Meet Some Of Our Friends!

We want you to meet just a few of our friends here in Japan! God has placed many people in our lives here that we can communicate with in English. We're always amazed at how God speaks to people's hearts and that we're able to watch life changes right before our eyes!


Meet our friend Hazuki! Hazuki is a young mother that has been coming to Cafe at the church for about 3 years for English conversation practice. Since meeting Hazuki last year only to have a 30 minute English lesson, Angie's relationship with her has grown quite drastically! Now, they meet for a couple of hours each week and study English using the Bible and a program called Let's Start Talking....not to mention hanging out together once or twice a month! To Angie's surprise, Hazuki enjoys telling her friends that she's learning English through reading the Bible. Since most Japanese have no preconceptions about the Bible or Christianity, their reaction is one of curiosity! Hazuki continues to seem very interested in learning about God and is open to visiting our church for worship someday soon! PRAY that God gives Hazuki wisdom and understanding when learning about the Bible and God's plan for her life. PRAY for her friend Mie who is now joining the Bible study. Mie is also open to learning about God's word. PRAY that both their hearts and lives will be touched by God's love and that they will accept Him as their Lord and Savior.

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Ito (woman on the left)! This couple was baptised not long after we came to Japan last year. In fact, they were baptised together on Easter Sunday. What a way to start off your Christian walk! Since then, they have become an intricate part in the church we are a part of...Kitakyushu Bible Church. Both are seeking to serve the Lord with all their heart! The Ito's help out at our church Cafe for several hours each Friday. They've been lending their car to the Gateley's since last year so that Nick and I were able to drive the Gateley's car. Many families with children at the church consider Mr. and Mrs. Ito as resident grandparents. It's very exciting to see how God is working in their lives! PRAY that Nick and I are able to build our relationship with the Ito's despite our language barrier. PRAY that their college age daughter will soon come to know the Lord.
Meet Shinobu! Some of you may have seen her on the video last year that we showed in many different homes. At that time, listening to her Japanese was very intimidating for us. You may have also met her before when she traveled with our friends Rocky and Marla to lead worship in many churches in the states. She even came to AR! It's been great working with her since we've been in Japan. Shinobu lives in an apartment that is right above the Kitakyushu church building. Until recently she had been working part time for the church doing various kinds of outreach ministry. She is a key person in this church. PRAY that Shinobu finds encouragement in the midst of change in her ministry role at church. PRAY that God continues to use her to reach out to young college students in Japan.Meet the Kondo's! Jessica (in the middle) and her daughter (on the left) are also new Christians. Jessica is actually Taiwanese and her husband is Japanese. Which means that their daughter speaks both Japanese and Chinese and is trying to learn English! Their family has lived in Japan for several years, but they've only been coming to the Kitakyushu church for less than a year. Jessica is truly on fire for the Lord and is not afraid to show it! She brings needed energy to a group of very conservative Japanese Christians. Her husband also really enjoys coming to church and being with Christians. We've been spending extra time with this family recently because we happen to share interest in the same hobby! It's funny how God uses hobbies to bring people together in His name. PRAY that Mr. Kondo will accept God as Lord of his life very soon. PRAY that Jessica and her daughter do not lose their fire for the Lord as they mature in their faith.Meet Sei! Sei is not a Christian, yet! However, she and her children come to our church every week for a one hour English class and then stays for the one hour Bible study afterwards! We've also seen her at the church's Cafe and occasionally at our worship service on Sundays! Sei has a very quiet personality and a tender heart. She is obviously seeking more to this life! PRAY that God continues to speak to her heart and prepare it to know Him more! PRAY that other Japanese Christians reach out to her more often so that she's more comfortable when coming to the church.

Stay tuned to meet more of our friends!

The Art Of Kendo! (YouTube)

Nick has picked up a new hobby since living in Japan, Kendo. This sport is a Japanese traditional style of sword fighting. It was first developed as a way for the Samurai to practice fighting with bamboo swords. It has changed somewhat over the years so that anyone can enjoy it! This includes 6ft 3inch foreigners!!

Kendo students in Japan start training as early as 5 years old and can be active in this sport for a lifetime. Nick's Kendo teacher is in his 70's! Like Karate, there are several levels of expertise. Each student must be tested in front of a panel of judges and pass in order to move up to the next skill level. Recently, Nick took his first Kendo test.

Can you find Nick? We arrived at the gym thinking that it would only take a couple of hours to get through the process. Boy were we wrong! There were at least 100 other Kendo students that were willing and ready to be tested! There were only two adults and the rest were kids ranging from the ages of 5-13. Most Japanese start taking Kendo lessons at a young age. So, it's quite unusual for adults to take the first level test! We were blessed that there was at least one other adult in the mix! Of course, Nick was the only foreigner. All of the kids were fascinated by him and lined up to watch as he passed his test with flying colors!

If you are not familiar with Kendo, then let's start with the basics. In the picture above Nick is dressed in all his Kendo gear. As you can see he has a helmet, protective shield, and gloves which are all very important to wear when your opponent hits you repeatedly with a bamboo sword!

The Japanese are very respectful in whatever they are doing and bow to one another as a sign of respect and consideration. As a result, many sports start with bowing in the beginning and throughout the competition and at the end. It's not unusual to see a player bow if they have fouled or injured another player. Kendo is no different....it starts and ends with bowing!

Once the bowing is over....you then earn points by trying to hit your opponent cleanly with a pure intent:) Which from an observers point of view means hitting your opponent as hard as you can with a very large bamboo stick while yelling at them! Actually, there are only 4 target areas for hitting....the head, throat, wrist, and chest. Each target area that is hit earns 1 point. There are only 2 points earned in each match. So, you can imagine that there is a lot of blocking moves!

Nick, the guy on the left, was only testing this time. There are many Kendo Tournaments throughout the year. Hopefully Nick will get to join one before leaving Japan! Check out our Kendo YouTube video to get a better idea of what this sport is like.


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DZBkk3KFKtM