Resetting Our Lives
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.