​In America, political campaigns invade our homes during the election season. Phone calls, emails, television ads, and people going door-to-door all share the reasons why a specific candidate should, or even should not, receive your vote. Japan, however, has a slightly different approach.

This spring we noticed people with loudspeakers at the train stations, who were handing out fliers and broadcasting about politics. It seemed odd, but people routinely hand out fliers in front of the station.

We also saw billboard-sized signs with numbered boxes setting up near parks and walkways around the city. A few days later, posters for all sorts of political candidates appeared for people to look at, and some people did stop to glance. 

Around the same time, the politicians began holding rallies in the parks around the city. Armed with megaphones, they spoke about things such as fighting the sales tax hike scheduled for later this year. They also greeted people walking by the rally and walked around shaking the hands.

Continuing with their like of megaphones, they also drove around in cars equipped with speaker systems. They turned up the speakers loud enough for people to hear inside their homes, sometimes even stopping outside of apartment buildings. They also used this time to greet people walking by on the street. One time, one politician stopped to make sure a child was okay after witnessing him fall in a park. Unfortunately, they continued with their megaphone cars into the mid-evening when younger children have already gone to bed.
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Thankfully the election took place a week later, so the campaign cycle is short. We have decided that the political telephone calls and commercials are not too bad in comparison, though.

The train crawled to a stop, but not at a station. While the conductor explained about a signal light, I realized that it was going to be a long train ride. Earlier, when I arrived at our station, I observed a train delay notice. When getting on my train, I hoped that the schedule must be catching up, since a “person accident” had taken place over two hours earlier. Unfortunately, we reached the 1/3 point of the ride about the time our train usually arrives at my transfer station.  

At one of the stops, the information signs indicated that it would be around an hour to get to my transfer station. I calculated that I would miss almost all my shortened class that day and left the train before the lines of people boarded our already crowded train.
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“I won’t be coming to class today,” I sadly texted my teacher. I then walked around the station for a while, waiting for the right train to come that would take me back home. I also contemplated the meaning of “person accident.”
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​​As the year ends, many people reflect on the past year and look to the future. Though a good and helpful practice, for Japanese businessmen this may bring sorrow. For some, the previous year was in the red, and there seems to be no hope for their company’s future. For others, the next year brings more of the same of what they consider monotonous, insufferable work. For yet others, their jobs, and therefore their life meaning, will be coming to an end. They have no hope, and therefore some choose to end their lives by way of a speeding train.

​During this time of year, Christians remember hope, both fulfilled and future. The hope of the centuries was fulfilled when the Christ, the Messiah, was born. The hope of Jesus’ return and the resulting restoration will happen because God is faithful and has proven Himself from the beginning. Through Jesus and His death and resurrection, every life has meaning and purpose. This is the message that these Japanese businessmen need to hear, and this is one major reason we came to Japan. There is hope found in Jesus and among those who follow Him.

“Don’t try to figure out how [a grammar point] fits in the sentence. The Japanese language simply borrows the structure when expressing a desire.” “You are correct, that word also has that [completely different] meaning, but only when written with other characters.” “Let’s do a three-minute speech. Please think about how you would answer the question, ‘What is the Good News?’”
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Our lives are filled with these sorts of statements. In July, we joined the Tokyo Academy of Communications Language Institute to learn Japanese. We had a great Japanese foundation thanks to our previous time in Japan, but we knew we still had much to learn. TAC specializes in conversation-based learning, which means that our class time is primarily spent speaking, listening, and responding to teachers and classmates. This has allowed us to utilize what we already knew, while learning more grammar within natural sounding contexts.

TAC specifically caters to missionaries, so they try to be as flexible as possible to help train missionaries how to successfully minister in Japanese. However, anyone may join the school, which creates some great conversations in class.
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We love watching God fit all the little details together for His glory and work here in Japan.

​“Every time I come here, I ask the Lord to destroy this statue before I die.” One missionary once told us this when he visited Kamakura. Almost 800 years ago in Kamakura, a temple casted a giant bronze Buddha called the Daibutsu. This 44-foot statue sits in a large courtyard, with an offering table, incense case, and money box in front of it.  The sounds of clinking money breaks the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves and the low murmur of people chatting around the courtyard.

Most who come to the Buddha, drop change in a box, put their hands together in front of their face, bow their head, and say a prayer. In recent visits, whether for zeal, desire, or desperation, both, we have seen men and women have taken the prayers a step further (as shown in the video).

Daily, offerings of fruit and drink are placed before the statue. People kneel before a bronze statue and pray to the gods for help. This is idolatry. For less than 10 cents, you can go around the back and enter the statue. Inside you discover a hollowed-out cavern. The Buddha is an object with no life. We too pray that someday soon, this statue will be dismantled. We pray that the hearts of the people will turn towards God and the temple will be torn down.

​In the meantime, we are thankful for the temple and statue. God has used this giant bronze statue to touch and change the hearts of many people towards the people of Japan. Some of them, myself included, have come back to Japan to serve as missionaries.

Sometimes you just need delicious ice cream when you move. These are sesame (grey) and sweet potato (purple)

WeThis is on the walk to the station. We enjoy lots of green despite still living in Tokyo

We are getting to know this train map very well

Our children are adapting well to new modes of transportation

Our back balcony overlooks Tama and includes a view of Mt. Fuji

We continue adjusting to a new routine, including (almost) daily laundry

Our first night in Japan included a "The Teaching of Buddah" in the hotel room, but no Bible, a small reminder of why we came to live in Japan.

We arrived in Japan three weeks ago, welcomed by fellow missionaries. We experienced issues with immigration resulting from misinformation about which person we were supposed to see and from malfunctioning printers. Yet, God provided a smooth transition from America to Japan, and we (and our luggage) arrived safely.

The whirlwind began with shopping for essentials (bedding, towels, etc). The next day we tackled government registrations and purchasing more furniture and appliances. Getting cell phones took twelve hours due to a discrepancy in usage of middle names between America and Japan in the credit card background check. Yet, God has faithfully provided what we have needed, even if that was freeing our schedule so that we can spend a day getting cell phones.

We attended Megumi Baptist church, our new church home, for the first time in years and were welcomed with open arms. They have sacrificed time and energy to help us move to the area. We are thankful for and greatly appreciate them, but they are strangers. We still have trouble remembering their names. Yet, God created within the church a familial relationship that transcends cultures and language.

Despite living in Japan before, transitioning to a new culture and language is difficult. We praise God for His faithfulness to help us do what He has called us to do. We praise God for the strength He gives to navigate trains with two young children. We praise God that at the end of the day we can look back and see His hand guiding and protecting throughout the day.

Earlier this week, abortion came to the media forefront again as people observed National Sanctity of Human Life Day. The fight to protect babies in the womb continues in America, but what about abortion in Japan?

Over two decades ago, the New York Times wrote this article detailing some of the ways people in Japan handle the sorrow and grief caused by abortions. This situation continues today. The Times observes:

Reading about the guilt and sorrow these women (and men) carry crushes our hearts. They do what they "must do" because of social and familial pressures, yet they carry that burden heavily. They hope for forgiveness, entrusting the spirits of the babies to the temples and carved statues. 

We want to share about the God who forgives. We want to share about the God who cares so much about them that He established a plan from before the beginning of time to crush His own Son. God did this that He might forgive them, pay for their guilt, and bestow on them honor that never diminishes.

The introduction of Aila into our family (see the July 2017 blog post) has caused changes to our sleeping and traveling habits, especially for Janae, but that has not stopped our progress. Since July, we have averaged over 2,700 a month of driving, shared with ten new churches, revisited eleven churches, connected with pastors at two state church conferences, attended and finished our final Baptist Mid-Missions classes, helped with one VBS, and enjoyed both a men’s and a women’s retreats. We have had many opportunities for God to stretch and grow us over the last few months.

​Andrew has been working on Doctorate of Ministry for the last two years. The program emphasizes preaching, and Andrew will focus on preaching in a Japanese context. As of the moment, he has two classes left and continues working on his official dissertation proposal. Andrew also will be ordained at the beginning of November, which has taken up a considerable amount of time as well. We praise God that He saw fit to change the class Andrew intended to take so that he had the semester off from classes and could work on the dissertation proposal and ordination.

Concerning Japan, we are currently at 75% of our committed monthly support, and it appears that we should arrive in Japan sometime early 2018. The main factor holding us back is that BMM appropriately requires us to have 100% of the monthly support raised before we leave.
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On a side note, and a major contributing factor to the delayed post, Andrew discovered that video blogs are not his thing; maybe he will try it again some day.

Sometimes you never know how God may change your plans and “to-do” lists. On May 30th, 3.5 weeks early, we welcomed our second child, Aila (eye-lah) Grace Gonnerman, into the world.  Due to the rapid delivery, the nurses could not administer the required IV for Janae when Aila was born, but the speed also minimized the possibility of infection. The doctors ran tests and declared both Aila and Janae as healthy.

When Aila turned one day old, the pediatrician informed us that one test indicated trace amounts of an infection. They ordered further testing to determine if bacteria on Aila’s skin contaminated the test, but they admitted her into the NICU to begin antibiotics during the forty-eight hour culture test. We praise God that the second test came back clear, so Aila came home with us on June 2nd. During Aila’s stay, the NICU nurses enjoyed taking care of a healthy baby and Aila delightfully surprised them with her eating habits and growth. Over the last month and a half, AIla has grown and has begun learning about this world and has traveled like a champion through seven states.

​We selected the name Aila because it means “Bringer of Light.” We chose this specific spelling, because “ai” in Japanese means “love.” We pray that Aila will bring the gospel light, unconditional love, and demonstrations of grace to the Japanese people until she embarks on her own journey to minister where God leads. For now, however, we will snuggle her, love her, and protect her from her very excited two-year-old brother.

The famous cherry blossoms, known as sakura, draw tourists to Japan, while newscasters report daily on the best places to see the flowers. The blossoms create a cultural event powerful enough to disrupt the everyday life. People enjoy picnics under the trees while indulging in public drinking which is usually taboo. Photographers swarm to capture the shades of white and pink, sharing their pride of beautiful trees and beautiful Japan. Sakura flavored teas and snacks are everywhere. Cherry blossoms permeate Japanese media and entertainment. One old cherry blossom tale weaves the story of two men and a dog.

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived with his wife and dog. The man was kind, but his neighbor was greedy. One day while the kind man was walking, his dog began to dig and unearthed a container full of gold. The kind man praised the dog and hurried home to show his wife. The greedy man, upon realizing the situation, demanded the use of the dog. The kind man consented, so the greedy man and the dog left. During the walk, the dog found another box, but the greedy man discovered garbage inside the container. Infuriated and disgusted, the man killed the dog. The kind man mournfully buried the dog’s body.

Soon after, a tree grew over the dog’s grave. The kind man remembered the dog’s love of rice, so he cut down the tree and formed a mortar for cooking rice. At lunchtime, he discovered that the mortar created gold rather than rice. The greedy man, peering through the window, saw what happened and requested the mortar. The kind man obliged, however the greedy man discovered that the mortar made neither rice nor gold, but instead created garbage. Infuriated and disgusted, the man burned the mortar. The kind man, not wanting to waste the ashes, spread some among his trees.

Soon after, the kind man and the greedy man gasped as cherry blossoms bloomed months early. The prince of the land heard the news and called for the kind man. The prince wanted his cherry blossoms to bloom early, so he requested the kind man’s help. The kind man climbed up the trees, spread the ashes, and then watched in amazement as the flowers bloomed. The prince rewarded the man with a new title, “Sir old man who makes trees blossom,” along with much gold. 

Like any story, the cultural assumptions and lessons inhabit the tale. Kindness, for example, remains the great virtue, while greediness, violence, and snooping are disdained. Overall, the story teaches the lesson “You reap what you sow,” yet this leads to further questions. What is the standard for good and evil? Is there any point of “no return?” Can someone break the chain of deeds? This is where the gospel conversation takes place.