Day 17 - April 11 - School, Lunch with an old friend & a Japan Mission Potluck

Today I was able to catch up with another good friend from the USA, John Magner. We had supper with him and his family last week, but it was nice just to go and have some time to chat with John. We went for Coffee at a local Starbucks and then had a Chinese meal for lunch.

John has some surgery coming up in the middle of July, so I know he'd appreciate prayer for that.

On my way to meet John, I was able to drop another Japan Mission missionary down to the train station as she went into Osaka to hand out some Christian literature to passersby near a train station. Please pray for these leaflets as they are handed out, that God might use them to speak to the hearts of those who received them.

When I worked in Japan before, I used to hand out the monthly 'Yorokobi no Izumi/Fountain of Joy' leaflets at train stations, shops and other places on my travels as I went to teach various English classes in Osaka.

Crystal and Caia started their 2nd week of school this week. Caia has made some new friends at school. One girl, Michelle, is the daughter of some good friends from when we lived here. Her dad is the principal of the school and her mum grew up in Japan as a missionary kid. The other girl is called Anna and both of her parents are Japanese, but her English is already very good.

It's been really neat to see how the children have taken to Caia and how she has adapted to being here pretty well.

Of course, like any new culture and country, there has been a lot to take in, so last night, for the first time, Caia expressed her desire to go home as she was missing her classmates and her family back in Canada.

It's been a good lesson for Crystal and I as parents too, as it's been relatively easy for us to get along, understanding the language and expectations of Japanese culture to a greater degree than Caia. So, for us to have to try and see things from Caia's perspective, with no understanding of the language or the culture, in some ways it must be overwhelming for her.

Caia and I went for a walk after school in the local neighbourhood around Japan Mission, so I"ll share some photos below so you can get an idea of some of the things we see on a daily basis.

We finished off the evening with the traditional bi-monthly Japan Mission potluck, where each of the JM workers brings a favourite dish to share and we enjoy a time of fellowship together.

We ended our time with some songs and a thought from the Word. David Verwey had asked me to share a word of encouragement for those who came, so I shared something that had been a challenge to me recently and related that to my experience in Japan.

The 'tori' gate with giant rope hanging below. The rope is hung there at a special ceremony over the new year period. 

Looking over some of the temple buildings towards Ikoma 

Japanese 'coi' fish 

Some of the Buddhist statues at the local temple near our house 

Lunch with my missionary friend, John. Ramen (noodles), gyoza (dumplings) and chauhan (fried rice). I wasn't needing food for quite a while after this meal!