1 December 2004

You're probably wondering why I'm sitting here grinning so much. Okay, it's because I'm updating today on my spankin'-good, shiny and clean, BRAND NEW internet connection. That's right, a connection all my own, from right here in my abode. 

Thanks to God for that. 

In other news, I will try my best to upload more photos and updates in the coming weeks. No promises, but I do in fact have quite a few things I've been holding back for the time when I finally got hooked up.

. . . 

In the meantime, here are the prayer requests:

1) Please pray for the mother of my friends Fonna and Iris in HK. She has had another stroke and I know it is very serious. 

2) Pray for the "Saturday Night Fellowship" we are attempting at Denen Church. So far, after four weeks, we have had a total of TWO people show up, both of them coming together TWICE. That's right -- two of the four weeks we basically had NO ONE there. I suppose we could get discouraged that "those two girls only came twice" -- but for ME, I'm all positive about it -- I mean, "WOW, they came TWO TIMES!!" Their names are Azusa and Miho, and I wish you prayin' folk would do the bidness on them with the praying and the lifting up and the things like that. Neither of them are believers, so we want to tread lightly. 

Of course, even when no one comes, we have fun, just talking and playing songs and having a good old Japanese Jesus People Hootenanny. In that regard, having no one show up doesn't affect our fun at all. I'm working with Pastor Hiro, brother Haga, and Wataru -- we're not exactly sure how to proceed, but we're searching for the right way. 

3) My friend Cindy in HK is almost finished with her treatments for intestinal cancer. She has had very few problems, thanks to God, but that doesn't mean it's all okay -- it still has not been easy, and I understand that she is still quite weak. I miss her (and everyone ELSE from HK, by the way). 

4) I'd like to ask you to think/pray about our Thursday night Ganchan Juku classes. We have two classes, one for "Jr. High" and one for the "Sr. High" kids -- their names are Yuki, Akira, and Hazuko for the Jr. High boys, and Cana, Hatoko, Sae, and Hannah for the Sr. High girls. There's also Kohei who is getting ready for university, but I don't really teach him English so I'm afraid I'm not as aware of his situation. I feel very anxious for these guys, and hope God will show me a way to connect with them in a meaningful way. The high school class is especially dear to me, and I'm just desperate to get their attention -- would you mind praying for that?  

13 December 2004

Events large and small have deterred me from posting in recent weeks, and I'm truly sorry about that. There have been adventures galore, some worth sharing, others worth forgetting (as soon as possible). It's probably not likely (given the blur of holiday scheduling which approaches), but I'd love to fill you in more completely in the coming weeks.

For now please make due with these:

1) Our good friend LC Roller passed away, and I'm sure sorry to hear about that. LC was one of the funniest guys I've ever known. He could turn the most heavy and serious moment of a meeting into a laugh with ONE comment -- and every person who knew him knows exactly what I mean. I'm really praying for Betty (his wife) and the rest of the family, too. 

2) Pastor Garcia and Michiko (from the Sagamino International Church) have a 9-year-old son named Nobumichi. Well, Tuesday Nobu broke his arm. No, no, I mean he BROKE it, dude. I guess he was playing in the park (I had just seen him at the church like 15 minutes earlier), but he was playing in the park and SOMETHING happened (he says he "forgot"), but whatever it was, it broke his arm just above the elbow and bent it 45 degrees BACKWARDS. Friend, are you listening? Bent it BACKWARDS, I said. 45 degrees. Backwards. Please take a moment to envision that -- I'll wait... Okay, so he was in the hospital from Tuesday night on, had surgery on Friday, and finally came home on Saturday. I know he feels a TON better now to be HOME instead of the hospital, but I'm still praying for them all. They have a rough couple of months ahead as he recovers and remains one-handed... (Dude, BACKWARDS!... yikes)... 

3) On Saturday they had the Sagamino Church "Christmas Festa" -- which that's not a typo, they call it "festa"... Anyway, they tell me that it is only at Christmas time that Japanese folks are more open to the idea of "Christian church", and so they take advantage of that openness to have a special program for kids every year. This time they had over 70 kids plus some parents -- a veritable cornucopia of games and crafts. They also watched a DVD called "First Christmas" which presented the Christmas story in the most boring clay animation I've ever seen (sorry, Mr. Producer-Of-Said-Production, should you ever happen to read this). But despite the slowest-paced kids film ever made, there was an abundance of fun and hyperactivity for all. They even played Bingo -- with the grand prize being tickets to Tokyo Disneyland! Pretty cool, huh? NOW, the point is to keep praying that some of those kids might be interested to come back sometime...

4) Finally, I'll mention that I awoke today with some funk up in my head -- sore throat, etc. It's Flu Pandemic season, don't you know -- so pray I can stay healthy. Too many things I need to take care of these next few weeks!

TONS more I want to share, but no time now -- e-mail me and let me know what's up with you... 

14 December 2004

I'm sorry but I have NO time to give any decent updates tonight. I will only fill you in on two events which I received word of this evening. 

First, our dear sister Haily from Hong Kong passed away last night. Haily had been diagnosed with cancer, and given only about 3 months to live -- but she miraculously survived WAY beyond that... If I may quote my friend Fonna's e-mail:

It's really been a source of encouragement for us all to see what God did in her life by extending it beyond what the doctors expected. There were many answers to prayer, and while I know everyone who shared in her ordeal hates to see her go, there is also the joy of knowing the struggle is over. She leaves behind her husband and their young son. 

Also got word today that our dear old sister, Mary Hamilton, also passed away. It surely brings back a lot of memories to think of Mary and Tony -- I think I can say, without any hesitation or fear of being misunderstood, that no matter WHAT you thought of them, the impression she leaves in my mind is of a woman who was completely sincere. She may not have always been easy to go along with -- I don't know about that -- but she thought she was doing what was right. Right? Tell me I'm wrong... 

Now I have GOT to go -- sorry... have a good night/day, whatever it is where you are... 

20 December 2004

Man, the days are FLYING by. It is entirely unreal to me that it is already Christmas. 

Did you know football season is almost over?!? I didn't. I was in a shopping center the other day, and they had an NFL game on the TV -- I was thinking that it must be some FILM, dig? And I was like, "Wow, that's weird that they'd be showing films of old football games from last year" -- dude, it NEVER occurred to me that it was probably a LIVE broadcast! I mean, football season just totally MISSED me this year. You sports guys probably can't believe it -- but yeah, imagine how I feel!

And now it's already Christmas. 

Anyway, I have had so many adventures and mishaps, that there is no way I can relate them all. However, I have decided -- just this second, while typing that previous sentence -- that I will try writing some haiku to express my deepest, innermost feelings. You know Japanese haiku -- that favorite poetic device which has vexed many a 5th grader all across our amber waves of grain. 

Here goes:

I do many things
Time passes so quickly here;
Anybody wanna peanut?

Okay, let me cut you off right there, because I know that doesn't strictly follow the haiku conventions -- the last line has too many syllables. But I was thinking of lines that RHYME (a la Princess Bride), and that one came to me. 

Now I'm on a roll
This is my second haiku;
Tonight, me have rhymes. 

I actually didn't realize I was such a deep, sensitive guy -- but these things are just POURING out of me all of a sudden! Here's another one:

That lady was large;
She made the train cushion hot
And she didn't exactly smell like cherry blossoms...

What I like about THAT one, is that though it defies typical hiaku-ometry (the last line has too many syllables), it is nevertheless from my real life!! Seriously -- that really happened to me today!! (Not making fun of anyone, now -- but still, if you'd been there, if you'd sat in that seat after she left)... 

Maybe I ought to consider making a whole section of my website devoted to haiku which describe my actual daily life... Stay tuned. 

. . .

MEANWHILE, I have been working hard on some new music this past week or so. If you are bored silly, you can check it out over HERE.  

I especially like the song Seinaru -- it's in Japanese so I have no idea what the words are, but it's a really beautiful song. 

. . .

Speaking of music, I got an e-mail from my friend Patrick Fung in Hong Kong today. Patrick is probably the best Christian drummer in HK, making his living full-time by playing and teaching. I was so happy to do some gigs with him and John Laudon this past year -- it was just fantastic -- I mean, we'd just be rehearsing and I'd get all excited over it! They are two outstanding men, who are great players but also with their hearts in the right place.

Anyway, Patrick and John just did a huge gig in the HK Convention Center today, and he sent me a photo of his "full on" drum kit. It sounds like this was some kind of special event for men, as he says:

HK pastor/musician John Laudon, barely visible in front of 
the monstrous edifice that is Patrick's kit...

I don't want to be presumptuous at all here, since I haven't talked to John (or Patrick) for WEEKS before today -- but the thing that gets me is that I probably could have done this gig today, had I remained in HK. I mean, who knows? I shouldn't even SAY that, because why would they want ME to play?!?! Geez, there are other bass players in HK! But I know I would have WANTED to have played bass for them -- IF I were THERE, and not HERE. 

LOOK, it's not about "me" -- but if you are listening to me, if you are really hearing what I'm saying -- it still really hurts my gut to know I missed it. It hurts me so bad that it's eating a hole in my stomach tonight. THAT is where I ought to have been this afternoon, working to build up the CHURCH.

But I wasn't, and I missed it, and here I sit. 

God help me...

. . .

Finally, some more quick prayer issues:

1) Tomorrow we have our Christmas party for the two kids' classes at Sagamino CP Church -- there are six kids: Fumika, Miku, Kaito, Miki, Koki, and Nanako. I wish you'd pray for us/them. 

2) This coming Sunday (the 26th), I am supposed to go speak at the Fuji-Mineyama CP Church, which is near Mt. Fuji (duh!). I will be speaking about Christmas, as it's a special holiday program for their teenage English students. The thing is, I don't want to just talk at them -- I really want to REACH them, you know? I mean, if they just hear some bozo (me) giving some lame speech, it's worthless. But I want them to hear things about Christmas they've never heard. THAT MEANS I NEED YOUR PRAYERS. Pray I'll have an obedient and listening heart this week, so I can understand what to say and how to say it. This is really important to me. 

24 December 2004

Oh, yeah -- it's Christmas Eve, baby!

I spoke with my family last night -- technology is amazing, dude. We talked for like 30 minutes, with video, for FREE. I don't imagine Mr. Gates will let that go on forever (why let people do stuff for free when you can charge them for it?), but for now it's pretty amazing... 

Heard they got a HUGE snow back home -- at least 9 inches at my parents' house, with up to 3 feet across the river in Indiana! That's serious "White Christmas" territory -- sorry I missed it, no joke. 

Anyway, we had fun chatting -- and I snapped a few shots along the way:

My little nephew Andrew  considers eating the camera... I haven't met him yet, so it's  fun to see him on video! Now it's big sister Madie's turn... She loves to talk into that mic! Uncle Glenn!! You so funny... Close-up, with pacifier...

Speaking of photos of my niece and nephew, below are a few they got from a studio a week or so ago. Now, as you view these photos and suffer from overload of cuteness, remember that these are the REJECTS -- seriously, these are the ones they DIDN'T use... So I can't wait to see the "real" ones...

. . .

Well, I reckon it's time to open the old mailbag and see what's up with folks around the world. 

First, we'll start with HK. I heard from my friend Flora -- she's the librarian at Yao Dao school where I worked for three years. She sent me a photo of her niece (which I will admit is what finally prompted me to post the photos above). Hopefully she'll write back and tell me some NEWS... 

I also heard from Ming, another teacher at Yao Dao -- sounds like things for her are moving quickly along, and the Christmas holiday (which started for them yesterday) is a welcome break from the hectic schedule of studies and exams. 

I also recently got messages (and photos) from Michelle and Fei Fei, two of the girls who teach at the Green Pastures Kindergarten in HK. They were the two girls I would always talk to each Wednesday when I went to teach there last year. Fei Fei is from the mainland, and is the school's Mandarin teacher -- Michelle is a "normal" teacher. But those guys are so much fun -- I really miss them, AND the students. 

Michelle wrote, "In this term, I teach to K1's kids. They are very cute. Sometimes they will kiss you suddenly."

Dude, that so completely sums up teaching those kids!! So much fun... 

Also got an e-card from my friend Katty at Yao Dao -- I taught many classes with her, and she means a lot to me. She was best friends with Erica, who was killed last year in the bus accident...

And a while back I got some wedding photos from my friend Cindy, who is recovering from cancer. Some of you know about that -- she also was a teacher with me at Yao Dao, and again, we taught MANY classes together. But she was diagnosed with cancer last summer, and has been through operations and chemo ever since. All seems to have gone well, and she and her fiance got officially registered in HK a while back. Of course, she had to wear a WIG since she has lost all her hair. I told her she needed some kind of an AFRO wig, but she wouldn't go for it: 

Wow, let's see -- what else? 

Also got greetings from Lei Wing Yan (at Yao Dao), and Him Sir at Shatin Church in HK... Got messages from Ka Wa and Tiffany (students from the youth group at Yao Dao)... Even got a message from the future author, Miss Betty Leung. 

And there are others -- so many have been in touch... 

OH, and then from HOME, I had this correspondence with little Audrey, oldest daughter of my friends Bobby and Denise. She wrote:

So I wrote her back:

Man, I miss those girls... 

. . .

Okay, well -- it's actually getting a bit late this morning, it's already 12:30pm, time for me to get out of here and get some LUNCH. 

In the meantime, let me send you ALL this heartfelt, emotional holiday greeting:

Merry Christmas!!!
(this was a link to a William Hung musical e-card -- sadly, it's no longer available)

25 December 2004

Christmas trees at Sagami-ono Station (Odakyu Line)

. . .

The honest-to-goodness truth is that I'm not very good at this stuff. This "missionary" stuff, I mean. 

I'm not good at preachin'... or speakin'... I'm not good at teaching English... I'm not that good at music, even -- though that's probably what I do best, I suppose.

I mean, I'm doing things all the time, just always on the go, running to this place to try and do something, running over here to help out with one thing or another... Just tonight, we had our "Christmas Worship/Party/Thing" with the two girls from Denen CP Church. Just two girls there, the most that's ever come! And just like always, I was lame and weak and felt like I could not be more BORING if I tried. HONESTLY, dude. Sometimes, I imagine them asking, "How much more boring could this guy be?!?" -- and the answer, of course, is: "None... None more...."

But I think about how much I want to really GET these kids, dig? Like, it's probably stupid to talk about it this way -- but as long as I'm HERE, and not somewhere else, I want to at least be USED, you know? Like I want to stop just yapping my stupid jaws and actually be USEFUL. But no matter how much I "prepare" -- both my heart and my mind -- it always feels like I'm letting everyone down. I do what I know to do, and then feel like I want to just go crawl down a hole and disappear. 

I'm TELLING you -- I'm just not that good at this stuff. 

Only God himself can make any of our efforts really worth anything. And so THAT's why I need you to pray for me about going down to the church near Mt. Fuji tomorrow to speak to the teenagers there: 

1) Pray for my last-minute preparations. There's always that last-minute jumble of ideas to sort out -- I need to be calm.  2) Pray for the kids that will be there. Many of them come to that church for English service every Sunday night -- but this is Christmas, and I've been told many times that people here are more "open" during Christmas. So pray they'll catch something NEW this time.  3) Pray for Pastor Yano, that he'll feel well, and have no distractions when doing the translating.

 God help me... 

27 December 2004

Thanks to all who prayed for the work at Fuji-Mineyama Church -- it went really, really well. 

Uh, except that I got sick as a dog. 

Yeah, it was pretty bad. It was that kind of sick that I simply can't really tell you what was going on, because you guys are nice people, and a wonderful audience, and I know some of you might be eating dinner or something. And the LAST thing you want to read about, when eating a plate of curry rice, is the kind of sickness I had going on the last 24 hours. 

I mean, I am SO tempted to give you some details, not for shock value, but just so you will understand that this was a major, call-in-the-reinforcements kind of stomach upset, the likes of which I'm not sure I've experienced before. 

And I had no Imodium, dude. Nada. Nothing. 

So it was all made worse by waiting about 30 hours before actually taking anything for the funk. And the only thing worse than a bad funk, is a bad funk that's festered unfettered. IF you know what I mean -- and I'm sure you do... 

So there I was, looking at a 90-minute BUS RIDE, feeling like I'm gonna "lose it" (leaving the "it" to your imagination)... I was nearly terrified, to put it frankly. 

But thanks to Pastor Yano's wife, and my friend Fumie (their daughter), who really took care of me, and helped me get on that bus. Then once I got to Kanagawa, Pastor Hiro even came and picked me up. 

BOTTOM LINE: It was a very nice time near Fuji, and I'll post a few photos later when I feel better. But getting sick was NO FUN, and only thanks to GOD, and my friends, I am finally back home and trying to take a lot of rest. 

. . .

I continue to get lots of Christmas greetings from around the globe -- and I love saying that because it makes me sound so popular. Of course people who KNOW me know that I'm just about the most boring person you can imagine. In fact, to prove my point, a dear friend from HK sent this message today:
  

"...after I read your website, I believe your spiritual condition is very satisfied ... I like your website very much (frankly speaking, you are more funny and interesting in writing than face to face talking). Keep going! Merry Christmas and hope you have a very best Japanese girlfriend in 2005!"

(emphasis mine)

29 December 2004

What has happened this past week in Asia is a tragedy of epic proportions. It is literally beyond my ability to fathom the scope of loss and destruction.

Don't let our holiday fun cause anyone to forget that others are suffering horribly...