Noto Reflections

Hey Team!

As we work here in Japan we are so thankful that you are all partnering with us in prayer and other kinds of support the whole time!

Riding around the Noto peninsular though there were moments where I wished that it was you rather than me, not necessarily on the hard uphills because I often felt like it was hard but there was an end in sight, a tangible achievement. The times when it was the hardest and I couldn't help but wonder if anyone else would do better than me were in the times when I was tired and then had to try and communicate across language barriers, and eat food that I am so unaccustomed to.

However it is these times that I think God is reminding me most richly about His ongoing grace. It is only by His grace that I am able to play the role of missionary, to be a part of a family business that I have no right to enjoy the priviledges of, and to be strengthened in my relationship with Him and His people in the process.

During cycling we were taken care of by two wonderful OM (Operation Mobilisation) missionaries - Stephan and Simon. Stephan is Dutch South African and Simon is Korean Australian. Both guys are here with their wives and kids, living in one of the more remote parts of Japan (atleast compared to Tokyo) and attempting the learn the language and the culture in order to be able to serve God in this land. Please join us in thanking God for these men, and praying for them and their families as they form friendships, learn many things through easy and hard lessons, and as they attempt to share their lives and the gospel with the people around them!

see you all soon :)

In Him

Kat

J's shady vlog

Sorry i'm so quiet - tired and hard to find a place for me to speak to a camera (lol)

Fi's experience tracting on Noto Peninsula

So while we've been cycling during the week we had been trying to give tracts to people we met and talked with... However Noto peninsula is like a farming area. A lot lot lot of the houses are abandoned and overgrown, or summer houses that people aren't living in just at the moment. So as far as meeting people *while* we're cycling, that can be a bit of a challenge. Usually we were riding past them or they were working in the rice fields. On Saturday we spent the whole day tracting the coast east of Nanao (the church we were at on Sunday).

Tracting houses in Japan is totally different to Australia! First, you have to find the front door of the house. In some of the seaside villages I was walking through, the houses were all clumped together like a maze, with little streams in between them and crazy terraces all curving around. The front dear can be on any side of the house! sometimes near the street, sometimes in a little nook or cranny, sometimes not where you were expecting it at all.　Then you have to find the letterbox - which is somewhere near the door. Good luck! it is usually small and inconspicuous. Other times it is red (hooray!). Sometimes, it is inside the genkan/entrance or gate and you feel like you're walking into someone's house.
Also because we were tracting on a Saturday, a lot of people were home! I 'talked' to maybe 20 people or so! I think it would be very rare in Australia to actually see the people you are leaving tracts for, but Japanese houses often have a sitting area near the front door - like a metre or so away! somtimes there were people working in the fields in front of the house, but it wasn't their house! Most of the people are old. I saw maybe 2 families or groups under 50!
Finally, they are interested to read what you give them. I didn't meet anyone who looked at the front page or heard me say I came from a church and reject the tract because of that.

Please pray:
- thank God for the willingness of the people to receive the tract and read it.
- pray that as God has promised, his word will not return to Him empty (Isaiah 55:11), that not only would people read the tracts and understand them, but by the Holy Spirit they would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

"Masaki" says a bit about homestays...

There's so much you can learn about a culture by experiencing a little of family life. During our Ishikawa-ken leg of our trip, we had two homestays on each end of the mission (so one at Wajima and one at Nanao). The homestay the girls had at Wajima were a lacquerware... people who attend the English classes run by the Wajima church. They not only allowed us into their homes but they also let us have a go at lacquerware, which I must say was mighty fun. The second family the girls homestayed with were an elderly couple who used to own a ryokan. We stayed in said ryokan (+onsen!!!!) but dined with the couple at their home. I was very amazed by this couple as they are very busy on Sundays but still go to the Sunday service even though they're always late (and by late I mean they arrive later than halfway through the sermon). Truthfully, I also greatly appreciated the homecooked Japanese meals... reminded me of home (both in Japan and Australia).
Things I thought to pray for from this experience are:
- Thank God for the open hearts of the homestays who were excited for us to come even though we're a bunch of strangers from down under.
- The non-Christian family who are still keen to interact with the Wajima church. Pray that they will continue to be in contact and they will eventually be compelled to love the Lord as their own personal Saviour.

The time in Ishikawa

So apart from biking around ishikawa-ken till my thighs went on vacation after finishing up I'd like to mention what I learned about Japanese shrines as we traveled around. First of all there are alot of em, like every 2-3kms theres roughly the same kind of shrine for the local area. The actual shrines are often in the middle of a small forest so the best way to spot them out is the gate that is visible on the outskirts of the forest. Most shrines are very well maintained with one exception I found while I was tracting in the eastern section of the Noto region. I have some photos but for lack of time I didn't actually make it to the shrine the footing was treacherous and I don't like spiders. That unkept shrine really intrigued me because it was an oddity I really want to find out the story behind why it was left un-maintained.

Alen :)

J's ramble about Uchinada

Biking was......fun. My inner groin muscles hurt. I think I need to get out more.

On Wednesday this week we went to Uchinada Bible Church for their prayer meetings and kids program. It was tres cool - the people were really honest in sharing their prayer points and praying with strangers like us. The kids program was pretty fun too - I think they liked the skit and the game (jan ken poh?). OH! And we met a guy called Tomo a.k.a. Joel (coz apparently he's funny/annoying like Joel and is similar in other ways...?) a.k.a. Joey (coz someone else misheard it but it stuck because it sounded cool, plus it got confusing when we wanted to talk about Joel). Please pray for Tomo - he's studying in a bible college in Canada to become a youth pastor, which isn't common at all in Japan, so it'd be good to see that focus - pray that he'd be able to understand the bible well, especially since his teaching is all in English in Canada which can be pretty hard.