The Uenoyamas are a wonderful and gracious couple from our church here in Karuizawa. They used to live in Chiba, and I actually had met them during my first term here in Japan (2001). Amazing to meet them again, now living in Karuizawa!Mr. Uenoyama is a Christian who actually came to faith through the ministry of our MTW team in Chiba several years ago. Mrs. Uenoyama is not yet a believer. (This is a difficult reality in the Japanese church, having individuals come to faith within a family that still follows traditional Buddhist and/or Shinto beliefs.)
They had us over for a delicious Japanese style dinner on Saturday night. It was especially interesting to hear Mr. Uenoyama tell a little about his testimony of coming to Christ. To him, the biggest influence in turning from a life of a typical nominal Buddhist was the JOY that he saw on the faces of Christians. This was something that he didn't have, and something that we wanted. This led his search to the Bible, and to missionaries & Japanese Christians who could help him understand.
Speaking of JOY, Olivia couldn't contain her joy as she played all night long with the Uenoyama's cat named Rascal. :)
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