06/07/2002 03:13 AM - submitted by Phil Fund raising for the team is coming along well! Although we are very near our deadline of June 10th, we are well on our way and we know that God will provide as necessary. As of today, our team has raised 70% of the $8,605.00 we need! And that doesn't count the support that is already on it's way. That means we have less than $2,570.00 to raise! Praise God! But don't stop praying either! 06/27/2002 11:39 AM - submitted by Phil Praise God! All of our fund raising is now complete! We have raised our required amount as well as a little extra to cover ministry expenses such as stamps for sending out letters as well as purchasing gifts for our host church and homestays. Only about 10 days to go! Yee ha! 07/08/2002 01:24 AM - submitted by Phil Well, tomorrow is the big day! We've all spent the weekend packing and we will be heading out for orientation in LA tomorrow morning (actually today). Thanks for all your prayers! If any of you did not receive an e-mail from me tonight and would like to be included on any e-mail updates, please e-mail us and tell us your address. 07/09/2002 01:02 AM - submitted by Phil We just completed our first day of orientation here in LA. We spent time reflecting on our reasons for coming to Japan and got our first training session on how to teach English. We also had an opportunity to meet about 10 other teams that are also going to Japan. I've been taking some video of the other team leaders and LIFE staff so we can put together a short movie after the trip but we'll worry about that later. Thanks to Judy Wu for dropping by to say goodbye and wish us luck! Tomorrow we have breakfast at 6:00AM and will leave for the airport at 6:55AM. Poyao (Andy) will be taking a different flight to Japan but we will depart and arrive within an hour of each other. Please pray for our flights to Japan. Pray that we would be able to sleep well on the flight and recover quickly from our jet lag. Also pray for our next two days of training in Tokyo when we will take our first plunges into Japanese culture and learn the techniques we'll need to teach English classes. Thanks! 07/12/2002 08:49 AM - submitted by Phil Thanks for your prayers! We woke up Tuesday morning at 5:00am and headed to LAX to begin checking into our flight. After a 12 hour flight, we arrived safely in Tokyo on Wednesday around 3:00pm Tokyo time, which is 14 hours ahead of Chicago. It is the rainy season in Japan so it has been raining all day, while the temperature remains above 80 until the early evening. We piled into a bus and travelled to the National Olympic Memorial Youth Center where we will spend two nights and two days receiving more training to prepare us for teaching English. We arrived around 6:00pm, checked in and then took the subway to the Shinjuku area of Tokyo for dinner. We returned from dinner at 9:00pm (7:00AM Chicago) meaning that we had been up for 24 hours. After a half hour informational session, we were finally dismissed to get ready for bed. Thursday we spent some time prayer walking through a Shinto Shrine and a few sections of Tokyo. We saw people throwing money into the shrine and praying to spirits. Do people really think that they can buy prayers with money? And if they really think this, do they really think it would be answered throwing a few cents worth of coins in? People could also pay about $5.00 to get wooden plaques to write their prayers on. One plaque read "I pray that I may find love that lasts forever." Do people realize that they can get love that lasts forever for FREE by uttering just a simple prayer? Unfortunately not, and this is one of our burdens for this trip. To tell people that Christ died for our sins, and it is by faith alone that we are saved. Please pray that God would move people's hearts to desire something more than the idols and ancestors and spirits they worship. Pray that they would desire to worship a God that answers prayers. Pray that they would realize that the God of Heaven and Earth, the Creator of all things, Jesus Christ is also the God that answers prayer. Pray that all of the teams here would have opportunities to share the love of Christ to all the people we meet. Friday we went to the 45th floor of the Tokyo Government Center and looked out over the city. We spent time praying for all the people we saw, who looked like ants from where we were (what must we look like to God from His throne in Heaven? We must look much less signficant than ants, and yet He sent his Son to die for us!) Please continue to pray for the people of Japan, that more and more of them would be saved and that their hearts would be prepared. Also pray for more and more missionaries to be sent to (and from) Japan to share the Good News that we have received. Tomorrow (Saturday) we will be leaving early in the morning to fly to Tokushima. Pray for the travels of both our team and all the other teams as we continue on to our host churches located throughout Japan. Some people will be flying to our host cities while others will take the Shin-kan-sen (Bullet Train), subway, busses or cars to their destinations. Lastly, we have a few pictures from LA orientation and Tokyo training that are now posted. 07/13/2002 05:05 AM - submitted by Phil This morning we left the National Olympics Youth Memorial center, navigated three train lines and arrived at a large mall/airport where we flew All Nippon Airlines to Tokushima. We met Morisawa-sensei who drove us to Tokushima Eikoh Church. In the last year, they built a new ministry building and it is VERY nice. It is also where Morisawa-sensei lives and where we will be staying. As a brand new building, we have excellent air conditioning, a nice Shower Toilet (some people call it a robo-toilet b/c it is so complicated with bedais (sp?), a heated seat and a blow dryer for your fanny. We also have a large kitchen and a refrigerator (we will usually cook 2 or 3 of our meals ourselves every day). We also received three bikes for our use (all older female bikes, but hey, they work!) So today we praise God for giving us a great place to stay that far exceeds what we expected. In other news, we will be teaching 6 English classes per day Tuesday through Friday (2 per team member). Saturday is a miscellaneous activity day. Sunday is church and English Bible Study day and Monday is our free day. The last week of August we will also teach an additional English class for children. It looks like we will have a busy time here, but nothing crazy. We will be interviewing 50-80 students to place them in beginning, intermediate or advanced classes. Please pray for our interviews when we must meet and talk with our students. Also pray for our preparations for teaching. Lastly, please pray for rest, perseverence and encouragement as we are very worn out from moving and travelling so much in the last week. 07/15/2002 06:18 AM - submitted by Phil We just completed our interviews with the students. Only about 20 people showed up instead of the 50 we were expecting. Some of it may be due to a typhoon that is going through the area tonight (it is rain/typhoon season in Japan right now) so many people probably wanted to stay in. It is more like a tropical storm than a typhoon so it is nothing dangerous as long as we are inland and inside. Our pastor, however, seemed a little distressed by the low turnout, particularly the absence of any junior high or high school students. Please pray that more students would come in the coming days to join the classes. We know that God has provided every student for a reason, regardless of the total number that attend so whatever number finally attend, please help us be content and accepting of what God has given us. Cliff and I interviewed all the students while Poyao helped guide them and take pictures of them. Hopefully we can get some of those up for you in the next couple days. We assigned all the students to beginner, intermediate or advanced levels and in the end we had a total of only 7 classes (instead of the 12 expected) but we are expecting at least 6 more students to come in the next few days to sign up. Please pray for us tomorrow as we prepare to teach our first few classes and spend more time with the students. Please pray for our preparations and our rest. Also, I will be leading music time after each class so please pray for that as well. Thanks! 07/15/2002 06:45 AM - submitted by Poyao hello everyone and Konbanwa (good evening) from Japan. God has blessed us mightly here in Tokyo and Tokushima. First of all, Satan has being trying to discourage us from the beginning with fatigue, physical ailments, and schedule changes. It is good to see that Satan is on the defensive and worried about God`s ministry here in Japan. Today we interviewed students for placement in our classes. There was a typhoon coming in which discouraged a lot of students from coming but praise God there were 15 that came anyways! Though Japan is a technologically advanced country and very rich in culture, you can sense a need for a higher power and a desire for someone to fill the void here. Technology cannot replace human and spiritual needs and we know that God will fulfill that. Please continue to pray for us as we start our English ministry: 1) Pray for strength and courage in teaching and loving our students as examples of God`s children. 2) Pray for openess and willingness to receive God`s word. 3) Pray for the building of bridges and relationships between our students and the church here. 4) Pray for God`s glory and favor to be upon Japan and its warriors as we battle against the evil spirits here. Thank you for your support and prayers. We look forward to a fruitful and exciting ministry here in Tokushima. We will try our best to share it with you everyday through our pictures and postings. Also it is VERY encouraging to have posts from all of you. One last item to share. This sunday was our first church service. There were about 10 people in the first service and about 12 in the second. Even though it was few in number, I felt God`s strong presence in these people. They are truly courageous people to accept Jesus Christ and come to church even just to investigate. Please continue to pray for them. It has helped us to realize and appreciate greatly the abundance of blessings we have in the United States. Praise God! p.a.w. 07/16/2002 07:57 AM - submitted by Phil Wow, I am totally pooped, and I didn't even teach a class today! Cliff led the first advanced class this morning and aside from a few kinks that are to be expected the first time, things went well. This evening, Cliff led his second class and Poyao his first beginners class. After the classes we sang some English praise songs and Morisawa-sensei gave a short message. We then spent time talking with all of the students. The students are great, very eager to learn and speak with us. They do tend to be a little shy, and so far they are mostly housewives. But it has been good to meet them. Please pray that we would all get to know them and build meaningful relationships with them. Pray that we would have opportunities to share our testimonies and the Gospel with them. I'm not sure why I was so tired, but I was, all afternoon. Poyao and I didn't feel like cooking dinner either but we had to do it. Poyao commented that now we know what our mom's must feel like when they have to cook for the family after a day of work. So please pray for our mothers, and for all mothers. Please thank God for them and everything they have done for all of us. One amazing thing about the Japanese people is their sacrificial, serving nature. It is even more true when it comes to visitors or foreigners like us. If they see a need, they will do all they can to fulfill it. For instance, one of the english students (a church member) asked us what we had for breakfast. I told her that I had left over ra-mien and Poyao said he had skipped breakfast. Well, a few hours after class had ended, the student brought us instant oatmeal and bread for breakfast! Similarly, our pastor brought us a bunch of "American" snacks for us to eat just because... Additionally, I notice that certain things get done even though we don't do them and we don't ask for it to be done. So please pray that we would all grow to be better servants and would be more pro-active in our service to the Japanese people. Also, thank God for their sacrificial spirit and help us to be good models of the same to them. 07/17/2002 07:46 AM - submitted by Phil Well, I just finished teaching my two classes today. It was a challenge and the two classes are very different. I was worried about my first class because it was so small (three students) but God answered that prayer by providing six students instead! I think it went pretty well, although one of the students was on the border-line between beginner and intermediate and I placed her in intermediate. She asked me to go a little slower and Poyao also said I can spend more time doing repetition so I will probably do so. My second class ended up being only three students. One of the students is the only male out of about 25 students total! Please pray for him as it may be difficult on him being the only male. I think because he is a male, it is a little easier to talk to him so please pray for our friendship as well. I only have two classes, Poyao has three, and Cliff has four, so please pray especially for Cliff as he will be more busy than Poyao and me. But also keep Poyao and me in your prayers as we also need help being proactive with the students. Many of the students have come to the church for English lessons simply because they saw the advertisements in the newspaper. Praise God that so many people have been willing to come to a strange place and trust our teaching. Please pray that they would benefit from out teaching and free conversation both in a practical sense (learning conversational English) and a spiritual sense (hearing the Gospel). Leading praise songs for the students has been good. I've been choosing some easy songs for me, but apparently they contain some difficult vocabulary/concepts such as redeemer, sanctuary and others. As a result, I'm switching to some simple classics. I might even teach them "This Little Light of Mine." Please pray that I would be able to choose good songs that will help the students understand more about the character of God. Lastly, we are planning an Ice Cream Party this weekend for all the students of all the classes. Please pray for our preparations. We will probably do a skit, sing a few songs and play a few ice breaker games. One will be the name game, where we hold a blanket up between two teams and let them say each others' names. The second will be an M&M game where they have to answer a question based on on the color of the M&Ms they took. This will all be in English of course! After this, we will make ice cream sundays and just have fun! Please pray that many students will be able to attend the ice cream party and that they will be open to the games and that they can build relationships with us, with each other and with the church. 07/18/2002 08:31 AM - submitted by Phil I am totally exhausted today. I really enjoyed spending time with all the students today. Now that we have met before, it was good to have more time to get to know them and talk about various topics. I hope we will become good friends over the next couple weeks before it is time for me to go. Whew, I'm really tired, so I'm cutting out early! Oyasumi Nasai! 07/20/2002 08:40 AM - submitted by Phil We've been pretty busy the last couple days between teaching classes, preparing for our ice cream party and hanging out with students. I'm pretty tired and it is very late. We almost always get to sleep by 11:00pm but tonight it is already 12:30! Luckily we do not have to be up until 9:00. I did manage to update a bunch of pictures from Thursday when we visited an Indigo Dye museum. Today's ice cream party was very good. About 10 students came and we had lots of ice cream. We taught some students how to make the classic American sundae, the Banana Split, although we forgot some of the toppings (whipped cream, peanuts, pineapple and strawberries) but we made do with sprinkles and lots of chocolate syrup. I had a chance to speak with one Christian English student about how I became a Christian and she told me her story as well. She went through some difficult times while she was in an homestay program in America and some Christian friends helped her out and she learned more about Jesus and eventually gave her life to the Lord. Praise God! Please pray that we would be an encouragement for her and that she would continue to grow in the Lord. Tomorrow Poyao and I will help lead worship by singing "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" and "Lord, You Are" in both Japanese and English with the worship team. We will also sing "You Are Worthy Of My Praise" and "You Are My King" on our own, so please pray for us in that area as well. 07/20/2002 09:29 AM - submitted by Poyao Hello!!! It's been a rough and tough week here in Tokushima. Again we've just had our first week of classes. It's been wonderful being able to teach and help others learn English. The Japanese are very very willing to learn about us and American culture. Sometimes we have some good laughs about Fil's extraneous activities... My friend Katie Osgood has appeared to help us with our Japanese and helping us in our ministry to build bridges between the people and Tokushima Church. She has been a great help and we enjoy her company, especially when she takes us shopping and eating good food! Most of our time is spent in class here, luckily we've had some downtime on Saturday to Karoake and live it up in the Tokushima night life =). God is doing such awesome things here and blessing us mightly through the church members here and especially with our students. They are finally talking and sharing more with us as we get to know each other. Today we had an ice cream party and we were able to talk to the daughter of one of our students (Elle) about Christianity. It was a blessing because she has recently opened her heart up again to church and God. Praise God yes?! Most of our time spent with students is very short but just pray for us to create stronger, more loving frienships and that we will be good servants of his love. In Japan, the idea of a man serving a woman is outrageous and many of our students have said it is so surprising to see us serve drinks to them. Please pray for more of these opportunities to express our differences as Christian servants in this world. Thanks for all your support. God speed. 07/21/2002 7:49 PM - submitted by Phil Yesterday morning Poyao and I had the privelege of sharing some English songs with the congregation during the Gospel Service. It went well and one of the attendees said we were very good and almost felt like crying during our performance! Please praise God that it went well and that we had such a great opportunity to share some of our gifts with the congregation. After the Gospel service, I got to lead English Bible Study after service. There were two of our English students there, one was a young Christian and the other is a non-Christian (as far as we can tell). We studied the story of Zacchaeus and talked about how he had been seeking Jesus and when Jesus asked to stay with Zacchaeus, he repented and was saved. The non-Christian seemed to be quite interested in why Zacchaeus made that decision and asked some great questions. The young Christian had never read that story before and was encouraged and challenged by the study. The two students, Cliff, Andy and myself also had an opportunity to share what we would say to Jesus if we could (it was an excercise to practice our English). I thought it was very encouraging and touching to hear what everyone had to say so praise God that we could have this study together and share our thoughts. Also please pray that God would continue working in the students' hearts by encouraging the young Christian and continuing to open the heart of the non-Christian. Last night we went to a barbecue at one of our translators' house. She invited a few of her non-Christian neighbors so there were about 15 people there (that includes children). We cooked beef, pork, chicken, shrimp and these funny shelled creatures (sea snails of some sort?) that were really... um... fishy. I didn't really like it but Poyao sort of did. They were just weird though. Anyway, we got a chance to talk with the other families, primarily the women. I noticed that the women were very much segregated from the men (although I guess this happens in America too). After the barbecue, the women were sitting at a small table near the children, where Cliff and I were talking, while the husbands were sitting around the grill cooking little snacks and messing around. But I sensed a distance between the two groups that seemed farther than any I've felt before. I even felt a little bad for the women who continuously insisted that I NOT help them when cleaning up. They could not speak English well so I am not sure how much influence we had on them, but I'm hoping that our barbecue will at least open up channels of communications between them and our translator. 07/22/2002 07:33 AM - submitted by Phil We just arrived back from Anan. We took the train from Tokushima Station, which was a bit challenging since the only thing we knew was that we wanted to go south and that the fare was supposed to cost 540 yen. We did not have any problems though. We met Katie there (she lives in Anan) and had some sushi for lunch, then went up a mountain to visit some shrines. This time it was a buddhist site, but there were many shrines and idols for ancestral spirits and such. We did a little bit of hiking and the whole place was lined with idols and statues for people to pray and give offerings to. It was rather sad and I continue to pray that God would reveal Himself to more and more Japanese every day. I received an e-mail from one of the English students that was very encouraging, telling me that she first met Christian missionaries a few years ago and at that time was not at all interested, but has since become a Christian. Praise God! Please pray that through our work here, God will be planting seeds. Even if no one dedicates their life in this time, we know that He has a plan and that it is infinitely better than ours. Anyway, after the temple, we went to an electronics store to check out all the cool Japanese gadgets and then we went to find some used CDs so we could further assimilate into the Japanese Culture. :) For dinner we went to an Okonomiyaki place which is sort of a Japanese pancake. You order whatever special fillings you want and you get it with batter and cabbage which you then fry on a griddle in your table. You then cover it with sauce, fish shavings and seawee and VOILA! you've got dinner! It was quite tasty and a reasonable price. So today was a good day in terms of learning more about Japan, visiting some sites and taking in more culture. Praise God for these opportunities to enjoy ourselves and learn more about this culture. Lastly, tomorrow we start teaching Children's English classes in addition to our current classes, so our free afternoons will be gone. We will have less free time and more time needed for preparation and more time doing actual work. We have also decided to meet daily as a team to pray and talk about how things are going. So please pray that as things get more busy that we would be able to stay diligent with our quiet times and be well rested. Thanks for all of your support! 07/23/2002 08:50 AM - submitted by Phil One of our English students (a young Christian) sent me the following message: I was learning English from a missionary in Eiko Kyokai several years ago. At that time I was NOT interested in Christianity at all, I mean it took several years for me to become a Christian, but anyway, it worked. Japanese people may have an allergy for religion and it is a little bit difficult to change someone's mind at once. However your work in Tokushima will be a great experience for other students so never give up. I really appreciate your work in Tokushima :) 07/23/2002 10:04 AM - submitted by Phil This week we began teaching children's English classes in addition to our adult classes. It was a bit hectic but it seems that we've figured things out. Please pray that we would get all the rest that we need to and can keep up with the kids as well as stay energized for the adults! 07/25/2002 09:21 AM - submitted by Phil Very sorry, but with the children's classes and the realization that we are leaving in 1.5 weeks, we are very busy with event preparations and hanging out with the students. For some students, we may only see them 1 or 2 more times! As a result the amount of free time we have is getting shorter and the amount of good rest we are getting is also getting shorter. Please pray that God would help us to manage our time well and that whatever sleep we get would be energizing and refreshing. Thanks! 07/26/2002 02:28 AM - submitted by Phil Last night we stayed up late because we ended up talking with our night class until about 10:00. Then, one of the students said she was hungry because she missed class, and then Poyao said he wanted to eat too, so three students and our team went out for late night la-mein followed by coffee and desserts. It was fun, although near the end of the night we all got pretty quiet since we were all tired. Today we finished class #4 of 5 for the children and all of the adult classes. Even though it has only been 4 days and most of the children already know their alphabet, I'm glad we had class and it's been great to see them become more confident and have more fun. One of the parents told me that her daughter really missed class when she couldn't come yesterday and that although the class is review for her, she is actually having FUN! It's also a bit tough to read how the kids are doing. They repeat after me pretty well, but when we do one one one practice you can barely hear them! It's especially tough with the girls because they are super quiet and very timid. But we've been playing games and having fun and they've been getting more confident. One of the mothers told me that her two children would not be able to come next week to the last class and it made me rather sad. I'll miss them! I really wanted to finish the whole alphabet with them too! Also, as I stood outside and waved goodbye to all the kids they waved back with big smiles! Boy, I sure wish I could spend more time here teaching! Only problem is that I'm pretty tired. As a whole I'm probably a bit sleep deprived (but no more than when I work...) Also, my wrist is getting tired from leading music twice every day. Even so, I'm looking forward to more classes and the barbecue tomorrow. Please continue to pray for our rest, that we would be energized and refreshed by God. Please pray for the children that their minds would be able to learn more English and that we would continue to teach them new things and have fun at the same time. Also pray that many people would be able to to come to the barbecue tomorrow and that we will have chances to share our testimonies. Lastly, pray for our time Sunday when Poyao will share his testimony at church service and I will be leading another English Bible Study. Thanks for all your support! 07/26/2002 07:35 AM - submitted by Poyao Man, PRAISE GOD! I love my children's class. they are super kawaii!!!! But seriously, I should be a dad, cause these kids LOVE me too. hehe. We had tons of fun just playing kids games and just learning old kid's songs. We also have been eating good food, apparently too much because I have managed to gain weight... i'm 83.4kg (that's 183.4lbs for you non-metrics) and i wasn't sure but i think it also said 29% body fat? anyways, we are coming to a close here in Tokushima and time just flies doesnt' it? Keep praying for us! 07/27/2002 08:46 AM - submitted by Poyao Well, We've had a great day today! Today we bought stuff and had a nice ole' fashioned barbecue. It was great. A lot of students came. We played games such as 2 truths and a lie, pictionary, and charades. They were surprisingly good at it. We are building good relationships with the students here... and even though most of them are ladies and housewives, we still have a lot of fun. Most importantly , I believe they are opening up to us and the bible. I wish we had more time! Please pray for those seeds to grow even as we leave here... ONLY ONE MORE WEEK!!! =( signing out... 07/28/2002 06:42 AM - submitted by Poyao AHhhh... Life is Good! Awesome news posting: Today we had service and many of our students showed up (about 6). All of them sat through the message and then came to our English Bible Study. Today was also the day I gave my testimony. One of the students, Yukiko, came and talked to me about the testimony and how she enjoyed service today. "I haven't been to this church in 3 years but today, after hearing the testimony and worship, I felt something special while we were singing songs." - Yukiko-san Wow! and this is right after my testimony where I said that I wanted to share Jesus with someone! It completely took me by surprise! God works in mysterious ways, yes? Anyways we ended up talking more afterwards and we got on the subject of her mother (who has cancer) and her niece (who is 17, has cancer in her womb). Basically, she said she has been praying for them. So we prayed on the spot for those two, please keep them in your prayers too. She is asking questions about Christianity and another student also is very interested in knowing more about Jesus Christ! Praise God that we are already seeing the fruit of God's work! Please pray for these people and their walk with the Lord. Thanks! 07/30/2002 10:47 AM - submitted by Phil Praise God for everything that's been happening so far. I've really enjoyed my kids and have been really touched by how much the children seem to appreciate my teaching, even though I think I might be a little boring. Many parents have told me that their children really enjoy class! What a blessing! Unfortunately, I've been so wrapped up with teaching I haven't taken any pictures of the children. Morisawa-sensei has, so hopefully I can get some copies and scan them in one day. On Sunday, 6 people came to English Bible study. 1 was a church member and our translator, Masami. 1 was a student who is a Christian, and 4 of them were students who are not Christians. 1 of them was there for the second time. Praise God for these students who have been willing to listen and hear our stories (Poyao gave his Testimony earlier at church service). We got to read the story of the crippled man who was lowered through the roof in front of Jesus who healed him. We had some good discussion about it and the students asked some great questions. Praise God! Please pray that their hearts would remain open and that they would come again this Sunday to hear my testimony and read another Bible Story. I really wish I had more time here to finish my English lessons and do more Bible studies and get to know people better. I though two weeks was too short last year, and this year, although it's been tough, I feel like one month is a little short as well. Please pray that great things would happen in this short time. Also, please pray that God would show me whether I should return to Japan next year or not and for how long (6 weeks?) It's getting late so I'm gonna stop here. Thanks for all your prayers! 07/31/2002 08:06 AM - submitted by Phil Hey, to make navigating the pictures work a little better, I added in a Quik Pics option box at the top of the picture pages (requires a browser that supports JavaScript). Just choose the date you want to jump to and click "Go." This way, you don't have to keep clicking the back button. Poyao's been making some updates to some of the pages after I put them up so you may want to check the last few days for updates. Enjoy! |