Week 5 in Japan 2023

This week we continued to grow in our learning of the language and putting that into practice with our outreach connections.  One notable item overall was moving to a new neighbourhood for the month of November. 

Oct 29:

Today we went to our first all-english church of the trip. It was in Okinawa (city).  We had some encouraging interactions with people at the church. After, we went to a large local mall where we did some intentional outreach. 

Us (Wes left, Jesse right) at the mall.

Interestingly, at the beginning of this time in the mall, we had a small religious group that came to us. We had some theological debate. Later at the mall we attempted to share the gospel to different degrees of effectiveness with a few different groups.

Oct 30:

In this picture here we find an unsuspecting Canadian man in his unnatural habitat trying to adapt.

Wes studying.

How does he try to adapt you say? He does this through studying the Japanese language and putting it into practice.

How does he practice, one might wonder? Well in short, he goes and talks with local people, he practices vocabulary with the other Canadian (Jesse) on walks, and pays attention to his surroundings. He also eats Japanese food.

Oct 31:

Today, we had some good interactions with the kids at the community centre. It was the most kids we encountered at the centre to date.

In the evening, we went to the harbour to see the large boat shown below. We then connected with 2 people in the evening and attempted to share the gospel with one of them.

Large boat at the harbour.

Nov 1:

At the community centre today we met some new kids and had a nice chat with one of the staff.

We went for a prayer walk in the evening for our neighborhood. On this walk we shared the gospel with a Belgium woman and a Japanese man who were touring the country on bike. We also had some other interactions where we shared about God's love.

Nov 2:

Today we became nomads again for a portion of the day and hauled our luggage around. After class, we went to a planned event for the students at a nursing school to learn about foreign cultures. We and the students had a great time during our interview. We shared about Canada, Jesus, and God. Wes had the opportunity to pray for the students. Jesse got to share his testimony. We shared this website (godlyliving.org) with them.

Nov 3:

Today was Culture Day, which is a holiday.  Later in the day, after some studying and other tasks, we went on a trip to the Okinawa Prefectural Museum where we had focused time learning about Okinawa/Okinawan history.

Later in the evening while Wesley was spending some time in a local park, a very good connection developed with an older local Okinawan woman who was in troubling circumstances. Wes was able to share about God's love through Jesus Christ. After briefly connecting with Jesse back at our place, he picked up and gave her an English and Japanese Bible which we got from a hotel in Tokyo! We were also able to support her in some practical ways.

Nov 4:

In the morning Wes returned to the weekly English class party at the community centre (he first attended last week) and Jesse came too this time! It was a great time of connecting with students. We were invited by the teacher for a meal sometime.

We went to a new store to buy food that is closer to our new apartment. Does it look similar?

Grocery store near new apartment.

While Jesse was on his way to a store he was asked by a Japanese man who was a YouTuber to do an interview. The interview went well and Jesse had the opportunity to share why he came to Japan.

Wes had the chance today to follow up with the lady he met at the park yesterday, and was able to share more about the gospel. They were able to discuss some concepts from scripture and despite her circumstances she was very encouraged.