What...No Steeple?

It's been rewarding for us to attend the dedication services for churches who have recently purchased buildings. For many years, we wondered whether churches in the Tokyo area would ever be able to purchase property, because of the prohibitive cost. The bursting of the real estate bubble and the prolonged economic downturn have provided new opportunities for churches.

 In 2004 and 2005 we worked at the Sengendai church, pictured here, and rejoiced with the congregation at their dedication service. The children of the Sunday School sang a special song for the occasion. While the building doesn't look much like a church, it is on the main street, about five minutes' walk from the train station.






 

While Sengendai's in the northern suburbs, Asahigaoka is to the west of central Tokyo, where we live. Another four story building, another church dedication service. We've done ministries at this church over the years, in the four previous locations they've rented.

 

One cultural aspect of any special event in Japan, such as a dedication service, is the group picture. You might note I got the seat of honour next to the pastor. Pastor Kang  worked with us years ago in Sayama, and was ordained there as well. I had an opportunity to give an official message of congratulations in the service, another tradition in Japanese celebrations.

It was good to see Pastor and Mrs. Kang again, and to see their congregation enjoying the new location. To the left of the Kangs are the Landaws, C&MA colleagues from the US who will move this summer to Tohoku to start ministry up there.

Golden Week

A cluster of national holidays in the first week of May creates "Golden Week"vacation time for the nation. This year, for Heather and Laura, it was "Muck Week" in the Tohoku disaster zone.

In addition to helping clean up the mess the tsunami left behind, Heather had an opportunity to do a program for children at a nearby church.

Friday was a golden opportunity for us to have a meal together as a family for the first time since Laura had arrived back from Canada the previous Thursday. She and Heather headed up north shortly after that.  

The Only Constant is Change

It's a challenge building a relief organization from scratch after the disaster has taken place, and with a constant stream of volunteers coming and going. CRASH is now entering its third month of response to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and since Carol has been at CRASH from the beginning, she's now in charge of screening for volunteer teams, and oversees a staff of helpers.
This is the volunteer coordination table at the CRASH HQ, which was once a convenience store. Chuck, on the left, came in from California. The woman at the end of the table is here from England. The others are in-country volunteers, several of whom must return to their day jobs, so they leave, and others must be trained to take their place.

The challenges are worth it as teams cycle in and out of Tohoku doing a huge variety of tasks and making an impact in people's lives.

Because He Lives...

Back in 1969 or so, the Gaithers' music was very popular, and I recall singing it at church often. Quite often. Very often, in fact. "Because He Lives" was probably the most often sung selection in that era.

 Upon arriving in Japan, I struggled to understand the meaning of the songs we sang in church, and one that I developed a new appreciation for was "Shu Wa Ima Ikkite Orareru" which is of course "Because He Lives"

Don Love did a good presentation at our Easter Celebration about Bill Gaither's thoughts leading him to write that song, and it presents the hope given us by the resurrection.

Miwako talked about a popular song that challenged her heart as she was first coming to think seriously about God several years ago.

 



\We showed the resurrection scene from the DVD "Jesus for Children" and then continued the story in living colour in...flannelgraph! What'll they think of next? I guess our presentation for children was both hi-tech and hi-touch.

Our celebration included an Easter feast, and I'm including the annual Carol Love easter cake. If you go back to the blog post entitled "You Saw It Here First" you can admire her empty tomb cake from last year. This year's cake is a little more conventional in design.

バーコード・ヘア

The title is in katakana, a Japanese script for using words borrowed from other languages. It reads "Ba-co-do hea" which is the English term, "Barcode Hair" Well, barcode hair is not an English term, but looking at this picture, it should be, don't you think? This is without doubt my favourite Japanese idiom.