taste

::: in kobe the wide variety of our forms of christian outreach reflects the growing array of relational settings and structures we are discovering among japanese people...here's a taste from today...

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...in the morning we participated in a multi-church outreach event at kari's church in the sleepy town of yashiro...a short-term team from the u.s., spearheaded by an italian chef, conducted a cooking class for ten japanese housewives...the menu: bruschetta (appetizer), chicken and vegetable penne in a tomato-cream sauce (main), bananas foster (dessert)...with everyone having a good time, we believe that the church will be able to build on this good will in the community...

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...sharing secrets and showcasing his skills, chef anthony was on fire...

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...in the evening, claire and i trained to downtown kobe with kari and her close japanese friend, enjoying with a jam-packed seaside festival (matsuri) punctuated with an hour-long fireworks show...

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...everywhere we looked, people were dressed in traditional summer linens...

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...many couples were elegantly dressed like this...

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...and what's a festival without food?...lines of booths -- like this one serving tako-yaki -- simply make your mouth water...

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...long lines, however, make your knees wobble...

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...once you make your way to the booth, there's usually a colorful cast of characters waiting to serve you, like these two funny, raucous guys at the yakisoba booth...

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...at another booth, i saw in the eyes of this man a passion for yakisoba as hot as the grill...

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...the evening climaxed with a dazzling aerial show...

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..."now THAT'S," exclaimed our japanese friend during the finale, "a japanese fireworks show!"...

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...from a cooking class to sharing memories at a festival, outreach in japan provides a taste of everything...

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