Girls Girls Girls!

This week, we have a special prayer request that is rather urgent. We have been hit very hard, since coming to Japan, by the weak dollar exchange rate and have lost roughly $250 to it in the 2.5 weeks we’ve been here. I am a poor accountant, but according to my estimations, we have less in our bank account than is necessary for the remainder of our trip. I apologize for coming before you again with a request for support, but if the Lord allows you, we would greatly appreciate any gift you feel lead to give. My parents have access to our bank account and you can make out a check to us and mail it to them or if you use paypal, you can send it to reedsinjapan@gmail.com My parents’ address is:

1655 Long Meadow Rd, Waynesboro VA 22980

Thank you for your continued commitment to this ministry and for your prayers.

Saturday I went to a Christian teens event that was for all the churches in Takamatsu. Since there are so few Christians in Japan, it’s really good for the ones from various churches to get together and see that they’re part of something bigger. I got to meet a 27 year-old pastor which makes him the youngest Japanese pastor I’ve met (by a mile! avg. pastor age – around 60). Afterwards I hurried over to the ESS movie night which everyone seemed to enjoy.

Meanwhile, Christina was quite busy elsewhere! Here’s her version of Saturday:

Last Saturday I went to one of the most famous Temple’s in Kagawa prefecture, Konpira is a Shinto Shrine. I went with a friend named Rina, who I  met while we were here as short term-ers. Rina and I instantly hit it off a couple years ago when we found out we both love cooking. It was a great opportunity for me to share with Rina why I wouldn’t participate in the normal things you do at the temple…like worship. If you are not familiar with asian culture, when they go to the temple, they usually give a little money and clap their hands to “wake the gods.” Rina understood that I am a Christian so I would not join her in that. I was able to ask her why she does it and she said that it was because it is just the Japanese culture, not quite understanding that it is in fact a worship of the wrong god. We also talked about Christmas and that was another opportunity to share with her that Christians do participate in the gift giving and parties, but we see the whole reason for Christmas as a reminder of the birth of Jesus. She said she believed that it was to celebrate Jesus’ birth also, but I think it ends at that. It was a great experience to be able to go with her there, and I was honored that she invited me.

Sunday, we had the honor of joining taking part of a dedication service for a very large new church that was purchased out in the country. All 6 of the Takamatsu church plants gathered together in worship and we got to see many old friends. There was also a gift presented by a family to the church for a large amount of money. Please pray that the leaders are able to delegate it well.

We took this thin little road to get to the church building

Afterwards, Christina met with an English student from last year named Naoe. She had such a busy week meeting with girls, that I asked her to write about it. This is what she wrote:

Sunday I was able to meet with a woman who was in the English class I taught before, Naoe. Naoe is very tuned to her culture; she participates in the temple worship as well as performs the traditional Japanese dance and tea ceremonies. She loves being Japanese! She also loves to travel. We caught each other up on what we’d been up to over the past year and then went to a Jewelry exhibition her friend was showing. She told me that she was very interested in the Bible stories that she had been hearing in English class and she recently bought a children’s Bible story book and she said she just loves it! She told me that she thought she knew more about the Bible than she actually did, so she wants to know more. Please pray for her interest to grow even more and that the missionaries here can continue to answer her questions. I feel like it would be very difficult for her to become a Christian being that she is so firm in her Japanese beliefs, but can you imagine the devotion she could have in Christianity! it would be amazing.

Monday Sarah and two other ESS girls and I met for dinner at a cute little omelet type restaurant. We ate a lot and then went to the mall to do “Purikura.” In the asian countries these things are everywhere! And so much fun too! Most arcade places have these little booth’s that you go in and there is a green screen behind you. It’s like a very advanced photo booth. The booth takes your picture and there is very bright light in there making your skin look flawless and a technology that makes your eyes look bigger and rounder. After you take your pictures you sit in another booth and decorate your pictures with designs and you can write all over your pictures. They then print out and you can stick them wherever you want. It’s so fun! After that, we had some tea and coffee and went to sing Karaoke. Karaoke is also so different here. You and your group of friends get your own little room with microphones and a huge TV and songs galore, including a huge range of English songs. We had a great time that night of girlie fun! these two college students are not Christians either, so please pray for them to start questioning their life.

Tuesday afternoon we had lunch with a church member who has always taken us out to really nice places to eat. She always treats us to a wonderful meal and good conversation. So far we have had Italian, Japanese, and next is Chinese

Wednesday I woke up at 6am to catch the train to a little town where another woman who was in my English class met me, and we went to an elementary school where she teaches English. We taught 3 classes of 5th graders, about 40 students in each class! It was a great time of fun. They treated me like a celebrity, wanting to shake my hand and play with my hair and ask me silly questions. They were so excited to have a foreigner in their classrooms. I enjoyed them very much. We finished around lunch time and Mayumi treated me to lunch and a workshop where we learned to make “wasambon,” a Japanese sweet that you normally drink with “matcha” (very strong green tea). Our lunch was in a wonderful italian restaurant that also served as a wedding site. There was an English style garden that we walked through when we were finished. Mayumi has excellent English, so we had no problem talking to each other. We talked about so many things, I can hardly remember them all. Mayumi spent a while in America and Canada, so she is familiar with the Christian belief, but she doesn’t show much interest. I was able to answer some questions she had about missionary life and what lead me here again. It was a great time. Please pray for her salvation as well. After lunch we went to a small house in downtown Takamatsu where we learned to make the traditional Japanese sweet. I was amazed at how simple it was to make!  I hope I can find the ingredients in America to show you all!

Matt: It was cool to use my skills to help out the church in Japan

Thursday Matt and I went to a Japanese Christian friends house where we often went during our short term trip for japanese language practice. Chikako always opened up her home to us for tea time and snacks. We always enjoy going to her house and playing with her miniature dogs. Her husband pastors one of the churches here. we spent the entire day there, helping her make a church Christmas flyer. It was fun spending that time with her. She also cooked delicious food for us!

Lastly, we wrapped up our evening with the last ESS meeting we’ll be able to go to this trip. It was bittersweet. Mark lead a discussion about all the intricacies and necessities for life that God created and that evolution could never produce. Please keep us in your prayers as we pray about our future and please pray over each one mentioned here. Many are just one small step from knowing Christ. Your partners in the Gospel,

Matt & Christina Reed