grandmastermissiology's Xanga

June 2009 update

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:49:15 GMT

Dear Friends,

It has been too long and for that I apologize. I've got lots of news for you so I may not even need to use chapters, I'll just keep it short and sweet.

Language School update:

I've completed another term at Kichijoji Language School, and will begin my 8th 10 week term in the beginning of July, where I'll do a refresher on the odd numbered chapters in the advanced book, as well as reading and writing. I'm also preparing to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2, for the second time, I took Level 2 last December and failed, but looking to go at it again. The test is split into a grammar/vocabulary section, a listening section, and a reading comprehension section. Last time I passed the first two. This time Im looking to pass the whole thing. The Test is July 5th, please pray that it goes well.

Ministry Update:

I was privileged to be the Speaker at camp 2 of Joy Bible Camp at Okutama Bible Chalet this Summer. OBC is the camp run by SEND, and JBC is the English language children's camp directed at kids from the international school. Our theme was 'In Touch' with Colossians 2:6-7 being our theme verses. I gave 8 20-30 minute talks on how we, as believers can walk with Jesus. We looked at examples from Jesus life and also I tried to relate to my target audience (9-12 year olds) with a few life experiences of my own. Response was mixed, but overall I was pleased that some kids were paying attention, and I heard that a little girl went home and decided to give her life to Christ. Praise the Lord for that! My camp name this year was Dr. Spaceman. I found it really funny that, when teaching the kids the counselors and camp director would start by saying 'remember what Spaceman said...' Who listens to a guy named Spaceman? It's ridiculous. It's...foolishness. And that's exactly why it was perfect. Who could possibly get the glory from such a situation other than Jesus? I'm not even sure that anyone else would hire a guy named Spaceman for that kind of job. Just my little tangent. Thanks for your prayers.

Partnership Program:

Maki and I had a chance to visit the church where we will be serving starting this September, Tama Plaza Christ Church in Yokohama. Everyone was friendly and we were comfortable in no time fellowshipping there. My assignment there will be to work with youth from middle school to college and careers age. I'll be responsible for giving a devotional in Japanese once a month for the Jr. High/HS group. Please pray for the transition from full-time language student to language user to go well. And pray that God blesses Tama Plaza Church and that Maki and I can be a blessing even as We have already begun being blessed there.

Church Softball:

Maki was able to find a softball field that is available every Sunday night, and, along with a group of guys at Tachikawa Church, we've been enjoying a good manly time of fellowship. I've been able to get to know some of the men at Tachikawa church better through softball, and we have guys looking to make it a more regular time so that friends can be invited for future fun and fellowship. Pray that God uses this opportunity as he sees fit.

Family Update:

Jon's older brother David was married on to Maki's little sister (this is legal in both countries) on April 30th of this year. It was wonderful to see all of Jon's family here in Japan (Jon sometimes like to write in the third person for clarification, sometimes because he thinks it very manly) for the wedding. David and Tomo are now back in California raising support to come back to Japan with SEND as missionaries. Jon also had a chance to visit relatives in Okinawa for 4 days after seeing off most of the family back to the airport. Truly a blessed time seeing where his (my) grandmother is from, meeting her brother and other relatives. Maki did not make the trip this time because she is pregnant. That's not the way I intended to make that announcement but Maki and Jon are expecting their first child to arrive around December 20th of this year. Please pray for continued growth, good health, and a heart for God. Pray for Maki and Jon as parents, and also, for David and Tomo, as they begin their married lives together.

Well, that's all for now folks, longer than I (Jon) expected but largely without the fluffy blog fodder. Come to think of it, I think it would be a good idea to post this on the blog. I will. Shalom ya'll!

Jon and Maki Robison

Happy New Year!!!

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 04:27:58 GMT

Sorry gang, I guess this is the first post of 2009. I've been trying to think of ways to get updates to ya'll in the most efficient way possible, and obviously updating Xanga hasn't been part of that strategy so far. At any rate, I think I'll keep this up until I can set up a blog that works better, and if/when that happens you will all be the first to know. I say 'all' because it appears that I've had footprints this week despite the obvious dry spell. But for those of you looking for life and ministry updates, here's what I have since last time, utilizing the easy to scan bullet format.

* Finishing another 10 week round of language school, only one more before we look at a partnership program (like an internship) with a Japanese pastor. I'm looking forward to working with a church near Kawasaki (close to Tokyo), focusing on youth ministry, ages ranging from middle school to the college and careers groups.

* Enjoying basic conversation with both Japanese and fellow language students. I've been spending more time talking with people in the office at my language school, as I've also volunteered to be a group leader in the upcoming school field trip, as well as put together a team which created the school's new hata, or banner/battle flag. In the latter case I didn't do any of the actual art work, just worked more as a go between for the school and shy art students.

* I've done two interviews in the past two weeks or so, one in Japanese, one in English. The Japanese one was taped and heavily edited, if used at all. I don't have a radio so I haven't checked, but I've heard it's a popular radio program. They were just talking to language students about their favorite dives/haunts in Tokyo, as well as their impressions of the Japanese, proving that they are as narcissistic as any of us. The more I look at myself and societies in general that more I find that to be true, people love hearing about themselves, talking about themselves, etc. It's something I try to remind myself not to do, especially when I meet new people...but then here I am blogging about myself for all ya'll. The second interview was for some sort of Money TV show, where I was asked about how the high yen prices are hurting me as a foreigner in Tokyo. I kept it short and to the point. In retrospect I realize that, as I was on a day trip with a friend I wasn't dressed to impress, and may have ended up on TV with my signature sweatshirt, ballcap and jeans combination. Sorry mom.

* Looking ahead to this summer I've been asked to be the speaker at a five day children's bible camp. I'm humbled to be asked, but another part of me realizes that there was a shortage of available, affordable (free) speakers available. Even so, I've worked as a counselor before at the same camp and love working with children so I think it will be a blast. Please pray that I can put together 8 30 or so minute messages that get the message of 'staying in touch with God' across without terribly boring them. I think they're mostly 11 and 12 year olds. This will be done in English.

I imagine a lot of this will be in my upcoming newsletter, which will look drastically different from my newsletters in the past. I'm aiming for more of a personal approach to the reader, that is, more easily scannable, while not sacrificing content for you readers who enjoy my prose and witty banter. I suppose that's all for now, Thank you all for your prayers, thank you all for your support. We serve a great God, and I'm blessed to be working for him, alongside all of you.

The Election, A new Bible study, and possibly a few odds and ends

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:44:14 GMT

(First paragraph is thoughs on the election, if you wish to skip the politics please start at paragraph 2)

Today I hurried home after school to see how the election was going. First time I checked McCain was up 8-3 after Kentucky and Delaware were projected. by my mid-morning recess at school it was something like 106-32 in favor of Obama. When I got home and checked CNN I was surprised to see that it was already over. Now, I think I have a grasp of where most of you stand on this, and I think most of you have a grasp of where I stand, but it is not my intention to discuss that here today. Regardless of how you feel about this election's outcome it would be good to put it into perspective. To all you Obama fans out there, congratulations. It was a hard-fought victory, and I hope along with you that Obama continues to fight hard for the good of America as a nation, it's place in the world, and before Jesus, in whom Barack Obama believes (I liked Rick Warren's take on this one, both Obama and McCain are Christians, though neither is by definition an evangelical, fair enough for me). To all you McCain fans out there, well-fought, please continue to do your best in the democratic republic we call our temporary home, until heaven is ready. To all the evangelicals out there, I think it is important to realize that while America is not now, never was, and never will be a Theocracy in the vein of Old Testament Israel, please remember your brothers and sisters in Christ who come from other countries. Think of the Christians who live in Islamic republics, or communist countries which subscribe to a no-God creed. If we are dissapointed because the candidate who represents more hope for the unborn and traditional family values has lost the election, well, at least we had the opportunity to hope that such a candidate might win. Such candidates have won in the past, and quite recently, in America. Not in most countries in the world, and not in Japan. Japanese Christians do not have the luxury of hoping that their prime minister will fight for the lives of the unborn, or fight for other social issues because they are written in the Bible. Why would they? They don't quite make up 1% of the population here. I'm thankful to God that he placed me on this Earth as an American, but infinitely more grateful that He chose me to have faith in His Son Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins.

In actual Jon Robison news, I started attending a devotional time Bible study on Wednesday mornings in Kichijoji. Now that SEND has 3 missionaries in language school I meet with the other two, a fellow from Kansas and a very nice man from Hong Kong. We share a little of how the week is going and then have a small devotional time followed by prayer. I really enjoyed our first meeting this morning. It wasn't at all hard core theology, but it was still wonderful to delve into the word with other people...in English. It has been a very long time since I've been able to do that. For those of you praying for me out there, thank you.

Odds and Ends...hmm. Oh, SEND's camp ministry ran into a Crisis recently, as the current Camp director (filling in for the current camp director who is on home service) has retired for health reasons. A new leader is needed for the next 7 months or so. The camp is also trying to raise significant support to rebuild most of the facilities to keep them functional to meet the needs of the next Generation.

Language study continues to progress. Maki and I bought some flash cards the other day, and in order to prepare for my test in December I'm trying to learn 20 new cards a day in order to get through the 739 cards in time. Please pray for that Thank you all for your continued prayers, support and encouragement.

Tachikawa Church camp was this past weekend. Among good food, fellowship, and an evangelism seminar that stirred quite a bit of discussion between church people a highlight for me was attempting to share my thoughts on the camp in Japanese. Maki said she was surprised, although I did use some translation help, and at one point forgot what I was trying to say, since I was thinking about the Japanese words to use instead of the actual message. All the same, it was an encouraging step for me. Well, sorry, this is pretty long, isn't it. If you made it all the way to the bottom let me know in the comment box and I'll buy you a riceball next time you visit me. Shalom ya'll.

Commercial break? Queue the orchestral music?

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:05:04 GMT

If my life in Japan were a movie I feel like this whole language school part would be a musical montage, like ok, fast forward from the start to the time when you can do something useful. Agree or disagree isn't really what I'm trying to get at in this post, just a bit of reflection. Today I helped a friend move to his new apartment. I've been seeing this guy every day in class since the new semester started last week, but actually met him at the beginning of the year when I used to hang out with a group of Koreans from my previous class. At any rate, our first stop was basically Tokyo's K-town, where a Korean from another school was moving home and had lot of household stuff that was no longer needed. As my buddy was moving from a furnished apartment to a not furnished apartment he was more than willing to take a few items off this other person's hands. We finally found the place and I realized it was someone I had met some time ago. Seems like I don't remember all the details, but I remember it was a fun dinner with myself and my two Korean friends, this girl and her roommate (who had already moved back to Korea). The things that I remember about that meeting are really more the ambiance, we were all having fun, we weren't using as many utensils as a more formal meal would use, and I remember thinking this girl had a unique way of being forceful and motherly at the same time, and would do a great job taking care of one of these Korean guys should they ever decide to settle down.

Fast-forward to today, and let's put things in context. This whole recession thing, it's bad. I sympathize with all of you, I hope you the best, you know? From what I hear it's much worse in Korea and especially for Koreans studying abroad. When I started school a year ago most of my class was Koreans. Today I noticed the loud English speaking during break time from the level 1 class next door. A longtime classmate also pointed out the shrinking roster for new classes on the school board. So here I was, taking away the household items of a girl who had, after succeeding in her Japanese studies, found herself a week away from moving home to find work in Seoul, no roommate, no future in Japan, and after we left no refrigerator or microwave. I tried to think of something encouraging to say before getting into the moving van, but couldn't think of much, and that was that.

I want to tell all of you that I appreciate your prayers and financial support. I am grateful that God is using all of you as partners in the work to reach Japan, and am especially grateful during this time of economic difficulty around the globe. I find it humbling that I am still in Japan, living in a comfortable apartment with my wonderful wife, while others who are more qualified in a cultural or educational sense are struggling or finishing their tenures in this country. I don't know what God's plan is here, I don't know what part we are to play, either. I have ideas, goals, ambitions, etc., but for now I just hope that for tomorrow we will all be able to soak in the warmth of Christ's love, and that through Christ's love we can all be witnesses to his goodness and greatness wherever we are. And for those of you who are wondering, in my case that means school, meeting with an old Japanese buddy who you would have read about in this blog, and then prayer meeting. Shalom ya'll.

mid vacation report

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:45:51 GMT

Shalom ya'll,

how is your week going? Mine is going great. I've been keeping busy, working at camp, doing English practice with some language school friends, gardening, etc. Good stuff. I don't think I have any pictures just yet, although I did take a picture of dinner tonight, which was gorgeous, and tasty I might add. So...ya, let's get right to it shall we?

Thursday was a big day, as I went to camp to help out there, but before Thursday I went with Maki to do some shopping in different places, most notably we bought a few light fixtures that really lighten up the apartment. Oh, I'll go ahead and take a few pictures, just a sec...

Well lets just get to the OBC stuff then. Okutama Bible Chalet, which I've mentioned many times, is the camp that SEND runs in the mountains of western Tokyo. This particular time I was helping out with maintanence and cleaning while a ladies group from the military base was retreating. I had some good times picking the brains of senior missionaries, a church planter of about 30 years and the camp maintanence director who, along with his six kids, pioneered the small homeschool movement in SEND Japan. Here's a few pics from that nice time. Unfortunately I don't have shots of the missionaries, just a quick walk down by the river and Japanese style cafe after twilight so these will have to do.

After coming home from that I had a nice day at Church on Sunday, followed by gardening at the SEND center today on Monday. I also had a chance to talk to a retired missionary who is substituting for a guy on home service, as well as a missionary who had been in Japan for two years as an English teacher and just returned this past Summer to start full time language study. We cut way too much back in the garden, but nobody was there to stop us except his one year old daughter and it only took an empty pepsi can to distract her so we really brutalized those plants. But they'll grow back. School starts next week, I think I'll start preparing for that a little more until then. Thanks for your prayers guys! God bless you all.

Two week vacation from language school means more hands on ministry fun!

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:39:16 GMT

The last week of the summer/fall class is ticking away, and come Saturday I will begin a nice two week break from school. I sent out an e-mail to all my fellow SEND Japan missionaries asking if I could sit in on a few of their ministry programs, or help where available, something I did on a smaller scale in the spring, and I got a good response so far. So here's my schedule, not all of which I initiated, or is necessarily complete at this point, but I'll try to get pictures and updates of everything and give a nice report right here on xanga with the likely highlights going in the next newsletter.

Tonight Maki and I are invited to dinner with the couple who gave us marriage counseling, also the Evangelism Coordinator at SEND Japan. While I've talked with Dave plenty of times I hope to talk some tonight about SEND Japan's evangelism strategies that are in place now, could be in place in the future, etc. I've been looking at church, city, and population statistics lately and would like to use this as a springboard to future talks about my next assignment and future church planting work.

Next week I'm meeting a fellow missionary who is in the language and orientation process to see about some Japanese gardening at the Center, the previous missionary who kept up the guest houses and the small garden retired in June or so, and his expertise seems to have been missed.

Some time during the break I'll be heading back to my favorite camp in the whole world Okutama Bible Chalet, where I will have the chance to join some of the permanent staff for a few days and help out with things like cleaning, dishes, filling ofuros, etc. I did some of this in the Spring as well, and found it a great opportunity to practice Japanese with the cook and camp directors.

Whether it is during the break or not I just got my 2008/09 prayer group roster and am pretty excited about my group. Maki and I will join a church planting family that I really only see a few times a year, but often hear about the consistent good work they are putting in as their church is being planted. The other family is in High School ministry, which, the longer you are in Japan the more you realize the great need for High School ministry here. Really starting from Jr. High you have a generation of kids that have everything materialistically, but have very little sense of morality and seem very numb to most positive human emotions. Stress-related illnesses are high, family ties are low and it seems like a lot of kids just don't care about anything. It seems like they crave love in a very deep way but let's be serious nobody believes in Santa Claus either. That's just the vibe I get from the news, from talking to friends, even from cartoons. So ya, go High School ministry! I hope to cooperate with high school ministry people as much as possible in future church plants because the fact is that kids who go to Church in Japan, largely stop attending around Jr. High or High School.

Maki and I, and her parents and sister are taking a road trip to a peninsula a few hours south of Tokyo, been looking forward to this trip for a while, and it should be a lot of fun. I'll try to get pics of that as well. For all you history buffs, we're going to Shimoda, where American Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to open trade with other countries after what, like 200 years of isolation?

Well, I have other plans and hopes for this time, if anything significant comes be assured you can read about it here. God bless, and thank you so much for your prayers!

August gives way to September

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:42:33 GMT

Ah yes, I spend more time in my office room now, even though it doesn't have an air conditioner (Japan uses individual room units rather than central air). I got a little fan that's really great, it oscillates and has 3 strength levels, really state of the art.

I loaded pictures from my camera to my computer today, and realized how busy a month it was. Really good stuff, you know? Hopefully I can capture a glimpse of it effectively here. Let's start with 肉の日、shall we? Those kanji are read 'Niku no Hi' and translates to 'Meat Day'. You see, some supermarkets like the play on words that 29 gives, (ni-kyu, or ni-ku, niku=meat) and sometimes give meat discounts on the 29th of each month, Niku no Hi. Maki had this idea of inviting friends over for a yakiniku (fried meat) party. something like 15 people were there, mostly language school friends with even a Japanese teacher showing up. Here's a video of that.

Ah, yes, meat.

In other news, Maki's brother got married, it was a lot of fun going to a real Japanese wedding, which took place in a beautifully decorated Anglican church, followed by a nice reception at the Shinjuku Hilton.

Maki's brother Wakagi, along with his wife Ayaka, who are now in New York.

Here's the beautifully decorated (and architected if I may say so) Anglican church.

Maki made sure I had a new suit, since my other suit is accomodates an extra 30 or so pounds. I will have to be very careful to stay small enough to wear this suit many more times.

Another interesting thing that happens here in August is the Summer Matsuri (festival). It rained on parade day, but here's a few pics anyway.

Each neighborhood carried their own shrines, we watched from a spaghetti shop window. This is an example of another obstacle Japanese Christians face. When they choose not to participate in these kinds of festivals, which have roots in idol worship/animism, they choose not to take part in community activities, and national funness. Like if we, as believers were forced to sit out the 4th of July celebrations. Not fun, but God is worth it, isn't he? A good encouragement and reminder from the church in Japan.

Some traditional dramatic dance performed by what appears to be a pair wearing old man and child masks.

One day I had a few minutes to just walk around the station here in Kokubunji, where I live (Western Tokyo), and thought you might enjoy a shot of the Northern side of the station. I don't get over to the North side as often as I used to, since Maki has been taking care of the grocery shopping and we got a home coffee maker, all the same, I can rest assured that a Big Mac fix is only a few minutes away.

It was also about a 15 second walk from here that you can try the fabulous horse meat sushi for only about $3 for two small pieces. Highly recommended.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, while the advance of the light of Christ in this country is slow, I'm happy to be here, fellowship and work with the believers as I learn the language, and pray about future ministry. God bless!

An article I submitted to SEND Japan's missionary newsletter

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:41:44 GMT

Speaking to the SEND Japan missionaries specifically, all others...welcome to my world. I know I don't know all of you all that well just yet, but if you are like me you probably enjoy a stroll down memory lane. Usually this includes all your most cherished memories – spitting watermelon seeds at your little brother, graduating college, getting married, winning your church softball league – that sort of thing. Well, today you are in for a treat. Instead of giving you that normal boring stuff, I'll take you with me to a place you'd probably rather not return, I'm taking you down bad memory lane. So sit back, grab your favorite stress ball and come with me as we relive language school.

After a fun few months at Tokyo Academy of Communication last Summer, which included free coffee, senbei, and frequent discussions on Japanese culture and Christianity, I said goodbye to it all in favor of a more all around approach at Kichijoji Language School in (you guessed it) Kichijoji. The past year of studying at KLS has been lots of fun getting to know people from different parts of the world – but actually mostly just Korea – as well as taking daily kanji tests. But all joking aside, let me take you into an average week of class, I promised memory lane, didn't I? Monday I arrive a little before 9am, hoping that I've had my coffee, and that it will be enough to get me through 12:35, I'm not a morning person. Class starts with a listening exercise that is designated as easy or ridiculously hard, based on the happy or sad face icons found in the upper left hand corner of the corresponding handout. After this we usually move on to grammar, reading, or sentence creation. The next 90 minutes are broken up by a small break to keep our minds fresh through the drubbing, after which I grab my pal Kun Ho and we get something at the supermarket in anticipation of our daily kanji test. Yogurt or more coffee usually does the trick. Upon returning I usually take the reading test and fill out a practice writing test while looking at the cheat sheet, this helps drill things like stroke order into my head. After learning the kanji for Tuesday's test we prepare for the next exercise, Essay writing or Conversation practice. I usually prefer essay writing, but more often than not get the conversation practice, which at this point is admittedly more practical anyway. Tuesday through Friday follow roughly the same pattern with a new teacher each day, breaking up the monotony while making certain days less painful than others. Bumpo! Kiku renshu! Kaiwa renshu! Sakubun! Kanji! GAAOOHH!!! You can open your eyes, It's over now.

Actually I do enjoy going to language school. Over the past year I've taken classmates to a baseball game, had Spaghetti at a Catholic missionary house, learned to love kimchi, and even recruited a fellow Christian to work at an OBC English camp (her English didn't extend beyond 'I hate English and I love kimchi, nice to meet you, I'm fine thanks, and you?'). In August Maki and I (for those of you who missed the wedding and conference Maki is my wife) will have hosted our first ever Niku no Hi party in which we will have had school friends over for Yakiniku and my now famous ninjin salad (thanks Dave, for the recipe). I've also enjoyed using the Japanese I've learned, especially with the contacts that I have known since before studying Japanese, it has been a joy being able to speak with old friends for the first time. And while there is only one more year of full-time language study I can console myself in the words of many a veteran missionary who have told me they're still learning, even after retirement. Yes, it is a joy learning Japanese, kanji tests aside. Just one more year and I'll graduate, even if I do end up with a Korean accent in the process. Shalom ya'll.

Mickey Mouse and The Devil (unrelated in this post)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:41:31 GMT

But then if you think about it a thousand words really doesn't get you as far as it used to. I'm already on thirty-four, no thirty-six...you get the idea.

I had three observations about Japan that I thought ya'll might find interesting, I found them interesting even though I've been here for a year already. The other day Maki and I were walking home and I was busy talking about something that was interesting to me and Maki was nodding and such, and suddenly she interrupted me to tell me about the mother and child we just passed by on the sidewalk. Apparently the 2 or 3 year old in the stroller was waving at me and trying to get my attention, then was dissapointed when I didn't respond. Maki replicated the child's face and I felt bad for the kid. I guess Japanese kids see white people smiling and speaking English and they think of us like mascots or cartoon characters. The poor little girl saw Mickey Mouse walking down the street but he completely ignored her. I was just being Japanese, no doubt the mother didn't give us a second look. A few days before I was being chased around a men's clothing shop in the mall by two little kids 'Hallo!' Hallo!' they kept saying. And a week before that I was at a museum with an American friend and two more little kids asked him (In English) if he was Japanese. He's not, in case you were wondering. He's Mississippian. So ya, if you ever come to Japan and you see a kid staring at you like your Ken Griffey Jr., smile and wave, heck you might even sign an autograph. But I'm pretty sure they grow out of that by the time they're like 6 or so.

Second observation: Japan really does have it's roots in Shintoism. Do ya'll remember Karate Kid II? I know Sets does because his niece was in it. Anyway, remember the scene where Daniel-san put the candle out on the river or something and everyone followed? Well, that, ladies and Gents was Obon! Obon was last week's festival where traditionally the dead come back and the living leave lanterns for them to find their way. Traditionally Japanese take their vacation time to visit grandparents who live in the countryside and spend a few days before heading back to the metropolitan area where they work. One of my teachers did just this, traditional Japanese lady that she is (the rest of Obon she spent in Korea visiting her Korean boyfriend, 1 for 2 I guess). Anyhow, I sort of walked in on this conversation so I didn't get all of it, but basically she went back to the countryside to visit grandma, and not bothering to light the lantern for the dead, she went to sleep. She says she woke up in the night and saw a woman outside her window, the woman was white and wearing a kimono. Sensei was too scared to do anything. But when she woke up the next morning she thought it was probably a dream, or at least she says it was probably a dream. All the same, the next day she properly lit a lantern for her ancestors to find their way and didn't have a problem the next night. Now, I'm not here to validate ghost stories or say make generalizations, but lets look at the facts. Nearly all Japanese (no doubt, sensei included) are dedicated at shinto shrines as newborns, 7 year olds and 20 year olds. They receive blessings from priests and make offerings to local deities. Is it a great wonder that Christianity is less than 1% of the population? Would it be a stretch to say that sensei may have seen something otherworldly, and using a biblical thinking cap, likely demonic? I was impressed by this story, and told Maki, who replied that such stories are not at all uncommon in Japan. For the record I'm not into directly confronting the forces of darkness, I'm into introducing people to Jesus and letting him take care of things, that's more my style. A style that will require a higher level of Japanese language skill than I currently have and so it's back to school tomorrow.

Last observation. I actually had to go back and edit this post because I forgot this one and then read it again on the news. And supposedly there was one view before the edit so you, that guy, back me up, will you? Anyway, I told you I've been interested in Sumo, right? There are 6 tournaments a year. One of the guys I like to watch 'the Russian Grappler' Wakanoho (young peng [magical chinese bird/fish]), is in serious trouble. First let me just say Wakanoho had the best loss I've ever seen. This little Mongolian Guy Ama (cheap horse) spun him over and bodyslammed him while standing on one leg. Anyway, Wakanoho was arrested recently when his wallet was found and turned into a local police box (yay Japan), but what the police found was 1/3 of a gram of marijuana along with Wakanoho's Alien registration card. Haha, funny funny, right? Well, Japan is a little stricter on drugs than you might think, with Wakanoho facing a possible 5 years of hard labor in Japan's prisons for his infraction. Kids, don't do drugs...especially in Japan.

Thanks for reading, ya'll. While I realize this post is only partially spiritual, I hope that you can all appreciate this little snapshot of what Japan is like. Welcome to my world. Thanks for your prayers.

God bless!

Dog days of Summer

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:46:02 GMT

That would mean August. July, June, even September aren't the dog days of summer. The dog days come after the baseball's trade deadline, and before school starts again. So here's to the dog days!

I just got back from camp, three days as a counselor/english teacher/rafting guide. A highlight of that came when I witnessed my first decision for Christ in Japan by a Japanese. One of the kids, Koji, although having heard of Christ for the first time on Friday, was explained the basics of sin and salvation on Saturday and prayed to ask Jesus for salvation Saturday night. Please pray for Koji as he is sent information on churches close to his home in SW Tokyo, and for his family who are not believers...yet. An interesting point about Koji's conversion is that everything about Christianity was new to him. When the speaker gave the creation story and it was reviewed in cabin time Koji was one of the students who initially said 'I can't believe it!' Koji also was asked if he knew what Sunday worship service was and answered 'no', directly after his conversion. We were fortunate to spend his first Sunday worship with him in the camp chapel the next morning. Sunday night Koji learned that Christians believe in a heaven. I think the jurys still out on whether Koji believes in heaven or not. This is an unusual decision for a Japanese Christian because they usually take months/years of learning and accepting what are completely new concepts to the Japanese, whereas Koji made the decision that yes he wants to believe and chooses to believe in Jesus before knowing much about what it is that Christians are thought to believe. Please keep him in your prayers as we hope to see him grow in Christ.

Koji is on the far right.

As we had counselor debrief I was surprised to hear how many of our campers were not Christians. A lot of our kids came from Church run English programs. That's one reason I'm liking the camp ministry more and more the longer I'm in Japan. Most of the churches that SEND is working with or helping start use the Christian campsite that SEND runs in the mountains of western Tokyo. More conversions take place at camp than in a lot of the churches combined, while the churches do much of the planting, nurturing and growing. I actually end up learning more about the different churches SEND is working with by meeting the kids who are affiliated with those church neighborhoods at camp than I do otherwise. That reminds me, I'd love to get a church visit over to Seiseki Church soon. Oh well, here's another picture to keep you guys going. This little girl and her twin sister are thirteen, but have some birth related developmental problems, which is why she's on the small side, also why I'm carrying her. She can't walk by herself. I got to carry her to the river and back, but most of the time her counselors were great in either holding her hands to walk around camp or wheeling her around. Her sister, by the way, was one of the best Jenga players I've ever battled with.

And, since it's camp.

Thanks for your prayers, and God bless!