A lot has happened in the last two weeks (both here in Japan and in the US). I am happy to say that I am writing this post from our new apartment, but more on that in a bit…

First, our week in America.  As Colby wrote in the last post, we arrived safely on Saturday night (although I was scrutinized by airport security because of having too many bobby pins in my hair).  The next day we joined our sending church for their annual Sunday School picnic.  We had beautiful weather, delicious food, and some neat opportunities to share about what has been going on here in Japan, particularly some of the language intricacies we’ve faced.  Later on in the day we met up with my parents who had come down from Maine to see us and had an enjoyable evening reconnecting with them.  The next day they took us to Colby’s parents’ house in central PA where we made everyone a Japanese lunch consisting of cabbage pancakes topped with mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, roasted seaweed, and shaved tuna flakes.  Some people loved it and some not so much…  Oh well, I guess the important thing is that Colby and I like it, since we are the ones that eat it on a regular basis (it’s actually one of our favorite dishes).

We spent the next few days at Colby’s parents’ house picking up some things to take back to Japan with us, visiting with family, and helping Colby’s sister with wedding preparations.  When we first arrived, I had asked her how the wedding plans were coming along and she said that she thought that there wasn’t too much that still needed to be done.  On Wednesday night, we decided to sit down with her, Colby’s other sister, and the maid of honor (who became our grand marshall) and make an event timeline and a list of tasks that needed to be done for the big day. Let’s just say that some of us were surprised at what still needed to be done!  Thankfully there were plenty of people around to help out and in the end the wedding went off without a hitch.  We had beautiful weather, Colby’s sister looked wonderful, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

We left early the following Sunday morning to come back to Japan.  Thankfully Colby checked the status of our flight from Harrisburg, PA to Newark, NJ and found that it had been bumped back by about an hour and a half, which would have us arriving half an hour after our plane to Tokyo departed!  We made a last minute change and Colby’s parents graciously agreed to drive us to Newark instead of Harrisburg and we were able to board our plane to Tokyo with plenty of time to spare.

I had previously thought that on the flight to the US and then on the one back to Japan I would try to do some language study.  Ha!  Not only was I not motivated, but I also had our teammates and our language tutor both tell us that we needed to “yasumi” (take a rest) from Japanese for the week.  And so with that in mind, and with the wide variety of movie choices in the entertainment system in our seats, I very happily chose to “yasumi” from Japanese.  Even though I am very glad to have had the week-long break from Japanese, I can tell now that I have truly forgotten some things!  It is so true that if you don’t use it you lose it.

We arrived back in Japan late last Monday night and realized that the next day we needed to hit the ground running in order to finish the renovations on our apartment before we needed to move in.  We ended up spending much of last week staining, putting up shelves, attaching trim, cleaning (things were really dirty from the construction), and then yesterday afternoon (Sunday) the church people helped us move our furniture over.  We really appreciated their help and enjoyed chatting with them as we relaxed in our newly furnished apartment. Needless to say, after a week like that, we were thoroughly exhausted.

At this point, we have all our furniture in and arranged in the apartment.  We have some of our necessary items here in boxes and tonight (and the rest of this week) we will work on packing the rest of our things from the house, bringing them over, and getting them organized in the new apartment.  Colby and I were saying to each other last night that it is hard to believe that the renovation on our apartment is finally done!  Our team leader asked us today if there was anything else that needed to be done and we were happy to say we couldn’t think of a single thing!

Thank God with us that the apartment renovations have been completed.  Please pray for strength as we get our stuff moved over while we continue with language study.  We thank God for the good week we had in America.  Thank you for your prayers for our safety.

Chuck, our team leader, says that when he does orientation for short-term teams that come to Japan, he always makes sure to remind them that if they encounter something they find odd or frustrating, to remember that it’s not wrong or stupid, it’s just different. Well in our travels today, I found a number of things that were quite “different,” but in our case, it made me say, “Send me back to Japan!”

Let me illustrate. When we made our transfer at Newark Airport, we had to go through security. For some reason, Theresa kept setting off the metal detectors (she thinks it was her bobby pins) which caused the TSA personnel to have to do increasingly thorough inspections, culminating with a full wanding and pat down. The fact that they did this was fine (I understand the need for security), it was the how that was unpleasant. If any of you have been through airport security, you know it is a little chaotic, especially if you are carrying a lot of stuff. The instructions from the TSA personnel didn’t come in the form of polite requests, they were curtly barked out orders & or corrections (which usually came after she hadn’t done what she was supposed to do – even though what that was wasn’t always made clear).

Now go back to when we boarded our flight this morning in Ube. We were running a little behind heading to the airport and I forgot to put my keys (with my little Leatherman keychain) inside my check baggage. When we got to the security checkpoint and I emptied my pockets to go through the metal detector, one of the workers noticed it and very politely (and almost apologetically) explained that I would not be able to take it on the plane. She then proceeded to explain that if I would like to go with her back to the check-in counter, she would have it checked and I could pick it up in Tokyo. She proceeded to escort me back down to the check-in counter, waited while the airline staff put it in a small box and checked it under my name, and then escorted be back up to the checkpoint and walked me through to where my bags and my wife were waiting on the other side. During the whole time, the only trouble I had understanding was due to my lesser skill with Japanese and I never felt like she was annoyed or like I was putting her out. Her job was to help people navigate through the security checkpoint and address any problems that arose and she was happy to do it. Was this due to the fact that this was a local (and thus maybe more personable) airport… that this was a Saturday morning and volume was low… no, it’s really just the way the Japanese are. This was only one example from the day. I won’t bother going into differences in the upkeep of the airports or the demeanor of the airport and airline staff.

So, am I becoming anti-American? Well, not really. There are different things that I don’t care for in Japan compared to the US (For instance, the way that paper forms and official stamps – lick and stick as well as the good old fashion ink kind – are still the rule of the day in a country where you think technology would be king.). I guess it goes to show that culture stress can go both ways, even when it’s your own.

Praise God that (with relatively few hitches along the way) our luggage and we have safely arrived back in the US. Pray that we would have a good time of relaxation (on our team leader’s and Japanese tutor’s insistence we left all of our study materials back in Japan) and that our minds would be refreshed and ready to start study again upon our return.

We have been unusually busy these past couple of weeks with more of the usual – Japanese study and ministry center renovations.  We are excited to say that the apartment is nearing completion as we have put up most of the tile in the kitchen, done pretty much all the painting, and only have a couple more doors to cover with Japanese-style paper.  It has been neat to see it and the church on the first floor take shape these past few months and now it’s hard to remember what they looked like beforehand.  We hope to be ready to finally move in and get settled in another couple of weeks.

Mrs. Tamura shows Colby (and me) how to clean a freshly caught fish.

Last night our friends, the Tamuras, came again for our weekly Japanese/English conversation time.  We usually have fun comparing Japan and America with them and this time was no different.  Partway through the evening, one of Mrs. Tamura’s friends came to drop off a box of freshly caught fish (yes, heads and all) for Mrs. Tamura. As would be typical in Japan, she offered us some.  When Colby told her we didn’t know what to do with them in that state, she asked for one of our knives and promptly started to show us how to cut and clean a whole fish.  Until now, we had just seen the many types of whole fish available to buy at the store, but we didn’t ever want to buy them since we weren’t sure how to cook them.  Now that we know, I think we may try it out again!  We ate our fish for lunch today and (although the bones were kind of a pain) it was some of the tastiest fish we’ve ever had.

Our completed Japanese "paper doll" - kind of redefines the term doesn't it?

Some of you may know that every week we have been attending a craft class where we learn to make Japanese-style decorations out of paper.  While we are by far the youngest people in the group (and Colby is the only guy), it has proved to be good listening practice and an enjoyable experience.  We have become very familiar with words such as ‘bend’, ‘fold’, ‘attach’, and ‘tear’, all the while making some very creative pieces.  This morning in our class, we finished making our doll (above) which we have been working on for a number of weeks.  Carefully following very precise directions, we made her, fingers and toes and all, almost entirely from paper, cotton stuffing, and lots and lots of bondo (the Japanese term for craft glue).  Often we had to measure pieces down to the millimeter (yes, the good old metric system) in order to accurately create a geisha on a miniature scale.  While it was a lot of fun, often Colby and I were glad there were two of us – one to hold the doll and the other to put the bondo or paper on.  I’m not sure how the little, old grandmothers did it all by themselves!

This Saturday morning we head back to the US for Colby’s sister’s wedding.  While we’ll only be there for a short time, it will be nice to spend some time relaxing with family.  When we return, we’ll have a busy week as we readjust to Japan time, put in our 30 hours of study for the week, and hopefully get ready to move into our apartment!

Please pray for safety as we travel this next week.  Pray for smooth adjustment when we come back as well and that we would have adequate energy to do all that needs to be done.  Praise the Lord for all that has been done on the apartment and for what little there is left to do!

This past week was the first, of hopefully many, times someone from America came to visit us here in Japan.  Our good friend from college decided to come to visit us and another friend of hers here and we were happy to host her for a few days.  Along with exposing her to some Japanese food, we also got the chance to have her meet the people we rub shoulders with day in and day out, as well as show her around the ministry center property and our future apartment.  Even though it meant pushing our studying off until the end of the week, we enjoyed our time together and were glad for the ‘American’ company.

Speaking of our future apartment, it has really been coming together these last few days.  The church has hired a carpenter to help with finishing up the last of the renovations needed in the apartment.  We are helping out some as well and are hoping to move in within the next few weeks.

Also looking ahead in the next few weeks, we will be traveling back to the US for Colby’s sister’s wedding in the middle of June.  While we’ll only be able to stay for a few days, we will be able to have a short visit with both our families as well as help with wedding preparations.  We look forward to a little change of pace and being able to spend time with family.

Please pray for us as these next few weeks will be quite busy.  Pray for wisdom as we figure out when we can clean and move into the apartment as well as get our things organized.  Pray also for safety as we travel, an enjoyable time with our families, as well as smooth adjustment when we return to Japan.

As anyone would say, living in a foreign culture and trying to learn the language, a person is bound to make mistakes.  Most of the time they are just your regular, run-of-the-mill mistakes such as incorrectly conjugating verbs, mixing up past and present tenses and the like.  Over the course of our three months here, Colby and I have certainly amassed a number of foibles, a few of which we thought were especially funny and would like to share with you.  Thankfully we didn’t say anything offensive and the Japanese people we were with also found them funny.

One of my first mistakes happened last month as we were driving home from our monthly prayer day with all the fellow missionaries.  We were giving our church’s Japanese pastor and his wife a ride home, trying to take advantage of the wonderful chance to practice our Japanese.  I was sitting next to the pastor’s wife, happily telling her about the fish Colby and I had found in the pond in our back yard.  What I intended to say to her was that we were sad because the fish most certainly looked sick.  She looked at me and started laughing which was when I realized I had made a goof (that’s usually a good indication).  I found out then that I actually had said that we were sad because our fish most certainly looked like an airplane!  In Japanese, the word for sick (byo-kee) and the word for plane (hee-ko-kee) sound similar and I inadvertently used the wrong one!

Our classes with our language tutor are prime times for us to make some language mix-ups.  In one class a few weeks ago, Colby and I were practicing our various adjectives in trying to describe different people and things.  In describing a lady in our church, Colby meant to say that she was a very nice woman.  However, when we noticed our tutor chuckling, we realized that instead of saying she was nice (ya-su-ee), he had said that she was a vegetable (ya-sa-ee)!  Now we think twice before we complement anyone on being nice.

The last mix-up we had recently happened this past week when we were moving furniture from the storage shed into the church.  The pastor and his wife were with us, as well as some other missionaries, and we were all trying to decide where to put the furniture in the church.  Speaking in Japanese, Colby said to the pastor’s wife that we only wanted to move the furniture, and would move the other smaller items later.  Upon seeing her burst out laughing, we all looked at Colby, who by then had figured out that instead of the word for furniture (ka-gu) he had used the word for puffer fish (fu-gu).  We all had a good laugh trying to figure out how he would have confused the two words. Our language helper had been telling us about this Japanese delicacy the day before.

We have a feeling we will be making more of these bloopers in the future and so whenever we amass a few, we’ll be sure to share them.  It has been an enjoyable part of learning Japanese and we’ve appreciated the Japanese people laughing with us.

Please pray for Colby and I that we would continue to be able to laugh at ourselves when we make mistakes.

As someone whose passion in life is seeing people effectively engaged in bringing glory to God and building his kingdom, I am often focused on challenging Christians to do that. However, over the last few weeks, I have been struck by how even those who are not followers of Christ can build God’s kingdom and bring him glory. Kind of a tricky subject; so let me start with two examples from here in Ube:

On Tuesday night, we met again with the Tamuras. They are enjoyable language helpers and are also some of the founding members of the “Angelic Shout” gospel choir that meets here at the Lighthouse Church. The choir performed a few songs at Lighthouse Church’s Easter service. Not only did they clearly sing praises to the Lord for everyone in attendance to hear but they were also a special blessing to Christians in the church as well. Tamura-san was also a vital resource in helping us arrange transportation for the work team that came recently from First Baptist, Atlanta as well as helping our teammates who recently returned to the US dispose of their car.

Konoike-san was here again this morning helping us with the renovations to the ministry center. He owns his own home remodeling business and his wife and daughter participate in the Lighthouse Church’s English classes. When he found out we had a building we needed to renovate, he offered to come help us on a volunteer basis. Over the last two months, coming to consult and assist few hours a week has turned into coming to help three or four days a week – basically, anytime he isn’t needed at one of his other job sites. He can often be found not just answering our many questions, but right alongside of us cutting boards, laying carpet, or hanging wallpaper. At this point, we can’t imagine how we would have ever gotten the renovations done without his help.

So, the rub in all of this… none of these people are Christians. I won’t pretend to understand what motivates them and am keenly aware that their work is not earning them any sort of favor in the eyes of God.  But, none the less, the point is that they are helping to advance the work of God here in Ube and thus indirectly building God’s kingdom.

My take… well, I am yet again reminded about how God works outside of the boxes that I often put him in. While only those who are filled with the Holy Spirit are sensitive to his working, God is still able to work in the hearts and minds of everyone. While it may only be those who are filled with the Holy Spirit who honor God in the way he desires, even the fragments of his image that are in every person and every culture can be seen bringing him glory. While those who are filled with the Holy Spirit are specifically called and chosen to serve God and build his kingdom, it will be built whether they (…whether you and I) participate or not. He can and does work through any means possible.

Next time you interact with someone who is not a Christian, resist the temptation to write them off as outside the kingdom of God. Even if they have not yet responded to it, God could still be working in their heart and life. They deserve to be respected as God’s creations, and as such (even if in small ways) still reflect his glory.

Pray for Theresa and me as we interact with the Tamuras and Konoike-san. Pray that their hearts would be open to the truth they are encountering and that they would respond to the call of God on their lives. Pray that they would come to know God and serve him, not for their own reasons, but as his children.

Recently I have been contemplating some of the differences between Japan and America.  As you already know, Japan and America are just a little different, hence the title, which is Japananese for a little different.  Actually, all wittyness aside, there are many easily observable differences and many not so easily observable differences between the two countries that deserve mention in an effort to understand the Japanese better.  I will mention only one in this post, but will write more about this subject in future posts.

Usually the first noticeable difference many westerners pick up on is that the Japanese people always take off their shoes when entering their homes and various other buildings.  A typical home will have an entry way that is either tiled or linoleum that you can store your shoes in, and then you take a step up to the main floor of the house.  They do this in order to keep their floors and carpets clean.  Shoes worn inside, they feel, make the floor no cleaner than the ground outside.

Once inside, slippers are commonly worn to protect against the cold floors and these may be worn on linoleum or carpet.  However, there is a special set of slippers reserved only for the bathroom that are not to be worn in the rest of the house.  This comes with the mindset that the bathroom is usually the dirtiest place in the house and so its germs should be confined to the space within it.  When you need to use the bathroom, you simply step out of your house slippers outside of the bathroom and into the bathroom slippers inside the bathroom, and of course, reversing the process when you are done.

A common type of flooring used in Japan is called tatami mats, which are different from both carpet and linoleum.  They are a neat texture of woven straw and are to be kept as clean as possible.  With this in mind, the Japanese people don’t even wear slippers on them.  It used to be that this type of flooring was the only type used throughout most of the home.  These days, however, many houses have more western style flooring such as linoleum or carpet, and generally have only one or two rooms that contain the tatami mats.  As for me, I love the feel of the tatami mat underneath my feet, however I am thankful for the carpet and linoleum because it’s not so cold in the wintertime since I can wear slippers on it.

I have really grown to enjoy taking my shoes off at the door and putting slippers on.  It creates a feeling of separateness from the outside.  Because of taking them off so often, many Japanese people wear shoes that they can slip in and out of easily and quickly.  When we first came here, I just had my regular sneakers that I had to lace and unlace each time I used them.  It wasn’t long before I found myself at the store buying a pair of shoes that I could just slip on!

Please pray for Colby and I as we seek to be culturally sensitive.  Thankfully we have gotten into the habit of taking our shoes off, but pray that we would be watchful of other cultural things we need to keep in mind.

For the LORD grants wisdom!  From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6 NLT)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about God’s wisdom.  When we were back in the US, even though I knew I needed God’s wisdom daily, situations often didn’t seem as complex and it seemed I could figure my way through them.  Life in cross-cultural ministry seems more complicated. Between figuring out how to make language study a priority even though there are many other good things that I could be doing (or feel like others might be expecting me to be doing), interactions with teammates (many people don’t realize that this can often be just as difficult as interactions with the nationals), trying to find new balances in our marriage because of having a new lifestyle and living in a new culture, and trying to exercise servanthood while at the same time wanting to have some sort of control over my life… there is lots to think through. Many times I feel so green behind the ears that I feel like I just have no idea how to sort through a situation.  Other small things like using the appropriate courtesies when dealing with the Japanese (when and how often I should bow, whether saying thank you or excuse me is more appropriate in a given instance, how to seem modest when receiving a compliment) or how to interpret what is implied behind what little Japanese I can understand or the person’s body language (the Japanese rarely say things directly) also call for God-given discernment.

As I’ve been thinking about the verse above, it has been a blessing to remember that in each situation, no matter how small or complex it is, God knows what the right response is.  He understands the circumstance completely and has the wisdom to respond to it.  I have called on Him for wisdom a number of times lately and have been grateful for the direction He’s given.  I’m sure this is an ongoing process, one that I will have many opportunities to perfect.  Colby and I have appreciated your prayers on our behalf.

Pray that God would give us wisdom for the various situations we encounter.  Pray that we would respond appropriately when interacting with the various people and that we would be “seasoned with salt” (see Colossians 4:5-6) as we build relationships with non-Christian Japanese.

I’ve been thinking lately about the amount of energy it takes living in another country.  You might not think so until you actually have to live some where else, but it does.  This hit home to me last week when the team from Atlanta left to go back to the States.  I didn’t realize how nice it was to be able to understand everything and say anything I wanted, without any effort, in English!

It seems very easy to become drained because of the amount of effort that it takes to live here.  Not at all that life is difficult in the Third World country sense, but just the fact that we can’t read the language very well or understand what is going on can make things stressful.  I have noticed that as the newness of being here starts to wear off and as we start to realize how much we don’t know, a deep sort of tiredness settles in.  It’s the kind where a cup of coffee or an extra hour of sleep don’t seem to make a difference.

Now granted, I knew that it would be tricky adjusting to another culture.  I knew that stress would very much be a part of my life.  To be honest, I am okay with this – the process of going through cultural adjustment and all the ups and downs that come with it is fine with me.  I know I need to go through this to experience growth and that it is a very natural part of life overseas.  With all this in mind, it is nonetheless tiresome.

In thinking about these things I am reminded of how crucial it is that I make time to get away.  Whether it be to go to the park and exercise, to have my devotional time, to just read for fun, I am reminded of the need to separate myself at times.  God has blessed me with ways to do this.  Amongst other things, we have a huge, gorgeous park nearby (and I’m not exaggerating), Colby and I have found a place that rents DVDs for a great price, and I have been blessed with various books to read for fun.  I think this concept of ‘getting away’ will prove to be one of the vital things to Colby and my longevity here.

Please pray for us as we press on.  Pray that our strength would come from God and that we would be rejuvenated and refreshed by Him.  Pray also that we would take adequate time to ‘get away’.

Today was Christar Japan prayer day. Once a month, all of the workers get together to fellowship and pray for each other (thankfully we are all only 2½ hours apart). Pastor & Mrs. Uchida rode along with us and so we were able to get in a lot of Japanese conversation. It was interesting to find out that the only kind of music that Pastor Uchida said he doesn’t like is something called Enka (particularly because the Wikipedia article on Enka calls it the Japanese version of Country & Western – the only kind of music I don’t like). One the way back, they showed us the location of the local farmer’s market and treated us to some unique squash flavored soft serve ice cream (it was actually not bad). All of this was a nice respite because this past week was the busiest we’ve had here in Japan so far.

Last week, we hosted the team from Atlanta that was here renovating the new ministry center. Before they arrived, we made a sign for the entrance to our house that said in Japanese, “Welcome to the Nohara Inn.” We ended up housing nine people and most nights feeding fifteen. Theresa spent her week in the kitchen helping the wife of the couple who had put the team together prepare the meals. We didn’t realize how much food would take to feed 13-15 people on a regular basis. She and Linda were responsible to prepare the food, serve it, clean up afterwards, and try to fit all of the leftovers in our Japanese-size fridge! The team ate a lot of American food, but they also had the chance to be exposed to some of the more popular Japanese foods as well.

The work team from First Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA

I spent my week over at the building trying to help out the team where I could. They did a lot of work cleaning up the property; put up a number of walls in the first floor where the church will meet; and did a lot of plastering, priming, and finish work. We appreciated all of their hard work because they were able to do many of the things that we wouldn’t have the time or skill to do. We were also thankful that God not only provided funds for their trip, but also for materials and supplies; protected everyone from injuries; and gave us all strength as we started each day early and worked late. Thankfully, we had mostly good weather to work in – not too hot or cold and not too much rain.

The team wrapped up their projects Friday evening, and on Saturday, we were able to take them to a neighboring city to experience some Japanese culture. We visited a teahouse, explored a Shinto shrine, and browsed the shopping district. We really hit it off with a number of the people, and we would love to see them come back for future short-term trips or long-term service.

Unfortunately, the team wasn’t able to do much on the second floor and so we won’t be moving into our apartment as planned. The remaining items will be finished by the Ube team and / or subcontractors in the next few months and we hope to move in sometime in early summer. For the time being, we have been moving our stuff back into place and settling back in at the house.

Pray that God would give us wisdom to know how to pick up where the team left off as well as providing additional funds to complete the projects. Pray also for the members of the Atlanta team that God might direct some of them to consider serving with us in Japan.