Japan Update: Winter 2014-15

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Konnichiwa! We hope you are well and keeping warm! Sorry it has been a while since our last update.. but here it is finally!

Christmas & New Year

Firstly, we just wanted to mention we had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas and New Year here, though it's a little different than in England! Christmas in Japan doesn't really exist, besides the fact all of the shops have Christmas decorations and music - even Christian hymns! It's a bit strange, and sad, because they acknowledge the commercial side of Christmas, but don't know what it means. Not too different than England after all then! ... Anyway, Christmas Day is a usual work day in Japan so Naoko and I celebrated my birthday at home and had communion together which was nice.

New Year in Japan is the big family event of the year where most people get time off work and enjoy family time at home. This starts with a rigorous cleaning of the home (and car if there is one)! Then eating lots of delicious New Year's food while watching a multi-hour TV show featuring all the current popular music artists. And if you're religious (buddhist/shintoist), the actual turning of the new year will be celebrated by queuing up in a long line outside of a temple in order to ring a bell and pray for a good year. We got to celebrate in this way (minus the temple) with Naoko's family this year which was really great.




Above: Us on a family New Year's trip to the coast



Bilingual DTS

In terms of our work with YWAM, we are now on the core planning team of a new 5-month Japanese/English Discipleship Training School that will start in September. It is such a privilege to be a part of this team and we are excited to see what it will look like! Up until now, YWAM Tokyo have ran English-only DTSs, so this will be the first that is advertised to the Japanese people. It will be a great opportunity for us to disciple people, especially the Japanese students that come. Naoko is working on a lot of translating as everything needs to be bilingual (application, references, flyers, website etc..). If you or someone you know would be interested in doing a DTS in an international environment, you can find out more here: www.ywamtokyo.org/dts.


Other YWAM Tokyo Updates

Naoko and I have also been placed onto a newly created Communications Team where we have been tasked with helping the communications within the base become clearer and more effective, especially as the base grows. The team will also work a bit on external communication including a new website. We're a team of 4 people all with different abilities so it's great to share the work around so we can do a good job.

There have also been the usual YWAM events including Tuesday and Friday night worship. Tuesday night is inside a church building and is open to the public. We get many people, including a growing number of Japanese people, who come to meet with God and grow in their relationship with Him. Friday night is outside in a park and is mostly us YWAMers singing songs to God and looking strange to passersby. During December, we sang Christmas songs and our leader dressed in a Father Christmas costume which attracted many people! Each week we get random curious Japanese people come and listen and ask questions. We believe God is pleased that His name is being praised in a place like that, and we pray that the seeds of the Gospel will be planted in people's hearts.




Above: Location of Friday night worship, Ikebukuro West Park


English Cafe

I (Gary) have helped start an English conversation cafe at a local Baptist church that happens twice a month. It's been really fun to get to know people and know that I am helping them in some way - just by turning up and chatting! In Japan, people learn English in school but mostly come out reading and writing, but not speaking or listening. Conversation practise is highly sought after, but is usually expensive. I, through the church, can offer this for free so there is great potential to use it to bring people into the church. Right now, everyone who attends are Christian, but I know at least one non-Christian guy who is interested. Please pray that God uses this to build His Kingdom.


Japanese

These days I don't seem to have much time to focus on Japanese studies! I occasionally find time to go through my flashcards, but find it hard to sit down and take time to actually study. Please pray that I can better manage my time, as learning the language is a priority.


Local Church

It has been great to continue to go along to the local Evangelical Free church and to get to know the people there. We even got to meet up with the pastor and his wife and hear their vision which was a really encouraging time! As the church is in Japanese, it's great practise for me!

Thank you for taking the time to read this update and for praying for us and our work. As always, please pop us a message to say hi or ask any questions about what we’re up to! We are super grateful for your support and pray that God bless you richly this coming year.


Love and blessings,


Gary & Naoko

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Prayer Points

Give thanks for..

  • That we can be part of the DTS core team
  • The English cafe at the Baptist church
  • Financial provision

Please pray for..

  • DTS prep
  • That God will draw people to YWAM events and English cafe
  • Gary to learn Japanese!


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お久しぶりです！
とても寒い毎日が続きますが、皆さまお元気にお過ごしでしょうか？
年が明け、あっという間に２月中旬になってしまいましたが、皆さまにとって良い２０１５年のスタートとなったことを願います。

私たちはおかげさまですっかり生活が落ち着き、元気にしています＾＾
昨秋以来どんなことがあったのか、皆さまへの感謝をこめてご報告させていただきます！

クリスマス・新年

帰国して初めてのクリスマスは、神様が与えて下さった教会の家族と温かな交わりの中過ごすことができました。祝会や聖歌隊の催しなど、イエスさまの降誕を共に楽しくお祝いできる場が与えられているのは本当に嬉しい恵みです。お正月は実家に帰省し、家族で元気に新年を迎えることができました！どんな2015年になるのか、本当に楽しみです。神様の御業に期待あれ〜！

バイリンガルDTS

年が明けて間もなく、YWAM東京が開催する弟子訓練学校(DTS)の企画チームに加わることになりました。YWAMは世界中でDTS(Discipleship Training School)という半年間の短期宣教トレーニングを開催しています（私とギャリーが南アフリカとトルコで参加したのも同じプログラムです）。今年の９月から日本語と英語両方でDTSを開催するというYWAM東京初めての試みで、私とギャリーは企画チームに加わり、出願文書の翻訳や講師の招聘など、色々な準備に携わっています。どの程度の規模になるのか、参加する生徒やスタッフの国籍や言語能力はどうなのか・・・まだまだ分からないことが沢山でドキドキですが・・・（！）このDTS開催を望まれる神様を信頼しつつ、最善のプログラムを作り上げることができますように、どうぞお祈り下さい！

その他色々♪

その他にも、YWAM東京でのスタッフの増加に伴い、私たちはコミュニケーション・チームにも加わり、連絡手段や情報のやり取りの向上を担う役割も与えられました。また、ギャリーは月に2回ほど、同じ沿線にあり友人が牧師をつとめる教会で、English Cafe（いわゆる英会話タイム）の奉仕もさせていただいています。私たちの願いの一つとして、キリストのからだである教会が一つとなることの手助けをしたい、ということがあります。帰国して以来色々な形で宗派や宣教団体の垣根を越えて働く機会が開かれ、とても嬉しいです。小さな私たちですが、これからも主が望まれる通りの道具として用いていただけますように祈って仕えてまいります。



いつも私たちを祈りに覚え、また生活を応援して下さり、心からありがとうございます。皆さまの支えがあってこそ、営める生活です！私たちの生活の場が、時間が、財産が、神様の望まれる通りに愛の器として日々用いられていきますように。そうするようにとの主の声に従っていけますように。これからもお祈りいただけたら幸いです。


ここまで読んで下さってありがとうございます。
皆さまお一人おひとりの上に、今日も主の豊かな平安が注がれますように。寒いのでお風邪などひかれないよう、暖かくしてお過ごし下さいね！
皆さまにとって祝福あふれる素晴らしい2015年となりますように！私たちにも祈れることなどあれば、いつでもご連絡下さい。

ギャリーと心から皆さまの上に祝福をお祈りしています＾＾



感謝と賛美をこめて

菜穂子＆ギャリー



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♪感謝＆お祈りポイント：

＊バイリンガルDTSで奉仕する機会を与えられ感謝！
＊経済的に豊かに守られて感謝！
＊バイリンガルDTSの準備が 全て御心のままに行われますように。
＊私たちがYWAM東京での活動を通して学び成長できますように。
＊ギャリーの日本語が上達しますように。





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