Important People I know

Well, they always say it is not what you know but Who you know that makes the difference.  I am soooooooooooooooo glad that I know Jesus!!  However, this is not a picture of Jesus but movie scriptwriter Yu Shibuya (on the left)  and director John Ladue (on the right).   Here Yu and John introduce  themselves and the  world premiere of their movies  at the Uplink studio in Shibuya.

The first film we watched was “My Stunt Double” which looked into the life of the “Hiikikomori” or hidden young people of Japan who lock themselves in their rooms and rarely or never go out.  I first met Yu through David McDaniel when we were still in Ome and have followed his dedicated service to HI-BA as he also began and developed his scriptwriting career.  Yu is a very like-able chap and I am anticipating seeing more great moments at the movies due to his efforts in the future.

Here I am with John LaDue Jr.  who directed Kakurembo ,the feature film of the evening.  I have watched John grow up as a YWAM Tokyo kid over the years from the time of their family’s ministry in Yoyogi Park through his studies at a Chinese school and then at the Christian Academy in Japan and on  to Biola where he learned something about film making .

It was during the time our families worked together in the Adachi area of Tokyo that the LaDue boys – John, James and Andrew -  really influenced our boys especially in the area of music.

In the last picture you will see Andrew who wrote some of the music for the movie so I bought his CD.  Good stuff, I might say. On Andrew’s left is his sister Susie who just graduated from CAJ and is going toYWAM Brisbane in Australia to do her DTS.

Finally you can see in the kimono one of the stars of the show who also came for the premiere.  There were three showings that night and the turnout was excellent, filling the room at each showing.