This is the first of many 'breakdown' blogs. When people go on mission trips, one of the things that frustrates me is that the people who sowed into the trip, whether through prayer or finances (or both!), don't really get to hear much about what happened or see pictures. So this is my attempt to change that and let you, the readers and invaluable donors/prayer warriors, be as much a part of this trip as me. So keep checking the blog for more pictures, videos, God stories, things I learned, and funny moments from the trip. =) I'll be going in chronological order of the trip to keep it a little less confusing due to us visiting over 18 cities this summer!
June 11th-14th:
We landed in Tokyo (12th evening) and were able to see the Kawase's family the first two days. We stayed with the Hatanaka family. They blessed us beyond belief! There beautiful home is in Zushi right beside the beach. It was such a blessing to have early morning quiet times (and early morning jet lag spare time) to be able to meet with God on walks on the beach.
We then took a train/walked and visited the Nakadaira family (June 13th). Grandma Kawase's sister is married to Mr.Nakadaira, a retired Supreme Court Judge of Japan. Over lunch in his home, he exhorted us to pursue issues of justice and to make righteousness a priority in our communities. We were also able to see some of Dr. Kawase's cousins and their families. In their backyard he has an elaborate garden from which many of the flower pictures are from. Grandma Kawase wanted us to dance for her sister and Mr. Nakadaira, so in a teeny, tiny, little Japanese living room we showed them examples of swing dancing, ballet, modern, hip hop, and much more. It was slightly amusing due to the room being snug. The door frames are short enough I have to duck to go through, so you can imagine the cute, teeny-ness of the room! Then Grandma Kawase wanted us to worship together, so Jenna played piano and we all worshiped using old Japanese hymn books. It was a really sweet moment with the Nakadaira family. Before we left Mr. Nakadaira blessed each of us individually and gave us a little gift.
Mrs. Nakadaira, their two sons, & Mr. Nakadaira
After that we traveled to Hongo (June 13th evening) where the Tokyo House of Prayer is. Most of this church is also Brazilian like the church we visit in Hiroshima. We met with Fernando, the pastor of the church there, for dinner and then later that evening hosted a dance workshop. There was a family attending the workshop that the Kawases had met in Kansas City when the family had visited IHOP-KC. Both Mrs. Kawase and Mrs. Ueno had a fun time being able to talk about homeschooling. The workshop went really well. The people attending had a hungry heart for God and so it was easy to be able to guide them to use their whole bodies to worship him.
Hongo workshop
For those of you who don't know about the workshops we did, I can give a brief description. Most of the time they are flexible and change depending on the people attending and the atmosphere of the group, but they follow this basic guideline. First we start out with something fun and energetic to get their blood pumping and heart rate up. Usually we do something along the lines of hip hop or jazz and then do some stretching. Next we transition into across the floor movements using emotions. We help them see that if they are portraying sadness, their movements are generally drawn in and slow. If they are portraying happiness, the movements are stretched out, fast, and excited. If they are portraying anger, the movements are also stretched out, but sharp and strong, hands in fists, etc. We show them that you can use your body to describe what words can describe. Then we have them break off into twos and 'mirror' each other to get used to following and leading in simple, slow movements. We explain that everyone has a gift to worship God through their body and when you 'copy' someone and follow their movements, you are honoring their gift to God. We have them form slightly larger groups, following and leading. Then we have them do the same thing as one big group. Lastly we tell them all to close their eyes and just dance and worship God with whatever gift he has given you with your specific body. It doesn't matter what it looks like, because it's what God gave you. If they can't think of how to move, they can 'copy' someone else, honoring their gift of worship and expand it into their own gift.
The people in Hongo were able to grasp the concept of what we were trying to convey. It was really powerful to see them dancing with their eyes closed, tears streaming down their cheeks, loving God wholeheartedly. We were blessed by watching and dancing with them! True to Brazilian culture, we stayed until about 11pm and didn't get home til about 1am!
The next morning (June 14th) we visited a little with the Hatanaka family (Dr. Kawase's cousin) and was able to pray over them. We also had the opportunity to play some worship songs and sing for Mrs. Hatanaka's parents. They were touched that we would worship with them and pray over them. We left that afternoon for Shizuoka/Kakegawa.
Mrs. Hatanaka's parents
To see more pictures visit http://flickr.com/photos/ashtontravels
