New Life and Great Joy

Yesterday was another special day for Izumi Church.  When we chose the name Izumi (meaning 'spring') for the church, we hoped this would express our desire that many who are thirsting would find their way to Jesus to drink living water.  Although our numbers are by no means large, it was a real joy to add another believer to our church as he was baptised during the service.  When we first talked about baptism after he believed in Jesus, there was some talk of the sea or a river but sub-zero temperatures in Sapporo at this time of year led us to the somewhat more comfortable alternative of warm water in a bath which we borrowed for the occasion from another church and set up in our dining area.  Quite a number of buckets of water later and it was ready for baptism.  Before that though we had the privilege of listening to Wataru share his life story - of the hard times, the struggles, the issues he had to face.  But so too we heard a story of someone brought through to faith in Jesus, even when it looked like this would not happen.  He shared about several turning points in his life which led him to the point of commitment.  After his baptism, we all shared together in a very simple communion.  What a joy in one service to see the grace of the Lord in action as we witnessed a baptism, to know the grace of the Lord as we listened to his Word, and to taste the grace of the Lord as we partook of bread and wine to remember all that had been accomplished for Wataru and for all of us on the cross.  Later on in the day we had a really happy time of fellowship together.  One of the joys of Izumi Church being small and still meeting in a home is to have that kind of intimacy.  Wataru now faces many challenges.  He is just about to start a job.  That will place demands on him as it does on so many here.  He has many issues to face as a new believer in Jesus.  By we believe that as we walk together with him on the path of following Jesus, we will be able to help each other but we also know that, as he shared in his testimony yesterday, he is not alone and will not be abandoned by the God he now serves.  A good day - may there be many more like it to follow in the months and years to come in the life of Izumi Church.  

It's shaking

With Japan sitting on an area where several tectonic plates meet, earthquakes are to be expected on a regular basis.  Here in Hokkaido we don't get as many as some other parts of Japan, but once every few months we do hear the familiar noise of crockery rattling, see the light switches swinging and feel the swaying under our feet.  Yesterday evening there was a magnitude 6.8 earthquake off the coast of Hokkaido and northern Honshu followed by a 5.9, and then later in the evening a couple of 6.1's nearer Tokyo.  The 6.8 earthquake brought instant tsunami warnings and for 30 minutes or so these were repeated over and over on the main news channel with instructions to people living at the coast to move to higher ground.  In the end of the day only a very small wave reached the coast, but coming so soon after the 1st anniversary of the big earthquake and tsunami on 11th March, there was a eerie sense of deja vu.



The effects of yesterday's 6.8 earthquake



In a year we are due to move to Ichikawa near Tokyo, where recently the odds of another big earthquake in the near future have increased considerably, along with recent reports that Tokyo is not as well prepared as it should be.  In fact when we tell people that we are moving, this is usually one of the first comments they make.

Of course much of the beauty of Japan stems from the fact that it is a volcanic archipelago.  And we enjoy the benefits of a multitude of hot springs to relax in.  But the regular earthquakes are all a reminder that creation is groaning and that we too should be groaning as we wait eagerly for full adoption and redemption.  What a wonderful hope we have to share with the people around us.    

Snow, snow and more snow

Sapporo, the city where we live, is famous for several things: the Winter Olympics in 1972, the annual snow festival, delicious ramen (a large bowl of noodles with meat and vegetables in a soup) and Sapporo beer to name a few.  It also has the distinction of being the snowiest major (i.e. population of over 1,000,000) city in the world with several metres of it falling every winter between about December and March.  Living in a city set up for snow is great.  Come October people tie up the plants and bushes in their gardens to protect the branches from the weight of the snow.  Special shovels of all shapes and sizes are sold in the shops.  Cars change their tyres to winter ones with a thicker tread and don special windscreen wipers.

On a snowy morning everyone gets up a little earlier and goes outside to clear their car and the pavement area in front of their house.  People then get to work earlier to help clear the areas there too.  "Snow moving" becomes a major focus for the city authorities.   An everyday sight is lorries full of snow driving to one of the dumping grounds.  One place is beside the main river where tons of snow are dumped and then in spring gradually put into the river.  There are other empty plots of ground which gradually become filled with snow mountains too.

Driving is an interesting experience.  The roads are not salted, nor are they cleared as such.  Rather the snow is flattened down so that you are driving on top of the snow and ice.  On a warmer day though this might melt a little and then freeze again, likening driving conditions to a rally driver.  2 lane roads become one as snow is piled up at the side, and pedestrians are often found walking down the roads as the pavements may be impassable. 

Schools build their own snow mountains in the playground where they teach beginner skiing, with the older children being taken to local ski slopes for lessons as part of PE.  This mountain is also great for sledging with homemade sledges consisting of a cushion taped inside a 10kg empty rice bag.

1st graders learning to ski in the school playground

One of the displays at the Sapporo Snow Festival

And the snow is beautiful.  On a sunny morning it sparkles as if with diamonds, sometimes almost too bright to look at - a great reminder of the promise that we will be washed "whiter than snow".