On Friday night Eric and I had a real date night- the first one since February, I think. (Thanks Megumi for watching the kids!). We went to our favorite Italian restaurant, and then to Eric’s movie pick — Die Hard 4. We loved watching the previews and seeing what is coming out soon in Japan theatres. The big movie coming up is called “Transformers”, a sci-fi thriller about two robotic clans at war. The movie has probably already been popular in the US– we’re pretty sure its going to be huge when it comes to Japan in August. (Not on my list for our next date night, however).

It was thinking about these movies that helped us come up with an “icebreaker” question for our house church yesterday. We met at our home, as we usually do every other week. We always start with an icebreaker, so yesterday’s question was:
What movie would you most want them to make a sequel for?
Most popular answer in our group? The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe;
My answer: Sound of Music – show us what happened after they crossed those mountains!);

Following this time, we usually:
2) do worship through singing and prayer;
3) read together a section of the word several times (yesterday: Colossians 1:1-14); ask if there are any questions…then spend 5-10 minutes silently re-reading the passage and asking the Spirit to speak to our hearts what we need to learn.
4) We break into small groups and share what has been impressed on us. Eric takes the elementary and jr. high kids to another room and leads their discussion time.
5) We pray together for any specific needs shared within the small group.
6) We have lunch and enjoy fellowship together.

Usually, house church is much more than a one-hour service: it is 4 hours or so of worship, prayer, and sharing our lives together.

Yesterday was a normal house church day. We of course were scurrying in the morning to get lunch made before everyone arrived, clean up breakfast and our house, dress the kids. Owen and Annie seemed more needy than usual during the worship time — I was jumping up a lot to either discipline or keep Olivia from getting into something she shouldn’t, all the while trying to participate in our small group discussion of Colossians. Then serving lunch and drinks. Then lots of discussion about the upcoming team coming from LA to minister with us in early August. By the time everyone left at 3:00, Eric and I felt like we could just go to bed and sleep for 2 days (funny- we feel that a lot these days!).

And then I started to think about what really happened. In my group of four, we had one husband, “George”. His wife is a believer; he is not yet. He has been studying English in Eric’s men’s class, and slowly showing more interest in the Gospel. He came, and just kept reading the passage over and over. He shared how he wants to learn more about the Bible. He was intrigued by our comments and Paul’s life. His wife Aiko shared challenges they are having with two children, one of whom dropped out of school three years ago– in fifth grade– and hasn’t been back since. The third member, after we all shared, asked me to pray for this couple and their family situation. As I prayed, Aiko cried through the whole thing. She and I had both been impressed with Colossians 1:11 “…may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father.”… It’s one thing to endure with patience…but to have patience with JOY — surely this can happen only with the divine help of the Holy Spirit! I prayed this for George and Aiko.

As we finished up, I noticed the other group was praying…and that three of them had laid hands on one of the women, who’s shoulders were shaking as she cried. Transformation.

Eric later told me that one of the fifth grade girls had shared a story that she was being harassed at school by some boys. That night, she prayed and asked Jesus to take care of her and stop the boys. The next day -and the days that followed — she was no longer harassed. They left her alone. The Spirit at work — she saw that it is REAL. And she is more of a believer.

As I thought back about those four hours, I felt a sense of joy. Tiredness – but joy! It’s not that I think there needs to be a lot of mushy-type crying at church. But I realized that what was happening on Sunday is that God was at work doing what He does best- transforming lives. Our house church might be small (14 or so) as most would measure church, but it is growing…and I think it’s growing because God is at work transforming people.

Rick Warren says this:
I’m in the life change business. I’m in the transformation business. You know what motivates me? – not size; in fact, I don’t even like big churches. I mean, my favorite size was 300 people. What motivates me is that I am addicted to changing lives. I love seeing lives changed and that is the untold story. Everybody tries to attribute the growth of churches to everything else but what makes them grow – and it’s changed lives.

Paul says it this way:
“...Just as [the gospel] is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves...” (Colossians 1:5)
Its happening here in Sanda. And around the world. Church – the best transformer.

Today has been a planting day. I am very weary for some reason. But it feels good, for today has been a planting day.
Tonight while dinner was cooking, Annie and I went outside and found a tall pot and filled it halfway with potting soil. Annie then took the avocado seed out of the water that it was setting in on toothpicks…

She and Owen and I have been watching it sprout for about six weeks on out kitchen counter. One night after cutting up an avocado, we had decided to grow the seed (a fun trick originally taught me by sister Hannah). We put three toothpicks in it and “dangled” it inside a tall glass, filled with water. We were all delighted a week or so later to see the first root pop out the bottom…then continue to grow…and finally, the first sprout come out the top. Tonight was the night to get our hands dirty, put it in dirt, and really let it go. Now, its in our hallway, getting the best morning light, and we’re ready to watch it grow.

It was another kind of planting today.
This morning, my neighbor friend Nats. came over for coffee with her daughter. I had asked her to help me with some Japanese school forms I needed to fill out for Owen.
As I was making the coffee, she was looking at Owen’s medical book that I had gotten out. We started talking about Owen’s birth and his adoption story. We talked about the reaction we often get from Japanese who are shocked that we have adopted three children. She asked some questions about the process in receiving him, and I decided to tell her the whole thing. I shared about how:

… baby Masaru (meaning victory) was born with his intestines growing outside of his body, and needed immediate surgery. The doctors didn’t know what the long-term effects would be of his condition. We needed to make a decision about adopting him without meeting him or knowing for sure his health condition.

We prayed together. And one morning I woke up very early, and felt led to go downstairs, and read Isaiah 41. I read verses 9 and 10:

9you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
10fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
*******
As I opened the Japanese Bible, and then the English Bible for my friend Nats., she was stunned. Her eyes blurred up and she couldn’t see. She had never opened a Bible before, and couldn’t believe how personal it was. The verse even has Owen’s given name in it (Masaru/Victory).
I finished the story- how God confirmed through this verse and our prayers that God had chosen this baby for us, and we said yes… Owen had absolutely no health problems after that, and has been completely healthy.
Nats. commented that God must have a very special future for Owen, and then asked if she could copy the verse to show her husband. I asked her if she wanted the English version or the Japanese version, and she said “both.” So we made copies.
Then she said, “you probably have similar stories about Annie and Olivia, too.” We only had time for Annie’s story – I shared how we got the call about her Costco, and that the agency had named her the very name that we were going to ask them to name our baby girl (Kei, her middle name now). Again she got teary-eyed.
I told her that in all of our big decisions, we pray and (try) to leave it up to God.
She asked, “Do you think it’s like the Japanese idea of leaving something up to the fate of the heavens?”
I thought about it, and then said I understanding the similarities, but also think this is very different. The difference is that we are praying to a God who is personal; a God who loves us and cares about everything that we do. This God has a very specific plan for us and we can trust him with our future and with the daily decisions of our lives. She REALLY listened.

Planting. We hardly had time to do the paperwork before she had to leave. She left, with two versions of Isaiah 41. Sometime this evening she is re-telling the story and reading these verses to her husband. More planting. I am stunned again at how powerful God’s word is. It is still speaking, testifying to truth of God and all that He is about. I was reminded again today that it is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12) — not only to believers! But a witness to those who do not yet believe.

Planting. Pray that the Word today for the first time planted in Nats’ heart, will grow like the avocado seed. We’ll keep you posted.

See if this helps:

Saturday was a day of celebrating for our family. I’m always looking for reasons to celebrate, and ways to turn celebrations into events that foster community. So it was a really good day in my book!

Saturday morning Owen had a special festival at school, celebrating “Tanabata”. All of the children in his preschool had been practicing for over a month for this event, in which each class did one or several special Japanese dances. All the children wore Japanese jimbe or yukata (summer kimono-type outfits), and we couldn’t help but smile in watching their energy and joy as they danced their little hearts out. It was neat to have our friend Yasko come too- she is like family and we loved celebrating with her. The main song from Owen’s class’s dance is popular right now, so we were able to download it last week. Owen practiced his dance at home every chance he got, and did us proud.

After the festival, we went out to celebrate with our family and Yasko at a restaurant that the kids love because you can make your own cotton candy and serves takoyaki (fried octopus doughballs), Owen’s favorite:

Then, on Saturday night we celebrated Annie’s 3rd birthday with a “Tonari no Totoro” theme. This is a popular anime movie in Japan that both children (Annie especially!) and adults love, featuring a grayish mythical character named Totoro. The movie also has dust bunnies that seem to come to life, called “Makkuro no kurotsuki”. This was a fun theme to use for cake material. Annie had a great time, and it was one of the funnest parties Eric and I have experienced in a while, as well. We invited two neighbor families, the Ishidas, who are like grandparents for our children and come to most of our family events, and the Itos, who have 2 children and with whom we have been building a closer friendship with. In addition, the Ishidas daughter Yasko came, and our American friends Reiko and Megumi. It was great to watch everyone interacting – we loved it that we could gather with a variety of friends – Japanese and Americans – and have such a fun time together. Annie and Olivia wore their newly-acquired Hungarian dresses. Annie also received a Cinderella dress during the party, which she loved as well.

The only problem with the dustbunny cupcakes was what the icing did to your mouth (and other things that come out a day later… dont worry- not pictured)

Oh- for the same sense of joy and abandonment that Annie and Owen have had today!
“Except ye become as little children, except you can wake on your fiftieth birthday with the same forward-looking excitement and interest in life that you enjoyed when you were five, ”ye cannot enter the kingdom of God.” One must not only die daily, but every day we must be born again.” -Dorothy Sayers

One of the lectures I enjoyed the most at the Lausanne conference was by Dr. Todd Johnson, a researcher and missiologist who studies world trends related to Christianity and missions (co-author of World Christian Trends & the World Christian Encyclopedia; see his data base at www.worldchristiandatabase.org). Here are some rough notes from what he shared with us.

1) Shift from the north to the south- the majority of Christians are now located in the global South. In 1981, statistical center of Christianity was in Spain. Right now? It’s in Timbuktu, Mali. The typical Christian family is Latin, Asian, or African — not North American.

2) Christianity is increasingly fragmented, wtih 39,000 denominations.

3) Christianity is experiencing unprecedented renewal. Over 25% of all Christians are involved in renewal.

4) Christians are experiencing unprecedented suffering. There have been an estimated 70 million Christian martyrs over the past 2000 years…HALF of them in the 20th century.

5) 60% of Christians are in the global south, but only 17% of income is in the global south.

6) There is enough evangelism for the whole world to hear the Gospel.

7) Most evangelism isn’t reaching non-Christians- over 90% of all Christian evangelism is aimed at other Christians. (Read that again, slowly…)

8)Christians are out of contact with Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. 86% of all Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists don’t even know a Christian.

9) Many of the most responsive people in the world are Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist.

What surprises you? Dr. Johnson shared a story about talking to his Hindu hairdresser (in the Boston area). He asked her if she’s ever been invited to the home of an American before. She said no. He asked how long she’s been in the US — nine years. How many Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist friends do you have?

“Okaerinasai!” (or Welcome Home)… These are the sweetest words to hear when one lives in Japan. I loved being greeted upon return from Budapest by friends and neighbors who said “welcome home” in Japanese. But especially hearing these words out of Owen’s lips when he came running to hug me. I really can’t believe how much I missed our kids. Olivia has definitely gotten rounder, and is now walking about 10 more steps than she was before. Annie just kept saying over and over, ” I missed you Mommy.” and I would say, “Oh, I missed you SOO much Annie!” and then she was say it again, “But I missed you Mommy!”
Some random thoughts on the Lausanne Conference:

It’s all about relationships. And it was relationships that stand out as highlights from this trip.

-The Leadership Team that I am working with is a truly amazing group of people from all parts of the globe. It is still hard to know why I am part of this austere group, but I am honored to contribute as God may use me. Our goal is to work together across the globe – mostly through email and conference calls – so as to uniquely contribute in the next 3 years to world evangelization through exploring issues and solutions of leadership development. A huge task, but as I interacted with this team I was excited about how God may work. Here is our team (minus a few members) meeting for breakfast at a Budapest McDonalds:

–Peter T., a colleague also serving on the Leadership Development Committee, from South Africa. He shared with me about some of the work they are doing in Zimbabwe, my birth place, and I could not forget about one woman in particular he mentioned who is working alone in a valley in Zimbabwe as a nurse, every day ministering to 200 plus AIDS patients. How can we be part of the solution? (photo above, he is in the center in the blue tie-dye shirt).

–I teared up when I talked to Vonette Bright during a break and told her that she has been a contemporary model of mine for many years. She is still such a beautiful, beautiful woman, radiating Christ — still seeking to serve.

–Getting to know Grace Matthews, a remarkable woman who serves on Asian Access’ board of directors, and…
— Wendy, who will serve as my mentoree (or mentee) on my Leadership Development Committee (we are all finding a younger leader who will “shadow” our work these next three years. Wendy is committed to leadership training in Mexico, where she is headed as a missionary). PHoto below: Wendy, center, and Grace Matthews

–Sitting in a discussion group with Ralph Winter and his wife Barbara, and hearing Ralph share his thoughts about the lack of depth in so much discipleship that is taking place around the world. Even at 80-something plus, Ralph is still doing a great deal of thinking about world evangelization and has lots to share. When our colleague Bobby asked him what advice he would give a younger missionary, he said, “you don’t start learning until you’re 70!” (Photo below: Ralph and Bobby)

…. A woman who sat at my table at breakfast from the Caribbean– I thought she was with the conference and then discovered that she was in town for a KLM Conference– I had a chance to pray with her at the end of breakfast about her family situation….

–seeing God’s annointing on our friend and former Asian Access president, Doug Birdsall. He led the event with grace and wonderful leadership. Below is a photo of Doug publicly thanking the original leaders of Lausanne 1974.

Here is a short video of the end of the Doxology as the Lausanne 2010 leaders were announcing the decision to hold Lausanne III in CapeTown, South Africa.

–a Scottish man who sat with my colleague Bobby and I on the way home on our connecting flight from Budapest to Amsterdam, who spent 22 years as a “tentmaker” in South Africa and led hundreds of South Africans to Christ, including whole villages. He knew very little about Lausanne, but his very life reflects its essence.

–My Egyptian roommate Nancy, who at 22 was the youngest person I met at the conference. She came to help with registration, and we greatly enjoyed our time together. We have a standing offer to visit the land of the pyramids, and would love for Nancy to come to Japan someday. She shared with me the dilemma she is facing right now about whether to allow for an arranged marriage, or to ask to be allowed to make her own choice.

I hope in a few days to post some of the most challenging thoughts from the week.
But these are a few of the relationships that stand out from this past week. And then- best of all – to come home to my favorite hero, Eric, and the three little people in the world I most want to be with! It has been a great homecoming.

On Monday morning I said quick goodbyes to Eric, Owen, Annie and Olivia and ran to catch my shuttle bus to take me to the airport. We had overslept, leaving about 15 minutes to get dressed, get the kids up and dressed and in the car and off to catch the bus. It wasn’t until 3 hours later – just prior to boarding the international plane for Amsterdan–that I discovered that my top was on inside out! It was that kind of morning, which perhaps helped me not to dwell on the sadness of saying goodbye.

The flight was smooth- the first time in a LONG time that I have been able to watch not just one movie, but two… and read part of a book on the plane. It felt so QUIET without little ones on my lap.

It is now Thursday morning- we have been gathered for 2 and a half days of large group meetings; Bible teachings, hearing and exploring the vision of the Lausanne movement; participating in small group discussions. Each person here is committed to strenthening the unity of the worldwide Church and working towards greater intention at reaching everyone with the Gospel.

Numerous times I have had talks with God in these days to ask Him – really – why I am here. Not because I don’t want to be- but because it has been such an amazing blessing that I would love to share the experience with so many. During worship times, i often fill with tears –yesterday morning actually wept — as I join in the company of such amazing men and women of God who are sold out for the purposes of taking Jesus to every part of the world.

There are names of some you will know- Leighton Ford; Vonette Bright; Paul Cedar; our favorite Doug Birdsall!… but perhaps what has touched me the most are the names of those I didn’t know before coming… Timothy who is overseeing an organization in Nigeria that is sending out thousands of missionaries to other parts of the world…Andrea, who is a pastor and leader in Egypt running an NGO that …Judy and Esme who are organizing women all across Africa to further the Gospel…Roland from Germany who is doing ministry with youth across Europe…Mark who is teaching theology at a seminary in Singapore and is one of the most brillaint scholars working for Kingdom purposes….worshipping with these new friends has been a pre-taste of heaven.

I will write more when I return home. Thanks for those who have been praying for Eric and the kids. I have missed them tremendously, but am thankful for how well they are doing and Eric’s willing enthusiasm to let me serve here while he serves back in Japan.
Here are a few photos of my time so far:

The sidewalk cafes wherever one goes in Budapest are all that they are cracked up to be!

The city market…

I love the many windows decorated by flowers…

And getting to spend time with some favorite Asian Access friends: (Tammy Wise; Bobby Ryu; Doug and Jeanie Birdsall).

In just a few hours I will leave my husband and three children for five days and go half way around the world to Budapest, which is indeed a very very far away place for a worrier like me who imagines every possible worst-case scenario. I have been touched today by two fathers: one is Eric, who has been so great in encouraging me to attend the Lausanne leadership conference and been willing to do whatever it will take (which is quite a lot) to manage the three children and our lives while I am gone. This morning at breakfast I asked Owen and Annie why they love their Daddy. Owen said, “Because he’s special. And he plays with me.” I thought how simple but profound those words are — Eric is really special as a Dad. He will spend hours on the floor with the kids, doing whatever it is that they love doing. And doing it with such abandonment. I can’t do that — I am always thinking about what needs to happen next. Here’s to a great Dad!
Tonight, we went to our local mall’s food court for dinner. We had to take the elevator down to the first floor after dinner because we had Olivia in a cart… and happened by the large all-purpose room in the mall. We had never gone in before, but as we walked by we saw… pictures that children from around Sanda had drawn of their dads. We went in and saw a few by Owen’s classmates…then we saw Owen’s first artwork – his version of his very special Dad. I was so touched by this special surprise. The photos say it all.

And the second Father who touched me today spoke to me at our house church this morning about my fears of leaving: “But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. … May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” (2 Thess. 3: 3, 5). I really have had a lot of apprehension about this trip. But it vanished this morning as our Father brought me such comfort from the REALITY of abiding. I can trust Him with my family. I can trust that He will give me strength for each day (and Eric as well). And I need to continue to choose this sense of abiding in His love. As I read the last part quoted above, I had an image of the first time that I went to this new mall in our town. There were a number of entrances and exits, and a lot of cars also trying to figure out what to do. But thankfully the mall had hired parking attendants, who waved me down when I almost drove in the exit. With arms flailing in the air, waving beacons, this attendant directed me into the correct entrance lane and into a parking spot.
So it is with our Father. When i start to let my mind panic and go in the wrong direction, I need to come back to the waiting and waving One who is seeking to direct my mind and heart into the love of the Father. What a great place to park….

We would cherish your prayers in these days to come. I will be gone from Monday morning until Saturday morning, Japan time. If possible, I will try and post something from Budapest….

Last night we had a fun and festive birthday gathering at our home for two close friends, Megumi (pictured above with Olivia, photo taken by Owen!) and Claire (with the chips and mango salsa). Megumi (Mimi, as our kids call her) is a tent-maker English teacher who lives about 45 minutes away, and has been our friend for 8 years or so. She is like family to us- she often spends the weekends, and has provided babysitting services on occasion so we can get out. Claire- is one of our co-workers, and I am sure that our children have no idea that Auntie Claire is not really closely related, because she and her husband Bobby are very much part of our family. For real.

So, the challenge of course with a combined birthday party like this one is: what kind of cake do you make? I imagined if it was just for Megumi making some kind of make-up-shaped cake or perhaps a cake of “the Hatch” because she still hasn’t season Lost Season 2 yet and is dying to know what’s in the Hatch!… For Claire- I thought of doing a gold car, since they now own our old one… or a bathtub with a goop of hair in it (April Fools 2006- Claire has recently shared with a friend that she hates stray hair in bathrooms…. Eric and I go over for a visit, clean out our hairbrushes at home, sneak a pile of hair into the bathtub, and leave… one hour later her mother-in-law comes to visit- they are ALL rather shocked by what they find during the tour of the apartment… can’t figure out HOW it got there. They start wondering if someone snuck into the house and used the tub – it would have to be a VERY hairy person. Only later when we confessed did they realize.)

But none of these ideas would work because it was a party for BOTH of them. We finally thought of something that they both have in common –something that they both love but isn’t easy to come by in Japan. We love you, Claire and Megumi. Happy happy birthday.

(Yes, it’s a macaroni and cheese cake. Only much sweeter than you’re used to.)

Since Monday is our day off, we decided spontaneously yesterday late afternoon to pack a picnic and go to the park. On our way home, after dinner, the kids started chanting, “onsen!” “onsen!” (= hot springs). This is one of their favorite places- the hot springs public bath near our home. We consented, and stopped home to grab towels and pajamas and went and enjoyed soaking in the hot baths outside and inside (naked, segregated by gender, of course).
I had the two girls, and after coming out and getting pajamas on, there is a room containing large mirrors, blow dryers, brushes, lotions, etc. where women can primp and get ready to go back into the real world. We have discovered that Annie is quite the primper (Now really – should a 2-almost-3-year old already be a primper??) First she had to blow dry her hair…then clean her ears, then put on lotion…It takes her longer than me… Here are a few photos:

Here they are, all scrubbed up in the lobby:

One of their most favorite things about this particular public bath is the COW elevator that takes us down to our car. You really have to SEE it to believe it. Here they are waiting with great anticipation for its arrival up the hill:

Here it comes~!

Getting on, and going home:

And finally… a favorite photo from our day. It’s been a long, tiring day, but there are times when you just have to laugh.
We found Olivia with these seasoned, sour, li hing mui dried plums piled in her lap, filling her cheeks, and falling out of her chubby fingers.