A Splendid Sunday

After being in Japan for a month, Kris and I finally made it to church.  If I'm being completely honest, I didn't really mind having my Sundays to relax and sleep in for the past few weeks.  As a former youth leader, sometimes church felt like "work" to me.  Not the being around people or the worshipping God part, but more so the getting up early on Sunday, coming home for a few hours, and then going back to work.  After 3 years, it gets a little exhausting.  So to not go to church for a few weeks was kind of nice. In our defense, I (Kris) have to add that we were at the cabin last week and sick the week before :-)

But after finally making it to church today, I realized how much I missed being a part of a community of believers and how very very much I miss my home church, Orchard Hill Church.  I haven't stopped missing my small group or the middle school and high school girls, but now I realized I also miss the music and the teaching and catching up with people in the lobby before and after the service more that I thought I did.  It's a reminder that we weren't made to go it alone -- we were created to reflect the love community of the Holy Trinity. 

So this Sunday we woke up early and went with some friends to Praise Community Church, a small bilingual church community that meets in a bar on Sunday mornings. The bar was called the Soul Life for Black Music Lovers. Could you imagine the reaction to a sign like that in America? What a cool experience it was! It is a small gathering (this morning 20 people) of Americans and Japanese Christians. The Japanese people we met were friendly and welcoming. 

We sang songs in English and Japanese.  The songs in Japanese had Kanji and the English characters, so we could listen and try to sing along.  If you've never experienced people worshipping God in another language, you really should do it some time -- it is amazing! It really was amazing. I could tell the Holy Spirit was there with us while we sang and prayed. Too bad there was no Pentecost miracle involved. When I lived in America, I knew that God was the same and was present no matter my location on the globe; but this morning, as I was praising God in another language with Japanese Christians in a small bar in Sendai, that knowledge became an internalized reality.  In a time when so much is foreign and new and different, to know that we were all worshipping the same God, who is the same God that was with me in the States and that the people at OHC are worshipping, is comforting and amazing.

The pastor's talk was in Japanese, but one person in the back translated for us.  So if you think it's hard to concentrate or understand what the pastor in your church is saying, try it with a language barrier! lol 

Because it was the first Sunday of the month, after the service there was a birthday celebration for everyone with birthdays in March.  Some of the church members had made delicious desserts and food to share with everyone for the celebration.  This was really the best part of the church, when we got to share a meal with everyone and really talk with some of the people we just met.  And the food was FANTASTIC!!!


After church, we came home and it was warm enough we could leave our windows open to air out the apartment and our futons.  (That's right, be jealous Pittsburghers!)  We relaxed and started to plan our spring break trip at the end of the month to Tokyo and DisneySea. 

For dinner, we walked to Tirol, a delicious Italian place that Alycia (a new teacher who was an intern at MeySen last year) recommended to us.  It was SO GOOD! Amen! Lucky for us they had English menus and one of the waitresses spoke English.  While we were eating, I noticed that this little Italian restaurant in Japan was playing American country music!  What a clash of the cultures lol!

Another thing about Japan, is that they love them some punch-cards!  We got punch cards for Tirol so that each time we come, we get closer to a free meal.  And at Starbucks I got a punch card for buying a bag of coffee, again getting closer to something free each time I buy.  And tons of restaurants will give you coupons after your meal for the next time you come back. Our favorite Udon place gives us tickets for each bowl we buy and once we collect 5 we get a free bowl (which we already did haha).  So my love of couponing is not totally lost in this country!