not go hungry tonight and I think that it helps that I am flying back to the states for two weddings next week. Carol and I dined on wonderful Indian Curry; her- vegetable (of course as she is a vegetarian) and me- pumpkin chicken! I am feeling so wonderfully full. They have the most wonderful nan here too. Our Indian waiter even gave us mango lycee to drink, on the house! Tomorrow is a national holiday in Japan, Labor Day. So Carol and I are heading out to have the traditional Thanksgiving meal with another missionary family we met here. (This is not to say that I am not eagerly anticipating Thanksgiving leftovers from both sides of the family!!!!) So have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving everyone. Much love, Lindsey.

Thanksgiving Dinner and Prayer Walk

This past weekend was very, very busy. Isogashi desu! Friday morning Carol and I rushed to LLI (a building shared by the NRK headquarters, a Japanese Lutheran congregation, an international congregation, and both English and Japanese Language schools where I am currently studing.) to help with the preperations for the Thanksgiving Dinner that would be later that night. The dinner is one of many examples of events that seek to link the students from the language school with members of the church and to share the gospel. Ovens are hard to come by in Japan, but Carol and I are lucky enough to have a small one. So that morning I carried our oven to the train station, on the train, and then to center. it made the hour long commute at rush hour a little more interesting! Dinner turned out really well; we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoe delight, cranberries, gravy, and so on. It was so good- but funny to watch the children go through the line. They were so afraid to try our american food- all they wanted was salad, bread, and turkey! After the meal though, we took them to a classroom and fed them tons of sugar and taught them how to make gramcracker sweet houses. (Just like Ginger bread houses, but with gramcracker walls.) There were over 50 people at the event (which is huge for a Japanese church), many of them unchurched students who brought their whole family!

The next day, we gathered back at LLI (also called Center) for a prayer walk with some of the other VYM missionaries at 10 am. And then, for the next 6 and a half hours we worshiped, read scripture together, and prayed for the churches that gather there, for the VYM program, for the NRK staff (equivilent to the Missouri-Synod in Japan), for a suicide counseling phone center that works out of the building, and many other things. And all I can say is that it was PURE JOY! The time flew by, and I kept thinking to myself, "why don't we do this more?" There are just so many things in life that cause us anxiety and seem so out of our control. And we spend so much time worrying about them, talking to other people about them in frustration, and expressing that frustration in other places in our life, only to hurt those we love. None of these things are constructive. But prayer is. You can't do anything, you helpless; but there's someone who can. The God who made us and loves us longs to hear our prayers- and no worry or anxiety is beyond His reach.

Thank you all so much for your prayers! Please continue to pray, and please, let me know how I can be praying for you! I love you all; and you are in my prayers! Happy Thanksgiving- I'll see many of you soon!

Shukufuku

In Japan, it is said that you are born a Shinto, married a Christian, and die a Buddhist. Here, the connection between doctrine and belief have been severed, and all that is done in the name of "religion" is motivated almost entirely out of a sense of tradition and duty. Parents take their children at the age of 3, 5, and 7 for a traditional blessing for good health and long life at a Shinto temple. Then, marriages typically occur in Christian churches. (I'm not sure how this tradition began, but I would guess it has something to do with the early christian presence of both the Jesuits and Orthodox missionaries that date back to the 16th century. That presence has all but diminished now, as less than 1% of the population is Christian.) And then, after death, the Japanese follow the Buddhist practices for burial and such.

Anyway, the blessing for the children always happens in the month of November; in Japanese it is called shukufuku. The Christian churches here have taken this cultural practice and brought it into the church so that Christians, rather than taking their children to a Shinto temple to be blessed, can have their children prayed over and blessed by their Christian pastor. Children of all ages are invited to come and all received a special cross necklace to wear in remembrance of the event. This last Sunday was the day the church in Yokohama we attended selected for the blessing, so we were able to witness it and meet the children too! The church hosted a large barbecue following the service and I ate BBQ squid for the first time (among many other new foods!). We spent a lot of time talking to the Christians at the church there over a meal (which is the best place to meet and greet people!) and I met a man, Taro, who was particularly passionate and excited about his faith and zealous for sharing the gospel with the people in his country, Japan. There is something about meeting someone, a fellow christian... I am having difficulty putting it into words, but I think that it is because we are one in Christ, and even though we hadn't met before, their exists between us this.... I can't put it into words.... ummm... deep connection and a joy and passion that we share! I cherish it here in Japan all the more, as it is so rare, and will never view church (the physical gathering of the body of Christ to receive His body) the same again! I'm am hoping to connect him with the newly reformed "youth group" (in Japan, youth are people under 40).

Please pray for this group and these gatherings, as I see God really working in the lives of the people in this group and their unique potential, gifts, and desire to reach out to people who don't know Christ. The christian church in Japan can be a sticky thing... with tradition and elders held in such high respects, change is slow, if it happens at all. It seems the declining church membership has often made people fearful and caused them to turn inward in survival mode. It is very difficult to be a christian in this culture that indoctrinates conformity from a young age. They want to share their faith, but they don't know how and there are many cultural barriers. So please pray for the Christians here, for increasing strength and growth in their faith and for guidance in how to proceed in ministry here.

Jabberloop

I had such a great time tonight! I have a tesuto (or test) ashita (tomorrow) but I don't want to study until I've written all about it! Carol and I went to listen to Jazz like usual on Wednesday nights, and the band was amazing (Jabberloop was the name- I hope we can hear them again)! Carol took video and I'll be sure to post a link later. So re ka ra, we headed off to Starbucks to study (there are 4 in our area, our favorite is the one that is on the second floor of a building and overlooks the train tracks. At night, it has a great atmosphere with all of the city and train lights gleaming through the windows.) We were sitting in two plush green chairs when two Japanese girls sat down at the table next to us. Icchan and Rika. We got to chatting with them (mostly in Japanese!!!) and learned quite a bit... they are nurses in Kawasaki, they both have boyfriends who they don't really think are attractive, they love karaoke and go to a place only a few blocks from where we live! They really want to practice speaking English, and we want to practice speaking Japanese! All Japanese people study English in Jr. high and High School (if they go) but the classes are taught by Japanese teachers, and so they only learn to read and write in English, not to speak the language. They are often intimidated and nervous about speaking English. I'm so excited to see the application of what I'm learning, and it helped me so much more to hear and practice the language in a real life setting. They made us promise to email- which of course we will! I can't wait to meet for coffee again- or maybe karaoke! They were in awe at the length of my fingers and legs and we all had quite a laugh about the size of our noses compared to theirs.

As I think about the mission strategy here- to build relationships in which to share Christ and connect people to other nationals who are Christian- I am so grateful for the intense language study that is included in our orientation. I feel overwhelmed often in class and like I'm drowning in new vocabulary, but the rewards that come from the relationships that can be built are worth all of the frustration and challenges that I face. Pray for my relationships here; that they would be living bridges that would connect people to the God who made them, loves them, and gave His life to redeem them. And please keep praying for me and my ability to remember all of this vocabulary! There are so so so so so so so so so so so many words- every day!!!!

Monkey Crossing

This last week was spent in business meetings, devotion, worship, prayer, and general retreating with the whole VYM community both here in Tokyo, and then for the weekend at a retreat center in Chiba. It was such a blessing to gather with the whole group of missionaries, to hear first hand all of the stories of the different happenings at their sites and where and how God is working. I get more and more anxious to be through with orientation and into a site when I hear these things. But I learned too that Japan is known as a "Missionary Graveyard"; that it "chews them up and spits them out." My heart is so saddened to hear this, but it drives me to my knees more in prayer for the other missionaries here, for perserverence and steadfastness in my own faith, and for the people here who are living in darkness. Please continue to hold us all up in your prayers too!

On the drive back from the retreat center, I saw for the first time in my life a monkey crossing sign. Yellow, diamond, it resembled a "children playing" sign, except there was a large primate in the middle of it. We were definitely outside of the city! This weekend too, there were other monkey happenings, but it was actually the birth of a gibbon in Idaho!!! My ottoto (little brother) welcomed his beautiful red-headed, brown-eyed daughter into the world! I am even more anxious to get home and meet this beautiful baby in a few weeks time! God is so good- I feel so blessed that it worked out for me to be going home for Sarah's wedding so soon after the birth of this baby. Kira Nadine.