Kids Christmas Itayanagi

The Christmas Eve Worship Service in Itayanagi Chapel was fab. There was about 90 people who nicely fit into the sanctuary. The candlelite service was first and after singing a number of carols Martin spoke about why Jesus came.
Then the English class had a presentation followed by the Sunday School nativity play. It may have been the first time we had a live Jesus!!
We ended off with lots of snacks. What a great time remembering our God coming to rescue us.

Aussie Nite in Itayanagi

While an Aussie team was helping out in Itayanagi Chapels christmas outreach, there was an Aussie night. We ate some fabilous food, split up into groups for quizzes and activities, and had a modified folk dance. What a blast! Hopefully it made the church seem a easier to attend and the message more relavant to daily life.

A Welcoming Chapel

I've only been in Tsugaru for a few days, and I had my first experience of the worship service at Itayanagi chapel on January 11th. The atmosphere at Itayanagi is warm and friendly; I felt welcome immediately! I greatly appreciated this when I was called upon to introduce myself with a short testimony. It's funny how the mind always goes blank at those crucial moments! Fortunately, I stumbled my way through an explanation of how I came to both Bible college and to Japan. Martin Ghent kindly provided a translation for me (which I may not have made very easy).

The rest of the service felt much like being at church back home in England, with the obvious exception that it was in Japanese. We sang songs, and Martin delivered both a sermon and a children's talk. It was particularly interesting to see the number of people taking notes during the service; clearly they don't want to forget anything! Despite the language barrier, I was able to exchange a few hellos after the service (at least, I think that's what I said). I also enjoyed chatting with a church member who spoke some English.

Following the service, everyone helped set up some tables for lunch, and we shared a (fantastic) curry together. It's a great way to have fellowship time after the service, since no one needs to hurry home to eat! The service also taught me a useful point about relationships and our Christian witness - you can communicate warmth and friendship even without a shared language.

- Jonathan

Cooking Class

Cooking Class on Thursday, July 3
On Thursday, Brenda, Kathy, Jessica, and Madelynn went with Ruth to a cooking class. Brenda taught the Japanese ladies how to make tea biscuits, and she later shared about being a mother of three. There were nine ladies that came, most of them toting around small children. Madelynn got to play with children just a few months older than her. She even pulled herself up by the shirt of another child just to join in on the fun. The ladies really enjoyed cutting out the biscuits and making the recipe on their own. After everyone enjoyed a lunch of biscuits and maple syrup with salad, quiche, and English tea, many good conversations continued for another hour. It was as if the ladies didn't want to leave. Some of them spoke English quite well which helped. Makiko, one of the ladies, shared that she had come to a couple church events and planned to come to Sunday worship. We were blessed to see her with her husband and three boys the next Sunday. It's great to see God using these connections with Japanese women to get them interested in Christianity and ultimately bring them to faith in Him!

- Nghi, Jessica, & Maddie

Monday, July 7, 2008

We heard the roaring of a HOG approaching Itayanagi Chapel. The thunderous bellow of a customized Harley-Davidson motorcycle stopped as the rider, Mr. Arthur Hollands, dismounted at the front door of the chapel at 6:45 PM, a scant 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting. He was scheduled to be at the chapel three hours earlier, but he found some extra ministry opportunity along his way. So, we were told that “he will be here before the meeting.” And he was.

He is not a big man by western standards. He is less than six feet in height. However, he appears to be much bigger man in his snake-skin boots and leather riding garb. He is trim and fit. At the age of 57, he still possesses the bearing of a former martial art champion. Friendly, but piecing eyes, and his confident walk, make it easier for us to imagine what he was like as a SAMBO and Judo champion in his youth.

He and his steed were the center of attention. Some people were very excited to see the man in person. I heard a lady shout, “He is here!” Some are interested in his motorcycle. One man came, riding his own motorcycle. Everyone was asking questions, taking pictures, and moving around this very unusual evangelist. Although his name is not Japanese, he converses with flawless Japanese; his “mother tongue” is Japanese. He was born to a Japanese mother and an American Marine, in Osaka. He finished high school in Japan before moving to the United States, where he excelled in the martial arts. There in America, he became a baptized Christian at the age of 23.

Finally, he has to excuse himself to get inside the building. At the start of the meeting about 25 people were in attendance, which grew to about 35 by the end. His fast-talking style, humor, and anecdotal stories from his 30,000 mile annual journey on bike, simply captivated the audience, while slowly, but surely, he delivered the message of God’s love and His plan of salvation through the cross. One and a half hours later, he finished. According to Mr. Martin Ghent, the pastor of Itayanagi Chapel, about one third of the people in attendance were non-believers. It is important to note that this is a significant number of people hearing the gospel at one time in Japan; it, simply, does not happen often here, in Japan. He ministers in this way, 300 to 400 times every year, riding throughout Japan.

After the message many people requested his autograph and they took photographs. I had an opportunity to chat with him at the end of the evening. Both of us are born in the same year in Japan and stayed in Japan to finish high school. We became Christians at just about same age in the United States of America. Both of us have long hair and pony tails. And I have to admit, that I am a little unconventional, as is Arthur Hollands.

At the end I realized, although I am 100% Japanese and he is only 50% Japanese, he is more Japanese than me, because he asked my birthday and then added that I am “Oni-i-san” (Older brother) because my birthday is earlier than his! (For the interest of western readers: Japanese language has no word for brother. We always define ourselves as “older brother” or “younger brother”)

Takashi Ida

Itayanagi Youth

Itayanagi Young Life (Friday, July 4, 2008)

This Evening Jordan and I helped Aaron and Naomi Ghent lead the Church’s youth group. We started by having everyone introduce themselves, say how old they are, what their hobby is, and what type of pencil lead they use. After everyone had a chance to share we sang a couple songs and then it was time to play capture the flag. Since the kids had never played the game before, Jordan explained the rules and Aaron translated them into Japanese. Once everyone understood the object of the game and how to play, we went outside to the parking lot and field that are next to the church. We divided into two teams and each team hid their flag. Once the game started we had a lot of fun running around trying to capture the other team’s flag and make it back to our side of the field without getting caught in order to win. The game took a long time but everyone enjoyed it. Afterwards we all went back inside and sang another song before Aaron gave the Bible talk. First he had everyone write down something that they currently can’t do but would like to be able to do. He then read from Matthew 19:26 and spoke about how even though there are things that we as humans my find difficult or even impossible to do, with God’s help anything can be accomplished. After the youth group meeting was officially over we took the kids out side to light fireworks since it was the fourth of July. Aaron and Naomi explained to them that in the United States July fourth is an important holiday because it celebrates America’s independence. It was really nice to be able to spend time hanging out with the kids and teaching them more about God.

- Chelsea

Flyer Distribution

Tracting, July 4

Last Friday we were excited to get out and distribute tracts to the neighborhood around the church. It was a new and encouraging experience as we went out two by two. In fact, this is the first time we went out to see people and get a glimpse of how life looks like in this area. Two of us went out with a map in our hands trying to figure out where to go in an area where there are no street names. Most of the people we saw were women and children. It was encouraging because we saw people receive our tracts usually with smiles on their faces. The strange thing is that it's perfectly legal in Japan to put flyers in mailboxes…as long as it's not to sell something. The information we were passing out included details about church activities and a flyer about a guest evangelistic speaker coming to the area churches in Tsugaru. We had hopes that pictures of Arthur Hollands, the guest speaker, dressed in leather and riding a Harley motorcycle in the flyer would attract attention to the church and more importantly to the gospel. Later, we learned that some people came to the event of Arthur Hollands. Many of them came through established relationships with church friends and only one came because of the flyers we distributed (about 1,000 flyers). We pray that God will continue to touch people's hearts through any means we can use for His work in Japan.

We also pray that the Japanese people's outward politeness and openness will pave the way to their inward receptiveness of their hearts to the Gospel as well.

- Nghi, Jessica, & Maddie