Ok, so we went to the Kakegawa Castle yesterday and I have many pictures but I want to address some issues before I post them tomorrow... or rather on Sunday for those of you not in Japan.
Today, Saturday, Enomoto sensei and I went to town trying to find a place to exchange money and to buy something to fix the flag we were hanging outside. (they are pretty cool, they say "God is Love!!" on them in Japanese) Any who... we got to talking about Japan and their views on religion... interesting stuff if you've never heard about it... So almost all Japanese see Buddhism and Shinto to not be a religion but rather it is "culture". Also they do not understand the meaning of sin as we Christians mean it to be... Rather, they see sinning to be stealing money or killing another human being. So... you can see how hard it is to tell them they are sinning and need to have Jesus Christ in their hearts if they do not believe they are sinning. If their definition of sin is so different than ours, how are we to show them when they will not listen. This is proving to be the hardest part about reaching others to Christ. One more thing to add to this paragraph, Japanese see the Messiah to be okane, or money. They see money as their "Savior" and look to it for guidance in what they should do.
Ok, so after we got the lil do-dad thingy and were leaving with it at the charcoal for the BBQ tomorrow (Sunday), we stopped by a discount shop... the shop was nice, there were all sorts of things marked down in price. There was a Gibson Les Paul for about 1100 dollars... so pretty... ahem... anyway, we were looking at the cards there and I saw some "anime". I pointed the shelves out to Enomoto Sensei and then we realized the shelves were covered in porn. Both animated and real... It was thoroughly embarrassing to us both. I apologized many times. This was when Enomoto Sensei told me that Japan has very low morals. They have in the konbini, convenience store, porn next to the business and sport magazines. They are never wrapped and are open for children or anyone who wants to look. This sent a chill down my spine because he told me that many children have seen porn and are accustomed to it like any other magazine. And I thought America was bad... lol But seriously. If you who read this would PLEASE pray for Japan and their lost country, hopefully we can save the country before it falls completely into the hands of the devil.
P.S. the percentage of people in Japan who are Christians is less than 1 now... and that includes missionaries... total population of ppl inside the country...
We went for a walk...
Rice Field
more rice fields
nice mountains in the background... however Enomoto Sensei said was bad picture because was trashy in foreground of picture.
Green Palace... with no green
Drug store... very healthy over here... me not so much... (eating doritos as I type...)
This is the phone I used to call home where i heard someone call over the intercom that they needed to speak with a person because they had a question about his gun... seriously.
This is where I sleep... Hard yet comfy.
The view out my Bedroom window...
Reliable old Acer!
Another view out of my bedroom.
More to come tomorrow!
Larzinjapan
Mom's gonna hate me for this one...
Lookit everyone so sad...
Lurves ya ma!
GOOOOO TEAM! haha
Minnesota's Acid trip tunnel
More to come!
Larzinjapan
Ok, so most of you reading this have some access to Facebook and know what my status is... I just wanna clarify what it means. The church is VERY small and will not be able to support me like they had hoped. This is why the trip is my "faith trip". Now this means I will most likely be on my own and traveling around Japan and meeting new people and seeing more sights. This also means that I may not have near enough cash as thought in the first place. Now Mother, I do not wish to use your credit card more than is necessary and I will only use it for emergencies but i am letting you know that it may be used more if i cannot live without it. Hopefully, and certainly, Christ will provide and I hope that you are all praying for me as diligently as you can. I know some of you may fall in remembering but as I told Mary Woodby yesterday, if God can't use our failings, then what was the point of sending a Savior? Ok, well it is almost 7 am and it is raining outside and so I need to get up and get ready to "relax" as the family does not want me to strain myself. Jet lag is a pain ya know?
(btw, McDonalds is good but you get zero refills and the medium drinks are our small... and i mean small...)
Larzinjapan
I am here!!!! It is official that I am in Japan. I made it here in one piece with all my luggage. Everything is going well and I am stoked to start afresh tomorrow. The family is very welcoming and I would ask for you all to pray for them as they let me live in their house. The church is very small but still very welcoming. I am excited to see what God has planned for me while I am here. well this first post is for my mom... love ya! more to come when I am comprehensive.
Larzinjapan