Local "Undoukai" Sports Day

Here we are at the Karuizawa Elementary School "Undoukai" (Sports Day). It is big part of life in Japan, and is almost like a festival of sorts for the community. Some new friends of ours invited us to watch, and we actually saw a number of people we had met at various other places - including church!
All students are split up into the Red team and White team and compete for team points (notice their hats). The above picture shows a very team oriented game, the o-tama korogashi, where each team has a huge ball that they have to pass down the line of 100+ students, carry it around a pole, and then back to the starting point. The Red team won both attempts at this one.
This game, was quite amazing. Called kibasen, or cavalry game, it is played in teams of four. Three team members form a base, called the horse, and the fourth rides on top. The object of the game is for the "rider" to steal the caps of riders from the other teams. It actually was quite aggressive. A thowback to the old Samurai days! (In case you're wondering, the White team won this game quite handily.)

We learned a lot about Japanese culture: the importance of community, the pre-eminence of "team" over "individual", and the importance of tradition and protocol to the running of events.

College Ministry Board Meeting in Waseda

I took the Shinkansen "bullet train" to Tokyo and on to Waseda and back (~4 hour round trip) for a 3 hour College Ministry Board meeting for the Presbyterian Church in Japan. (See down below for a photo of my sleek ride.) My team leader, Dan Iverson, was there as well Nagata-san, a friend and co-worker in college ministry since my first visit to Japan back in 1998.

I mostly listened and learned, with my electronic dictionary in hand, and a little translation help from Dan. The meeting was exciting as I become more involved in praying and preparing for our future ministry. It was also sobering as I more deeply understood the difficulties and challenges that lay ahead.

For Example:
- Attendance has dropped and our college ministry meetings, and the general image of foreign clubs has been tarnished in the eyes of students due to a rise in "christian-like" cult activities on campus.
- Almost all of the Japanese College Ministry Staff that I knew from my previous time in Japan are no longer actively serving on campus. Some are in seminary, some have moved on, and some have had personal struggles. A few new staff have come on, but it has been difficult for them in many ways.
- Even after more than 10 years of partnership with Japanese Churches in College Ministry, the initiative for outreach still comes almost exclusively from College Ministry Staff, not the local church.

PLEASE PRAY:
- Pray that God would protect our staff, our students, and students on campus from these cults (including the Moonies, etc.)
- Pray for future kingdom workers and faithful young leaders for the church in Japan.
- Pray also for a missional vision for the church among both the current AND next generation of Japanese believers.

A Shinkansen Train, like the one I took to Tokyo...

Fellow Kingdom Workers in JAPAN

We had the priveldege of spending some time with my former roommate, Shinya, and his family. He had served as part of our college ministry staff for several years, and now is studying at a reformed seminary in Japan.

Please pray for Shinya and his family, that God would provide for them during Seminary, and prepare them for His Kingdom work ahead.


Olivia and Moka had met once in America about a year ago, and had fun getting re-aquainted. :)