Day 6 - March 31 - Nara Park

A Day with the girls. Just the 3 of us today. Took a trip to our old 'neighbourhood' park, Nara with all of the deer and all of the tourists. It's funny being a tourist this time, when we've been here so many times before as 'locals'.

It was nice for Caia to see the deer and to feed them. They are so tame, though they can be aggressive from time to time if you're not careful.

After a brief stop at a 100 Yen store en-route, we grabbed some lunch and took it with us to the park to enjoy. Then a stroll around the park and off home again.

A nice, leisurely day without too much of a schedule.

We even had time to drop off a copy of the Japan Mission monthly evangelistic leaflet at the home of an old contact in the neighbourhood, Mrs Ogura, a lady I met while out walking one day.

The 31st wouldn't be the same without a trip to '31 flavours' of ice cream (Baskin Robbins) 

It ain't called "Nara' for nothing - look at how narrow this street is! 

Which way now daddy? 

As we said, the deer can be aggressive! 

Some Cherry blossoms behind us

Day 5 - March 30 - A Day out with old friends

I started out today by being at the Japan Mission prayer time (briefly) and was reminded of our weekly time of sharing and prayer that I was involved in for so many years here. It brought by precious memories.

The team has changed a little, but the purpose remains the same. To reach Japanese with the Gospel of Jesus

As we look over our 11+ years in Japan, we are amazed at the number of friends God has brought our way during that time, many of whom are still in Japan, serving the Lord today.

Taz & Christine Oliver are one such couple. I used to work out with Taz on a Wednesday morning each week before my Japanese language class and it was great just to encourage each other in the Lord while seeking to get some exercise at the same time.

Sometimes we give the impression as missionaries, that we are super-human or somehow above 'ordinary' Christians, and yet, having lived in Japan for more than 11 years as a missionary myself, I realized that I had exactly the same needs as a Christian living anywhere else in the world under various circumstances. In fact, in some ways, doing 'ordinary' things such as working out, were even more necessary, when separated from friends and family in ones home country.

Taz & Christine have made Japan their home, living here for well over 20 years. Their two daughters attend the local 'Kansai Christian School' which was started for missionary children in the early '70's. Several missionary couples, including Neil & Peggy Verwey who also started Japan Mission, felt the need to serve the missionary community by providing quality education in English for children of missionaries living in the Kansai area of Japan. In many ways, missionary kids have limited options once graduating from high school. Those from other countries, find the Japanese education system overwhelming, and coping with that in addition to the responsibilities that accompany missionary work, can be very difficult to manage. Having an American based education, gives children the opportunity once graduated from high school, of returning to the States or other English speaking country and entering college or university there.

The school has been going ever since, and I (Aaron) had the privilege of serving as a board member there from 2005-2010, and being involved in some of the big decisions as the school transitioned from rented property on a local Bible School, to purchasing their own property in an area about 10km south of Ikoma where Japan Mission is based and where they were located since their foundational days.

We spent today visiting a local park and eating lunch together. Rachel & Michelle Oliver made sure Caia felt at home and played the part of 'older sisters' very well. Needless to say the day flew in and we felt very blessed to have spent the day with this wonderful family.

Taz works about 3 part-time jobs to provide income for his family while at the same time seeking to minister to those he meets each day.

He teaches P.E. at Kansai Christian School once a week, teaches some English classes on other days, and then also conducts 'Christian' weddings in various wedding chapels in the Nara & Osaka areas through an organization that seeks to bring the Gospel to couples and families who wish to have a 'western' style wedding performed by a missionary or pastor. Taz is able to share a simple Gospel message each time he conducts a wedding and shares the Scriptural basis for marriage in the hope that something of what has been shared with those getting married and the guests at the wedding ceremony would be impacted by the message of the Gospel.

Do pray for encouragement for Taz & Christine as they minister together in southern Ikoma and sow the seed of the Gospel far and wide and for the influence they have as teachers at Kansai Christian School where they both teach on a part-time basis (Christine teaches art).

Gyu-don & miso-soup (Beef over rice) 

Christine & Crystal enjoy the Ashi-yu 

Crystal & Aaron at the park 

(L to R) Christine, Rachel, Michelle & Taz Oliver

Caia having fun with Rachel & Michelle Oliver 

'Rolly' slide (slide has rollers instead of just metal) 

Sushi Lunch Box (Bento)

We enjoyed a picnic lunch together, then on our way home, stopped off at a Japanese 'Ashi-yu' (foot bath) where we soaked our feet in hot springs water of about 42 degrees celcius while chatting together. After this, we enjoyed a meal of gyu-don (beef over rice) and Japanese miso soup before returning home and heading to bed.

Days 3 & 4 - Easter Monday & Tuesday - March 28 & 29

Leaving from Ikoma Station

We've been looking forward to this day since we started planning our trip to Japan. Longtime friends the Rudolph's from Washington, are working and living in Japan and seeking to live out the Gospel in their every day lives.

Lilly and Caia enjoying some home made 'okonomiyaki'

Enjoying some down time at the river

After walking around at Kobe Zoo 

Expertly parked by Julie outside their apartment 

We believe they are doing even what many missionaries set it to do and that is to be salt and light in this world where God has placed them. They are not technically 'missionaries' in the sense that they haven't been sent by a church overseas, however, in every other sense they are very much missionary minded, with hearts and lives that seek to live out the Gospel where God has placed them.

We are thankful to God for their influence in our lives and for the many times we've had to connect with them over the years even since we left Japan.

We spent most of it time either catching up on the past 6 years of life or sharing a meal together, though we also had a chance to have a nice walk in their neighborhood and to visit the zoo in Kobe together on Tuesday.

One other wonderful opportunity we had,while in the Ashiya area was to meet up with some other longtime friends Ronnie and Anne Cairns who are in Japan for five weeks for ministry at the church in Ashiya and also at several other churches in Kansai.

Ronnie & Anne Cairns outside their apartment and the building that Ashiya Grace Church meets in

Ronnie was one of my (Aaron's) first main influences in Japan and I spent my first five years attending the church in Ashiya while a missionary in Ikoma. The church in Ashiya were able to find a beautiful new building to rent for considerably less than they were paying, in a location close to the train station. Ronnie is praying that the Lord will provide a missionary couple with excellent Japanese who can come and do ministry from the apartment.

Even though we've only been in Japan for four days, it seems as though we've packed in a lot of different things into our trip.

We are certainly very blessed to have friends we can reconnect with all over the world and we are reminded of the global nature of the church and that our identity is in Christ and not in a nationality, country or culture.

Day 2 - Easter Sunday, March 27

Easter Sunday started bright and early, with Aaron heading off to teach an English conversation class before church that day, giving one of the regular teachers the morning off.

There are usually 4 to 5 students, but there were only 2 students this monring, one, Mr. Baba, a retired electronics engineer who had worked for Panasonic and lived overseas at one point for a year; the other, a construction worker, Mr Hamada, whose wife, Yuki is a member of the church, and been praying he would come for many years!

It was a privilege to be able to serve even in this small way while we are here.

Mr Baba told me that he has been a student at the International Chapel for more than 30 years! Please pray that something of the message he hears each week will stay in his heart and mind and that even in his retirement years, God might do a work of salvation in his heart.

For Mr Hamada, the fact that he even came to church at all was amazing. This is the fruit of years of prayer and the faithful witness of his wife (and the work of the Holy Spirit of course).

In Japan, we certainly can't 'despise the day of small things' and although the church is small, it is encouraging to see the faithfulness of believers here, many of them women, as they seek to win their husbands and families to the Lord.

The motto of Japan Mission, where we are staying, is 'Called to Serve' and is taken from Jeremiah 33:3.

The class went well and I had an opportunity to ask both men what they thought Easter meant to Japanese.

Of course, being Japanese, the felt that Easter was not such a 'major' holiday in Japan, and Japanese wouldn't recognize it the same way they would Christmas, Halloween, or Valentines' Day, unfortunately.

However, we did have a good conversation and both men came to the church service afterwards and heard the senior pastor, Chris Momose, preach a sermon on the Hope of the Resurrection.

Each service is bi-lingual, with the message being preached in English and then paragraph by paragraph interpreting. This method does take up more time, but allows those who speak either English or Japanese to follow along and pick up some of the words and phrases in the other language, which is helpful, particularly when studying the other language.

After the service was over, we had lunch together, which was prepared by the ladies at chapel and each person just pays $3 to cover the cost of the food. This gave us a great opportunity to catch up with many that we know there.

It was a real encouragement to re-connect with Misa, a lady who had been a great help to us while we were completing the adoption process for Caia here in Japan. She translated many of our documents from Japanese into English so we could apply for Canadian permanent residence. Her husband, Nobu, is still not a believer, and we know that she would so much appreciate prayer on his behalf.

After lunch, all those with birthdays in the month of March were celebrated by having birthday cake together. Caia even managed to sneak in there, although her birthday was in February, so that was a nice surprise.

Caia tries her hand at 'driving' the cable car

Happy 'March' birthday everyone

Getting ready for the service

Ikoma International Chapel Building

The little white car is the car we've been allowed to use, the building in front is my old office, plus the apartment we are staying

View over Ikoma City, from Japan Mission 

View of our old apartment building where we lived 

While we were having lunch, Crystal was chatting with the principal of the school where she used to teach and where she is hoping to get involved helping get the grade 1 class up and running. It turns out that one of the high school teachers who is due to come for the beginning of school, hasn't got his visa yet, so Steve asked her if she might be willing to take a few of his classes! Please pray for this opportunity. Pray too for Caia, that she might be OK with being a part of the grade 1 class while Crystal is teaching this high school English class.

Once everything was over, we headed back to Japan Mission where we are staying, and enjoyed some 'egg rolling', a British tradition where we roll hard boiled eggs that have been decorated, down a hill and see whose egg goes the furthest. Will, one of the grand-children of David & Sue Verwey, my former boss and his wife, was thrilled to take part in this race.

Later, we all went to a local park and Caia enjoyed some of the activities there, and sought to make friends with some of the children playing. She approached one girl who was playing on the pulley, and introduced herself by saying, 'do you want to be my friend?' in English :) We think that Caia will have a great time here.

Day 1 - Saturday, March 26

Today was an early start, with Caia getting up at around 4am, but Crystal and I were able to stay in bed for a few hours longer, and managed to avoid getting up properly until around 6.30am!

The day started slowly, with a trip to a local 100 Yen (Dollar Store/50p shop) that Caia had been begging us to take her to since we told her about it.

These stores are all over Japan and represent the finest that China has to offer ;) by way of extremely cheap (mainly plastic) goods of all sizes, shapes and purposes.

It is nice to be back in the town where we spent 6 years together serving the Lord in various capacities, from English teaching, to school teaching, to office work and volunteering on the board of a local Christian Elementary School.

We were thrilled to take part in Japan Mission's first ever 'Easter Egg Hunt', where Alex & Eri Verwey (the founder of Japan Mission's grand-son and his wife have been seeking to make friends with local neighbourhood ladies and their families, and took this opportunity to organize a bit of a Easter Egg Hunt party, where children searched for 60 eggs filled with candy that had been hidden.

Alex took the opportunity to briefly explain the meaning of Easter. For many of these ladies (around 6 families from the neighbourhood), this would have been the first time they heard the true meaning of Easter. Like the west, many Japanese will see the word Easter written in shops and around the place at this time of year, but yet the typical association with the season is 'spring', 'bunny rabbits' and possibly easter eggs, but nothing of Jesus and the new life He came to give us through His death on the cross.

Driving in the neighbourhood, we've already seen several people we know from the time we lived here and look forward to what God may have in store as we seek to re-connect with these individuals.

One such person is a lady called Mrs Ogura. Aaron met her one day while he was out walking in the neighbourhood. He gave her the monthly Christian pamplet 'yorokobi no Izumi' that the mission prints each month, and as a result, she asked if she could receive it each month, so for several years, Aaron delivered the leaflet to her door. After we adopted Caia, we even had the opportunity to meet her husband and were even invited into their home on one occasion.

After our Easter egg hunt, we were treated to a delicious lunch at a local Japanese restaurant where we ate Caia's favourite meal of 'tendon' which is lightly battered vegetables and fish over rice.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and we trust and pray we'll have opportunities to share something of the Easter story with the Japanese we meet.

Aaron will be teaching an English class in the morning to 4 or 5 Japanese men who come along each week to brush up on their English. None of these men know Jesus yet. Pray that God might do a work in their hearts and that He might speak to them and others of the life-giving message of the Gospel as they hear.

What a privilege to be in the 'land of the rising sun', but oh, that men, women, boys & girls would know the 'risen Son' in their hearts and lives this Easter time. We know that only God Himself will give that ability.

On Our Way

Waiting at Vancouver Airport

After a 6 hour drive to Vancouver Airport, a 5 hour wait at the airport, we finally boarded our first flight bound for Taipei.

We arrived in Taipei airport where it's raining heavily, but thankful Aaron's ankle survived the trip.

Taipei airport is certainly an interesting place to spend a few hours, and we were amused to see the various 'themed' waiting areas or lounges they had created to give people something different to do while they wait for a flight connection.

Taiwan Cinema Lounge

For those who don't know, Aaron came down with what seemed like a bad flu last Saturday (March 18), and then developed what looked like a leg infection in his ankle on Sunday. We still don't know the cause, but are praying it won't hamper our usefulness in Japan.

We're excited to be finally on this family missions trip and will post updates as often as we can.