Wednesday, July 27th - A Few Thoughts

Dear Friends and Loved Ones – It’s 6AM Wednesday morning – it’s overcast as most of the days have been.  Although I love the sun when I’m home in L.A., the clouds keep the temperature down and the humidity hasn’t been bad.  We’ve only had light rain a few nights and it hasn’t disrupted our activities at all.  All this to say, the weather has been great and a wonderful blessing for us.  The men are just beginning to stir and get up to prepare for the day – our 2nd day of EEC.  It’s “Crazy Hair Day” so it will be fun to see what everyone has done to their hair.  For those of you who know me, I have no hair – so what am I going to do, you may ask.  I’ve cut off the right side of my mustache and chin whiskers.  I just have to remember to cut off the other half at the end of the day so I don't’ go to the onsen tonight looking like this.  At yesterday’s meeting after EEC, Nakada-sensei had all the volunteers share a positive from the day’s activities and a concern or suggestion.  I thought it was kind of a bummer to be sharing anything negative, but the things that were brought up were all legitimate concerns and could be easily remedied.  I think it was a great way for everyone to consider clearly how we can make the next two days of EEC even better.  The positive comments from everyone were wonderful to hear – an indication that everyone and everything is going well.  It’s been great to see how people from two churches in Southern California have meshed together with people from at least four churches in Japan along with students from a seminary in Tokyo to form a well-oiled machine.  Besides working well together, everyone has bonded very quickly.  Fortunately, many of the guys from the seminary speak English and I’ve enjoyed the time spent in conversation.  It’s too bad that the volunteers for EEC will be returning to their homes and to the seminary when the camp is over - I will miss them dearly.  The beehive is beginning to buzz now as the guys are awake and getting themselves ready for the day.  It’s about time for me to head over to the church for breakfast.  Thank you, as always, for your prayers and well-wishes.  They have ensured that all has gone according to God’s plan.  God bless you richly.  Love, Don    

Tuesday, July 26th - The First Day of EEC

Dear Loved Ones - It's 5:30PM and we've had an evaluation meeting for our first day of EEC.  People are resting and mingling about - waiting for dinner at 6PM.  Yesterday, volunteers began arriving to help us out - a senior gentleman from a sister church of the Sendai church.  Sendai sent out fliers to their sister churches asking for people to come and help out at EEC.  This man rode a bus for six hours to get here.  He is a very interesting guy with a great heart.  Another car drove up from Tokyo after a six hour drive.  There is a pastor, three seminary students, and a member of their church.  These young men have been a great blessing to our mission - the kids are always drawn to cute young men of strong character.  We also have the new pastor from Chino Christ Church - participating in the type of program that was at his church the last nine years.  Maybe we are headed back to Chino again next year.  We also have a young woman, a freshman in college.  She is a terrific artist, hopefully headed to a career in graphic design.  Her warmth and kind heart win her over with the young children in her group.  We also have some mature women from the Sendai church helping out with the five groups of children.  Their love and enthusiasm touches my heart deeply.  And then we have the church members who are helping out in the kitchen - preparing food for the mission team members and for the children at EEC.  This is a great mission team.  I don't have specific duties for EEC - my title is director.  I get to observe all the groups as they go to the five different activities.  There are no weaknesses in the leadership of the groups or the activities they attend.  The reactions of the children as they left today, picked up by their moms, was very positive - with a lot of smiles and enthusiastic waves.  I will have to stop for now.  We are getting ready to have dinner.
     It's now 7:15PM, we've finished dinner and cleaned up the sanctuary, vacuuming and mopping the floor, and are now waiting until 8PM when we will go to the onsen.  The onsen might seem like a luxury, and it is, but it would be extremely difficult for 25 people to share one shower at the church.  So we will make the sacrifice of going to the onsen again tonight.
     Today during lunch, an incident caught my eye that choked me up.  A little girl, about 4 or 5 years old was crying, from a toothache, I believe.  A member of the Sendai church put her on her lap as she sat on the floor - with the little girl face to face with her.  I could see Kinuko whispering to the little girl, then close her eyes and begin praying with her.  The little girl was quiet and seemed to calm down and be at ease.  That image continues to make me choke up.  It is just one of the many, many things that I witness on the mission trip that bless me greatly.
     Dinner was great tonight - the food was very tasty as usual, but it was the conversation with a couple of the men from Japan that fed my soul as the food fed my body.  It's hard to believe that our time in Sendai is about half way done.  The time is going by so quickly - I want to slow the clock down and stretch out time.  Shizuka and Tsuguru are teaching some of the songs we sing with the kids to the men from the seminary.  It is a sight to see these grown men singing children's songs with great enthusiasm.  I have to run off now.  I'm going to end for now.  Life is good - God is good.  May God bless you as we have been blessed in Sendai.  Love, Don

Sunday, July 24th - A Very Blessed Sunday

Dear Family & Loved Ones - It is 5:30PM and we have some time for ourselves right now.  The day began with a prayer meeting at 7AM, once again.  Nakada-sensei has been using the book of Acts to provide teaching and inspiration to us each morning.  It is such a great way to begin each morning.  After breakfast we had to move furniture around to prepare for the worship service.  There were about 18 people who came to the service - all of them full of enthusiasm.  We sang 5 songs with them to begin the service.  I thought our group was pretty impressive with our singing - in both talent and volume.  But the singing of the Sendai church members could be heard above our voices.  One woman in particular caught my attention.  She stood in the aisle with her arms and her voice reaching up to the heavens.  As I watched her my eyes started tearing up and my voice began cracking - I was so touched by her unashamed enthusiasm in worshipping her God.  I had to look at other people in the pews, but each time I glanced at her my reaction would be the same.  I found out after the service that Koby had the same reaction as me.  Rhemus gave his testimony and Shizuka presented the morning message and I know that the people of the Sendai church were greatly blessed.  After the service, the church gave us a welcoming lunch.  We split up and sat at four different tables - with each table having 3 mission team members with at least one being bilingual to translate the conversation going on with the 5 church members.  Then we went around and everyone said a little bit about themselves.  It was wonderful spending time with these wonderful people.  This is my first time serving in Sendai after going to Chino, Japan five times.  I love the people of Chino and thought I would never experience the same joy and blessings I received from spending time with them.  After spending just four days in Sendai, I am finding the same love and hospitality I have experienced in Chino.  God has blessed me greatly in so many ways.  I wish more of you folks would consider coming to Japan to serve on our missions here.   It is heartbreaking to consider that less than 1% of the Japanese know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  Right now, Shizuka and Hiroko are singing duets - I assume some will be shared with the Sendai Church.  I close my eyes and allow my heart to soar with their voices.  In a few minutes we will be going out for dinner - Nakada-sensei is taking us out for sushi.  We are going to a restaurant that has a conveyor belt taking the sushi by your tables.  There are a few perks to being here.  Actually, there are many, many perks to being here.  Thanks to God for His love, mercy and grace - and for all of you who support us on this mission.  God bless you.  Love, Don

Shizuka giving the morning message.

Rhemus sharing his testimony and Kumi providing the
translation into Japanese.

Sunday, July 24th - A Wonderful Day of Sendai Hospitality

Dear Family & Loved Ones – It’s Sunday, July 24th at 12:30AM.  We’ve completed a day full of wonderful surprises and activities in our honor on Saturday.  After the prayer meeting and breakfast, we cleaned up the church and prepared it for activities we could watch and participate in.  At about 11AM, a group of people came to show us how mochi was pounded and formed into balls ready to eat.  For those of you who do not know about mochi, go to YouTube and look up “mochi pounding”.  This group brought a bowl and stand made from a single section of a tree trunk, large mallets to pound the rice, and ingredients to serve with the mochi; nori, kinaku, and red bean paste.  Although the mochi was already kneaded by a machine, it was fun pounding the mochi with the large mallets.  There is nothing like freshly made mochi.  At 2PM we had a dancing performance by a lady – is it called “odori”?  She performed to two traditional songs that I know my dad would enjoy – “old people music”.  There were then three presentations for us to participate in; calligraphy, flower arranging, and a tea ceremony.  We split up into three groups and moved to each of these activities.  My calligraphy looks like a child had written it.  I love when people compliment me even when I’ve made a mess of things.  I choose to always believe them.  In between the dancing and the other activities, Hiroko gave her testimony to the people who came to share their talents with us.  Most of these people are not believers, so it gave us a chance to share with them.  After all of this was finished, we put the furniture back in place and cleaned up, so the church will be ready for us to have our meeting and breakfast this morning.  We then went to the home of a church member, Kinuko Sasaki, I believe.  Many of the people who presented classes for us were also there.  We started by singing some church songs together, had testimonies given by Mielee and Shizuka, and a short message given by Nakada-sensei.  It was then time for some heavy duty eating.  There were three stations once again, just like with our classes.  One station had ingredients for us to make our own sushi:  rice, nori (seaweed), sashimi, veggies, and other things.  This one station would have been a great meal for by itself.  There was also a station where takoyaki (?) was made.  This is another one to look up on YouTube.  The third station had noodles that traveled down a trough in front of you.  The trough was made from bamboo, about 5 inches in diameter that had been cut in half.  Water carried the noodles down the trough and you would grab some with your chopsticks and place it into your bowl half-filled with broth.  I know this is probably hard to picture and even harder to believe, but it was wonderful.  Of course if you were at the end of the line, you might be getting crumbs off the chopsticks of the people ahead of you.  I was at the front of my line.  One of the daughters of our host had cancer during the past two years and was prayed for by the members of the mission team members from Crossway and South Bay churches.  She is now doing fine, and to express her gratitude gave gifts to all the team members – very nice gifts.  Although it is always a blessing to receive gifts, there was none better tonight than to share the meal and evening with Kinuko and her family – especially the daughter who has received God’s healing.  We finished the day with a visit to the….onsen.  The onsen is always great, but did not compare to the rest of the day.  The days’ activities were a great blessing and fun to do.  But the best part of them was how they brought people together.  We got to spend time with people who had never stepped foot into a Christian church before.  We were drawn closer to Nakada-sensei and his wife and daughter – as well as other members of the Sendai church.  And I believe it drew members of our mission team closer to one another through the activities we did together and the laughter we shared doing them.  It’s now past 1AM and I’m making more and more errors as I typeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.  Thank you once again for your prayer support – it makes a world of difference.  Later this morning we will present the worship service, with Rhemus giving his testimony, the team leading the singing, and Shizuka giving the message.  May God be given the honor and glory He deserves through our worship together with the Sendai Church.  God bless you, all.  Love, Don

Our friend from Sendai risks her hand and arm turning the
rice while Koby pounds it into mochi.

Danny putting some real muscle into pounding the mocha

Shizuka & Mielee shared their testimonies at the home of
Kinuko Sasaki prior to our feast. 

Hiroko & Kumi enjoying the meal in their typical
prim and proper manner.

Rhemus & Tsuguru waiting for the noodles to
come down the trough.  Koby is waiting at the
bottom to catch all that escape the two other
guys.

Nakada-sensei shows Koby & Danny how it's done.

Hiroko puts the finishing touches on her flower arrangement.

Lauren, Monica, Mielee & Shizuka enjoy making sushi.
They were even more pleased with consuming it.

Friday, July 22nd - Refreshed and Ready to Go

Brothers & Sisters and Loved Ones – It’s 6:15AM and it’s great to have a clear mind once again after a good’s night sleep.  The guys on the team sleep at the community center where many of the EEC activities will take place next week.  Everyone’s up and look bright-eyed and bushy tailed.  The gals sleep in the church and I’m sure they feel and look the same as us – maybe not quite as good looking, but that can’t be helped.
This morning we will gather at 7AM for a prayer meeting and then have breakfast at 7:40AM
I have to step away so we can clean the community center.  It is being used today so the guys have to take their things over to the church for today.  I’ll get back as soon as I can.
        Well, it's now 10AM and we have some free time for a little bit.  Lauren and Mielee are preparing their craft materials for EEC; Shizuka, Danny & Tsuguru are working on the music for the worship services we will be conducting on the two Sundays here.  There's a lot of energy and it feels real good to see all this enthusiasm.
         For our prayer meeting this morning, Nakada-sensei referenced Acts 14:19-22.  In this passage from the Bible, Paul's been beaten for speaking out about Jesus and left for dead.  His followers find him, pray for him and minister to his injuries.  Instead of taking off and getting away from his attackers, Paul goes back into to the city to continue sharing about Jesus Christ.  Through his actions, Paul encouraged his disciples to have the same boldness as himself and it leads to the strengthening of the faith of people in the area.  Nakada-sensei shared how Christians have been the only group to reach out and support the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011.  They continue to support these people after other non-profit organizations have come and gone.  People have been touched and impressed by the support they have received from Christians and have been drawn to this religion, but with time it becomes harder and harder for them to not fall back to the beliefs and traditions of their families and friends.  We hope that we can add to the efforts that will help break this cycle and encourage and support people to continue seeking after Jesus Christ.
          Right now, the first of three groups of people are headed out for a visitation with a church member.  Kumi, Danny & Monica will go there to provide fellowship and friendship with someone who is no longer able to come to the Sunday services.  This afternoon, Hiroko and I will go with Nakada-sensei to visit another former church member who no longer to come out.  Utsumi-san lost his wife to the tsunami and actually saw as she was washed away with her car.  She was unable to climb the 20 meters that would have saved her life.  I tear up as I think about visiting this man.  Please pray for him today and in the days to come - that he will find peace and hope for today and the  future in spite of his great loss.   We will also visit Brother Sato who is in the hospital.  Also this afternoon, Tsuguru, Mielee, Lauren & Danny will make a visit to a church members' home.  While these visitations are going on, Kumi and Shizuka will go to the Costco to buy supplies for a "Taco Party" that we will have with children and their families who come to EEC next week.  Dinner will be at 6PM, a prayer meeting at 7PM, practice and preparation for the Worship Service on Sunday.  To finish and complete the day we will go to the.........onsen.  I don't know if I'm going to use the pool that gives electric shocks/stimulation.  I think it may just be a plan to rid Japan of the "Ugly Americans" that come to visit them - those loud and impolite barbarians.  That's just my thought.  Our luggage and supplies have arrived from the airport so we can now get to all of the things we brought here.  Clean underwear!
          Thank you very much for your prayers - everything is going well.  We are all healthy and safe.  Shizuka and Hiroko are practicing a song in Japanese.  Even though I don't understand the lyrics, they sound like angels - I wish you were here to experience it.  May God bless you as we have been blessed on this trip.  Love, Don

A picture of the Sendai Church.  Our home for the next
two weeks.

Getting ready - our orientation meeting conducted by
Nakada-sensei.

Nakada-sensei conducting an English class with
neighborhood children.  

Thursday, July 21st

Dear Brothers and Sisters - It's 11:15PM Thursday night - the end of our first day in Sendai.  A lot has happened and most of the team has gone to bed.  There are a few of us still up - planning for tomorrow with Nakada-sensei (pastor of the Sendai church) and writing blogs.  It is hard to keep my eyes open and to concentrate on this blog, so I will write as long as as I can.  We left LAX at 1:20AM and arrived at Haneda Airport at 4:15AM.  After retrieving our luggage we exchanged our dollars for yen - and had most of our luggage sent to the Sendai church by takkyubin, so we didn't have to lug it around as we traveled by train to the Sendai church.  We rode a few trains before boarding the "Bullet Train" and getting to the Sendai church.  Most of the team members were able to take a nap while Nakada-sensei presented an English class to eight students.  Danny, Tsuguru and I spent time with the students with conversational English when their lesson was finished.  After dinner and cleaning up, we went to the onsen for soaking our bodies in the warm tubs.  I've tried not to mention the onsen year after year but this year we experienced something new.  Besides the five tubs of water at various temperatures there was also one that gave electric shocks.  Electric shocks and water do not sound like things that should go together.
     These last two sentences have taken about 5 minutes to write.  I am going to stop for tonight and get myself some rest.  Thank you to everyone who has been supporting us with your prayers.   I'll get back to you soon.  God bless you all.   Don
     

July 5th - Last Preparations

Crossway kids showing off their
Olympic torches.  

Dear Friends - For so long, the mission to Sendai this year seemed so far off- but suddenly it is only two weeks away.  We've had four planning meetings so far, and will have one more this coming Saturday.  We seem to be pretty well prepared and I haven't been receiving any frantic phone calls or emails from anyone.  Besides the planning and preparation meetings, we've also conducted a Sunday school session and led a worship service with the Japanese speaking congregation at Crossway Church.  By presenting the Sunday school program, we were able to give the Crossway staff a day off and it allowed us to have the experience of doing activities we will present in Sendai.  Lauren and Mielee did a craft activity with the kids and they made Olympic torches - to go along with our theme, "Olympics - The Greatest Victory."  The photo at the right shows the kids with their torches.   After they were finished they took a jog through the Crossway campus for their own torch relay.  We will be conducting two worship services while we are in Sendai - July 24th and July 31st.  On July 3rd we presented our first worship service to the nichigo (Japanese speaking) congregation of Crossway Church.  Rhemus gave his testimony, sharing about accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, with Kumi translating it into Japanese.  The entire team led the singing with Shizuka playing piano and Danny providing percussion.  And then Shizuka gave the morning message to us.  The singing sounded very good.  We have many wonderful singers, which is a great blessing.  They drown out the froggy voices
of the two old men on the mission team.

Shizuka presenting the message at the
Crossway Church Sunday service.

 We would appreciate and treasure your prayers as we prepare our lessons, activities, and most importantly, our hearts for the upcoming mission.  We will be leaving from LAX at 1:20AM on Wednesday, July 20th for our 10½ flight to the Haneda Airport.  Please pray that we will have the boldness and confidence to share the gospel, the message of salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ, in a manner which will entice and encourage the Japanese people to seek a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Thank you to all of you who have supported us with your financial and prayer support already.  God be with you and bless you.  Love, the Sendai 16 Mission Team