Wednesday, May 30, 2007

So, here I am

Well, we made it. It was about time. The 13 hour plane ride seemed to take 44 hours, and it was pretty much uncomfortable. It was alright though because we were headed to Japan! The movies on the plane were ok, I really enjoyed Freedom Writers, and Norbit was stupid. "How YOU doin?" Lame! Anyway, after close to 24 hours of traveling, we got into Hitachi-Taga. Sugao, Bryan, and Mike met us at the bus stop and took our luggage and we were off. After a quick stop to Bryan`s house to drop off the guys luggage, we headed out to the church. Nice. They put bunk beds in there for us to use, so it is less crowded. We walked into the church, and Michi, one of my readers from last year, had a sign that said "Welcome" and it had all of our names and she even drew our faces! It. Was. Awesome. I am totally going to fight somebody so I can bring that home.

After everybody left the three of us took quick showers and went right to bed. All I remember was saying good night, and I do not even remember my head hitting the bean bag. My pillow is a bean bag, so that is cool. It was 10:30.

Holly and I both woke up at around 6:45, so we just ate, talked, and ate again until Tyler woke up. We had a meeting with Judith, Bryan, and Dan to talk about LST stuff. I had to write a speech for an information meeting I was giving later in the day.

Lunch at the Rahman shop. Fantastic.

Michi decided to take me and Adam on the train and show us the walk to Ibaraki Christian Campus. About 10 minutes. Not too bad. Since the team is not separated, Adam and I will spend all of our time at ICC. We both have about 18 readers. Nice! I gave the info meeting, met a few readers, and then Junichi (youth minister for Omika), Hanna, and two other girls gave us the campus tour. Nice campus. Adam and I both have 2 Christian readers, so that is great!

After the tour, Adam and I walked back to the train station and headed back to Taga. As I type there is a line underneath my words because I accidentally hit the Japanese button and do not know how to get it off. I apologize if nobody can read this.

We got back to the church and every Wednesday night they have a college cell group. Basically, they cook dinner, sing worship songs, and have a devo. It is great. There were about 18 people there so we had a great turnout. I would say that more than half of the people there were not Christians, but they come to this cell group because they are seeking. I met this one girl, Yuka (I think), who goes to Abilene Christian University so that was great! Edisa (?) cooked dry curry and rice and it was so great. curry and rice and it was so great. Yummy! Two fantastic meals today.

Basically, after looking at the schedule, we are going to be pretty busy. Mine we are going to be pretty busy. Mine and Adam`s to be pretty busy. Mine and Adam`s day begins at 9:2 Mine and Adam`s day begins at 9:25 Mine and Adam`s day begins at 9:25 and continues until 6:40. We are on the campus schedule. We go back to Taga and hang out at the church and have our daily devo and stuff like that. It will be fun. Also, we have 5 parties, FriendsCamp, Wednesday night cell groups, Ladies tea, Wednesday night cell groups, Ladies tea, Adam and I will have this worship thingy Thursday nights, and we will also be going to the Children`s home and hang out with the chillen. Sweet! So, all in all, we have a very busy 6 weeks lined up for us. I am excited to see what God has in store for people here.

I found out today that Ibaraki prefecture (similar to a state), is known as the "Japanese Bible Belt" because there are 30 Church of Christ churches in Ibaraki, and only 60 in the entire country. Praise Gawd fer Vitory! I think that is from Steinbeck`s The Praise Gawd fer Vitory! I think that is from Steinbeck`s The Grapes of Wrath, but I could be wrong.

Well, I think that is all for now, but I will update as is all for now, but I will update as often as possible. So, for now, this is goodbye. See you later!!!

3 comments:

MawMaw said...

OK, so I'm terrible with modern technology - I sent you an email instead of a comment!! Anyway I love you and know you're having a good time in Japan.
YOU ARE BLESSED!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for calling, I love hearing from u. U sounded tired? Don't get run down. I so proud of u! Love you

Anonymous said...

hey sweetie, i'm going to try this again-couldn't get my comments to go through last time and lost it all. was so glad to hear from you-mom told me you had called and talked to her-but i wanted to see your handwriting 'on the wall'. i know this is going to be another life-changing experience, not only for you, but for others as well. keep posting-we love hearing about what God is doing.
love you,
nanna