Playground

I found this photo online and thought it captures the essence of Japanese relationships. This is a typical scene of school boys engrossed in their handheld games. The good news - at least they are outside in the fresh air and sunlight. Are they playing a networked game? Don't their necks hurt? Do their thumbs get tired? This isn't too different from how their adult counterparts behave in public spaces such as trains and restaurants. Technology, it seems, has tricked us into thinking we are more connected, when in fact we are more isolated than ever before. Our moods are dictated by the number of Likes and comments our posts get. Pray that technology might be used in a way that strengthens relationships. More importantly, pray we can model to the Japanese how to have relationships the way God intended.

竜巻 Tornado Strikes Japan

Tornadoes are very rare in Japan, so it was a shock to hear reports of one hitting the town of Tsukuba in Ibaraki prefecture about 100 miles East of where we live. Please pray for the cleanup efforts and that people are receptive to relief efforts by Christians. Here are some photos of the destruction. Click the photo to navigate the slideshow.

 [watch a video on YouTube]

卒業式Graduation Ceremony

Today Ellissa officially became a 10th grader and Julina a 7th grader in the Japanese school system. Middle school is 7th-9th grade and High school is 10th-12th grade. We celebrated their graduation ceremony with wonderful tacos for lunch because that's how we roll. They have two weeks Spring Break before the new term starts at Horizon International School.
[view photos on PicasaWeb]

1 Year Before and After

top:1 week after the tsunami, bottom:1 year later

A lot has happened in the last year since the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. Here is a small collection of before and after photos taken in Miyagi prefecture. Follow the link below to explore the photos in more detail including geo-location where you can use Google Street View to see the progress up close and personal. In many ways, you might never realize that such a major catastrophe hit, but there are always constant reminders if you look close enough.
[view larger photos and explore]

The Cure for Being Pretty

Photo booth ads promise Luminous Beauty 

The gaming industry in Japan is no slouch when it comes to marketing to the younger generation. Targeting girls between the ages of 8-28, modern photo booths offer more than basic image editing. They feature bright lights, music, and scads of photo accouterments to doll one's self up as they pose with friends. The results can be rather bizarre at times. An already-cute girl comes out looking like something you might find in an Area 51 movie, although in reality, you're just as likely to find those creatures roaming the streets in the Shibuya or Shinjuku shopping districts. These machines churn out postage-stamp-sized photo stickers for just a couple of bucks and it's not uncommon to see several girls piled into one booth making duck faces for the camera. Recently we saw Japanese girls dressed in Kimono to celebrate Hina Matsuri (Girl's Day) in line for their photo booth shoot.

Snowfall in Karuizawa

[view 360 degree pano on Pixeet]

Tohoku: Before and After

These comparison pictures show tsunami hit areas of Japan within days after the tsunami hit on March 11, 2011 and how they look nearly one year later in January 2012. The massive tsunami that pummeled Japan, claimed more than 19,000 lives.
[view gallery at DenverPost.com]

Footprints in the sand

Psalm 23:6
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

 Mark 1:17
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Fungus Among Us

Now that it's Fall, it's mushroom season. An entire display with many different varieties are on sale including this massive one for 4,947円 ($65.00)!

Iwaki Seaside Restaurant Cleanup

Garry stands in front of a mountain of restaurant equipment destroyed by the tsunami In Iwaki, Japan. A team of ten people worked over the course of several days removing debris and sorting damaged belongings from the restaurant and filling large dumpsters to be hauled away. The owners are not yet Christians, but we prayed with them at the end and they were very grateful for our effort. Ultimately, the building will be bull-dozed and the land reclaimed to be sold. The owners were actually grateful that the tsunami helped them decide to close the business and move on. Please pray that future opportunities like this allow Christians to demonstrate their faith through acts of service to the community.

Cleanup in Ishinomaki

Nicki Shields and Weiling had fun shoveling sludge in Ishinomaki with Chad Huddleston and a team of volunteers from Kobe. Praise God. This just happened to be right across the street from the place we searched for a Japanese woman at the request of her Japanese pastor on our first trip to Ishinomaki. While we were there, I talked with another neighbor about their situation. She was so encouraged about our presence. They continue to need food and water and Chad's team is doing a great job meeting the needs of the people. If your group wants to work in the area, please let us know.

Where The Wild Things Are

This is what we had the pleasure of trying to go to sleep with the sound of these creatures just outside the bedroom window. These are inoshishi (aka wild boar) and they take great pleasure in ripping up the yard in search of morsels. You can't see them all here, but there are 2 giant adults about the size of a German Shepherd and 10 baby piglets foraging around midnight. This photo was taken in complete darkness and they made a giant throaty squeal when the flash went off. And we had just finished watching the Where The Wild Things Are movie!

Church Street

The kids make their way down the steps at the Church Street shopping center. It is a fairly new addition to the quaint downtown shopping district in Karuizawa. It is on the old road from Tokyo that served as a stopping point for many travelers back in the day. This is considered the "old" part of town, while the more urban section is west of here. Karuizawa grew out of tourism over 100 years ago when foreigners began to frequent this area, missionaries in particular, wanting to escape the heat of the summer months down south. It is in that tradition that the Church Street gallery of shops grew up.

Our Backyard in Japan

It is amazing what you can see in such a short distance from our house in Japan. From new friends at Karuizawa Union Church to the creek behind our house and along the path to the top of the mountain, our neighborhood is about as close to nature as you can get.

Team Expansion Homecoming Retreat

Team Expansion hosted a 4-day homecoming event for all of their missionaries who are in the US. We were treated to a great time of food and fellowship, including hanging out with our team leaders from Japan - the Kornegays. This slideshow shows only a snapshot of the fun.

Tokyo Inspiration:Maximized

There are more than 34 million residents in the greater Tokyo metro area. I have always found timelapse and stop motion photography to be mesmerizing and this compilation by Samuel Cockedey is no exception. The music is old school cool in a timeless way as well. Recoil is what's missing from Depeche Mode these days and this song is from 1986. [source:static : pulse via vimeo.

Discovery STS 119 Launches

Space shuttle Discovery crew member Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, center, makes a few comments upon his arrival with pilot Tony Antonelli, back left, and commander Lee Archambault at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fl for the launch we attended. Visit my photography site to check out photos and videos of the event.
[photo credit: JOHN RAOUX, ASSOCIATED PRESS / March 8, 2009]

The Spirit of a Dying Religion

With his camera, Michael John Grist captures the overgrowth of a shrine that has fallen into disrepair. Buddhists have temples, Shinto believers practice their rites in Shrines. This is an intriguing look into the Ashiodozan ghost town in the Tochigi region of Japan.

360 Degrees of Hope

One of my passions is photography, so I'm always challenging myself to try new things. Here is a 360 degree panorama of the graduation ceremony of Hope International that took place in the chapel at Cross Roads. Many of the folks in the back of the room are fellow classmates.

2009 Londen Institute Gallery

A growing collection of photos and soon to be videos taken during the 2009 Londen Institute residency at CrossRoads Church in Corona, CA. These are available to all the students and staff who participated. Feel free to use them in any ministry context as you see fit.