Music Team in Public Schools

Our team was able to perform a few concerts at various sized elementary schools in Hirosaki and the surrounding area. I didn’t know what to expect to see at a Japanese school, but it turned out to be a time to show the students love while simply playing along with them. We got the kids jumping and dancing with us through fun games such as tag and an arm tangling challenge. We performed a hip hop dance that spoke about finding our identity in Jesus and not in our clothes or houses. A few team members acted out a skit about how Jesus can lighten our load when we feel over-burdened. It was great to get the kids involved in fun songs such as “Alleluia” and “This is how we overcome” with actions. The moment we got the kids involved in the songs, the smiles burst out and everyone began to relax and have a blast. During a few of the fast songs, some team members jumped with the students in the audience and joined in the fun. At two of the larger schools we were able to eat with the students and have fun with them during their lunch period. It was a blessing to know that we were God’s ambassadors showing them His love and opening doors to future ministry opportunities.

Tracting in Japan

In Kanagi half of our team went tracting to promote a concert we were doing a few weeks later at the Kanagi Chapel. Tracting isn’t something normally appreciated in Canada. The majority of tracting done in North America seems to be done by overly friendly cult members and sleazy sales people. It was quite popular in the church in the 70s and most of the 80s but lately the church has tried to distance itself from that form of ministry. Because of the stereotypes associated with ‘tracters’ (one who hands out tracts) I felt most nervous about participating in tracting. However, I was pleasantly surprised about how the Japanese people view the service. When I first started walking door to door (all by myself) I was hoping not to run into anybody face to face. The trick was finding the mailbox. Unfortunately in Kanagi its hard to distinguish which door is the front door of a house (or even what the house is from the shed) and thus the location of the mailbox. So I was forced into stepping in open doorways and calling “Konichiwa?” The great thing is that instead of getting the door slammed in my face, I was welcomed by many smiling faces. Furthermore, through broken Japanese, English, and primitive sign language I had great interactions with the people who were quite pleased to receive my fist full of tracts. I learned what an important part of ministry tracting is in the Japanese culture and not to be apologetic in my deliverance of the Good News. It’s not about pushing your views on someone else, the way we view it in Canada, but about making information readily available to people. So I say to all, “Happy tracting!”

Misawa Concert

I am a musician. I have played a lot of concerts and shows, at big clubs and small bars, jammed out summer camps and empty rooms. I was surprised to then find out that no one rocks harder than the people at the Misawa Air Force Base in Japan.

At first I was taken aback. It seemed odd to me to fly half way around the world so that I could play worship music in Japan, and then go do it in the United States... in Japan. But OMF told us to be flexible, and hey, I don’t ever mind playing guitar. It was a beautiful drive through the country, we saw hills and mountains and forests and even some public washrooms (those are new to Japan). After a few hours in the car I was relieved to pull into the Airbase parking lot. We grabbed our passports and ID’s and went inside. We had lunch first, provided to us by the officer who invited us, and it was a bizarre switch to suddenly have Taco Bell and Pizza Hut available to us. After lunch we headed to the chapel to set up. We were greeted by some friendly US military who helped us set up and did our sound check. After a few “Check one two’s” we were ready to go, so we headed to the back room to pray. We prayed that we would play well and that God would minister to people through our music and through Martin’s message. He did. As we went through our set the whole team just let go of whatever thoughts or issues they were dealing with and entered into unhindered worship of the most high God, and in doing so we were able to lead others to do the same. As I looked out into the congregation I saw people of every age, race and background jumping and praising God. With hands raised they worshiped, with voices raised they worshiped, with knees bent they worshiped, with heads bowed they worshiped. With genuine sincerity they worshiped, and I was blessed.

Tyndale Music Team In Nakasato

Not three days after our arrival in Itayinagi, our Tyndale music team was split up to take on various tasks. Half of the team loaded up into vans and traveled with a youth group back to Tokyo for a Chris Tomlin concert; the other half of the team headed to Nakasato.

This division of the team, consisting of Amanda, Sarah, Rachel, Jaclyn, and myself, met up at the home of a missionary named Angela. After brief introductions, we split up into two’s and went tracting. We passed out information for the Itayinagi/Tsugaru Evangelical Church, Kanagi Chapel, and some of our upcoming concerts in Nakasato and Kanagi. After about an hour and a half of wandering around neighbourhoods and engaging the locals as best we could, Angela picked us all up and we re-convened at her place for some well needed lunch.

Now tracting, for us and our Western minds, comes with a lot of baggage. One would not easily get away with doing it in North America without getting a serious scolding from some unhappy person who’s conscience is offended at even the mention of religion. Here, we had to unload that baggage and accept the task before us. We managed to hit many mailboxes and even interacted with a few people. Getting beyond the language barrier was difficult, but not impossible. The day gave us a taste of the attitude of the people in Japan.

This day also brought realizations and a deeper perspective on the needs for the Gospel. We had with us copies of a Manga magazine called “The Messiah”. It was the gospel presented in a form that was appealing to a younger audience. At one point, a crowd of young boys was waving at us from a window, and I motioned for them to come say hello. When they all came down, I handed them each a copy of the Manga. They took it with excitement. I heard one boy exclaim to his friend “Kiristo-kyo” while indicating the cover of the book. I had mixed feelings. We had just given these kids a unique copy of the Gospel, but I felt that there was still danger for them. Would their parents, with all their traditional cultural and religious views, allow them to engage this literature on any meaningful level, if at all? As we walked away from those kids, I felt that we were leaving them in God’s hands, hoping that what we had given them was a well planted seed that would not be choked out by weeds or taken away by the ravens.

That afternoon we put on a children’s program with Angela and Armin, a missionary from Kanagi Chapel. We held the meeting in a local Nakasato community center. The kids engaged with games, songs, and snacks, and seemed to have a very good time. They even listened attentively to Bible talks and testimonies about the work of Jesus! Weeks later, a larger portion of our team found itself again in that community center, this time putting on a concert for the adult population of Nakasato. This time, we were received with stronger criticism and scrutiny. There was slight tension in the air because of our open profession of Christianity. We all noted the reality of spiritual warfare that night. For me, it was a reminder that everything we have done here in Japan is only the beginning of a work that God only knows the end of. For now, we must pray.

A Sunday at Tsugaru Church

Sunday Worship

Sunday is the busiest ministry day with English classes starting in the morning followed by worship practice, the worship service, and lunch with the church. The evenings were either filled with and English church service or a concert.

It is always amazing to be able to worship God in another language alongside brothers and sisters that I have never met before. In Itayangi the church of consists of a group of about twenty people, ranging from about age six to about over seventy. This, by Japan standards is a large church. Churches are small but they are tightly knit because when a person chooses to commit their life to Jesus, many times they are cut off from their family. Because becoming a Christian means paying a high price – and worshiping in church with people who have had to sacrifice so much to be there is a rare and real blessing. There is a strong feeling of “togetherness” among the people at the church and we were welcomed into that community for the three Sundays we were there. Leading them in worship was an even greater blessing because we were able to give them a special type of worship that they do not usually have. Because churches are so small there are not many people who are able to lead worship and singing in the way that we have in Canada. It is a blessing that the church in North America can give to the Japanese church. It is also an encouragement to the missionaries here as well to be lead in worship.

Summer Ministry at Kanagi Chapel

Our group set off for three days to spend time with Armin and Heike and their ministry in Kanagi, a town 30 minutes north of Itayangi. The second night we were in Kanagi we had a concert scheduled in an art gallery beside the church. The owner’s of the art gallery are an elderly couple, NAMES. The lady attends the church, and is said to be the backbone of the church, being an example of a real servant through her hospitality. She cooked us a lovely curry dinner before the concert and throughout the night went around quietly serving people. Her husband is quite a famous artist and attends the church on Easter and Christmas. It was his art that surrounded us as we sang songs to the Lord. The colours of his paintings are vivid reds and blues and speak of both the joys and pains of his family’s life. Singing glory to God in that space was a bittersweet experience because we were in the midst of an expression of the pain and joys of life experienced without God. The room was crowded with people, about forty or so, and as we sang I realized that some of them were hearing about Jesus for the first time, and although in a different language. A few of the church attendees brought along friends to here the music and see the skit about the love of God. A definite highlight was meeting the parents of Yudai, our friend from the Itayanagi church who was with us for the month that we were in Japan. Yudai came again to our concert and brought along a friend of his from school, who we got to hang out with later.

We also had the priviledge of seeing God water some seeds in a man name Abbe. He had come to the concert the night before because he had been given a poster about our concert. He had enjoyed it so much that he drove to Kanagi to hear us again. This is one of the exciting parts about being involved in a short term mission trip: that our team can have unique opportunities of ministry that can be followed up and built on by the missionaries here. We hope that this connection is one that will bear fruit.

It is amazing to me that we can have so many different styles in which to worship the Lord in the same concert. We had a dance, a drama, contemporary worship and choral songs all in the same two hours. And all of this worships the Lord!

Winter Retreat

As a church we try to get away for a 24 hour retreat 2 times a year. For the winter retreat we use a government facility for free and pay 1200 yen(about $12) for 3 meals that are provided.

We go sliding, play in the gym amd have 3 study/worship sessions. One of the church's all combined worship services of the year is held at the retreat place at the end. This year our theme was joy- it actually was enjoyable.

Parachuting into Church

Well not exactly into church. Friends donated a parachute to the church before the snow came. For those not familiar with it, a few years ago someone was creative with material resembling a parachute. A few handles were sown on around the outside. People stand around and lift the parachute as high as they can and then touch down to the floor. The material is light and the trapped air stays in for quite a while. The material is in different colors and as colors are called, places are changed. Or everyone can turn and sit inside.

I highly recommend it. All ages, a status of life enjoyed it. Even the cool high schoolers and the 70 yr old grandparents.

Tako Yaki

What is Tako? It is Japanese for octopus.

Often is group events the tako yaki hotplate is pulled out and people's eyes lite up. I haven't found anyone living in Japan who doesn't like it. Visitors sometimes turn up their nose.

A batter is made and spooned into halfmoon cups in a cast iron hotplate. After it starts to cook, little chunks of tako are put into the batter. After the bottom s cooked, the little balls are turned over.

Usually a sauce is put on, then eaten by the dozen.

The Art of Mochi

Mochi making is an art handed down thru the generations. We have taken it on as one more way to identify with people. It also provides a place to do it. Most families eat mochi but rarely do they have home made mochi anymore. Up til 10 years ago almost everyone made it.

Sticky rice is soaked from the night before and then steamed for a few hours. It is dumped into a hollowed out tree stump and then pounded until becoming a sticky mass. They with dexterity it is formed into little balls. Before eating, one decides what to put in the middle or coat the outside. Favorites are azuki bean paste, sesame seed jam, soybean paste. It can also be put into soup.

It is one treat that I can eat and eat and eat...

Bingo in Church!

Even tho the Japanese evangelical church tends toward serious behavior, a common game during special events is bingo. Cards are handed out with random numbers. Until recently I only saw the spinning ball with little numbers balls but now there is a digital version. After the Thanksgiving Party and Christmas party, all ages really got into the game with shouts of joy when they were able to say BINGO. Prizes were 100 yen specials.