Moshi Moshi: April 2006

Spring is in the air and warmer weather is here. Lately the temperature has been in the low 60's. I am thankful for this because my oil

cans for my heater are empty. Today I put them in storage where they will wait for next years use. While Laura was here, she took some pictures of the oil process so you could see how I stayed warm this past winter.

Hugs...There isn't a lot of physical contact between people in Japan. Some families might give hugs to each other but outside of that it is rarely seen. Culture class has finished with the six 11th grade English majors and I had dismissed everyone. However, everyone sort of hung around for a while afterwards. As I was packing up all the class materials I had brought with me, and Mina came up to me with a big grin on her face and said, "Miss Rachel, I want a hug." So I have her a hug and then asked if anyone else wanted a hug. The other five slowly came forward and formed somewhat of a line to get their hug. How many of them actually wanted a hug and how many did it out of peer pressure, I do not know. What I do know is that they all walked out of my class with a smile on their face.

Heidi and I also had our final performance of "Early One Morning" this evening. Between the three performances we think that about 650 people saw the musical. Please continue to pray that God would continue to work in the hearts and lives of people that saw it. God has blessed us in countless ways and provided people and skills for things we hadn't even accounted for. This musical has been a great springboard to start spiritual conversations with people. God is opening doors and working!

Ayumi, one my students, recently had one of her wisdom teeth removed. (But bless her heart, she is still willing to turn pages for me for the musical.) I asked her if she was only getting one of her wisdom teeth removed and she said, "No." I was then reminded of a cultural difference between Japan and America.

In America we like to get things done quickly and efficiently. All of my wisdom teeth where removed in one appointment, and then I went for one check-up to make sure I didn't have dry socket. In Japan, they like to elongate processes. For wisdom teeth removal, each tooth is taken out individually. Then they will have about two check-up appointments for each tooth to make sure everything is okay.

One more example: One of the teachers at school is having surgery on his hernia. After his surgery he will remain in the hospital one month to recover. It's a good thing insurance covers more over here!

Thank you for your prayers--they were felt! Heidi and I performed the musical "Early One Morning" for the middle school and high school today. God exceeded my expectations, as He so often does, and blessed the performance. It went very well. Students were appreciative and reflective. One of the teachers was deeply moved and had tears in her eyes well after the performance. Please continue to pray for those who have seen the musical. Pray that their hearts would be open and that God would be able to move and work in their hearts and lives.

Heidi and I have also received lots and lots of flowers the past few days--six full vases. I think I could open a florist shop. The beautiful flowers are gracing my apartment; it is much more cheerful because of them. I feel loved and humbled at the sight of them.

Today was also the school field trip. The 300+ students and teachers walked down to the aquarium. It looked like a navy blue ribbon weaving its way through the city streets. Once at the aquarium we were free to mingle with students and enjoy looking at fish together. My conversations ranged from smiling and using hand gestures to communicate with the seventh graders to talking about spiritual matters with some of the twelfth graders. I also had fun touching starfish, watching the dolphin show and hearing high schoolers say "kawaii" (cute), taking pictures, sitting on the sun-lit pier eating lunch, receiving candy from students (it was like trick or treating in reverse), but most of all I enjoyed just hanging out with students.

Happy Easter! What a joy it is to serve a risen Savior. My day started out a little rough but that left lots of room for improvement. I went to Heidi's in the morning to practice piano before church. She had already left for church with another family, so I had about 45 minutes to practice on my own. I was supposed to leave with Nick in the next car. Just as I was about to head out the door, I heard a car five minutes early. Thinking that they had just arrived, I went to open the patio doors to yell down that I was on my way. While opening the door I popped out Heidi's screen door and discovered that the car wasn't coming but leaving. Yes, on Easter morning I was left behind. Thankfully, I had written down the church's phone number the day before so I was able to call Heidi and alert her of the situation. Within fifteen minutes another church member picked me up and we only were ten minutes late for the service.

After the Easter worship service, everyone hopped into cars and headed to the sea for a baptism. Mina, one of our students who became a Christian in October, was baptized today. The sun was shining and the wind blowing. This meant waves, lots of waves, lots of big waves. Mina and the pastor braved them together, and I think it was the third dumping of water that was the actual baptism:)

Once we got back at church there was a reception and celebration for Mina. Joy was exuding from her. Kaoru, a college student, has been interested in Christianity. After hearing the sermon and witnessing Mina's baptism she decided to also become one of God's children and now wants to be baptized. Praise the Lord! God is definitely at work.

To finished off the Easter celebration at church, Heidi and I performed the musical "Early One Morning." Thankfully, everything went well and it is was well received. We continue to pray that God will work and be glorified.

Sakura (aka. Cherry Blossoms)

The sakura have been out in full force this past week. They truly transform the city and it's people. Everyone is friendlier and smiling. You see families together in the park having picnics and enjoying hanami (flower viewing). Spending time at the park with all of the sakura trees refreshes one's spirit. It's a reminder that spring has come and with that new life. It reminds me of the new life we can have in Christ.

It was the first day back at school with students. It was good to hear laughter, feet shuffling in the halls and voices talking in rapid fire Japanese. Due to it being the first day of the new school year, we had an opening ceremony, which included lots of speeches and bowing. It's like graduation in many ways. However, one big difference is the play in English that takes place every year. (I can't help but think it must be the most exciting part of the ceremony.)

This year Nick wrote the play and Heidi directed it. I was in it along with Nick and four Japanese students. It was about a new English teacher trying to find Baiko High School and four students shopping who were trying to gather up enough courage to speak with the American lady. We had a lot of fun working on it together and everyone did a wonderful job performing it today!

I have now returned from my spring break. My sister, Laura, came for two weeks and we had an amazing time together! It was so good to catch up with her and show her a little bit of what life is like in Japan. Of course, we also did lots of traveling together:) You can't be in our family and not see the sights. We were blessed by having lots of people who wanted to see us and do things with us.

Our adventure began with me picking up Laura at Kansai Airport and then taking an overnight ferry back to Shimonoseki. We were in a room with three other girls and slept on the floor. It was sort of like camping. We arrived in Shimonoseki Sunday morning and had just enough time to shower before heading to church.

From church to when Laura left, our time was filled with experiencing Japanese culture. We saw beautiful gardens, ate lots of native cuisine including sashimi (raw fish), went to more old temples and shrines than we can count, visited Baiko and sat through the middle school graduation, soaked in an onsen (public bath), sang karaoke, spent time with families and friends, went shopping, wandered through museums, saw lots of the ancient and modern, the list could go on and on. The Lord blessed us tremendously!

Here's a brief look at our itinerary: Shimonoseki, Chofu, Mojiko, Ureshino, Kokura, Iwakuni, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Uji, Nara, Kobe and Osaka. Here are a few pictures.