CMA Japan 2007 Mission Log

Day 11
Monday, July 23, 2007

We arrived safely in Hiroshima, with the saddest part of my trip being the man on the train who asked me if I was Alyssa's mom!! Chuckle, it made for some great laughs! We were so happy to re-unite with the rest of the team.

We are working with a group called, Mountain Worship. Shinobu used to live in Hiroshima and went to church and School with some of the people from this group. Mountain Worship meets once a month, to worship together. It started as a group of friends from different churches, who wanted to sing worship songs together. They would to up onto a mountain over looking the city and just worship together. Soon more and more people came to worship with them, now they have grown to include believers from many different churches and cities. They desire to build up and encourage believers and create a place for Christians to gain support and fellowship. Especially reaching out to foreigners, who are Christians living in Japan. They shared again how hard it is to be a Christian in Japan and that many lack the ability to spend time with other believers. They also desire to bring non-Christians to their events, wanting to shine God's light in this spiritually dark place.

View from our home in Hiroshima

We were welcomed with open arms, as soon as we arrived. The group we worked with, were in their 20's and 30's and were so full of joy for the Lord. They brought us to the place where we would stay, and we were surprised to find a whole house just for us! The traditional Japanese style home, had once been owned by a wealthy snack factory owner. It is the biggest Japanese house I have ever seen, and it was all for us! God continues to amaze us! The church next door bought the house for their use, and named it "The house of smiles."

Many people came over to have dinner with us that first night. They wanted us to get good rest while in Hiroshima. They said, they hoped it would be the oasis in the desert of our business! The next day they took us out for lunch before going to the event center. Eating cold pumpkin and green bean soup and getting to know some of the people more. We had some free time after lunch to fit in a bit of shopping! Yeah! We meet up with some of the team and had a hour long prayer meeting for that evenings event. It is such an unforgettable experience to cry out to our Father, as one family in Christ, from different places, in different languages. Amazing! Sugoi ! (One of the many words we are learning in Japanese, it means wow, amazing!)

That night the event was opened by a Campus Crusade group from Korea. They did a skit about the "faces" people put up on the outside, when they are really hurting , broken or empty on the inside. Our concert went really well! Everyone's bodies are holding up, but please continue to pray. Injuries seem to worsen on the day of, or practice right before we dance. But no matter how weak we feel, every single time God gives us the strength we need to make it through. And not only, make it through, but be able to do it well and with joy! We praise the Lord for His amazing power and strength!

The concert was 90min long and they said that was the largest turn out they had ever had, with many non-Christians in attendance. Praise God! They said one of the things that impacted people the most, was the joy on our faces and the increasing energy and joy as the night went on. They told us many Japanese have "fake smiles" or don't smile much at all. In us they saw Christ and our joy for Him shining through. After the concert we were able to meet Shinobu's mother, who lives in Hiroshima. We love Shinobu (BeBe as we call her) so much, she is precious to us, so it was an honor to meet her mother. I also talked with a Korean pastor who has a church here in Hiroshima. He wants to work with us next year, telling me he has a place we can stay, great translators, "so please come next year!", he said.

I talked to a lady who has taken dance, but always thought of ballet and Christianity (faith in God) as two different things. She now sees clearly how both can work together. She has been wanting to start a dance group at her church and said now she understands how the drama and dance can work together for Christ. She had many questions over the few days together, and we exchanged emails so she can continue to contact me for more advise. During this trip God keeps re-playing this situation. It seems everywhere we go He puts us in contact with people who have had dance training and are thinking of dance ministry. This is the first trip I remember this happening so much, it is really awesome to see God's hand prints everywhere we look!

Hiroshima - Shinobu's home church group

We were also able to meet many people from Shinobu's home church, they were a really excited bunch of people and Shinobu was very honored to introduce us. She told me afterwards how she is so proud of us, we love her so much! Her sweet and humble sprit and her heart for the Lord has been such a blessing to us on this trip. We wish we could take her home with us!

Please pray that the seeds planted that night, will grow. That what they saw and heard (some hearing the gospel for the first time) would not be easily forgotten. That questions and longing for the Lord would stir within and that the Lord would put them in contact with other Christians who can help lead them to Christ.

All for Him,

and the CMA Japan Team

Tif and Alyssa say goodbye to Ayatsuka's

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