...You can set your watches by the puctual Japanese train system. I just got off the train at the Tokyo international airport - call Narita. I am moving on to the next leg of my trip. It is 10 a.m on Thursday morning here in Japan.
...Narita Airport is a one hour train ride from central Tokyo. We moved through urban sprawl to rural rice fields.
...The meetings that Phil Foxwell, Asian Access board member, and I had with our ministry partners here in Japan were outstanding. Thank you so much for those who prayed.
...The only mishap on this trip is my handheld computer died. I mean it "froze" on the train this morning and has never come back to life.
...Running to catch my flight...thanks for tracking where in the world is Bruce.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Japanese hot bath
...One of the great delights I enjoy when I come to Japan is visiting the Japanese hotbath. It is not co-ed.
...Here I am with three Asian Access missionaries serving pastors in Japan - Mike Wilson, Greg Davis and Peter Thomson - after we enjoyed the bath.
...For obvious reasons no cameras are allowed in the bath. But picture a huge bath house, with 8-10 different size and temperature hotbaths...30 naked Japanese men and 4 white Americans lounging in the bath...having only a small towel to cover what's important.
...It is relaxing, cleansing, invigorating (particularly when you plunge into a cold water bath after being in the hot water.
...Really, it is great. Then again, if you talk with my wife Mary, who visited the hotbath during our trip to Japan in October, she would have a different perspective on how enjoyable it is to sit around naked in a hotbath with strangers and friends!
...What do you think? Would you do the hotbath here in Japan?
...Here I am with three Asian Access missionaries serving pastors in Japan - Mike Wilson, Greg Davis and Peter Thomson - after we enjoyed the bath.
...For obvious reasons no cameras are allowed in the bath. But picture a huge bath house, with 8-10 different size and temperature hotbaths...30 naked Japanese men and 4 white Americans lounging in the bath...having only a small towel to cover what's important.
...It is relaxing, cleansing, invigorating (particularly when you plunge into a cold water bath after being in the hot water.
...Really, it is great. Then again, if you talk with my wife Mary, who visited the hotbath during our trip to Japan in October, she would have a different perspective on how enjoyable it is to sit around naked in a hotbath with strangers and friends!
...What do you think? Would you do the hotbath here in Japan?
Would you eat it?
...As I went through the dinner line last night I had these baby octopus staring back at me. What do you think - would you have put one of these on your plate?
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Expanding vision, extending a challenge
...I had the opportunity to speak to those gathered for the annual JCGI gathering of pastors (JCGI is Asian Access in Japan).
...Takeshi translated for me. I told him before we went up that if he didn't like anything I said, he had my permission to translate it into anything that he thought would be better. Of course, I will never know what he told the pastors, but they seemed to enjoy my comments - or maybe it was the comments that Takeshi shared.
...I told them three stories from Nepel, Sri Lanka and Myanmar of how churches were planting churches and sending missionaries to other parts of Asia. I challenged them to do the same.
...Takeshi translated for me. I told him before we went up that if he didn't like anything I said, he had my permission to translate it into anything that he thought would be better. Of course, I will never know what he told the pastors, but they seemed to enjoy my comments - or maybe it was the comments that Takeshi shared.
...I told them three stories from Nepel, Sri Lanka and Myanmar of how churches were planting churches and sending missionaries to other parts of Asia. I challenged them to do the same.
Graduation
...Asian Access Japan (known here as JCGI Network) graduated a new class of pastors from the two year training in leadership development and church planting.
...It was a privilege to be present for this graduation and hear the vision of the pastors to see their churches grow, develop lay leaders and plant churches.
...Here I am pictured with the board of JCGI in the front row and the graduating pastors standing behind us.
...It was a privilege to be present for this graduation and hear the vision of the pastors to see their churches grow, develop lay leaders and plant churches.
...Here I am pictured with the board of JCGI in the front row and the graduating pastors standing behind us.
My name in Japanese
...One of the challenges for a westerner being in Japan is that the characters of words are in a whole different script. Here is what my name looks like in Japanese characters.
...I like Johnson in Japanese because it starts with a smiley face. Japanese actually has three different "alphabets". My name is in Katakana which is the alphabet used for foreign words.
I had to negotiate Tokyo Central Train Station all by myself - all five levels of it and each level seems of have countless directions from which to choose. I just followed the picture signs and made it to Track 14 in time to catch my bullet train.
...At times I could have used our son, Olin's navigation skills!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Back in Tokyo
...I arrived safe and sound in Tokyo after my 13 hour flight from Washington DC.
...As Mary drove me to the airport Saturday morning, she said how she wished she could be going with me to visit Japan again. Both of us really have enjoyed Japan. It is great being back here and encouraging the work of Asian Access among the pastors of this great country.
...Japan has so much - economic power, creativity, peace - but so few people have found the wealth of knowing Christ personally. That's why Asian Access is here - bringing access to the Gospel as we help pastors become more Christ-like leaders, develop other disciple-making leaders and plant churches that plant churches.
...I was awake at 3 a.m. and up at 4 a.m. Now after breakfast I will catch the train south of Tokyo to the annual conference of Asian Access/Japan.
...Thanks for traveling with me as a blog my way along.
...As Mary drove me to the airport Saturday morning, she said how she wished she could be going with me to visit Japan again. Both of us really have enjoyed Japan. It is great being back here and encouraging the work of Asian Access among the pastors of this great country.
...Japan has so much - economic power, creativity, peace - but so few people have found the wealth of knowing Christ personally. That's why Asian Access is here - bringing access to the Gospel as we help pastors become more Christ-like leaders, develop other disciple-making leaders and plant churches that plant churches.
...I was awake at 3 a.m. and up at 4 a.m. Now after breakfast I will catch the train south of Tokyo to the annual conference of Asian Access/Japan.
...Thanks for traveling with me as a blog my way along.
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