June 4 - The Beauty of Japan

Pictures speak louder than words, so this post is mostly pictures. On Monday, the congregation organized a bus tour of the peninsula Kamakura is located on. We saw a variety of sights:

Mikasa Navy Ship, which fought in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05 and was the lead ship in the battle group.

We saw a new church building in Yokosuka that the Kamakura congregation has helped to begin.

Lunch was at a beautiful hotel buffet overlooking the ocean.

We visited the beach where Commodore Perry first arrived in Japan in 1853, opening up friendship and trade with Japan.

Then it was off to a sea park, with a dolphin show and an aquarium.

Since the kids loved Yakasobe so much the night before, Kyoko had them help make it a second night, with Julie taking the lead :).

June 3 - Mutually encouraged by each other's faith

"...mutually encouraged by each other's faith" (Romans 1:12)






"That prayer was so meaningful to me."

Those words were spoken to me again and again and again by members of Yukinoshita Church. They were referring to the Enacted Prayer that NWC's DME performed at the end of the day. I'll tell you more later. But first, a rundown of a beautiful day.

Sunday's are always the high point of these exchanges because they get the most people together to experience the power of each other's faith. The theme verse I chose in the card from Trinity to Yukinoshita is from Romans 1:12, where Paul longs to see the Roman Christians so that both he and they can be encouraged. And that is what happened on Sunday.

The day began with Children's Church (Sunday School) at 8:30 a.m. After opening songs and prayers and offering, I gave a "small preach." Translated by Ruby, I share a devotion on choosing words wisely to build each other up. I used an old children's talk that I saw Amy Achteroff use one summer with tooth paste. The kids loved it.

The NWC drama did a workshop on Saturday for the Yukinoshita youth group on how to perform the "Ancient Plays" idea that Jeff Barker has been working on. The Japanese youth performed it for the children. They were mesmerized!

Then it was off to adult worship at 10:30. Like Trinity, we celebrated communion. Pastor Higashino gave a beautiful message on the feeding of the 5,000 from the perspective of the disciples. So many thoughts ran through my mind as he was preaching that I decided it would be a great text for my first sermon back at Trinity.

Worship concluded with me giving some remarks. I also gave a gift from Trinity to Yukinoshita congregation. Karen Barker and I picked out an etching done by an Orange City artist which depicts a rural farm scene. They were most blessed.

Lunch was with the whole church. After worship on most Sunday's, the congregation gathers for a light meal, prepared by church members. They started this several years ago after their choir visited Trinity and were impressed with our potlucks. The Japanese believers have improved it! Rather than everyone bringing a dish to pass, a group prepares the meal. The people contribute 350 yen (about $3) each. The proceeds go to help seminary students. Since starting this a few years ago, they have raised over $42,000 US to help their students! Who would have thought a potluck in Iowa would plant such a seed. Praise God!

The exchange program continued in the afternoon with a 3-hour concert. First, the church choir sang 3 numbers.

Then, Jeff Barker gave a short presentation on how his last visit sparked an idea of how the Japanese Kabuki theatre might have something in common with Old Testament Story telling and how these ideas led to the development of ancient plays. The NW students then performed a play and the church youth group performed another. The congregation was so impressed when they saw their own youth acting out the play. The applause was long and sustained. The comments later generated much discussion.


Two members from Third Reformed in Holland, Michigan, then gave a one-hour organ and trumpet concert.

Other moments included church members doing a vocal solo, cello pieces, and blues guitar.

The afternoon ended with Enacted Prayer. I want to write more about this another time, but for now let me say why this moment was important.

In Japanese culture, people do not normally share "their story." That is, they are very private. In Enacted Prayer, Jeff asks for a congregant to share a personal request, and then the drama team makes a visual picture of the prayer. On this occasion, a man requested prayer for children, using the example of a family in the church who takes in foster children. The picture in drama was for stamina for the foster parents, love and joy for the children, and peace for the birth parents. It was incredible. Afterwards, several people expressed how moved they were by that experience. The power of a prayer story was incredible.

At the end, the congregation also gave a gift to Trinity. This gift is exquisite in every way. It is an origami arrangement of David being the good shepherd and saving the sheep from the bear and the lion. Because it is copyrighted, I was not allowed to take a picture, but it is about 3 feet by 2 feet and 9 inches high. Because it won't fit in a suitcase they are sending it to us. Each large figure is made from one piece of paper and it is simply beautiful. We will display it when it arrives.

As an extra bonus to the afternoon, we met the Brownell family, which Trinity supports with a full share of mission support - they have been in Yokohoma for one month. And we unexpectedly ran into in Angie Nearpass, NW grad and teacher in Japan with the RCA volunteer program. Angie is a pesonal friend to our family and it was a nice surprise.












The day concluded with a Japanese meal of yakasobe at our host home with 4 women who had traveled to Orange City.

June 2 - Cultural Diversity

Saturday was a simply a fun day to enjoy Japan.

It started early for me with a morning run from the heights of Shonan Village to the shore of the Pacific. There are a series of staircases (326 steps) and two tunnels and grades of 8 and 9%, but the sea shore is worth it! I've had the joy of running a several occasions, and there are a lot more hills than Iowa!


After letting the kids sleep in, our host Kyoko took us to Denny's! A Japanese version of an American tradition. We then enjoyed the rest of the morning on the beach in Zushi, where windsurfers filled the bay and the kids hunted for shells, crabs, and star fish.


In the afternoon, we spent time doing Japanese cultural activities at the church with the rest of the group. Activities included.....


Origami -









Japanese toys -








Kimonos -












Calligraphy -












Quilting -








The evening ended with the most exquisite meal I have ever eaten. Kyoko's best friend, Yoshiko, is helping to drive us around and she wanted us to enjoy a French restaurant overlooking the same beach and bay at Zushi. The meal included delightful portions of bread, sea urchin, salad, squid & asparagus, shrimp & scallion soup, grilled fish with fried zuchini, Japanese steak, sorbet to cleanse the palat, and cheesecake and coffee to cap off the evening.











We continue to experience God's grace in amazing ways and our faith is being "mutually encouraged" (Romans 1:12) with our brothers and sisters in Japan. As time allows, I hope to write more about some incredible things we are seeing happen.

June 1 – Cornucopia of sights, sounds, and experiences!

I’m writing at 4:00 a.m. in Japan because my body hasn’t quite adjusted to the time change yet (14 hours ahead of Iowa). In this post, I’ll just run down the days events.

Lauren, Andrew, Julie, and I walked around Kyoko’s Shonan neighborhood. Since Lauren enjoys architecture, we took several pictures of homes the kids thought were fascinating (pictures below).








We enjoyed a nice welcome lunch by our hosts, joining with the NWC Drama Ministries Ensemble and three people from Third Reformed in Holland, MI.

We then went on a walking tour of Kamakura, including visits to two historic Buddhist shrines. One featuring the largest outdoor Buddha in Japan, made of bronze and dating several hundred years. Another shrine featured a tribute to a goddess figure and a prayer cave filled with various grottos.













In the evening, a most picturesque meal was prepared by the ladies of Yokinoshita Church! Dishes included meatloaf and potatoes, fried fish, chicken wings, fresh fruit, rolls, and, of course, sushi! We enjoyed good fellowship with many of the people who have been to Trinity over the years. Hiroshi greets the Clark’s. Shegai and Miko greet the Van Wechel’s. Fumiko greets the Ayken’s. Josh greets the Ten Clay’s and thanks them for the bonfire evening. (And many others of whom I cannot remember names).

There were also two amazing musical performances after dinner. A congregation member played a bamboo flute instrument (Japanese folk music) to several tunes – Japanese folk and ending with Amazing Grace, which we all sang together.

The other was by Juyeon Kang, who teaches music at NWC and is traveling with the drama team. She performed an amazing arrangement of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." I hope to write more about this in another post.

Following this, we returned to Shonan and enjoyed a pleasant night of rest. June 2 will bring a relaxing morning on the ocean and cultural activities in the afternoon.

May 30-31 - The longest day!

25 hours and 37 minutes!

That's how long it took from the time Doug Carlson picked us up at our house until we unloaded our luggage at our host home! One long day! Not only so, but traveling east you lose a day, so it really felt like two days.

1 hour flying time to Minneapolis. 1:45 hours to Detroit. 13 hours to Tokyo. 2:30 hours by train ti Zushi.

Some comments from the journey:

"Very long" - Andrew

"I was so tired I slept on the train" - Nicole

"I liked seeing Alaska from the air" - Nicole

"Long and exhausting and the movies were boring" - Lauren

"I liked looking out the window of the train - I liked seeing the rice fields." - Julie

"On the train, when a cell phone rang, the person receiving the call would get up and move to a special space at the end of the car to talk, so as not to disturb other riders - you'd never see that in the USA." - Ann

We were glad to arrive with safety and joy!

At the airport we were greeted by Tim and Leo, two men from the church who escorted us to Kyoko Miayazaki's house, where we are staying. It's quite a lot to host a family of six, buy Kyoko is a most gracious host.

We sat down in the evening to enjoy clam chowder and seafood pizza. Andrew, Julie, and Nicole are sleeping in a traditional Japanese room, while the rest are staying in more "western" beds. We all slept very well! This morning we enjoyed both traditional Japanese breakfast and cereal.

Today, June 1, we'll have a walking tour of Kamakura and a welcome dinner at the church. We'll be meeting up with the NWC Drama Ministries Ensemble and three other guests from Holland, MI.

May 22-30 – Renewal and Recreation

This was a truly “down” week in my sabbatical – not a lot of activity. It was a time to concentrate on the first aim of the sabbatical – to be renewed in my calling as a child of God and a servant of Christ’s church.

I spent time in personal retreat as well as another session with Rev. Harlan Van Oort, chaplain at NWC, who has agreed to help me with spiritual direction during this season of rest and renewal.

The week also saw the enjoyment of other activities, too:

Paintball with the 7th & 8th grade boys (and a few others)! It was fun to just hang out with kids from church. The pictures tell it all! I’ve got $5 for the student who nailed Jeff Guthmiller. Click on the pictures for a bigger image.

I also was able to enjoy two rounds of golf. Achievements of note: on Friday, May 25, I defeated Bill Muilenburg by a stroke (thanks to a lucky chip downhill on number 9 –hitting the pin to save par). Of course, he suggested I had to give him a couple strokes because of his recent surgery. On Monday, May 28, a long birdie putt on 3 made up for a host of errors elsewhere and a 45 bested playing partners Dr. Jeff Joiner, Rev. Jon Nelson, and Denny Brand (Shelly’s dad).

Church this week brought us to First Reformed in Hospers, where we had a chance to listen to one of my clergy support group friends – Rev. Milt Sikkema.

Tomorrow we’re off to Japan!

Thanks for your prayers on this journey. We look forward to updating you as we are able. Although Japan is a high-tech country, the places we are staying may not have as much access to the internet. Updates on the way may be a little sparse