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.