Hatanodai #1 Part 2

Hatanodai means the raised area for the flag.  So it is significant in a  way that we are beginning right here with our prayer walks.  We are starting with the place where we are raising  the banner of  Hope and Salvation.  Section one has a large university hospital called Showa Universtiy Hospital.  The Hospital has almost every possible area of treatment and several buildings making up the university where research and training are carried on all the time.

Showa is the official name of the last emperor of Japan and many businesses are named with his name.  He was the emperor when Rhonda and I came to Japan but right after David and Jonny were born the current emperor began his reign. He is officially called Heisei.  Both names are linked to the idea and theme of peace.

It is interesting to check the link if you have time and see how this university came into being.

As Youth With A Mission works with three main emphases of Evangelism, Training and Mercy Ministries it is awesome for us to see that in the very first section of the very first area we are prayer walking there is both training and mercy ministry.  Part of our prayer was to call out many people to come to salvation and take their place in world evangelization.

On the right you can see just a few of the doctors and nurses for whom we were praying today.  They seem to be taking a break from their studies and work.

I wonder how we can reach into the lives of these Doctors, Nurses and Students  and take their God given compassion and desire to help others who are suffering and see it offered back to Him in a way that will bring glory to His name and fulfillment to their souls.

Prayer Walking in Hatanodai – Shinagawa

Our prayer-walking in Shinagawa continues and I wanted to post a few photos to introduce our neighbourhood to you.  Shinagawa is broken down into several sub-sections with names which in turn are broken down into smaller numbered areas called Chomes.  Today the photos will be from the sub-section Hatanodai  number one Chome.  We currently live in 6 Chome but we will get to that later on.   The green sign on the left is only in Japanese and can be found on most of the utility poles.  They are often very helpful in finding out roughly where you are at any given time.  They also have a square bar-code on the upper part of the sign which you can scan with your mobile phone and download a map of the surrounding area.  The blue signs are posted on some of the buildings and houses and also show where you are but they as you can see have English at the bottom.

Shinagawa literally means river of goods and now is a prestigious section of Tokyo to live in.  However, there is a mixture of old and modern houses in Shinagawa and they are often right beside each other, as can been seen in this photo on the left.

One of the big problems here in Japan is finding enough space for everything.  This often shows up in the remarkably small spaces in which residents are expected to park their cars.  Many times it is a mystery just how they get out of their car when it is finally in the right position. I took several photos of this phenomenon but have chosen to only include one for now.  If you do not have a parking spot included with your house, then they can be rented from about $400 -$500 per month.  So you can see why people are wiling to squeeze their car in to very, very  small places.

Here is a fine looking house and with it plenty of parking space.  There are many of these houses scattered throughout the Hatanodai area.

Currently there is no church in section one of Hatanodai but as we walked through the streets we prayed for the life of the Kingdom to be released into the area and began to call out Japanese people to come to salvation and represent Jesus in the mission fields of the world, walking in their God given annointing and fulfilling the destiny for which they were created.   We were encouraged in this by the message we heard on Sunday at TBC. Pastor  Chris taught about the power of God to bring life to a valley of dry bones.

Wedding

OK!   So I am a little late.  One of these days I will catch up and post some real news on this site.  David and Tamara have already celebrated their one month anniversary eating roast Lamb.  Their honeymoon trip to England is having a great impact on the level of culture in their new family YEAH!!!!!!  I chose to post this picture because no one else has a copy of it so I am sure none of you have seen it before.

It really was an awesome wedding.  I enjoyed every second of it except for standing in the reception line after the ceremony.  It was great to greet family and friends but my feet were killing me – probably because I had stood right through the ceremony too.  The reception was fun too with David and Tamara proving what a great friendship they had by scoring 100% on questions about each other.

TWU Graduation!

One of the reasons we went to Canada in April was to see David graduate from Trinity Western University, and to our surprise – he did.  No…only joking..it was a tremendous joy to celebrate with him at the culmination of sooooooooooooo much study and hard work.  The ceremony was awesome and even our girls were impressed with how things were done!.

Here they are so happy to be with their big brother on his big day.  YEAHHHHHHHHH!

Not to be left out, two sisters from his to be family,  the Braunbergers, also wanted to congratulate the boy on completing his studies.  Here you can see Erin  - who had just completed her graduation ceremony that morning – and Tamara (at that point, his bride to be!),  who had survived the ordeal the year before.

Oh, well , it will be Jonny’s turn in a couple of years…………

The End of an ERA

Life is full of changes.   People come into our lives and then the time comes for them to go on into what God has for them.  Things grow old and are disposed of.   In the midst of these changes it is very important to see and recognize what God is saying and doing.

Just last year we had an end of an era experience when we had to say a sad farewell to Lydia Jordi who had served on our team for two years.  It was the playful fun-filled smile on the photo of her staff application that won our hearts even before we met her.  Her smile continued on, as you can see from the photo!

In 2006 we  also experienced the end of an era when the building that had become the training centre for YWAM in the Tokyo area was put on  the market to be sold and we were unable to rent it any longer.  This photo shows all that could be seen soon after we left of what had originally been a maternity clinic and had given birth to the Training ministry of YWAM in Tokyo.

We moved on from there into central Tokyo where we are now in the outreach phase of the 3rd Discipleship Training School since our move.   Lydia was the new staff that saw the first DTS off to a good start and we were joined by Chloe & Derick for the second DTS.  Derick is now the Co-Leader of the current school.

This third picture also marks the end of an ERA.      The house that stood on this lot was the first house built in the area for missionary use and was still affectionately  referred to as Mitaka #1 house.  It was a gorgeous two-story wooden house with a lovely view of  Mt. Fuji on a clear day.  We were the last people to live in Mitaka #1 where we were for a year.  The first month of our second DTS in Tokyo, all ten students and three staff also shared the house with us.  In its final days the Mitaka House continued to fulill the reason for which it was built.

The era of those missionaries has come to a close and the Mitaka #1 House has gone, too.  It is the end of an Era.  BUT that means a new era is about to begin.  God is going to do new things here in the city of Tokyo.  We are now a team of 14 staff with five more applying to come in the autumn season.  People will come and some will go.  Buildings will be dedicated for the Kingdom and then they too  will fade away.  BUT the Kingdom of God will move forcefully on and if we keep our eyes and ears open to the true and living God, we can be a vital part of this new era in the Kingdom of God right here in Tokyo.

YWAM Japan Staff Conference

Here we are at the YWAM Japan National Staff Conference.  This year’s conference coincided with YWAM’S global 50th anniversary.  The background was designed by our YWAM Osaka base staff.  YWAM founders Loren and Darlene were able to attend and encourage us to push on for another 50 years.

The picture on the left was a display designed by Derick Domae of our YWAM Tokyo team and represents our work in the city along with a history of the training ministry in Tokyo.

The staff conference is held every year and YWAMers from different parts of Japan assemble for fellowship, business and time to worship together.