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.

As we work with our various Japanese helpers and tutor, one of the things I am very good at is getting off on bunny trails (by the way, that is a really difficult expression to try to explain to a non-native English speaker). However, that made it very appropriate that I was giving the privilege of being the 2009 Nohara Easter Bunny. Because of how much the Japanese people enjoy it, the church has gotten in the habit of doing an Easter egg hunt every year. This year, one of our co-workers filled 95 bright eggs and I spent Easter morning (with the help of one of the guys from the newly arrived Atlanta team) hiding them. I must have done a good job, because at the end of the hunt, 6 eggs were still at large. One of the most interesting things about the Easter egg hunt here in Japan was the fact that the adults participate as well as the kids.The Easter service at Lighthouse Church was really a big encouragement. We had over 50 people and literally ran out of chairs. In addition to the Atlanta team, the Ube Angelic Shout Gospel Choir attended and performed three songs. We also had a number of visitors who were friends of people in the church. One of the highlights of the morning was the introduction of the Atlanta team. They shared testimonies and presented the church with a commemorative gift – a framed photo of a lighthouse taken by Dr. Charles Stanley (pastor of First Baptist, Atlanta). After church, everyone enjoyed an American style barbeque and pot-luck. In the afternoon, we did some planning with the Atlanta team and then took them to enjoy a walk around Tokiwa Park.

Please pray for many of the guests who were at the service yesterday. We would love to see them come to church on a regular basis. Pray that they would have felt warmth and welcome from the people in the church and continue to connect with us.

For the past few weeks the church has been getting ready for the arrival of the work team from Atlanta.  They will get here this Saturday night and spend the whole of next week with us helping to renovate the church sanctuary and our apartment upstairs.  The house we are staying in right now thankfully has enough extra rooms in it that, if needed, the whole team could stay in it for the week.  The plan right now is that half of them will stay here and the other half will stay in our future apartment on the second floor of the Ministry Center.

We are looking forward to an exciting, but busy week.  Colby will be helping out with the construction projects and I will be helping out with meal preparations.  We decided that it is best to hold off our language studying while the team is here and just concentrate on helping them get the work done.  Sunday we will have our Easter service and BBQ afterward, a team meeting that night, and then we’ll hit the ground running on Monday morning.

God has blessed us very much with this team being able to come.  Last we heard, they were able to raise up even more money than what they budgeted for, the excess of which will be used to purchase supplies for the projects on this end.  There are 11 members total, including some experienced construction workers as well.  I will try to write again sometime later next week and include a picture of them and how things are going.

Would you join us in praying for safety for the team and efficiency in completing the projects we have for them?  Please pray also for good communication amongst everyone and for protection against spiritual warfare.

Colby asking Mrs. Kodera a question

For the past month Colby and I have been meeting with a lovely lady named Mrs. Kodera who has agreed to tutor us in Japanese for a very reasonable fee.  We usually meet with her at her home twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, for a couple hours at a time.  We take our shoes off in her entryway while she greets us with an “ah, konnichwa!” and a smile and bow.  As we pile our textbooks on her table, she usually brings out coffee and some snacks for us to munch on.  Then we get down to business and for the next 2 hours or so we study the ins and outs of the Japanese language.  Thankfully Mrs. Kodera knows some English and so between that and our dictionaries, we are usually able to understand each other fairly well.  When we understand a new concept she is explaining or say something correctly she usually replies with, “ah, so so so so so”, which in Japanese is like saying “right,” or “yeah yeah yeah”.  It’s funny how each culture has unique little sayings of their own.  Colby and I enjoy meeting with Mrs. Kodera because she welcomes the questions we have about Japanese, and there are always good opportunities to practice speaking the little that we know.  We often catch ourselves trying to say something in Japanese the same way we would say it in English and Mrs. Kodera has to tell us that it is “too much of a direct translation.  The Japanese people would not say it like that.”  I think that is one of the most interesting things we have learned about the language so far – we can’t expect to just swap it out word for word with English in order to say what we want.  We must instead learn how the Japanese people would say things, which often is very different than how English speakers would say them.  In all reality, it is a process of adopting the Japanese mindsets, views, and culture, which, as Colby and I have been told, must be done in order to really communicate effectively.  Mrs. Kodera, like our Japanese tutor in America, teaches Japanese at the local college and so because she has had some teaching experience already, it is nice to learn from someone who understands the nitty-gritty of the language.  Our last couple of sessions have been encouraging because we are finding that we can understand a bit more of her Japanese each time.

Mrs. Kodera is not a believer as of yet.  Would you please pray that God would do a work in her heart to bring her unto Himself?  Pray also that we would be good testimonies to her.