from bulk buys to bright lights

getting a good deal is valued in every culture....getting a good deal in japan is not only valued, it's downright vital...esp on a missionary's budget...so today two of our asian access colleagues dropped some important tips on living smart and cheap in osaka-kobe...

...first, the takamotos took us to a familiar laboratory of wholesale living...

...yep, exact same look, exact same feel...

...nearly the exact same food too (notice the "bulgogi bake" (left) instead of the equally tasty chicken bake)...

...like in the states, each slice of pizza is super good, super big, and super cheap...

...surprise surprise...they even have those tasty rotisserie chickens...

...we enjoyed lunch (on the cheap!) with our fab mentors...much thanks to the takamotos!...

...that was the morning-afternoon session...from bulk buys we were off to the bright lights of osaka...we hopped on the subway from sonoda to umeda to meet a fellow CPA, nozomi...she wanted to show us the hustle and bustle and retail glitter of umeda, which is a main shopping district of osaka...there are some reasonable buys in this area...

...this being our first venture into the commerical jungles of osaka, we were glad to have nozomi -- a veteran explorer in these jungles -- as our able guide (wonder if the moravians looked like this?)...

...a must-go place is "the loft"...seven floors for the mogul, model, mechanic (or moravian!) in all of us (come visit and we'll take u there!)...

...east meets west at the loft -- very much a western department store...

except for a hard-to-miss shrine designated for its material success...

...the bookstores in osaka are mind-spinningly huge and stocked to the brim...

...yikes -- a harbinger of things to come?

...what a great time we had with nozomi, getting to know her more and sharing her joys of seeing God work in the japanese church (indeed God is at work!), yet at the same time yearning for God to draw many many more japanese men, women, and children to Truth and Meaning...it is apparent, not only from our conversation but from many others, that thanking God and trusting God need to go hand in hand as a daily ministry reality as it is a challenge to not get discouraged or overwhelmed here...thanking God for the victories seen in individual lives and trusting God to work in even more powerful, transformative ways in many more lives...

...on the late train home, we thanked God this day for the many good fruits that He has cultivated and brought to bear in the takamotos' and nozomi's lives...some fruits have taken a long time, others shorter...the impact of their lives will be seen most fully in heaven, but meanwhile, they live in a very thankful and trusting way before God and others...join us in thanking God for their witness and work for our heavenly Grocer...

...with our thankfulness comes our prayer to trust God even more for more fruit to bear in this nation of many diligent and dutiful workers (below is the typical line for the 11pm train)...