like clockwork

today sue, our asian access team mentor, took us to our new home in gakuen-toshi (pronounced gak-oo-wen-toh-shee)...she was as excited as we were since it was the first time she was laying eyes on our place...

...uncle nishioka (left) and uncle kokubu were there to greet us and show us our new place...these guys are all business, but we love these two new "uncles" who -- in quiet, modest ways -- make us feel so loved and cared for...these two men are gentle and humble servants of God...each day they both rise early and go home at midnight...yet they devote so much of their precious free time to serving God thru this church plant...

...our home totally blew us away...it is spacious, clean, well-designed and wonderfully furnished (thanks to the donations of our church)...quick praise report : right before we moved in, the church team still needed several major pieces of furniture...they asked God and He provided...our real estate agent heard about the need and told our church team that another client of his (a landlord) had all this unwanted furniture to get rid of because his tenant abandoned his unit...turns out, the pieces of unwanted furniture were exactly what our church plant asked God for!...praise God!

...in our elegant tatami (bamboo-mat) room, we had a light lunch with members of the gakuen-toshi chapel team and the pastor of our mother church, makio kodairu-sensei (sensei="teacher")...

...i thanked everyone and was asked to give a little speech (i'm quickly realizing that i need to have a speech or brief sermon on "ready-set-go" mode bc at group events i may be asked at any time to say something)...

...with uncle nishioka translating (pictured above left), i took this opportunity to thank God for the awesome gift of His salvation in each of our lives, the fragrant gift of our new friendship for the sake of the gospel in japan...

...which, in turn, transitioned well into a time of giving them the gifts we bought for them in america...

... left to right (below): izumi, mrs. kokubu, and kotomi agree that fragrant soaps from bath and body works are soo goi! (that's good!)...

...though weary after arriving yesterday from a conference in korea, makio-sensei (below) nonetheless was bubbling w/ excitement...

...whoa...i think uncle nishioka (below) is getting a little too excited!...who says that japanese businessmen have no sense of humor?...

...these soaps were a huge hit...

...

...the lull after lunch offered claire, sue, and yoko (below left to right) a good chance to bond...

...soon after lunch, everyone went to task --> setting up our home, japanese-style!...

...claire and izumi preparing the bedding...

...peace izumi!!!

...kotomi laying down paper for the sandal/shoe shelf...

...joshua connecting us to cyberspace (yeah we too noticed how gargantuan our pc looked next to his)...

...importantly, uncles nishioka and kokubu wanted us to prepare "we're new to the neighborhood" gifts to our neighbors...in japan, newcomers go around and present a gift to each immediate neighbor, saying "hello, i am so-and-so...i humbly ask for your favor (yoroshiku onegaishimasu)"...

...here's claire wrapping up our gift of a towel and a bath/body works soap...

...after our church team diligently helped us set up our home and after we met several of our neighbors (thank God uncle kokubu was there to translate!), we went to price club for some "foreign" products like ketchup, syrup, etc...

...then we went to midori (an electronics superstore) to buy an oven...

...here everyone parks rear first...

...i love the bite-size cars that buzz around like bugs...

...after a long day of preparing and purchasing stuff for our home, we shared a good meal and friendship-building conversation with the nishiokas, minoru (left) and yoko:

...aren't minoru and yoko so beautiful?...their smiles radiate God's grace...we're so glad to be able to share their journey with u...please join us in thanking and praising God for the nishiokas...they are an answer to prayer in many ways...already we feel quite "at home" with them...they both love to laugh...not only do they make us laugh, but after 15 yrs of marriage, they still make each other laugh...yoko, especially, is a comedian...the fact that they have such a healthy marriage is such a sign of encouragement to us...God is truly the center and source of their marriage and ministry together in osaka-kobe...