Let's Go Japan – Youkoso (Welcome)

It’s that time of year again. The PCPC Team is preparing to make their way back to the land of the rising sun. Follow along with them as the engage with our friends in Japan.

The PCPC Japan Team (version 2008) is on their way to Japan!!! Follow along with them here.

In a month from now, a handful from PCPC will be flying out to see our friends in Japan. It you want to follow along with their trip, please visit the 2007 team’s blog.

Our last two days were filled with several activities. We split the team so that some of us could be with students in Yokohama while others stayed behind to work with students in Chiba. The Yokohama team held one last Texas night, which required a trip to the Tokyo Costco – where they had samples! Later that night we taught our last line dancing lessons and cooked taco salad (with some delicious guacomole, I might add!). The other team did some Tokyo siteseeing with Chiba students, and they got to see an answer to a prayer request – Masato showed up to do some siteseeing! The next day, the Yokohama team went to church in Yokohama. Actually, it’s Mariko’s home church when she’s in Tokyo. Then we did some last minute shopping and siteseeing before meeting up with the other team. The night’s activities included refreshments back at Midoridai Church, a party at the sento (that’s the public bath), and then a World Cup party. The sento was an experience, though there wasn’t any pressure to experience it fully. There was plenty of other stuff to do, including cheap and cool massage chairs, food, and more food. The world cup party that followed included a brief thanks and sendoff by the Impact team, and they presented each of us with a photo from Texas night at Midoridai. We love them. We spent our last night at the Oyumino Center, slumber party style. Our last day included a wrap-up meeting, prayer with the Impact staff, and some last minute shopping. Then it was off to the airport and our final goodbyes. I hate goodbyes. Especially when you’ve grown to love folks so much like our Impact friends! We were all sad to leave Japan, though we were ready to get back to the U.S. Still, our hearts were moved by what we saw in Tokyo. Less than one percent of the 120 million people of Japan are Christian, and you can see it in the joyless faces of thousands of people. Millions work and work and work, but for what? There is much to be done in Japan, and our small team was fortunate to be a small part of God’s work there. He was faithful every step of the way. From putting together the perfect team, to providing financial support, to providing prayer support, God was put together an experience that only He could. We loved getting to know and share Christ with the students, and the churches and Impact staff were such an encouragement. To God be the glory for all that He did while we were in Tokyo! So, a final thanks to all of you for keeping up with us on this blog. It’s meant more to us than you’ll ever know. Please keep Japan in your prayers, especially the Impact ministry staff and students! Sayonara, Bobo ボボ

Eleven wonderful days in Japan finally came to an end today (or yesterday if we’re still on Japan time). We hated to leave! More to come about our final days and the whole trip, but sleep must occur first in order for me to make any sense! Snoringly yours, Bobo

Every member of the team has contributed greatly to our success, but there are two members of the team that we’d like to single out for a big thanks. The first is Mariko Jinbo. She’s a Japanese national who lives and teaches in Dallas. She became a Christian a few years ago and goes to PCPC. We would be lost without her on this trip! She’s been patient with us as we’ve asked how to pronounce things, she’s shown us how to get from one train to the other, and she’s helped to explain what it is we’re eating. Truly, it was God’s providence that she be on our team, as I don’t know how we would have been as successful without her! Another big thanks goes to Brian Zerangue. He’s been the guy that’s lugged around his laptop and took hundreds of great photos so that we could keep all of you updated on our daily schedule. We appreciate his World Wide Web skills, his laugh, and, most importantly, his heart for the Lord. Again, things wouldn’t have been the same without him. We’re in the home stretch. Just one more full day and then we head to the airport late tomorrow evening. We’ll be back in Dallas before we know it. Tell the TexMex restaurants to be ready! Bobo

Today, we broke into two teams. One team went site seeing in Tokyo with some students and then later that evening were to meet up with their Japanese host families. The other team went to Yokohama where they were going to host the third and final installment of “Texas Night”. Unlike previous Texas Nights, we didn’t have an appearance by our own “Big Tex” (Jeff). In the process, we stuck with the staples… Texas cuisine (taco salad), line dancing, games, and sharing testimonies. This evening Mariko shared her testimony in Japanese. She did a wonderful job sharing how God changed her life and gave her hope through Christ Jesus. She shared her testimony with us beforehand in English so we knew what she would say. Then at the end of the evening, Nobu (IMPACT Leader) did a little devotional with the college folk and shared Galatians 4:1-7 with them in Japanese. It was a nice evening. Tomorrow, our team in Yokohama will go to church at Grace Christian Church of Yokohama and other team will be at Makuhari Church in Makuhari. That’s about all we have. Hopefully will post soon before we leave to return to Dallas (which is Monday). -BZ

We spent yesterday handing out flyers to hundreds of students at Chiba University. They were reluctant to take them, and even more reluctant to engage in conversation, but we kept praying that God would bring people who would be open to conversation and bring people to last night’s Texas party. Sure enough, we had one student that was interested in conversing with us and she had lunch with Cindy and Molly. They were able to share the Gospel with her and gave her a Bible. One of the sweetest parts of the conversation was when they were telling her about God’s grace. She said she knew the song Amazing Grace, but she didn’t know what it was about. Well, thanks to Molly and Cindy, now she knows. Please pray that Naoko will learn more about God’s amazing grace and become a Christian! Another story…So you’re standing in the middle of a crowded campus handing out flyers to folks who think you’re some crazy American and it doesn’t feel like anyone’s going to come to the party you’re throwing. Well, we get to the party last night and there’s a good group of about 10-15 girls. I’m a little disappointed, because we don’t have any guys that show up. Then, at the very end of the evening, there appears a guy that I handed a flyer to. I remember him because of his t-shirt which had some English on it. Ends up that he’s cool hanging out with us after the party, so a group of us go to Starbucks (it’s even more expensive than it is in the U.S.). He opens up and says he’s lonely, struggling in school, and looking for friends. We take the opportunity to introduce him to the Impact staff and tell them about the many events they have and how they want to be his friend. I had a Japanese/English Bible that I gave him. He wasn’t sure about it because “I’m Buddhist.” I told him I didn’t care and he ought to just read it so he could learn about Americans and Christianity. Then Jeff was able to share a little more about the Gospel with him. Please pray that we’ll see Masato at the Sunday night party, that he’ll become involved in Impact (the college ministry we’re here to work with), and that he’ll become a Christian! Just a few more days to go and then we’ll be home. Please pray that our remaining days will be purposeful and fruitful! Bobo

We’ve all remarked how great it’s been to have folks keeping up with us on the web site. To all of you who have prayed, commented on the web, provided financial support, sent emails, etc., we say THANK YOU! We have felt your love on this trip. More importantly, we’ve seen your prayers and support in action for the glory of God! Domo Arrigato Gozaimashta Bobo

Last night Mariko, Molly, Cindy and Libby attended a gospel Choir rehearsal at Midoridai church. This was a group of both Christian and non Christians singing gospel songs in English including “I will rejoice for He has made me glad.”  We joined in the choir practice and were asked to demonstrate the correct pronunciation in English.  It was fun to get to sing and praise in a choir. Libby started a conversation with the student standing next to her that led to the realization that this student liked to come sing English songs, but did not realize that we were singing praise to God. She reported that she came to sing on Wednesday night but did not understand much about the Bible. She agreed to discuss the Bible after practice which led to Libby presenting the gospel to her. Through a translator she said that she had never made the connection between Jesus and God and was hearing things in a new way. She and Libby went back through the words of the songs she had been singing and talked about how the words were praise to God. She stated she could sing in a new way next week.  The translator explained that the Japanese people have heard the name Jesus and associate Him with Christianity but many haven’t heard the gospel. The translater also explained that many people throughout Japan are interested and drawn to singing gospel style songs, but don’t associate the singing with the gospel. She said that this has become an outreach opportunity for churches to bring people into church. –LiBBY