Church on Sunday in Kunitachi

This is probably too much information for the Cumberlist but some individuals may be interested. It is more personal than public.

We rode the train this morning, then rode in private cars the last part of the trip to the Kunitachi Nozomi Church. In America, cars keep right and the steering wheel is on the left. In Japan, cars keep left and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.

The driveways are very small, barely big enough for one car. The yards are very tiny, mainly strips of grass, if any, but they have lots of plants. Cars beep when backing up.

The minister of the church wore a clerical collar. The children's Sunday school met in the manse. About 50 people are in the church. The mayor of the city was present and worshiped with us today. This church was the first one in Japan to elect any female elders.

The songs, scripture,prayers and almost everything was in Japanese. Bob Watkins gave the sermon. It was in English and translated into Japanese. Four of the people worshiping with us spoke only Spanish.

The scripture for the sermon was Isaiah 52:7-12. Bob used the example of beautiful feet. They bring good news, promote peace, bring good tidings and proclaim salvation. Bob told us that only .1% of Japan is Christian. Sounds like a mission field to me. It also means the pastors need lots of encouragement. Not only are there very few CP churches but very few Christians at all. Bob also told us that the CP denomination now has 29 missionaries in 17 countries.

A few months ago, our church had 30 Chinese students visiting us. Many in the church thought it was unusual that they were taking pictures during the service but did not want to discourage them. Guess what the Americans in our groups are doing during the Japanese worship services! Taking pictures. It is different so people want to remember. I had not problem with it before,but now I understand their way of thinking much more clearly.

After the service, they had a big buffet for all of us.It was delicious! They sad the mayor made all of the hamburgers and even the buns they were on this morning by himself. We had salads, meats,hard boiled eggs, rice balls, rice dishes, potato pie, buns with a wonderful butter, and lots more. The table was full. We had the option of using a fork or chopsticks. We're getting pretty good with chopsticks so that is what John and I used.

After the meal,we sang. Randy and Vicki led two songs. The church choir sang another. One of the ladies taught us a song in German. None of us spoke German so we were all on equal ground. After that we divided up and sang the Halleluia chorus. It was beautiful.

The church gave each one of us a gift of origami and General Assembly mugs with Mt Fuji on them. One of the long time members of the church had made all of the origami for us. There was a church, a crane, a 3 D flower, a bookmark with a geisha and an underwater scene with fish, all very pretty.

One of the church members went with us on the trains to the church and helped us find our way, then he came back with us so we got home safe. He was very nice. There was a lady with us, also helping. I have struggled with my train pass all along. The young man helped me straighten it out. At first, when he came up to me, I did not know he was with us.

He took my passmo to the booth and found out what was wrong. Apparently I had not used it correctly when I got off the train the first time so the computer thought I was still riding. That would be a very long train ride. It was probably when I pulled out my room key instead of the train pass accidentally. The gate let me through so I did not know it was a problem. Lots of things happen when you suffer from jet lag and being tired. It is fixed now. He took care of it for me. The church got us all train passes to get home. They whole church was very nice!

I am learning how to honor groups of people from other countries who visit our church. I am also learning how to best relate to people who come to our country since we are the strangers here. What's helpful and what is not is valuable information for future use.