Earlier this week we were at one of the churches in Yamaguchi working on some stuff for the upcoming English camp. The one day, the pastor’s wife said she would bring lunch along for all of us. I had been told she was a good cook, and so I was expecting something tasty, but was not expecting what she brought. What she brought was this large spread that included several dishes including sushi with several types of raw fish (something Theresa and I love). It was a delicious meal and we both walked away stuffed.

Then yesterday, we were at another missionary’s house again working on stuff for camp and one of the women from their church stopped by. In addition to the specific reason for her visit, she brought along a bag of treats for us (fruit, pastries, etc.). After both of these, I was wowed. They seemed like very significant gestures from an American standpoint. My wife asked the missionaries, “Is there something we should do to thank these women?” She replied, “Not really, just say thank you …oh, and make sure you thank them the next time you see them. The Japanese always thank someone twice. Once when they receive a gift and then again when they see the person next.”

As I thought about this, I realized that we in western culture lag far behind those in the east when it comes to everyday courtesies. One of the things that I have always appreciated about our pastor at our church at home is that \\whenever\\ you do something around the church he always makes sure to thank you, quickly and sincerely. It’s noticeable because it is so uncommon in our culture. Sure people say thank you, but it often can be somewhat flippant and obligatory.

The Japanese ways of hosting and gift giving are also very relationship oriented as they are meant to silently convey, “I value you and my relationship with you.” In this case the gestures Theresa and I received have more to do with these women being Japanese than with them being Christians.

And there’s the rub – we as Christians (especially in the west) could stand to take a lesson from these eastern cultures. Certainly the Japanese don’t always do everything from totally pure motives (although these two women did). However, what better thing for the church to embrace about eastern culture than its emphasis on generosity, hospitality, and thankfulness.

“Now I want to tell you, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done for the churches in Macedonia. Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford but far more. And they did it of their own free will.”

2 Corinthians 8:1-3

PS – For the next few days, we will be at Friendship English Camp, and will be incommunicado. We will be sure to post upon our return on Aug 8th.

The blog post for today is a special video peek into our life in Hikari.

As I am writing this, I am sitting in a side room in a church in Ube listening to the “Angelic Shout” choir practice. They are singing a song called \\Rejoice!\\ and the phrase “Oh That Men Would Praise His Name…” is repeated a few times in the chorus. All of this sounds great, but the really amazing thing is that most of these people are not Christians. This choir was started by a Japanese Christian woman with some musical talent who discovered that the Japanese like to sing American gospel music because they think it is a fun genre. All of her “Angelic Shout” choirs are attached to churches and used as outreaches, but are attended by a mix of unbelievers and church members. Seeing this outreach in action makes you realize the power of creativity and thinking outside the box.

As Theresa reflected on our tour of Japan’s important cultural sights last week, our minds are buzzing with possible ways to take some of the cultural practices we saw modeled and use them to connect the Japanese to the gospel. One of the things I feel even more strongly about after being in Japan is the truth that the image of God is present in all people and all cultures. Certainly, we must deal with the fact that in many people and in certain aspects of \\all\\ cultures that image has been marred by the fall. However, the image of God is so deeply ingrained that even amidst those circumstances it still shines through.

The beauty we have seen as we have been here and the ways that certain aspects of the Japanese culture reflect the gospel without even intending to, makes us want to affirm it even more. Our passion really is to introduce the light of the gospel to the Japanese people and then help them in discovering how the gospel authentically incarnates itself in Japanese culture.

The real challenge in all of this is what elements of the culture to embrace. Ed Stetzer, a church planter and missiologist, says that in \\every\\ culture there are practices, values, and elements we should receive, things we can redeem, and aspects we must reject. I think it is a Biblical affirmation of the image of God in all humanity to embrace as much of a culture as we can without compromising the integrity of the gospel. However, that very subtle line is not easy to draw.

Pray for Theresa and me as we continue to seek to understand the Japanese culture and the most effective ways to incarnate the gospel in this context.

We saw Buddha today. Of course it wasn’t the actual physical person, but an “incarnation” of him. In fact, a huge “incarnation” of him. We went to the Todaiji Temple, located in Nara which was the old capital of Japan. The temple itself is such a massive building and the Buddha statue fills it from top to bottom. It was an amazing sight that left me breathless. It reminded me of the Israelite nation in the Old Testament and how they worshiped idols similar to this statue during the times they fell away from God. When we read about it in the Bible, I think sometimes it is easy to think of Israel as silly for worshiping such things. However, when I walked into this temple and had my breath taken away from me at the sight of Buddha, to be very honest, I could see how a person could bow before it to pray. It was only when I walked behind it that I was brought back to reality. I noticed that there were two large beams holding it up from behind. Many years ago some cracks were noticed in the foundation and repairs had to be made. This was when they put the beams in the back to keep it from potentially falling down. As I am thinking about it now, it almost brings tears to my eyes to know that the God I serve does not need beams to hold him up. He is much larger than this statue or the temple it is in. As I stood in awe of the size of the Buddha statue, I am much more in awe of God, whose size I cannot fathom. I wanted to share this with you so that you would remember again how big and awesome our God is.

I know very little when it comes to Japanese, but these two terms I have learned well. Allow me to translate: Sumimasen (su-me-ma-sen) – pardon me, doko desu ka (do-ko des-ka) – where is… Over the past two days we have been lost, lost, and lost some more. On Monday morning, we took the train (the famous Shinkansen) to Tokyo. We were going to visit a Japanese exchange student that Theresa was friends with in high school and meet with some missionaries from SEND International to see for future reference what some other organizations are doing in Japan.

On Tuesday morning we decided to see some of the other significant sights in Tokyo and got really lost. It was a combination of not being able to read Japanese, not following the directions that Theresa’s friend gave us, and an out-of-date map. We did eventually find where we were going (Tsukiji Fish Market – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukiji_fish_market) and had an enjoyable morning and a delicious sashimi breakfast (that slices of raw fish dipped in soy sauce, for those not familiar with Japanese cuisine).

In the afternoon, we went to the SEND office and then eventually took the train to Kyoto for our two days there. Of course, we got lost again trying to find our local inn (again, due not being able to read Japanese, not following the directions from the inn’s owner, and a poor map – we were noticing some trends). Needless to say, after being lost once already and being late at night and tired, we got a little cranky – unfortunately, with no one else to blame it ended-up being directed at each other. Again, we eventually found where we were going and settled in for the night.

At first both of us were looking for someone to blame, but after talking it over for a little while, we both agreed that it was simply par for the course for being in a strange country and not speaking (or even hardly being able to recognize the language). It was a great lesson in the difficulties of cross-cultural ministry and it made us appreciate the task that those who pioneer in a particular country have.

PS – A few people have emailed to ask about the typhoon and the earthquake. Neither were close enough to bother us significantly (we didn’t even feel the earthquake). We appreciate your prayers and concern.

Before any of you get worried, we aren’t having fights with any of the people here. This is a literal storm. As I write this, Japan is being hit by a Typhoon (the Pacific Ocean equivalent of a hurricane, for all you east coasters). This one isn’t bearing down directly on our location but is providing Hikari with a good amount of wind and rain, similar to what the north-eastern United States experiences with a gulf coast hurricane. Today was the only day this week that we really have enough free time to do some shopping (groceries and otherwise) and Theresa and I were determined to get it done. So we grabbed our raincoats and our umbrellas and headed out. In the end, other than having wet shorts and having to grab the umbrella with both hands, it wasn’t all that harrowing of an experience.

One of the things that we have been noticing as we are out and about is the Japanese dress. The Japanese are similar to most Asian countries in that people almost always wear pants when they are out in public. Some people (like those in SE Asia) do it for practical reasons to ward off sunburn and bugs, but the Japanese seem to do it simply out of a sense of propriety. You feel a little self conscious to be the funny looking American walking around town so oddly dressed. The more you learn about Japanese culture, the more you begin to understand that politeness and propriety are significant concepts and much that the way the Japanese behave is centered around those standards. More on that next time…

Today we went to visit Bill & Pam Noar, Christar missionaries and the leaders of the Japan Focus Group. As we stood and waited for the train to Kudamatsu, we felt proud of ourselves for being able to get our tickets and find the correct place to wait… that is until we looked around and realized that we were on the wrong side of the tracks! With the train coming in a minute or two, we found ourselves running up the stairs and across the tracks to the other side! We did make the correct train, but we sure were scared there for a bit! Here in Japan, the trains run like clockwork. If your train is supposed to come at 8:43 and one comes at 8:41, don’t take it because it’s probably not the right train. It will come at exactly 8:43. (I think the US’s bus system could take a lesson from them.) I was able to go with Pam to a nursing home where she taught the residents how to make blueberry cake. It was a fun and interesting experience! They don’t make much cake in Japan and so this was new to them. In the afternoon we were able to sit and talk with Bill & Pam and get a better feel for the type of ministry they have in Japan. We talked about positive and negative things in Japanese culture and ways to make have a form of Christianity that is authentic to a Japanese society.

Pray for us and the Noars as we digest all we talked about this afternoon.

After a long (the fourteen hour non-stop flight to Tokyo was a new personal record for me) but uneventful journey, we arrived in Hikari, Japan. We are renting this little studio apartment (by little, I mean 15’x15’ total) which is very “cozy” but very adequate. Today we spent the morning recovering from our travels and getting all of our stuff situated. In the afternoon, we did some orientation and saw some of the more important places in town (bank, grocery store, gas station, etc). Hikari is a small town of about fifty-five thousand situated on the eastern side of Yamaguchi Province right along the ocean. We will be doing all of our travel around town by bicycle, which is proving to be a little bit of a coordination challenge for Theresa, as she never had a lot of practice on one.

We would appreciate your prayers as we make the adjustment to a new schedule as well as try to figure out where & how to get all of the things we need.