Sunday, 31 March 2013
Ezra's birthday and Easter day
It's been a great day celebrating a first birthday with Ezra and Easter day with Tokorozawa Vineyard but it's late and we're going to bed. Proper posts on this tomorrow :)
Noise
Astro |
Jar Excretion |
If you've not been to a noise gig before then... it's hard to describe. It is actually music, improvised performances, but there's no tune or words, just lots of sounds, mostly electronically generated. It's also mostly very loud, like being a very loud club, except at this gig we were in a small room with about 20 people.
Each artist played for about 20 mins then there was a 20 mins break for set down and set up for the next artist, drinks and chat (no scope for that while the music is playing!)
Blackphone666 |
My favourite of the evening was Jar Excretion who used a sample of a wave crashing against the shore throughout, and his style of performance was minimal, he hardly moved at all throughout except his fingers to adjust the dials on his boxes, which, in a strange sort of way, brought a stillness to it (though it was only a bit less loud than some of the others).
Blackphone666 was the wildest of the sets. Yes he does actually use an old-school telephone as part of his sound input. His piece was fairly quiet for the first half then went full on volume for the concluding half - pretty extreme!
Dave and I were able to spend some time talking to some of these guys and it was good to share thoughts on life with some of them.
Saturday, 30 March 2013
A day at home with the Skippers...
We were planning to have a quiet day today, and when we saw it was raining again this morning we were happy to be able to spend the day at home.
It has been a busy day of colouring
Reading
Building
Dave did some work in his office
But was distracted by Ezra needing to tidy under his desk
Heidi did some practice as she is leading worship at church tomorrow
And baked a cake for Ezra's birthday
Ezra tried to escape through the door
And we did some more colouring
Maybe not such a quiet day after all!!!
Robby and Dave have gone to a Noise gig this evening, so more on that later.
Monday 1st fairly quiet day again, then Dave and Heidi have the chance to go out in the evening.
Tuesday 2nd visit to the Tokyo-Edo architectural museum with a friend from church. In the evening Dave and Heidi's mission team are coming round in the evening for a meal, to pray and to prepare for the whole mission's retreat which is coming up in a few weeks.
Wednesday 3rd day trip out to Kamakura, south of Tokyo near the coast - both cultural and beautiful
Thursday 4th visit from Kanako and Ricky in the afternoon (they have just moved back to Tokyo after a secondment in a different city) and then Heidi and Caroline will go out in the evening, possibly with Rachel - Heidi's friend from YWAM
Friday 5th visit to the Ghibli museum, and packing
Saturday 6th saying goodbyes :( flight home at 1335 Tokyo time, arriving 1930 London time
As you can see this is more of a holiday week, but we will continue to pray for various things going on here in Tokyo and will pass on prayer requests as we come across them.
It has been a busy day of colouring
Reading
Building
Dave did some work in his office
But was distracted by Ezra needing to tidy under his desk
Heidi did some practice as she is leading worship at church tomorrow
And baked a cake for Ezra's birthday
Ezra tried to escape through the door
And we did some more colouring
Maybe not such a quiet day after all!!!
Robby and Dave have gone to a Noise gig this evening, so more on that later.
Proposed itinerary for this next week
Sunday 31st church followed by pot luck lunch, Heidi will do a voice training session 3-4 for some of the worship leaders and somewhere between getting up and going to bed for Kira and Ezra there will be easter eggs and birthday presents.Monday 1st fairly quiet day again, then Dave and Heidi have the chance to go out in the evening.
Tuesday 2nd visit to the Tokyo-Edo architectural museum with a friend from church. In the evening Dave and Heidi's mission team are coming round in the evening for a meal, to pray and to prepare for the whole mission's retreat which is coming up in a few weeks.
Wednesday 3rd day trip out to Kamakura, south of Tokyo near the coast - both cultural and beautiful
Thursday 4th visit from Kanako and Ricky in the afternoon (they have just moved back to Tokyo after a secondment in a different city) and then Heidi and Caroline will go out in the evening, possibly with Rachel - Heidi's friend from YWAM
Friday 5th visit to the Ghibli museum, and packing
Saturday 6th saying goodbyes :( flight home at 1335 Tokyo time, arriving 1930 London time
As you can see this is more of a holiday week, but we will continue to pray for various things going on here in Tokyo and will pass on prayer requests as we come across them.
Cherry Blossom update report.
This is the cherry blossom tree we can see from our bedroom, the blossom is beginning to fall now though, so we don't know how much longer we will see it. It has been great to see it for so long though.Friday, 29 March 2013
Local prayer walk
Today we went walking around a couple of the other important places for the Skipper family and praying there for them and the things that go on there.
First we went to Kurume Christ Church, which is where Heidi runs her children's choir from. It has a number of missionary families who attend and a fairly packed programme of events. It's making inroads into the local community; the church has been there for 50 years. Tomorrow it's running an Easter egg hunt!
We went on to the CAJ building where Heidi runs her Harmony group but which also is the base for CRASH (the emergency relief group which we linked with last time we were here after the tsunami) and others who head up the adult Gospel choirs of which Heidi runs one.
Next was Kira's new youchien (your-chee-en): the new pre-school she starts on the 10th. She finished at her nursery a few days ago and is looking forward to making new friends in a new place.
Lunch was fun: sushi from a conveyor belt.
- For Heidi's children's choir. The children who come really enjoy it but the numbers are small at the moment and it would be better if a few more were able to join.
- For a venue for the December Gospel choir concert. The joint choirs are now so big they're struggling to find a reasonably priced venue with all the facilities required.
- For our itinerary over the next few days as there are still a few things to sort.
First we went to Kurume Christ Church, which is where Heidi runs her children's choir from. It has a number of missionary families who attend and a fairly packed programme of events. It's making inroads into the local community; the church has been there for 50 years. Tomorrow it's running an Easter egg hunt!
We went on to the CAJ building where Heidi runs her Harmony group but which also is the base for CRASH (the emergency relief group which we linked with last time we were here after the tsunami) and others who head up the adult Gospel choirs of which Heidi runs one.
Next was Kira's new youchien (your-chee-en): the new pre-school she starts on the 10th. She finished at her nursery a few days ago and is looking forward to making new friends in a new place.
Lunch was fun: sushi from a conveyor belt.
Prayer points
Please pray:- For Heidi's children's choir. The children who come really enjoy it but the numbers are small at the moment and it would be better if a few more were able to join.
- For a venue for the December Gospel choir concert. The joint choirs are now so big they're struggling to find a reasonably priced venue with all the facilities required.
- For our itinerary over the next few days as there are still a few things to sort.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Harmony Party
Hi,
It's Heidi writing. We had a great time on Wednesday at the Harmony Easter Party! Usually we have about 6-10 families join Harmony each week, but it was lovely that many more joined us for the party. We had 26 children and their mums! As well as celebrating (a slightly early) Easter, this was also a kind of end-of-school-year party. In April many of the kids will start going to pre-school, so their Harmony era is over but they will be able to join the new Harmony+ group.
The morning went really smoothly, the atmosphere was great and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves!
We started the morning with our usual singing session.
This is us as snapping crocodiles!
It was great to have pastor Araki from our local Vineyard church share the Easter message with the families. For many this would have been the first time they heard it.
Next up was crafts: decorating eggs!
We shared lunch together and for dessert everyone enjoyed the goodies brought over from the UK!
Here is a picture of the whole group (minus Ezra)
At the end we were able to hand out a book to all the kids that are moving on from Harmony, and all the kids were given a chocolate egg and an origami Easter bunny.
Some concluding words:
To quote my husband, "It was surprisingly calm!" Robby and Caroline, when asked about the party, described it as: a lovely atmosphere, just a lot of fun, everyone was happy, joining in and enjoying it.
It's Heidi writing. We had a great time on Wednesday at the Harmony Easter Party! Usually we have about 6-10 families join Harmony each week, but it was lovely that many more joined us for the party. We had 26 children and their mums! As well as celebrating (a slightly early) Easter, this was also a kind of end-of-school-year party. In April many of the kids will start going to pre-school, so their Harmony era is over but they will be able to join the new Harmony+ group.
The morning went really smoothly, the atmosphere was great and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves!
We started the morning with our usual singing session.
This is us as snapping crocodiles!
It was great to have pastor Araki from our local Vineyard church share the Easter message with the families. For many this would have been the first time they heard it.
Next up was crafts: decorating eggs!
We shared lunch together and for dessert everyone enjoyed the goodies brought over from the UK!
Here is a picture of the whole group (minus Ezra)
At the end we were able to hand out a book to all the kids that are moving on from Harmony, and all the kids were given a chocolate egg and an origami Easter bunny.
Some concluding words:
To quote my husband, "It was surprisingly calm!" Robby and Caroline, when asked about the party, described it as: a lovely atmosphere, just a lot of fun, everyone was happy, joining in and enjoying it.
Easter meditation
Thank you for your prayers about the Easter meditation/labyrinth. I have no photos of this as I was leading it and Robby was helping. Dave was looking after Kira and Ezra so Heidi could participate.
I had been a bit concerned how a labyrinth, which is designed for people to access individually following a path round the room with different stations to engage with, might work doing it all communally from the front. There were just a few ladies who can't get to church on a Sunday so they come to the Thursday service. They seemed to be engaging with the different activities quite well, and were certainly praying at various points. I had not expected much in the way of feedback as that is not the Japanese way, but one lady hugged me at the end of the service - very unusual. We then went for a picnic with them all to a nearby park and after we had eaten Araki asked if any of them would like to share how they found the meditation. They all shared which was so special, it had all spoken to them in very different ways, but doing it communally is a much more Japanese way of interacting with something like this. At the end of the meditation they all received a palm cross and an Easter card to take home. Araki asked them to remember how they had felt during the service and what God had said to them as they saw the card and the cross in the coming days - continue to pray that God will speak to them as they think of all they thought about and prayed today.
Prayer requests
We are doing another prayer walk tomorrow, a local one round the mission place where harmony meets, one of the churches where Heidi runs an adult choir and a kids choir and we will also see Kira's new school. Please pray that the weather will be good - we had a glorious day today, but there has been rain in the air and it would be so much better to be walking in the dry, and even sunshine (sorry I am aware that the weather is awful in the UK!)
We need to plan next week a bit more and particularly to schedule in an evening where Dave and Heidi can go out for an evening by themselves. Pray that we can fit it into everything else we want to/need to do.
Cherry blossom update report
Today was the day I have been looking forward to all week - we had a Hanami - a cherry blossom picnic. It was even more beautiful than I had imagined. We feel so fortunate. Sometimes the blossom is only here for 3-4 days as for example if it becomes very windy all the blossom can blow off over night, and we have already had 6 days of it - wow God is good. Doing this reminded me of a picnic we had last year with some of Robby's family and Charlotte in Pembroke Dock on a cold Easter Saturday.
I had been a bit concerned how a labyrinth, which is designed for people to access individually following a path round the room with different stations to engage with, might work doing it all communally from the front. There were just a few ladies who can't get to church on a Sunday so they come to the Thursday service. They seemed to be engaging with the different activities quite well, and were certainly praying at various points. I had not expected much in the way of feedback as that is not the Japanese way, but one lady hugged me at the end of the service - very unusual. We then went for a picnic with them all to a nearby park and after we had eaten Araki asked if any of them would like to share how they found the meditation. They all shared which was so special, it had all spoken to them in very different ways, but doing it communally is a much more Japanese way of interacting with something like this. At the end of the meditation they all received a palm cross and an Easter card to take home. Araki asked them to remember how they had felt during the service and what God had said to them as they saw the card and the cross in the coming days - continue to pray that God will speak to them as they think of all they thought about and prayed today.
Prayer requests
We are doing another prayer walk tomorrow, a local one round the mission place where harmony meets, one of the churches where Heidi runs an adult choir and a kids choir and we will also see Kira's new school. Please pray that the weather will be good - we had a glorious day today, but there has been rain in the air and it would be so much better to be walking in the dry, and even sunshine (sorry I am aware that the weather is awful in the UK!)
We need to plan next week a bit more and particularly to schedule in an evening where Dave and Heidi can go out for an evening by themselves. Pray that we can fit it into everything else we want to/need to do.
Cherry blossom update report
Today was the day I have been looking forward to all week - we had a Hanami - a cherry blossom picnic. It was even more beautiful than I had imagined. We feel so fortunate. Sometimes the blossom is only here for 3-4 days as for example if it becomes very windy all the blossom can blow off over night, and we have already had 6 days of it - wow God is good. Doing this reminded me of a picnic we had last year with some of Robby's family and Charlotte in Pembroke Dock on a cold Easter Saturday.
Cherry blossom picnic in Pembroke Dock April 6 2012 |
Cherry blossom picnic March 28 2013 |
Some of the people from the church setting out the picnic |
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Harmony
If yesterday was about Dave's ministry then today was about Heidi's, as we all went along to the mum's and toddlers music and movement group, Harmony. I'll expand this post more later (tomorrow our time) and we might have a second guest blogger, but for now I'll leave you with...
Prayer request
Tomorrow morning Caroline will be leading a series of short meditations with a group at Tokorozawa Vineyard church. It'll be full of challenges, culturally and in translation, but please pray that people will be open to hear God speaking through that.Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Pray for Noise!?
Hi,
Dave here.
Today it was a real privilege to share some of my hidden
haunts with Heidi, Ezra, Robby & Caroline. It was really good to be
able to have these guys come and see where I go and to have them pray
for me and my friends.
At each place I shared some context and stories about the venue and also about 3 key musician friends (mostly noise musicians with a smattering of jazz dudes too). I really love these guys I'm getting to know, and am excited that our future, by God's grace, will move into deeper friendships.
I
also got inspired to do more mini-prayer-tours like this with other
Christians I know here in Tokyo. All in all an encouraging and
refreshing day (oh yeah and lunch was awesomely delicious too)!
Tokyo day
Today we've had a fantastic day visiting some of the venues Dave plays at and visits to hear his friends. Dave will be a guest blogger later with information about our prayer walk, but here are some things we saw today as we were out and about. We think we walked about 7km as well as travelling on many trains around the city.
Itinerary update
We aren't now going up to Iwaki to the area that Robby, Dave, Liz and Danny went to last time we came. Unfortunately the team up there couldn't have us at this time. We will now be going to Tokorozawa church on Thursday and for a picnic after the service with Pastor Araki and others. On Friday we will do the local prayer walk around Kira's new school, the place where harmony meets and the church where Heidi runs a couple of choirs. There are various possibilities for Saturday which are still being worked out.
Cherry Blossom Report Update.
As we were more in the city today we didn't see so much cherry blossom and if we did it was generally from the train so we couldn't take photo. We did notice though that cherry blossom is really everywhere, on posters, in food, artificially in shops etc. Apparently it is 10 days earlier this year than last so we feel very fortunate to be seeing it.
R2D2 outside a phone shop |
Part of Caroline's lunch - raw salmon, raw tuna and raw octopus! |
the sign above a children's clothing shop |
The iconic crossing at Shibuya as seen from the station |
Itinerary update
We aren't now going up to Iwaki to the area that Robby, Dave, Liz and Danny went to last time we came. Unfortunately the team up there couldn't have us at this time. We will now be going to Tokorozawa church on Thursday and for a picnic after the service with Pastor Araki and others. On Friday we will do the local prayer walk around Kira's new school, the place where harmony meets and the church where Heidi runs a couple of choirs. There are various possibilities for Saturday which are still being worked out.
Cherry Blossom Report Update.
As we were more in the city today we didn't see so much cherry blossom and if we did it was generally from the train so we couldn't take photo. We did notice though that cherry blossom is really everywhere, on posters, in food, artificially in shops etc. Apparently it is 10 days earlier this year than last so we feel very fortunate to be seeing it.
Cherry blossom lining a city street |
artificial cherry blossom in the station. |
Monday, 25 March 2013
Tokyo trip: river boat and park
Today was another
fairly chilled settling in day. Robby and I are still getting over jet
lag and have times of being fine and other times of being very tired or
feeling that the room is moving. Dave took Kira to nursery then spent
the day working from home, while Heidi, Ezra, Robby and I went out into
Tokyo to experience more of the city and see some of the sights.
Almost anywhere we go involves a walk and then one or more trains and today was no exception. Our first journey ended by the main river which flows through Tokyo and we took a sightseeing boat first down then up the river. All along the embankment were more cherry blossom and we enjoyed seeing more of the city. We were travelling south towards Tokyo bay and our journey on the boat ended at a park.
Food - today's lunch was a bit different. We found a noodle place where you bought each part separately rather than choosing a meal from it's picture where it was a set menu. There were noodle options, a Japanese rice dish, various fried (tempura) meats/fish or vegetables, and some salad type things. It meant the meal was more reasonable than some and was exactly what we wanted.
Robby's turn to carry Ezra |
The river bus had taken us to a park near Tokyo Bay and it was very interesting to see that the blossom was not out so much here as further into the city. There were some lovely lakes there and Ezra was happy as he was carried by either Heidi or Robby as he'd been in his buggy for most of the day.
Heidi, Ezra and the Cherry Blossom |
Blossom in the city centre park |
We have had an evening of planning since the kids have been in bed (I read Kira her bedtime story which was special). We now know what still needs doing for the Harmony party and have also seen where we are going on our prayer walk tomorrow as we pray for Dave's gig venues and the people he knows.
Prayer requests:
For our prayer walk. That we can hear from God for the places and people, for safety as we travel.
For Kira as it is her last day at her nursery.
For the continued preparations for the Harmony party.
Shoes off for picnic in the park |
Cherry Blossom update report.
We also visited one of the city parks where they have the cherry blossom picnics. It had been raining all the way in to Tokyo, and was still raining but people were sitting in the specially designated spots, shoes off (!) as that is what you do when you sit 'in a place', under umbrellas in the rain!
Sunday, 24 March 2013
Tokorozawa Vineyard
We both managed to sleep well so were up early enough to get some play time in with Kira and Ezra before it was time to go to church. I am also finding that things seem familiar. Getting to and from the station, even yesterday in our jetlagged state was familiar, using the travel cards, paying for things in shops - there is a Japanese way. But when we got to Tokorozawa it has been updated since we last went there, so the journey from the station was quite different. When we arrived in church though, we were greeted with "Welcome back to Japan" and we felt at home straight away as our friends from last visit greeted us.
The whole service was in Japanese, but one of the men was able to translate some of the sermon for us so we knew the gist of what Araki was sharing. It was about us all being called to be disciples and doing things for Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. After the service I was able to speak with Toshiko-san and asked how the mother and baby were doing, we had been praying for them after a cancer scare meant the baby had to be induced prematurely. The mother is doing really well and is out of hospital and although the baby is still in intensive care, she is able to visit every day. I gave Toshiko-san a little baby jumper to give to them that I had made - I wanted to bless them from us all.
Araki, Dave and some of the congregation left after the service to go to a cemetery for the internment of ashes ceremony for Tats' mum (whose funeral Dave told us about before Christmas). We were able to join a couple of the ladies to have a picnic at church. We picked up premade 'bento' (Japanese picnic) boxes from a local shop and had a lovely hour together catching up. It really does feel very normal to be here with them all.
The whole service was in Japanese, but one of the men was able to translate some of the sermon for us so we knew the gist of what Araki was sharing. It was about us all being called to be disciples and doing things for Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. After the service I was able to speak with Toshiko-san and asked how the mother and baby were doing, we had been praying for them after a cancer scare meant the baby had to be induced prematurely. The mother is doing really well and is out of hospital and although the baby is still in intensive care, she is able to visit every day. I gave Toshiko-san a little baby jumper to give to them that I had made - I wanted to bless them from us all.
Araki, Dave and some of the congregation left after the service to go to a cemetery for the internment of ashes ceremony for Tats' mum (whose funeral Dave told us about before Christmas). We were able to join a couple of the ladies to have a picnic at church. We picked up premade 'bento' (Japanese picnic) boxes from a local shop and had a lovely hour together catching up. It really does feel very normal to be here with them all.
Prayer request
Before we came we had offered to bring an Easter Labyrinth/meditation to do with the church here as we are involved in helping with alternative worship sessions related to the Christian Calendar at Trent Vineyard. We only found out the day before we came that Araki might be interested in using it and in conversations with Araki this morning it seems that we would have to do it in a different way from how I would have expected and we are not yet sure when he might want us to do it. I am excited to be able to offer this and would appreciate your prayers as we work out the best way of using it and that we would know in plenty of time to be able to prepare the different aspects of it. Also pray that as people engage with it God will speak to them..........Cherry Blossom Update report........
Before we came we had no idea that we would see any cherry blossom as it has been a cold winter here in Japan which can put the timing back. But we are so pleased to report that we have picked just the right week to see the blossom as they are all out now in Tokyo so we are making the most of every opportunity. I'll let the photos speak for themselves!Saturday, 23 March 2013
Japan bound
5am on Friday 22nd saw us out in the snow(!) packing the car to head off. The alarm had gone off at 4am. We'd essentially finished the packing the night before so it was just getting the last bits together to get ready to go. It was not the best weather for the journey but no real delays so we arrived at Heathrow without any problems. On-line check-in meant we had good seats for both the journey to CDG Paris, then on to Tokyo. Caroline got stopped at Heathrow for the metal buckle on her belt - remember that for next time - and I got stopped on a random at Paris. Both were fine, the good natured customs official in Paris joking about giving away all the sweets I had in my pocketses to his colleagues kept it light hearted and even entertaining, so it was all good.
Arriving in Japan this time had a familiarity about, which made it not at all stressful. That ranged from remembering where to catch the bus and the ways to go to get from the airport to Dave and Heidi's, to seeing again little things like the painted signs on the railway platform floor which tell you exactly where the train doors will be when your train pulls in - and they always are exactly right!
So pretty much 24 elapsed hours after setting off, we arrived at Dave and Heidi's and had a main meal. Having not slept at all on the journey I crashed for about an hour and am still feeling tired, but having had a bit of a rest and now I'm plugged into a computer I'm recharging a bit. It's just after 8pm here, 11am UK time, We'll have some food again this evening and stay up until a reasonable time before heading to bed, we'll see how jet lag affects us this time around.
We've given D&H all the things we had to take for them and all the cards and they were very appreciative. :) They're all well and we're all looking forward to the coming fortnight.
Our only real news is that we've seen numerous trees with blossom on them. We have no idea what type of trees they were but we'll keep you up to date with special Cherry Blossom Update reports!
Arriving in Japan this time had a familiarity about, which made it not at all stressful. That ranged from remembering where to catch the bus and the ways to go to get from the airport to Dave and Heidi's, to seeing again little things like the painted signs on the railway platform floor which tell you exactly where the train doors will be when your train pulls in - and they always are exactly right!
Just got through customs and into Japan |
Us with D&H, K&E. |
We've given D&H all the things we had to take for them and all the cards and they were very appreciative. :) They're all well and we're all looking forward to the coming fortnight.
Our only real news is that we've seen numerous trees with blossom on them. We have no idea what type of trees they were but we'll keep you up to date with special Cherry Blossom Update reports!
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