beautify...glorify

...our morning started with an invitation into a wonderful concept in japanese life...once a month neighbors gather and work together to beautify the neighborhood...because we are new to the 'hood, we wanted to make a positive impression among our neighbors...

...what a crisp, gorgeous morning for neighborhood cleanup!...

...not surprisingly, our neighbors are super diligent and organized!...

...not only cleanup, but community: in answer to our prayer, God gave us opportunities to exchange smiles and some basic japanese phrases with our neighbors (below, our neighbor is politely asking claire to teach english to his eighth-grade daughter)...

...our building crew wrapped things up in 40 minutes...

...yielding more beautiful grounds and better neighborhood harmony...

...blooper time: we quickly discovered that our broom and brush were for indoor use only....everyone else had outdoor wick brooms...oh well, i guess we'll be the butt of neighborhood jokes for a month...will definitely get wick brooms next time we're in the 100-yen store...in any case, for three years we will have ample occasions to build bridges with our neighbors...may God use such occasions (even our bloopers) for his kingdom...

...after neighborhood cleanup, we walked across the street to the community center and participated in another form of community: sunday morning service at gakuentoshi chapel...though we are small in number (eight total including us), our church's vision for the kingdom and love for each other are big...

...with clarity and composure, brother minoru preached on genesis 24.1-27 re the importance of prayerfully seeking God's promises in the midst of difficulty or uncertainty...

...after service ended at 11:45, our church members came to our house for lunch and fellowship...no cars or subway necessary...our house is a 1 minute walk across the street...below is the view from the entrance of the community center looking to the units where we live...

...radiant sister yoko is the queen of the kitchen (and she's a superb teacher as well)!...

...with many helping hands, in no time we all sat down to a light lunch of japanese-style eggplant-mushroom spaghetti and sides, followed by tea and pastries...

...what rich conversation and fellowship we experienced!...there's something special when a small, intimate handful of people sit around a table and just talk...from their hearts...and we share prayer requests and pray earnestly to God...it is just sooo REAL and REFRESHING...i can't put it any other way...trust me: everyone around the table is a living exhibit (and ongoing example) of God's wonderful grace and steadfast love...this is the kind of community that many of us hunger for...our church never meets without praying for each other...that's cool!...our church desires to be the kind of christian community that will attract many of our neighbors here in gakuentoshi...what an inspiration they are to us...

...keeping on the theme of inspiration, one of our members suggested that we make our home a place of prayer, where we can gather regularly to pray for our neighborhood...we all agreed and were inspired...this desire to pray together moves us deeply...we truly thank God for the wonderful church with whom He's called us to serve...we love you GC!...