Let's Go Japan - Youkoso (Welcome) » brian.zerangue

Japan Team, version 2009

brian.zerangue — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:02:56 +0000

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.

2008 Japan Team is on their way…

brian.zerangue — Sat, 31 May 2008 04:40:56 +0000

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

Japan Team, version 2007 is getting ready for take off

brian.zerangue — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:14:36 +0000

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.

Texas Night 3.0

brian.zerangue — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 13:14:43 +0000

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

He has made me glad!

brian.zerangue — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 14:55:09 +0000

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

Texas Night…. Muy Sugoi (Cool)

brian.zerangue — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 04:56:15 +0000

Yesterday we met and handed out fliers at Kanda University for our Texas night. We handed them out to students on their way to class. We prepared our Texas decorations and dinner of Taco Salad for our Texas night at Makuhari church. Our MC Jeff demonstrated the technique of building a Taco Salad. We had around 8 students come some new to the club including a man who came because of the flier we had handed out earlier. We had a fun night filled with Texas and Japanese trivia, line dancing taught by Anne, Lizzy and Libby. Lizzy gave her testimony which Mariko translated. Several of the students that came were students we had seen on Friday night at the welcome party. LiBBY

The Lost Daughter

brian.zerangue — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 14:13:49 +0000

On Sunday, June 11, Anne, Jeff, Libby, Matthew, Mariko, and Haley boarded a train and headed to the Oyumino Church, Honda Chapel, for some worship and fellowship. Being American, one is not used to a worship service in Japanese, but after hearing hymns sung in Japanese and English at the same time, one quickly realizes how global God truly is. What a great reminder! The team even sang a praise song for the approximately 100 people in attendance. After the service, the team lead the Sumodon youth group in a time of fellowship and praise. We each introduced ourselves to the high school, university, and young adult folks in attendance. Jeff gave his testimony, with Mariko translating. The team then performed a skit which we titled “The Lost Daughter”. Think of the Prodigal Son with some gender changes, and you have the idea. Key actors in this most magnificent parable were Jeff as narrator, Mariko as translator, Matthew as the loving Father, Libby as the Lost Daughter (try translating “Prodigal” in Japanese!), Aaron (fellow Texan teaching English in Japan) as the older son, and Haley as the servant. It went over well! How funny those Texas actors were to the Japanese! Interesting enough, Libby was later told that the Prodigal Son is a parable that is often used to convey God’s love to the Japanese people. What’s amazing about that fact is that we did not know that before deciding on acting out this parable. Amazing how God works, isn’t it? After the skit, the team broke into smaller groups, where we shared with each other – about our cultures, our personal lives, and our loving God. Smaller groups tend to allow for good dialogue with the Japanese. It was a great time of fellowship! – Jeff san

The promised photo from Narita Airport

brian.zerangue — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 23:29:36 +0000

We’re here!
Originally uploaded by pcpcmissions.

Here’s the photo that I promised. There are more to come. If you would like to look at some of our other pictures, click on the picture.

Konichiwa (sp?)… Hello, we are now in Japan

brian.zerangue — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 08:02:10 +0000

We are here! We arrived at 12:45pm, Tokyo Time, which would be 10:45pm (CST). We arrived on a wet Narita runway. The landing was quite interesting. At first, we had a nice smooth landing, but then we had slam on the breaks (or that’s what it felt like). Anyway, it was great flight… no harm done. I (Brian), actually took part in the eating of sushi on the plane. For those that know me, I’ve never been a fan of sushi… the rest of the team got a chance to giggle at my chopstick skills. Anne, Cindy, and Haley were the only ones to get some sleep on the flight. The rest of us… well, as you can tell by this post, NO SLEEP! Oh well. We are now at the hotel and preparing to head over to the IMPACT meeting at the university. Well gotta go. Saoynara! (sp?) Pictures to come…

One day left before…

brian.zerangue — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 07:08:53 +0000

Yes. We have one day left before we leave DFW Airport for Tokyo Narita. After many weekends of preparation and support raising… we are now about to embark on a journey that will be life-changing. Hopefully, life-changing for us and for the friends that we have in Japan. We can’t wait to share the hope that we have in Christ Jesus with our friends in Japan. Well… tomorrow we will post more. Also, we are a little behind in adding our “about us” page… that will be coming soon. Stay tuned.