in osAka

Thank God we all reached safely! ;) Everything that could have gone wrong didn't! Plus I even made my first osAka-ian (I just made that word up) friend on the airplane!

"SURPRISE?!!!!"
hAhaha that was the first thing we heard when we stepped into the lighthouse church yesterday evening! Slightly bewildered and absolutely amused we gingerly stepped toward the sound as the lights flicked on... Guess what greeted us?!

Instead of a bevy of friendly Japanese faces like I expected, it was SMcGs mAsks and his fAce plastered everywhere! I'm serious! It was their way of welcoming us... with a surprise party! and boy what a welcome! :)

So today was the first day in Osaka-shi and to help us adjust to the totally different weather and culture, we spent the morning praying and in a meeting, ate delicious tonkatsu for lunch, then took the semi-rapid express train into one of the city centres called Namba and walked around, soaking in the sights (bright lights and even brighter outfits), smells and sounds! Thereafter was finalizing the next day's English Class and preparing ourselves for a full week ahead and finally a great big bowl of ramen which tastes 10x better than any noodlething I've eaten ever! おいしいかったですよ。

On a more serious note we chatted with the pastor of lighthouse and his wife (amazingly passionate, dynamic and faithful young leaders) during the morningmeeting and found out a little more about Christianity in Japan.

i learnt.. and this is something you could please pray about too.. that:

- the japs generally have a rather skewed and negative view of religion in general due to various cults and happenings. This impacts on their ability to receive God or recognize that being a Christian is about a relationship and not rituals.

- many japs carry with them a sense of guilt and shame which could be related to their upbringing, the war, and the pressure of the expectation of being perfect

- they work reallyreally hard, many 7-day weeks and manymany hours averaging 0800-2000

- some have a sense of hopelessness as they don't see any difference to their end? like if they died now or later? so that might explain the high suicide rates!

- there's also a very pervasive sense of materialism and self-sufficiency here... chasing after development of their lives post-world-war has led to a dependence on themselves and their own ability, further distancing the reality of God or the need for him. not to mention with help of the male pride...

- many churches here are not only small but have heapsa old people. where are all the young people and next generation leaders?!

- there's a lack of unity in the churches here. seems like some churches view others not likes family of God but rather as rivals. maybe because they're protective over their numbers? (tat's my guess.. I don't quite know...)

there are heaps more things but i think that should be enough prayer points for now. being here really is different from
hearing about it ay, so if you get a chance (like if jets's having another sale or something) do pop on a plane and come see and feel for yourself! but beware, u may get ur heart broken. so I shall head to bed now for it's 0000hrs

some pics



through the little blue door the lighthouse shines



shinsaibashi, where we walked today



people who own businesses splash water on this idol for
good luck. so much so it's turned green with algae



just behind, a lady sweeps the fragrance of incense onto
her body and pats it in for more effect I think (see her left hand on right shoulder?)



dinner! the most yummilicious ramen I've ever ever ever tasted! nothing like the instant ones or the franchised ones! ;) mMmmmm...

ok tTfn! the house I'm living in and the church actually has no
Internet so I won't be able
to post as often as I'd like but yea, I'll try my best!

don't forget to say a little prayer (or a big one if you can) for Japan before u close this window!

またね