A sad day

Last Tuesday we heard some shocking news. The pastor of the church where we worked for 8 years had been found dead in the church. We had spent a year together from 2007-8 when we handed the leadership on to Pastor Ishihara. He leaves a wife, two boys (aged 13 and 10) as well as a foster child (aged 3). For the last week we have entered into the grief and shock of the family and church members as they come to terms with this tragedy. A funeral in Japan usually takes place the day after death (or at the latest the following day) and even before that there are ceremonies at different points. The coffin is open at the head and people go to look and even touch the dead body. The funeral itself starts with an evening wake which is like any funeral would be in the west - some hymns, prayers, a Bible message and a eulogy about the deceased (which David gave). The coffin is left in the church and then the next part of the funeral takes place the following morning - a similar service with a different Bible passage and message. Then come some of the most emotional moments. People file past the coffin and place a flower beside the deceased's head. Then the family say their final farewells before the lid of the coffin is shut. After that the coffin is placed in a bus and some of the mourners travel to the crematorium. This is also a very emotional time as there is a further small ceremony just before the coffin is wheeled in front of one of a series of doors and then disappears while everyone looks on. People then move to another room and eat lunch together before returning to the crematorium for the final part of the funeral ceremonies. The bones of the deceased are wheeled out on a trolley and everyone uses chopsticks to place the bones in a casket. That may seem quite gruesome to those are used to the way things happen in the west but people here are quite used to it, indeed quite matter-of-fact about it. Sometimes a close family member may receive a bone to keep personally. The casket is then handed over before the bus takes everyone back to the church for a final hymn and prayer and often a greeting from the deceased's next of kin. A Japanese funeral is a long process and happens very quickly after death. For us, we have come to appreciate many of the ceremonies which take place and indeed the open attitude towards death. Now though for the family and the members of Otaru Church a long hard road lies ahead. We will share more about this in our next update.

Skiing at school

One of the fun things about school in Hokkaido during the winter term is that skiing is part of the curriculum. In every school playground (and they're quite large here) the accumulated snow is piled together into a mini-mountain. The younger children have several classes each winter learning how to walk uphill in skis and then skiing down the gentle slope. The older children would find that too boring so head off to a local mountain for more serious stuff. This morning Lorna joined some other volunteer mothers to help the 7 year olds on the mini snow mountain. It had been snowing overnight so some of the children were getting stuck in the snow in their skis just walking over to the slope - then they had to manoeuvre their way to the top! All children here learn skiing from a young age; most in fact go to ski schools at the mountains during the long winter holidays. And, as an added bonus, if your income is at a certain level, the local government pays for new skis and equipment every three years. All our boys have had the opportunity to learn skiing at mountains almost right on our doorstep - and with the guarantee of snow on tap for several months of the year.

Fire Horse

Yesterday Lorna was at the local school where she often goes on a Tuesday morning, sometimes for library duty, sometimes doing things with other mothers. As always there is conversation about all sorts of things. But yesterday Lorna discovered something she hadn't known before. She happened to mention she was born in 1966. And that brought about quite a reaction. 'You're a hinoeuma - a fire horse!' Not really following what that was all about, an explanation followed about how 1966 was a very inauspicious year for a baby girl to be born. The Chinese zodiac calendar has twelve animals and the one which matches to 1966 is a horse. No big problem there. However, there are also 5 elements (earth, wood, fire, metal and water) which can go with any one year, giving 60 possible combinations of animal and element. 1966 saw the horse and fire combine and that year became the first year of the hinoeuma (fire horse) since 1906. 'Fire horse women' are said to be dangerous, headstrong and deadly to men! The ladies at the school yesterday said that it was hard for a 'fire horse woman' to find a marriage partner. Yesterday the mothers all had a laugh about this but there is a more sinister side. In the year 1966 there were about 600,000 fewer births than the previous and succeeding years. And even sadder, the abortion rate rose significantly in that year. It was an eye opener to us and really showed us how some of these superstitions can really affect what people here do, even if they don't actually believe it. The next 'fire horse' year is 2026. How great is the task to bring the gospel to people in a land where so many superstitions and traditions can lead so many astray.

Bean throwing

Every year at the beginning of February, if you were to visit a local primary school or kindergarten, you might see some rather strange sights. Some children or an adult might be wearing scary ogre masks. Most children would be throwing roasted soybeans (or peanuts) around the room. And you would hear shouts of 'Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi' which roughly means 'demons out, good luck in'. In the past all sorts of other traditions took place on 3rd February (the spring festival) as people wanted to get rid of evil spirits and welcome in its place good luck and happiness. In some areas there is special rolled sushi which is eaten ostensibly to drive out the demons and bring in good luck. Alistair went to an after-school club this week (the day before the 'bean-throwing' fetsival day) and came home saying everyone had been throwing the beans and shouting - but he happily announced he didn't throw any. He was happy though to come back home with a few packets of peanuts. While in some ways, this can be seen as just fun for children, of course there are also underlying spiritual elements. But there are grains of truth to be found which can become building blocks for the gospel. Yes we need rid of the 'bad stuff' within us; and yes we need to be cleansed. As we grapple with these traditions and whether to be involved in them, it is always good to stand back and see how we can use these things as a contact point to share the gospel. We don't need to throw beans or shout for the demons to get out - in Jesus ours sins are taken away once and for all, our hearts are cleansed and we know daily the joy of his being with us.

Back to 'normal'

Earlier this week Matthew made his way back to Hebron. Daniel left the week before for his mock exams which are now over. As a 'reward' for having to go back a week early, the A Level students can enjoy a long weekend at the beach. There is often some little story (sometimes quite big stories!) when our boys travel here and there. This time (despite having everything clearly written down), Matthew managed to get off the train at the wrong terminal at Narita Airport in Tokyo - but after a quick call home, he managed to sort it out. Many folks we speak to here are amazed that our boys can travel all the way to India and back on their own - something they have been doing since they were 12. They usually see it as a great adventure and enjoy all that international plane travel has to offer. Sometimes they meet up with friends from other countries at one of the airports en route. We send them off with all the information they need, hopefully enough money for all they need, and secure in the knowledge that they are met by an escort from the school at the other end. Most of all though we send them off knowing that God goes with them and he sends his angels to look after them (probably more than we know). We always look forward though to the first e-mail to let us know they are safely there - but being boys that's not always the first thing on their mind! We miss the boys when they are gone but know they are at a great school with great staff. And Lorna is already looking forward to her visit for half-term in April - no doubt with more travel stories to add to our collection.