It’s mind-blowing for me to sit back and realize that it’s been over a year since I’ve left the small fisherman village in the north of Japan that I spent 3 weeks in. It was a beautiful first month of ministry that I was able to experience with my entire squad.
Let’s recap some of the smaller details. My squad of 14 met for training camp in October of 2018. When we launched in January of 2019 we left with 5 alumni leaders bringing our number to 19. 3 of those alumni’s were team leaders (for our smaller groups to travel within the countries) and 2 of those were squad leaders (they were over our entire group).
My team was Wabi-Sabi which is a Japanese term that essentially means: “a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life.” My teammates were from left to right: Stone (Tennessee), Allie (Texas), myself, Susanna (Minnesota), Eric (Utah – our alumni team lead!) and Zachary (Alabama). Also, this is the perfect image to show my team because we were known as the “middle schoolers” due to our goofiness and how much we laughed!
The original plan for Japan was to split up into our 3 teams across the country. However, due to the high cost of this country, and our small budget, we had only found one host for a team (and they lowered their typically housing cost to fit our budget!!). When this incredible host heard our predicament, he simply told us to go ahead and bring out entire squad!! This small fisherman village in the north was highly impacted by the 2011 Tsunami and they are still rebuilding from the destruction that was caused.
Every day we would pack into J’s café (our ministry) to have devotionals before opening. Then, we split off during the day in order to serve in various ministries opportunities with this café. There was English Corner where we would have conversations with locals adults to help them practice their English. In the afternoons we had Gakudo where we taught English to young children. We had prayer nights, bible studies and a women’s meeting. We got to travel to nursing homes and preschools during our time there. In free times we would either be cooking for the squad, having team time to get to know each other or we would go on prayer walks around the town. We had a movie night every Friday that locals were invited to, hosted 2 concerts and 1 day of dance classes.
We were blessed to be able to walk along an ocean wall and see God’s beauty every day. Both in the nature that surrounded us and the beautiful Japanese architecture.
Our daily walk from the café to our home (for the ladies) was about 15 minutes. I loved looking at the homes and since there was construction going on, I was able to interact with locals every day on my walk. I found Japanese culture to be very beautiful. When passing people you would bow your head a little and say “konichiwa gozaimasu” which is a respectful ‘good day.’ Since it was a small town, you would say hello to everyone you encountered and I loved it!!
A pile of shoes always lived by our door especially at meal time since all 19 of us would pile into the 1 living room we had! It was also cold and we had little space heaters so you could find us bundled up under blankets or our sleeping bags!
This is a Japanese stringed instrument called the Koto. A beautiful woman named Abbysan invited us to her home one day. As in, we were sitting in the café chatting and she said “come, let’s go to my home” and we did! Living an interruptible life is amazing. She pulled this out, showed us how to set it up, and how to play the first notes of a traditional Japanese piece. My musician’s hearts was full of joy!!
While we cooked most of our meals in Japan we had days were we simply bought premade bento boxes from the supermarket which were delicious and the odd adventure out! Of course we had to get sushi and let me tell you… it was the literal best.
Japan is known for valuing the appearance of things. While buildings and décor are beautiful, everything is made to be appealing to the eyes. Sewer covers were a work of art and so was the delicious bread!!
I had the privilege of going to one of the preschools and it was a blast!! All the kids were excited and they would swarm us while we were interacting with them.
While at this preschool, we got to make mochi which is essentially a Japanese rice cake. We got to spend time pounding the rice into a paste so that it could be molded and used in the soup we would be eating!!
On one Sabbath, 3 squad mates and myself heading to the nearby city of Sendai to explore. We got to see many traditional fixtures such as the one below.
While in Japan I became friends with Jesse who is from Peru but has lived in Japan for over 25 years! It was wonderful being able to speak Spanish with someone and share the stories of what God has done in our lives. While we wanted to be a blessing to her, I still feel like she ended up blessing me even more.
My squad mate Jenny (who is Colombian!) is on the left and Jesse in the middle!
In the few weeks we were there, we saw new people come! This little girl began coming to the children’s club and she was the sweetest thing!! They showed up one day and then were at almost every event we hosted!
Our last day in Japan was spent sight seeing in Tokyo! I got to see the Shibuya crossing from above, walked through parks and markets, checked out the city skyline from the government building and just took in this high tech city!! We stayed in a capsule hostel so our space was a little enclosed cube that had a bed. It was a very unique and fun experience!
Our last day was a Sunday and after church we sat down together one last time with our hosts to enjoy homemade Mexican food (which they said they had missed!). This was the first of many goodbyes to come and it was so hard. Please be praying for J’s café and the ministry they are doing! Pray for the spiritual oppressiveness in Japan as well as the spirit of grief that resides over Ishinomaki specifically. Pray for the missionaries there: Rich, Emmy, Cherry and Joe. I love this little café and they are making such an impact for the kingdom of God. I’m so honored to have spent 3 weeks partnering with them, it was a beautiful start to my journey with the World Race!
