Japanese Christian Preschool

Here is a video of some children at a Christian preschool singing a song about God.  Pastor Han, shown in  the video, is from Korea and part of the MTW Chiba team.  He took us to see his church, Megumi no Mori, which means Forest of Grace. It is just down the road from the school, which is a ministry of the church. 

Welcomed Home!

What wonderful friends we have, on both sides of the world!

Yoji and his family got up early and drove us to the airport

Yoji's wife and son, and little girl due in September!

This trip was the first time for us on a Japanese air carrier and the service is just better!

Tried to sleep but couldn't, so took a picture of everyone watching their screens!

Ice crystals on the window at 35,000 feet and minus 59 degrees F

Sunrise somewhere over Alaska - A different perspective seeing clouds from above

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

     the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech;

       night after night they display knowledge."

Psalm 19:1-2

 We were overwhelmed with the love of so many dear friends who came to welcome us home!

The 24 hours of travel and exhaustion were wiped out in a moment by such a wonderful greeting. The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and so is the love of friends in the Lord.

Dave giving the kids some Japanese coins, while waiting for the 4th bag (it got taken by another passenger). They found it and will deliver to us. Even lost luggage is a reminder of Jesus' words in John 18:9 to his Father: "I have not lost one of those you gave me."

Time to Say Goodbye

Our month in Japan is over; it went very fast for us. We're so grateful to the Lord and His people for giving us this great privilege of going back to Japan and serving the missionaries and Japanese believers and seekers here in Chiba and also in Nagoya.

We'll never forget all the experiences:
*reuniting with old friends and meeting many new friends
*seeing and hearing Japanese believers moved once again by the joy of the gospel
*remembering what it was like as new missionaries experiencing culture shock
*reliving the joy when we would have cultural successes in language and getting around
*loving hearing in Japanese The Lord's Prayer and the questions asked of someone when joining the church:

"Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is freely offered in the gospel?"

It's beautiful in any language!

神様に感謝します！そして、日本人のクリスチャンのお友達、宣教師たち、心をこめてありがとうございます！

We are thankful to God! Also, with all our hearts, we thank you, Japanese Christian friends and missionaries!


Video of "Before the Throne of God Above" in Japanese and English:

Finishing Up Work Projects

Dave has been working on several projects and was able to install a new sink faucet, hang two new ceiling fans, replace rotting wood around an exterior door and replace an old storage shed.

The old shed
 

The old shed, in two piles, one metal and one wood, for proper disposal

New shed, made from a kit bought at Costco Japan (with English instructions!)

Rotting wood

Tearing out old wood with help from a summer intern (from Surfside Pres. in Palmetto Presbytery!)

Work in progress

New wood going in

Finished!

Rainy Season

We had a heavy rain one morning and saw this outside

Our Last Sunday

Today was our last Sunday here. Dave preached twice and Barbara sang twice, at Honda Chapel in the morning and at Makuhari Grace Church in the afternoon. What a privilege to share in worship with God's people!

At Honda Chapel:

Dave preaching with Mr. Horino translating

Video of preaching

Barbara giving testimony before special music

Barbara singing "Day By Day" in English and Japanese

Fellowship time after worship

At Makuhari Grace Church:

Fellowship time after worship

Barbara with Pastor's wife

CAJ & Shibuya

CAJ is Christian Academy in Japan, where our children went during our years in Japan. We were able to visit with dear friends who live nearby and had a delightful time renewing our friendship. Then we went to a very trendy cool place called Shibuya Station in the heart of downtown Tokyo.

Stopped for gas at Eneos Dr. Drive on the way to the station

Full service attendant

127 yen per liter for regular comes to about $5.65 per gallon

View from the front of the train

Main entrance

On CAJ campus in front of gym

Classroom building

A black dragonfly but he wouldn't open his wings

On to our friends' house-- they have a beautiful Japanese garden including these bonsai trees

More of the garden

Close-up of bonsai

Hybiscus with ants getting nectar

We had such a good time with gracious hosts!

We were served delicious treats that just kept coming

We timed the day so that we arrived at Shibuya station after dark. The people, lights, colors and sounds are amazing.

There is a famous story in Japan about a faithful dog named Hachiko (Google it if you're interested!). We heard a new movie is being made about it in the States.

Barbara and Sherry outside Starbucks

Oops, how'd that get in here?

Video of crosswalk. Five streets converge and when it's time to cross, it is a few minutes of ordered chaos.

It was a long exhausting day! This is the last leg of our return train trip at about 10:30 p.m. when a very tired (and somewhat inebriated) businessman fell asleep on Sherry's shoulder.

Trip to Nagoya

Our church supports the Newsomes in Nagoya so we went to visit them for the first time on Monday and Tuesday. We went on the bullet train, or Shinkansen. It was a great visit seeing their work (and participating in some classes and Bible studies).

From the bullet train window

A wind power turbine

More from the window at very high speed!

Shopping area inside Nagoya station

Huge camera and electronics store in Nagoya

Outside Nagoya station

Another shot outside Nagoya station

Nisshin Christ Church in Nagoya where Wayne and Amy serve

A Bible study where we shared

A neighbor of the Newsomes, with her chihuahua named Milk

Their other chihuahua's name is Cookie (yes, milk and cookie!)

Sorry, more food pictures! Dave enjoying miso ramen.

Barbara's lunch

Good stuff!

Help yourself to pickles

Ramen shop folks seemed to enjoy having us!

Buying bullet train tickets home

Cleaning crew waiting to go to work

The bullet train we rode

 The "older" model on the left

Train tracks at Tokyo station

Lined up to board...


...and a video of the train coming into the station -