japanmc's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member japanmc on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/japanmc en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Thu, 22 May 2008 03:38:35 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com So.... — Okinawa, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1211439840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1211439840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1211439840/tpod.html Thu, 22 May 2008 03:38:35 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Okinawa, Japan

So, this third leg of our journey is fast coming to an end and we don't even know where the time went. Today we taught a final song to the San Iku elementary school in the Chapel in a 5-10 min. program we've been helping with called Hello TIme. We taught them Praise Ye The Lord and said our goodbyes. We had a lot of fun in that class.

Okinawa overall has been a lot of fun. It has been a completely different experience from what we did in mainland Japan.
Here we only had one english class and more bible study type classes.

We've been to some spectacular beaches here in Okinawa and we had the opportunity to visit the world's third largest aquarium, which was amazing. Check out the pictures.

Oh, and that enormous tank with all the fish, it has a restaurant attached from which you can watch all these amazing sea critters as you eat really good Japanese food. It was great.

We've handed out tracts and had the opportunity to witness in English, which has been nice for me, and I'm sure, a relief for my translator. Our time here has helped to show us that there is a need everywhere and while the challenges may be different the message remains the same.

I'm thinking everyday about what will happen when we return.

I will be the same person but I don't want to live the same life focused around myself.

While I can tell now that this trip is incredibly meaningful to me, I am curious to see what it will look like in retrospect as so many things take on so many more dimensions when seen from the future. Isn't it great that God doesn't give us the gift of knowledge of our future in most cases. That's a hard one to wrap your head around but still something I am grateful for.

God can use us wherever we are and he wants us to be happy. What a wonderful God who gives us not only what we need but what we desire as well.

"Love one another so you can be completely happy."
]]> We Are Still Alive. — Okinawa, Kyushu-Okinawa, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1211194920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1211194920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1211194920/tpod.html Mon, 19 May 2008 07:16:23 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Okinawa, Kyushu-Okinawa, Japan

Yes,
We are still alive.
Believe it.

We've been in Okinawa now for two weeks and a Day.
We've been snorkeling, Michael went scuba diving.
We visited a beach with white sand an clear water.
We visited the 3rd largest Aquarium in the world and....

Oh, yeah.....

We're here on a mission trip....

right.

OK, so Okinawa is not as I had imagined.

I pictured myself sleeping in a hammock(however you spell that) between two palm trees and walking barefoot into classrooms to teach English.

What we've actually been doing is writing and passing out tracts, helping beautify the grounds of the church(Okinawa International Church-OIC) and leading out in bible studies and helping out in Church. It's so backwards from what we've been doing that it's almost hard to take. But we know that God is in charge and we hope that we are doing a good work for Him.
This trip is fast coming to an end and I think the prospect of going home is nearly as terrifying as the prospect of actually come was initially. How easy we get comfortable regardless of our circumstance. Life is a strange thing, isn't it.

We are eager to see our old friends, but loathe to leave new friends.

We'll be happy to converse once again in English but sad that we don't get to hear Japanese quite as much.

We'll be glad to be in a familiar culture once again, but we'll miss learning of another culture first hand.

We'll be happy that we can make a difference for our own community but sad because we now see what a great need the world has.

It'll be nice to have burrito's, but there's no sushi in America quite like this.

It will be wonderful to see our families but we have new families here and it will be a while before we are all reunited.


I guess it all just goes to show you that you must be careful where you go and who you meet. It is easy to love and if you are like us. Be prepared to feel the distance when you leave, It hurts regardless of which direction you fly.

Do Good.
Love Love.
Walk with God.
]]> The Edge of the World — Saga, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1209566460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1209566460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1209566460/tpod.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:12:45 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Saga, Japan

So, wow, it's been a while since we've updated hasn't it?
OK, well here's what's been happening.

This weekend, we went out with the gang (Ryu, Chikako, Bumsoo, and Asami) on Saturday night bowling again afterwards we played some pool and had a good time.
On Sunday we went to an event called an Undokai, which is sort of a group exercise event, kind of like a church social, or Volleyball night. It was pretty fun, and our church won at volleyball. In the evening I went with Bumsoo and Ryu to Youme town and we played a few arcade games and just walked around and saw our friend Rika in her clothing shop where she is the manager.
On Monday which is our only other day off, Michael, Yoshiko, Chikako, Bumsoo and myself went to Saga Jo, a castle where Chikako works, and did took the tour.
Then we went to eat for several hours and just talked and had a good time.
I had fun trying to talk with Bumsoo even though he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Korean we somehow managed to communicate with aid from his amazing Korean pocket translator which does Korean, Japanese, and English.
Then we headed over to one of the most awesome places I've been yet. It was called Round One and it was a enormous 5 or 6 story building that had everything you can imagine; Karaoke, pool, bowling, basketball, badminton, video-games, Ping-Pong, fishing, pachinko, and a plethora of other things I don't wish to type right now. Needless to say, it was super cool.
Afterward, we went to eat again.
Seriously, I will never believe it when people tell me that Japanese people don't eat much. They eat way more than I do and they always comment on how Michael and I don't eat enough.

So I guess I'm just trying to get at the point that we've been busy, I have no excuse for not updating more often, I'm sorry for not being faithful if you read this thing.

Tonight instead of taking our usual shower upstairs in the Lim's house we opted to go to a Japanese Onsen (hotspring). These places are great, I think I've written about them before but if you're ever in Japan, they are a must. Swallow your insecurities and just go. You will not regret it. You'll feel to good after to have any regrets, they will fly away like bees from smoke.

While we are having loads of fun, we are also trying to walk with God daily. It seriously makes a huge difference.
Today is Wednesday night here, at Midnight, so I guess it's really Thursday morning. These are our last few days here in Saga, and I am really going to miss the people here, some more than others, but I know that God will be watching all of us and we are all in his hands. I'm really gonna miss it here. I'm looking forward to Okinawa but a large chunk of my heart will stay in Saga. I'm not sure yet how large.

So, we leave for Okinawa on Sunday morning at around 10 am. But we'll have to be up really early, probably around 5 or so so we can get a ride to the Station in order to take the train for an hour to the airport where our flight leaves for Okinawa.

Please pray for us, we are praying for you. We miss you, our friends, our families, and all our comrades and loved ones.

Why did God make it so easy to love?
We are made in his image and with that comes the ability to love passionately, like it or not.
So some of us are willing to love and some of us are not, but we all have the capacity, that is a gift.
God gave us that gift, and it cost us nothing, it cost's nothing to give away.
I think maybe the only reason we don't love is because we are afraid to get hurt.
But if we love like God, without any thought of return, or repayment, unselfishly, unconditionally, agape love, then we do not worry about being hurt, only about passing on a free gift that was given to us.
]]> the title of this entry — Saga, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208530440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208530440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208530440/tpod.html Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:16:01 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Saga, Japan

Last night I spent the better part of an hour typing out and entry for this blog.

I looked over my broken grammar.

I ran spell check.

This entry was probably 8 paragraphs long.

If you know me, or even if you've just been reading the blog here, you've probably noticed that I tend to be concise, perhaps to a fault, it's debatable.
But the entry was lengthy.

So I looked over my work proudly one last time and I clicked the little radial that says, "Finish and send now."

I was then greeted with a page that said something along the lines of, "Your session has expired, please log in again."

I had a sneaking suspicion that all my hard work had just been flushed down the proverbial tube. And to my dismay, I was correct.

I'm sorry that i did not have the resolve to rewrite or even to restart a new blog.

I was tired and I was upset, I opted to sleep.

So that is that, to make a short story long.

Anyway, we're loving Saga. It's beautiful all around. It's much more rural than anyplace we've yet been. That is not to say it is by any means rural, just more rural. I really like it here, the only thing that bugs me is the bugs. I killed a spider today that was the size of my pinky. Maybe that's not that big, but I loathe spiders and any spider to me is an unnecessary spider. I know God loves them, yet I don't know if I can. I feel bad for killing it, but it looked like one of the spiders form the movie Arachnophobia, It was crawling toward me, I was just as scared of it as it was of me, If not more so.
Anyway, after I killed it I returned to the class which I was teaching tandem with Michael and I am sure I looked a little pail as I more closely surveyed our environment as to stay weary. I had to explain to the class what the scuffle that they heard once I left the room was about. They had a good laugh, I'm still checking for spiders.

Well, pastor Lim told us that we'd have to teach a 20 minute bible class tomorrow morning. Neither of us really worried about it as we have become accustomed to teaching hour and a half classes all by our lonesome. 20 minutes sounds like a walk in the park comparatively. Michael has to tell a children's story but I don't think he's stressing either, at our last location in Seto we would tell a bible story 2 or 3 times daily. He's also told the children's story about 3 or 4 times now in Church, I know he'll do fine.

So we are going to try and be better about updating this sucker. Happy Sabbath to everyone (soon).
We miss you and will be praying for you.

Chris
]]> We all have a gift, why not use it? — Saga, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208454240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208454240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208454240/tpod.html Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:46:45 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Saga, Japan

This world is full of tragic events. But one thing that I am blessed with is the hope and the knowledge that God is blessing and guiding our lives. Yes bad things happen, even to good people, but God is here to guide us. Unfortunately in this sinful world, life may not seem fair. I do know that God is here with us and that if you turn to him, he will answer. The hiroshima museum helped me realize to value life more. To value the blessings that I have. I complain about little things that are so trivial. I pray that God will continue to guide me and help me to love everyone and be thankful for my blessings. I hope that I can show love to those who have suffered or who are suffering in this world. I want to try to be kind and do what I can to help people in this world. I know that I am not perfect, and that I have a lot of issues as well, but I also know that God has given me gifts that I can use to help others with. I used to think that I didn't have a spiritual gift. I heard sermons about spiritual gifts. I always thought, I have none. Being here I am realizing that we all have them. I am not the most cordinated person in the world, and that I may have to try harder than others. But I realized that language is a gift. I can speak japanese and english. I always thought it was nice to know japanese, but never considered it a gift. We are here in Japan teaching English and reaching people who may not even know what SDA's are. I always pray before my classes, and with the discussions that we have, I try to make sure to incorporate spiritual messages. In our advanced english class here in Saga, we just have discussions. Chris and I came up with the topic "love" What is love? Who do you love? And I tried to make sure I showed them that I want to love everyone. I told them that I feel that God calls us to love everyone even if it may be hard. Yes these are regular english classes, but we are reaching people.

It was funny to me because there was this case in Japan that happened a few years ago. The mass killing in the train station by the Ohm cult (not quite sure what there name is, in japanese its ohm). They put some poisonous liquid in the train and killed in the name of god...... what shocked me was this. When we were talking about love and God, Chris and I were joking around. We said something like "yeah we get along, we haven't killed each other yet" and we started to laugh. Well in japanese this does not make sense. They looked at us with wide eyes and said kill??? We had to clarify that it was just a figure of speech. Then they started to ask if we believe in killing for god..... They said that there are religions who kill because they say they are doing Gods will. Then they looked at us and asked, "do you kill people for God?" "Do you believe that people should kill people for God?" They really didn't know! They really thought that we would kill people for God. I was thrown back and said "No, definately not! We believe that we should love everyone and that we should do as Jesus did." I explained that God is not like that. That we believe in a loving God. I just thought it was interesting. I never knew that people wouldn't know that. Having these classes, being able to talk to people and let them know about God, is a true blessing. This is my gift from my family (who worked hard to get me through japanese school, especially my mom) and is a gift from God.

We will have a bible study tonight (it's 2:30 am friday right now) and have invited our students to come. Some have already said that they will come. We will invite the rest of our students today during class. May God guide them and continue to guide us throughout this trip. All I can say is that God is with every single one of you. I am praying for all my friends and family as well as anyone who reads this. Well I have to teach class tomorrow so I will be heading off to bed. I will write again and put pictures on these two blogs tomorrow.

Michael
]]> Hiroshima bombing, a tragedy to remember — Saga, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208451540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208451540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208451540/tpod.html Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:44:45 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Saga, Japan

I can tell you one thing. I really do miss all my friend and my family. You tend to take these things for granted when you are constantly around them. I miss my family a lot. I know that they have done so much for me and that I am truly blessed to have them. My mother, my father, my sister, my brother, are all people who are close in my heart.

I also truly miss all my friends. I am so blessed in this life that God gave me these wonderful friends. But overall, I know that God has a plan for me over here. I hope that I do a good job in using my gifts for God. Lord please guide me.

Well there is quite a bit to fill in actually. I guess I will recap by going back to our great experiences in Hiroshima. After Osaka, we went to the Hiroshima SDA church. We finished Osaka and then went early in the morning to Kyoto to wait for our bus. Our bus left Kyoto at 11:30 pm on Thursday, and arrived at Hiroshima at 6:15 am. Pastor Azuma woke up early for us so that we could get into the church. They let us stay in the guest room in the church.... and boy do I have to tell you that it was amazing! It was a huge room! Chris and I wre both surprised. We didn't expect this much. Not only did they give us a place to stay, they were all so kind to us.

We fell asleep when we got to the church because Chris and I were so exhausted. Then around 10:00 we heard a knock on our door. It was the missionaries who were teaching English in Hiroshima. Brad and George were a joy to be around. It was funny cause Chris and I were half asleep when we answered the door, we must have looked dead! Haha! Brad and George even lent us there bikes so that we could go around hiroshima. It was such a joy to ride a bike around Japan. We were so used to walking for long periods of time that a bike felt so fast. We visited the Atomic bomb dome (a dome's ruins that were left after the Atomic bomb exploded) as well as the peace park and the Hiroshima Atomic bomb museum. It was quite an experience. It really made you realize the value of life. It made me hope that nothing like this would ever happen again. So many stories of tragic episodes. Parents dying, innocent kids dying, and just amazing stories of survival as well.

In Hiroshima we had such a great time. We got to go to Brad and George's vespers. It was in English so it was great. Guess what? We got to have Haystacks! Oh man, it was the best meal ever. I never really liked haystacks that much, but I missed beans and american food! Haystacks is the epidemy food of American SDA's. I think I went back for third's haha! The next day Chris did special music in church, and then one of the church members took us to Miyajima!

Miyajima is one of Japan's historical cites. It's actually one of the worlds wonders! I thought that it was amazing. It's known for it's gate (known as Tori in japanese) that comes out of the water. The church member who took us knew the pastor in Saga and said she wanted to take us around. On top of it guess who else I met? When I was younger, I went to a japanese school called Tozai Gakuen. I went there from kindergarden to 5th grade and then learned japanese on my own from there. Well I met one of the teachers who used to work at that school! He started to talk to Chris and I in English and then mentioned that he worked at a school in Gardena....I asked him the name of it and he said "tozai gakuen!" I was shocked. He knew all my teachers. I have been meeting so many people who are somehow connected to me or my family. It's amazing. I had a great conversation with him as well. He had a stroke when he came back to Japan and told me about his struggles in life. He is paralyzed on his left side but he has recovered to a point where he can walk without a cane. He used to be a PE teacher as well and was telling me how hard it was for him to lose that. To lose mobility and to lose the ability to do what he loved...exercising. Now he does bowling (he even told me how he recently got 230!! I was so happy for him) as well as table tennis, and badminton. He was an inspiration to me. I hope to be able to always remember that I am blessed, and remember not to give up in life. Make sure to trust God and live life to it's fullest. Another blessing on this trip was meeting him


Well I will write one more entry and then will be off to bed.

Michael
]]> Our adventures continued — Saga, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208451000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208451000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1208451000/tpod.html Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:58:42 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Saga, Japan

So I just wanted everyone to know that we are still alive and well:) Sorry for the delay in the blog. When we left Seto, we didn't really have internet access for a whole week. Then when we arrived here in Saga, we were quite busy adjusting to our new classes. It is around 2:00 am here right now. We have a lot of classes to teach actually. Mostly adults but we go from 10:00pm.-9:00pm. It's so much fun! We truly enjoy it, but we are keeping busy. Even when we get off we have to plan for the next day of classes so I have not had much time to write on the blog let alone reply to emails from family and friends. I decided that tonight I would stay up late to update it though.

Here is a blog I wrote right after we left seto. Unfortuantely we didn't have internet access at the time so I saved it to put it up later. Here it is.

Another day. It has already been one month since we have been in Japan. Let me recap what has happened over the past few days since we left Seto. We left Seto at 9:05 and arrived in Kyoto around 12:45. This was our day to visit Kyoto. For me it was quite an experience because my father was born in Kyoto. I remember coming to Kyoto as a kid and going around with my father. I used to visit Japan every summer until I was 12 years old. So this was a time for me to revisit my childhood. Kyoto was as beautiful as I remember it, but I think I have a different perspective of it since I am older. When I was younger, it was all about the arcades, toys, food, and so forth. Now it was a time to just enjoy the temples, lakes, and old style houses. I passed by a little temple that I remembered passing by frequently when I was a kid. I could imagine myself walking around with my father and my grandparents. It was quite a nostalgic feeling. I realize that God is truly with us on this trip. I was not able to visit my grandparents unfortunately because of the bad timing of coming here. It was Wednesday and since it's the middle of the week, it's hard to arrange meetings and stuff. Well we did get to see the beautiful temples and just enjoy walking around town. That night (Tuesday) we went to Nara to stay at an SDA church over there.
This is another miracle on our trip. I am realizing that this trip is truly blessed because of all that is happening. We didn't have a place to stay in Kyoto or Hiroshima. Mizuno-sensei knew people in Nara and Hiroshima. Gracefully these people provided us with places to stay. In Nara, we stayed with Fukumoto-sensei who is a retired pastor there in Nara. He and his wife were so kind to us. I don't know how to thank them. They also live in the house connected to the church and gave us our own room. We told them we would handle food on our own, but they even fed us some meals. I know that we weren't able to do much for them, but they still opened there house for us. They even drove us to the temple in Nara that is known for the enormous Buddha. They had prayer meeting so we took the train back though. We have been truly blessed. In Nara, there are free roming deer! Yes when you walk down the street to the temple there are deers just walking through the crowds of people! I was surprised. This must be how it was when Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. No animal was surprised or scared by people. They were comfortable. We saw so many deer. Chris and I even got to feed them. Fukumoto-san gave us some lettuce to feed the deer. They ate out of our hands. This was a great experience for me. I really love nature and animals and believe that this is how it should be. God created animals and man to befriend each other.
Well that was our Nara trip. We saw the largest wooden building in the world! Yeah the temple that the Buddha was in was the largest wooden structure in the world. Wow and boy was that Buddha tall! It was like 30 meters tall. I hope that I don't insult the Japanese culture though. I can't get myself to bow or pray to the buddhas. It's just something that I don't believe in. I think it's amazing the see these monumental structures, but it's not a higher power to me.

Fortunately my uncle had some time after he got off work at around 8:00 pm on wedesday night. I got to meet my cousin for the very first time. He is 11 years old and is my brothers age. When I was younger, I would always with I had a cousin my age. I never had any cousins growing up. I am glad that my brother does though. They are all his age. I was around Seiya-kuns age when I was last in Japan. It is awesome that I can be that cool older cousin that I always wanted. That night we stayed in my uncles clinic upstairs in the rehab room. It was a lot of fun. He had these water massage machines and circulation machines (they squeeze your legs so you have better blood flow: in the hosiptals they are called SCD's:sequential compression devices). We got to eat out together and then we got to play with my little cousin. He is such a cool kid. Kind of shy at first but so creative! I gave him a little remote control car I got from the Toyota museum. He really liked it and made little race tracks with card board and stuff. We played with him til like 1 am! He had school the next day but his parents let us since we were all having a great time. I will miss him. I hope to see him oneday again. Actually being with him made me really miss my brother. I already missed my brother but it made me miss him even more. I am looking forward to hanging out with him when I get home.

------------
God is definately here with us.

Michael
]]> Tofu, Konyaku, and God's blessings — Seto, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207415760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207415760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207415760/tpod.html Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:33:27 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Seto, Japan

Another wonderful day. We had a fantastic day today. Not only was the church service great, the entire day was fantastic. We joined the church on their outing up to a wilderness cooking experience. We went up to little house in the mountains that had a whole program where you pick your own food and then cook it. To make it short we got to pick carrots, green onions, shiitake mushrooms, herbs, nappa ( a spinach like veggie), daikon (radish) and much more! We made tofu, tempura out of different herbs, konyaku (a gummy like substance made from a potato but is hard to explain), vegetable soup, onion miso, and more. It was such a great experience to pick shiitake mushrooms, pick our own carrots ( I have never pulled a carrot out of the ground before, it was a lot of fun!), pick our own daikon, and so on. I just felt like I was part of the wilderness. I felt an appreciation to what God had given us, fresh food of the earth. Two of our English students came, and I considered a huge blessing. One of them does not usually go to church, but today she came to the church outing. It was a amazing blessing. On top of it, she seemed to have a great time. I got to know a lot of the church members better and really enjoyed the bonding time that we spend together. It was definately a great sabbath day. Thank you God.

On top of it all, the church payed for Chris and I to go (it costs 2,500 yen per person!) . I am so thankful to everyone here in Seto. Mrs. Mizuno is the most amazing lady ever. Pastor Mizuno has provided so much for us. He always makes an effort for us especially by doing things like calling other churches that he knows. Futasugi-san and her daughter have been a huge blessing as well. They are the church family that took us out to eat sushi. You know what else they did for us? They bought us Seto-mono ceramic owls! Seto is famous for their ceramics, and they decided to buy us these owls. These owls actually have a meaning though. Owls in japan indicate happiness. Futasugi-san and her daughter said that they give these owls to us and hope that we will have happiness in our lives and be blessed through the rest of our trip. The other church members are amazing as well! I see God through these unselfish, giving people. I hope to be able to be like them and give to those who may need it as well. I will pass on their kindness to others.

Well it's getting late so I will call it a night.

Michael
]]> what is success? — Seto, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207415520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207415520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207415520/tpod.html Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:15:52 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Seto, Japan

I felt the holy spirit today. I told another children's story in church today. I think it went quite well. Chris also did a special music, but I translated the song before he played it. Chris asked me to right before he performed, and I think it touched people more because they could connect with the song. God shined through Chris and also through me too. I am usually nervous even to stand up and translate, but today I was a lot more relaxed than usual. God is defiantely here with us.

I love it over here and I love it because I feel close to God. I think that we often have a misconception that going on these trips or having some big event is the way that we can change. I am realizing that its not the trip that changes you, its God. This is what I mean. I have been on many mission trips to mexico. I would stay there, and have a wonderful spiritual high. I would feel so accomplished and look at how little people had in Mexico, and realize how much I had. It was great to be in places that don't have much. You tend to feel God more and realize a lot....but why don't we go out into areas where we live and help out.

I know that some people thought as well as myself, that maybe we should have went to a third world country. We can help so much more by building churches, making wells, and so on. But the thing is that even in 1st world countries like japan, there are a lot of things we can do. We do vespers over here, we sing songs with people, we do children's church, we teach kids about God and teach English, we do special music, chlidren's stories, and whatever is needed. Yes we may not be building churches, but we are planting seeds in kids hearts. We make sure to pray before starting each class, and we also make sure to tell a bible story to them. I think that at first I wanted that great feeling of knowing that I made a huge difference on my missionary work. You get credit for something. You have something to show for it! But I am slowly realizing that every thing that we do whether small or big, makes a difference. Yes in a first world country, they have everything they need. They have running water, they have churches, they have food, and they have a lot of great technology that is a luxury. But we can plant seeds. We can build a foundation that can grow into something great. Why is this important? Why do we feel like we can't make a difference in where we live. Why don't people do missionary trips to LA or in Torrance, or wherever you live? Well people would say, they are developed, what can we do there? A lot! The people who are back where I live now are doing missionary work. They are doing vespers every Friday. They are doing praise team to sing during church. They do bible studies on Thursday. These are my friends who are trying to start collegiate activities in the church. Grace, Curt , Arleene and many of the other people make an effort to make a difference. Why are they not called missionaries? You know what? I believe that they are. Making an effort is not an easy thing. We get caught up in life. We get caught up in the work that we do or the schools that we are in.

We talked about success in Vespers the other day. What is success to you? I used to think that success was studying hard, getting through school, getting a stable job, become financially stable, get a masters, and so on. I have always been the study holic type. I mean that I would spend hours studying. Do I regret it? No, I accomplished one of my goals, I graduated college. But, my view of success has changed. I came to Japan instead of going straight to work. I am realizing that just because I may have a stable job, or have a decent income, that dosne't mean that I am successful. Yes in this world and in this society, that is what is viewed as success. With success in this world, pride also follows. I think that this pride and this view of success makes us further stray from God.

This trip is showing me this. We have to rely on God. Chris and I kind of threw ourselves into this trip. We decided to give God our lives for 3 months and leave it to him. Was it hard? Was it scary? Don't you miss your family and friends?Yes! I especially miss my family and friends. I think that I took it for granted that I had them around. I can't wait to see them and of course I think about them frequtently. But by being here in Japan, I am realizing a lot about life. I think that true success is , giving it up to God. I believe that success is having God in your heart and allowing him to use you and beliving that he will provide for you. Yes I worked really hard to finish my degree. I worked pulled many all nighters to finish nursing school. I will finally have a stable income, but does that make me successful? Will that make me truly happy? I really don't think so. True happiness comes from God and faith and cannot come from works and what our society defines as success.

Trust in God and he will provide. This is what I have learned so far. I still doubt, and I still have far to go, but I know he is there. This is the basic structure of what we talked about at vespers and also some added stuff that I have been thinking about lately.
I have been thinking a lot about

I hope to be able to make a bigger effort to be a missionary where I live. Yes, I believe that we can be missioanries exactly where we grew up, exactly where we currently live. So everyone one has difference gifts. I may not be a musician but I can do some drama, I can make the effort to plan things. Some people can cook, some people can organize, some people can sing, some people can think. Yes everyone has something they can do service for God with. I don't consider myself a very talented person. I am not that good at music, not that good at public speaking, but you know what? I will make an effort in everything I set out to do. I am trying to push myself to stop being shy and to get out there. I am trying my best to practice one more thing. Be in the likeness of Jesus. What I mean is that we need to make an effort to be kind to others. Be nice to those who are new to your church or school. Be nice to those people who others may not like. Another thing is that when we talk bad about people, it just increases the anger inside us. It makes you hate people more. These are such hard tasks for me. I am trying to pracitice these things. I just hit the first step....realizing that I do these things. The next step is trying not to, and that's not that easy.

Well for all who read this, look at your world and think about what is important to you. Are you dissatisfied with how things are? Make an effort to be a lantern that people can see and maybe you will be able to plant seeds of hope around you. You don't have to come to Japan to see change in yourself. You don't have to go to mexico to be a good Christian. Just make an effort to be kind and love everyone. Be the change you want to see. If you complain that there are not good vespers on Friday nights, or that there is not good enough music, or that there are not good programs for whatever it is, then make an effort to change it. You may surprised what one person can do.


Michael
]]> Quote of the Week — Seto, Japan http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207410900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207410900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/japanmc/1/1207410900/tpod.html Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:58:27 -0400 Yume No Nihon
Seto, Japan

Quote of the Week:

"I can't believe you drew God as a stick figure, 'Heathen'."

-Ryuusaku (as said to Kouya during a game of picitonary)
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