Going to Church in Chacos...

Dear Everyone,


It is another hot and humid morning here in Kyoto, but the Lord is good and I can't wait to go to church shortly. I will get to see some of the people I met last year that I haven't seen since. Should be a great time. Due to limited bag space, I couldn't bring a nice pair of church shoes so I will be going to church in Chacos.. That's right. A nice long-sleeved collared shirt, khaki slacks, and Chacos. Hopefully I won't stick out too much...Today I will be sharing my testimony and singing a song without any music. Pray that the Lord would use His work in my life to touch someone's heart today. Also pray that I sound half decent for my song! After church, I will be staying with a half Japanese and half American family which I met last year. It will be great to see Tony and catch up. The next week is very uncertain after that and I could either be living and working with a Korean mission team who speaks hardly any English or helping with more English classes instead. I am happy to serve any way I can.
Last night was great time as well. I had the opportunity to have supper with Pastor Soma and his family which was incredible! His wife and one of his daughters were the only ones who could speak a lot of English but the Lord blessed our communication in such a way that it wasn't a problem. Believe it or not, my Japanese is improving every day. We had homemade sushi which involves building your own sushi with the different food items on the table. You start out with dried nori (seaweed), then place a thin layer of rice, a vegetable/random food item of you choice such as white radish sprouts, lettuce, or eggs, then pick the meat of your choice which included raw salmon, octopus, sardine, tuna, scallop, and squid. Once you pick your meat, you dip it in soy sauce, lay it on top of your other items on top of your nori, then roll and eat! It was delicious! I tried all of the raw meats and they were all good. Yes even raw octopus is tasty. Once the main course was over, we had homemade banana bread, cheesecake and a green tea popsicle. I was stuffed. After supper was over we had a great time of fellowship and laughter, then Pastor Soma brought me home. I can't wait to worship the Lord with my Japanese brothers and sisters soon. Please pray that God would empower His church in Japan and that many would hear the gospel. God is doing amazing things here in Japan but patience in key...Last but not least are the shout outs for the day. The first shout out goes to...the good ole' USA. Happy Birthday America. It is an interesting feeling being in a foreign country while your own country celebrates it's independence. There won't be any fireworks, BBQ's, Lee Greenwood, or American flags here today but I thank God for my country and will be praying for it today. The second shout out of the day goes to... Phil. Miss you brother and hope you are getting ready for level 4 at AIM. Keep up the good work and know you are in the home stretch. Also, another person here in Japan thought I looked like Tom Cruise. Remember the story with the man in temple market shouting at me because he thought I was Tom Cruise? Yeah. Except this time it was a guy from England. Go figure. Take care bud and I look forward to seeing you soon. Won't be able to post pictures for a while but hopefully in the next few updates. Thank you everyone for you support and I look forward to posting again soon!

Only By Grace,
CP