November Update

SUMMER

This summer was lots of fun at Okutama Bible Chalet.   Many groups come to OBC; they enjoy the summer camp program which says to me that camp was a success.

The highlight for the summer was the fact that my mom and dad took vacation time to come out and visit me in Japan.  They were able to see the ministry of OBC and I had the opportunity to be a tourist with them as well. While being tourists in the Mt. Fuji area we visited Jenn and Steve Frentz at the Torchbearer Yamanakako campus where they work; mom and dad hosted Jenn and Steve when they travelled through the Abbotsford area while I was getting ready to go to Japan with SEND Int.  The highlight during my mom and dad’s visit was hiking Mt. Fuji. It was cloudy at the base but once we hiked for about 3 hours we were above the clouds and it was a beautiful day. Unfortunately neither mom nor dad made it to the top but we still enjoyed each other’s company on the way up until they had to turn around. Mom hiked up for 2.5 hours until she was too wet from the light drizzle of rain and dad hiked to the 8th station which is an hour from the top; he had to turn around because of altitude sickness. Dad and I have already talked about attempting it again during their next visit.

TORCHBEARERS

Last month my ministry changed and I have joined the staff at Torchbearers Yamanakako near Mount Fuji. I’ve only been here for two weeks and a staff member just got news from home that his family needs him to return to Canada. Torchbearers is already under staffed; if I had not been reassigned to serve here, Torchbearers would be really struggling to maintain the quality of service that they want to give to their guests. I see how God has moved me to where I am most needed rather than necessarily where I felt at home.

One opportunity I have had is to serve a local Christian who has been having some health issues on the farming plot near his home. Mr. Shimizu is a great guy and is a great witness to his neighbours. Because Braydon and I are foreigners working with him, we get a lot of attention from his neighbours which gives him the freedom to share where we are from and why we are helping him. He is also very generous with the produce of his land with his neighbours. 

Before my reassignment within SEND to Torchbearers Yamanakako I took some time to reflect about my call to serve in Japan and I was reminded of the fact that God continually asks me to hold “Japan” with open hands. I have to be available to where and when God wants to move me here in Japan or back in Canada. I may be here in Japan for a short season or years but the primary focus and the reason for me to serve is to reach the lost; and that can be done anywhere He asks me to go.

Please pray as I have moved and I am adjusting to my new living arrangements at Torchbearers Yamanakako.

Please pray for the OBC staff as they adjust to one less staff member to cover all of the daily tasks.

Please pray for Torchbearers Yamanakako staff as we go through our own staffing transitions.

March Update

December

Hello Friends,

Early December OBC staff did a ministry trip to Sendai City in Miyagi ken. We organized an advent presentation sharing the reason why Christians celebrate Christmas. Those serving in the East Tohoku have a very special opportunity to share the love Christ with the people displaced since the tsunami. It was a joy to serve at the temporary housing facilities and it was encouraging to see what has been rebuilt since the last time I was there in July 2011.

In mid-December I attended the Christmas concert at Tachikawa Station Front Church. One of the volunteers from Adult English Camp last summer invited former campers to attend. It was fun to see so many, we all enjoyed a good time of visiting, reconnecting and supper together afterwards.

Just before New Year’s I had the opportunity to go to Disney Tokyo; I really enjoy Disneyland. I even got to see the Captain Eo movie, with Michel Jackson, which I saw at the Anaheim Disneyland 20 years ago. Although it was great fun to see something in Japan I remember enjoying as a child, it wasn’t as good as I remember it...maybe I had bad taste as a child.

January

At the beginning of the month I picked up my primary vehicle, a 250cc Suzuki Volty. It’s a little smaller than the motorbike I had in Canada but much newer and rode it until 

the snow came.  Now I’m waiting for the snow to melt and roads clear.

With the help of Angela May, the SEND language coordinator, I have a language tutor that I have been connecting with on a weekly basis. I was also introduced to a new community run Japanese class which is run very well.  I find it a little frustrating at times; I am more advanced than a beginner but not advanced enough to formulate sentences without long pauses.

I've even found a group of people to play squash with.  This was a sport I enjoyed before I came to Japan; it is fun and I don't need any language skills to play. I'm definitely not the best player there but I think the players find me entertaining because I am faster than they expect and there is only one other left-hand player at the club that I have met.  Squash is also fun way to connect with people outside of camp and the church.

February

This was the month for snow; it actually snowed twice here in Tokyo. The first snowfall broke a 45-year old record with over a foot of snow. The second snowfall broke a 120-year old record; here in the Tama Valley this meant all means of transportation was on lock down. Even if I could have gotten the car out of the driveway I couldn’t have gone anywhere except to maybe the grocery store which is only a 10 minute walk from my house. Two-lane highways were reduced to single lanes and the streets by my house were reduced to not much more than single lane traffic so driving wasn’t much of an option. The trains didn’t run up the valley for a whole week after the second snowfall because of downed trees and 7 meters of snow blocking the entrance to one of the tunnels.  It may have been pretty but I was stuck at home for 4 days.

March

This month is the time when things starts up again at OBC. We still have snow piles on the property but the ume (green plum) trees are blooming and the cherry trees should only be a few weeks behind. On the 22nd we will have our first OBC sponsored camp, an International Soccer Camp, following this is the Japanese soccer camp and spring break Bible camp.

There is a staff change happening at OBC this year which will mean something new for me.  Chris Milby our English camps coordinator is retiring so I have been asked to take on this position. The soccer camps will the first camp running after I start this job. It is my responsibility to communicate with the directors of our English speaking camps.  I expect the learning curve to be a little steep but I have plenty of support people to back me up here in the OBC office.

And, with Chris retiring from the mission field, I’ll also be teaching her two English classes on Monday afternoons. Besides playing squash, this will be another opportunity where I will enjoy getting to know more new people here in Japan.

Your Brother in Christ,

Karl Friesen