Of course, these were all the good kinds of busy, but even the good busy-ness will exhaust you and pull you to your edges.
Last weekend, a team from Kim Sensei's church in Korea came. They spent their week touring Tokyo and learning about its religious traditions, in evangelism, and cleaning the church building top to bottom. This was really my first experience with Korean teenagers--my friend Seul Kee is Korean, and from the same church, but I've spent time one-on-one with her and she's past her teenage years. Koreans are excitable, energetic, and very touchy-feely. They greet you with hugs, hand-holding, and inter-locking arms. It can be surprising, but comes from such a joyful place that it's hard to be bothered by it! There were 25 of them, as well as several leaders and the youth pastor. Yes.. around 30 team members in that little church! It's a good thing they don't suffer from the "personal space" trait that most of us Americans do!
I spent the entirety of the weekend with them--from sunup to sundown, Saturday through Monday. We spent Saturday in one area of downtown called Odaiba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaiba). Imagine Chicago's Navy Pier, but blown-up and heavily commercialized. There's a huge ferris wheel, several malls, and museums, as well as the Fuji TV headquarters (think NBC Studios in NYC on crack). We prayed over the idols of science and commercialism, and sat between Fuji TV and Aqua City Mall, singing praises in Korean, Japanese, and English. Once again the accessibility, the vastness, the creativity of the Body of Christ hit me full force. As the sun was setting, we sang over Tokyo Bay and a gentleman traveling through Asia on holiday joined us. I'm so comfortable with going about my day-to-day life at home with my Christianity being a fact that contributes to who I am in the same way that my brown hair and brown eyes are traits. But in this moment, our relationship with Christ was put on display and it attracted fellow believers. That every day would be like that! How comforting would I find it to travel in another country and run across other Christians so openly adoring the same Father who brings us all safely together.
It was a beautiful moment that continued on into the next morning when Thorston, our German friend, joined us for church. Kim Sensei was beaming as she looked around our little congregation and rejoiced in how God's Kingdom was represented: Korea, Germany, Japan, American, China, Brazil. All in our little church! It was beautiful.
I was able to spend all day Monday with the team, also. Those kids are just fantastic. I had so much fun talking with them and learning little bits of Korean! Although they spoke little English and little Japanese, communication somehow moved smoothly because the want to communicate was so strong. Their joy, their love--it's contagious. Monday we drove up to Mt. Fuji. To Fuji-san, as the Japanese refer to it. They personify the mountain with the predicate san because to them, the great landmark is a god. They have a saying, in fact, that they repeat when they reach the top--similar to "I have conquered the god. I am greater than a god. I can conquer anything." People journey from all over to worship at the shrines on Fuji-san. Which made it that much more powerful when we prayed over the mountain and sang praise songs on its side.
Unfortunately for us (or perhaps fortunately, depending upon your perspective) it rained on Monday and although we were physically standing on the mountain, we couldn't see very far past us. In fact we couldn't see the mountain itself at all! It was cloaked in fog. Nevertheless, thanks to the many Banner issues I've received from friends and family at home, we were able to get a photo--the entire Korean team, me, and my friend Hannah all reading The Dillsburg Banner in the middle of Mt. Fuji! It was fun and funny and they were all excited to pick through copies of my hometown newspaper.
(Time for class.... edit coming later..)
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