Thanks Be to God!

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. - Psalm 95:2

I have been telling my students all week about the history of Thanksgiving since most people in Japan do not know what the meaning of Thanksgiving is. Tonight I was reflecting on it some more and I feel a bit like those Pilgrims in my thankfulness. I have traveled overseas (much more conveniently and quickly in an airplane rather than a Mayflower ship) to a strange land, I have faced many difficulties and interesting adjustments, and yet I have survived to see many blessings with the help of making some new friends and the provision of God. Now lets just hope I don't turn my back on the Japanese and treat them unjustly like the Europeans did to the Indians hah.

Here are a few pictures of the Thanksgiving Dinner we held at LLI (Lutheran Language Institute) on Friday, November 21st. We started off the evening singing Praise God From Whom all Blessings Flow. Then everyone introduced themselves and we watched a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. After the movie I asked some discussion questions about what they learned and how it pointed out that Thanksgiving is not just about football or turkey or fancy place cards.

After that we went downstairs to eat dinner. While we waited for the big turkey to arrive, we wrote what we were thankful for on fruits that were taped to a big paper cornucopia. I explained the roots of the cornucopia as a symbol from Greece signifying abundance. Thus at thanksgiving we thank God for the abundant blessings he has given us of His love, our friends and family, and much more.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. - 2 Peter 1:2

At last the turkey arrived and we all enjoyed it along with mashed potatoes, gravy, fruit salad, cranberry sauce, bread, stuffing, other dishes and pumpkin pie. For many people it was their first time to see such a huge turkey. In Japan the ovens are too small to cook such a big bird and so we were fortunate to be able to cook it in an American size oven at the International Pastor's Parsonage.

After the meal I talked about the history of the first Thanksgiving in 1621, and how it has evolved since then. Next we played a game to test their listening skills. I also gave them many foods and they had to guess which ones were actually eaten at the first Thanksgiving. Last, we had all the kids Junken (rock paper scissors) to see who got to break the wishbone. It was a really wonderful time even though as many people know it takes a lot of preparation. We did have lots of help though from other volunteers and friends, just like snoopy and woodstock helped Charlie Brown get his popcorn and toast meal ready for this friends.


Happy Thanksgiving! May you continue to see and praise God for the many blessings he grants to us each day.

Work it Holy Spirit!

In this picture you see Kumiko and I on a boat ride during Discover Tokyo Day. Today the manga borrowing student (Kumiko) told me she went to the Christian Bookstore in Ochanomizu before our Bible Study! She wants to get an easy to understand Japanese Bible! Many of the translations of the Bible into Japanese are very difficult to understand even for Christians because it is such old Japanese and they can't even read the kanji. I'm so thrilled that her curiosity about Jesus and the Holy Spirit have led her to this interest. Pray that she would grow more and more in knowledge of God and his love for her as she begins this new learning.

Here are some other pictures my group from Discover Tokyo Day. It was a wonderful mixture of English students and church members!

Perspective

Fuji-san take two!

A few weeks ago was our yearly VYM fall retreat. During the week we have business meetings to discuss the joys and struggles of our ministry, to learn how to be better missionaries and teachers through various speakers, and just to have time to worship and study God's Word together. After all that we get to escape for the weekend on a retreat! This year we went to Yamanashi prefecture near one of the five lakes near Mt.Fuji. We stayed near Lake Yamanaka which is the largest of the five, but pales in comparison to the many great lakes of MN heh.

On Saturday in the afternoon I went for a bicycle ride along the lake with some fellow friends and looked up at the beauty of Mt. Fuji standing so distinctly by itself framed by the changing leaves of fall. I couldn't help but remember my summer encounter of Mt. Fuji and think, "Wow, Fuji looks so much better from down here where I can see the whole mountain in it's splendor standing in the warm sun instead of looking down at it's volcanic rock while freezing in a rain cloud."

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us - Romans 8:18
Just now I was thinking too how in my life right now the picture doesn't look so pretty. I'm on the trail and looking down at so many little rocks wondering if on this missionary journey I will make it to the top and down safely and be proud of the accomplishment at the end. This week was tough for me, because I got lost focusing on all the little rocks, all the many things I see ahead of me; all the details for planning a Thanksgiving Dinner, lesson planing for classes, trying to control rowdy classes of 8 year old boys, and all the many other events of this month all while looking ahead to Christmas planning. But hold on, I forgot to step back and look at the big picture. I forgot that I am not climbing alone, but have the best walking stick support ever with me the whole way, GOD!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28
I know too, that when I step back and look at my time here in Japan, I see so many beautiful blessings and ways in which God has worked and been faithful as always. One thing this week that was amazing to me when I look at the big picture was one of my students who has been borrowing various parts of the Bible in Manga. The first one was the Manga Messiah about Jesus' life, then Manga Acts, and then Manga of the first part of the Old Testament. I know that she has so many questions about the Bible every time we study together on Tuesday afternoons, so all through the week she is reading it I pray for her and for the Holy Spirit to work through it to send understanding and faith. Every week she has brought the book back and I ask, "What did you think?!" and she says, "Mmm, very difficult." But, this week she said, " I understood a little." YAY GOD! Hehe, she still has plenty of questions but little by little I know the spirit is working in her life and I pray one day her curiosity about who God is will continue to draw her closer and closer to him.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Romans 8: 31,38-39