To Japan I Go!!: Some things just blow my mind

Monday June 7

Just another manic Monday! I am not really a Monday person, but here in Tokyo I really enjoy them. My team was leading the music team from a Baptist college in California. This was the first team our group has had to lead. They have an awesome ministry. They go around Japan and sing gospel songs. We took them to a college in Tokyo where they sang for two English classes. After singing, we would sit down and talk with the students. I got to meet four college students. Talking to them was a blast.

Tuesday June 8

Today just showed the awesome ways Father uses his people. We went to the same University again with the music team again. Our first class was with a Professor who is on fire for Father. He had the Professor who came with the music team share with the class. A guest speaker, Keiko Holmes, was there who translated our English into Japanese. She has made it her mission to try and help countries come together after World War Two. She also loves Christ. I have put the link to her website that gives her biography. Once again we got to talk with the students and share our faith. The Professor who we visited is a Chinese man who grew up in Hawaii. He married a Japanese woman and took her name so that he would have more respect her in Japan, by having a Japanese name. Something that completely blew my mind is that at the end of the class Ms. Holmes came up and apologized to us for the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

http://www.fepow-memorial.org.uk/the_work_of_keiko_holmes.htm

Our second class was with the same Professor from Monday. The class was smaller this time, but we still got to talk with all the students. They really enjoyed hearing the Americans sing. The Professor told us that after class some of them try to sing the songs they heard.

We ate lunch in the Universities cafeteria. The first Professor from today was there also and he directed pairs of us to sit with his students. The cafeterias here in Japan are completely different from American University cafeterias. You walk in and there is several boards with buttons. Almost like a vending machine, except you just get a ticket. You pick what you want by pressing a button. The ones at the University did not have pictures on it like most do. So, I went blind when picking my lunch. I ended up with orange chicken which was really good. A music team member and I ended up sitting with two science majors. They found it really funny to watch us Americans use chopsticks. They were blown away that we were not raised to eat with chopsticks. Using chopsticks is something I have had to work on while I am here. My usual way is to stab the food with it, however that is considered rude here in Japan. You also cannot have your chopsticks stick up from your bowl. This is rude because that is part of the Buddhist funerals. The two students we talked to had very limited English so talking to them proved a challenge.

After the University, we took the team to the park. There, they just sang out in the open. We were hoping the music would draw people in. We were able to talk to about ten people and give out Manga Bibles. Those who we talked to varied in their interest. One couple, when they found out we were missionaries were not thrilled about it. Others were really excited to receive the Bibles. Manga Bibles are the story of Jesus in comic book form. Most Young adults and kids really enjoy them and want to read them.

A sad thing here in Japan is that many people are skeptical of missionaries because they invite them to study the Bible but then suck them into a cult. Mormons and Jehovah witnesses are also really prevalent here. Only .05% of the people here are Christians and that includes Mormons and Jehovah witnesses. So, the number of Christians is even lower than .05%. That number makes the people in Japan the most unreached people group in the world.

Prayer Requests: