Hongo Bible Camp

I feel like I’ve been doing so much this month already I barely have time to write about all of it! This past weekend we went on yet another retreat. I’m beginning to enjoy our weekends away from Tokyo, not because I don’t like Tokyo, but more so because I enjoy seeing different parts of Japan as well as meeting new people. This retreat/Bible Camp was Saturday and Sunday and was located in the Western part of the Tokyo prefecture in an area called Okutama. We headed there by train and it took about two hours to get across the entire Tokyo prefecture (turns out its rather large). Travel time was spent talking with old friends, and introducing ourselves to new friends. Some of my friends from Hongo were there, as well as a lot of the people I’ve met at English Coffee hour and Bible Study at Hongo. It was kinda nice going on a retreat and knowing friends that were there and being able to get to know them on a more personal basis. There were also a lot of new people there, Japanese Students as well as other Americans and some other people that attend Eric’s church, Tokyo Lutheran.


This Bible Camp was more structured than our last retreat, although the phrase of the weekend was “Loosey Goosey”. We bible study and small group time, which was both enjoyable and frustrating to me at the same time. I often struggle with our purpose here in Japan; some days I am patient and feel as though I’m being a good teacher, and other days I feel as though everything we do is on the surface level. Our small groups were a mix of people in language skill, Christianity, and age. Our conversation time was mostly spent on translating and making sure everyone understood what was going on. The first small group time really frustrated me because the conversation, bible passages, and questions were really interesting to me and I wanted to dive right into the conversation, but due to lack of language skills we weren’t able to dig as deep into the message as I wanted to. The next small group time (the next day) God had given me more patience in making sure the message was conveyed and understood by everyone. I often wonder if it would be better to divide the groups up based upon language ability so that everyone can dig into the material and get something out of it, or if the purpose is to walk side by side through the struggle together. The conversation may stay on the surface but maybe our presence on the surface is just as important as digging deep into the message.


Other activities we did on this retreat included fun mixers at the beginning of the retreat,


As well as having an hour of quiet time to just reflect and talk with God. For those of you who really know me, quiet time is not my strong suit. I enjoy talking and do not care so much for the silence, however I really enjoyed my quite time and may need to force myself into doing this more often, for it is in the silent moments that God speaks to us. I walked to an area by myself the over looked a river and had beautiful scenery. Just sat still for awhile and took it all in, and then reflected on Hebrews 13, this is becoming my favorite chapter. Prayed for awhile and them summed up my quiet time listening to some Gospel songs…not silent but at least I was with God in the moment.

November is Filled with Adventures!

So although November has just begun I’m already behind on my blog posts, and for that I apologize! The first weekend this month we had our annual J3 retreat in Karuizawa, Nagano which is north of Tokyo. The new J3’s (myself, Doug, Sue and John) met up with Charity Hall, Matt Linden (current Tokyo J3s) and Mary Johnson (a missionary in Guam and our regional representative) in Ikebukuro to have lunch. We went to this western restaurant called Shakey’s and had PIZZA! It was a really good time, we then ran into the other J3’s from Kumamoto who had also decided to eat there. The 12 of us then proceeded to find our bus and make the trip up to Nagano. The bus ride was around 2 hours which was filled with laughter, conversations, reading short paragraphs about the “Life of a J3” and their assignments wherever that may be. It gave great insight into the job description as well as the humor to which the other J3’s have managed to keep, along with their sanity….slightly. It was a really good trip up there, and the scenery was BEAUTIFUL. The leaves had started to turn which was gorgeous, the foliage in Tokyo….or lack there of, hasn’t allowed us to experience fall in Japan, but our trip up to Nagano did the trick. The leaves had turned beautiful bright reds and oranges and made the drive through the mountains absolutely breath-taking. It was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. (Although I absolutely love that about the city!)





The retreat itself was rather laid back in nature and mainly consisted of free time and time to talk with one another and really get to know the other J3’s, which was nice. It was held at a Christian retreat center, and yes they exist in Japan, which had great accommodations. It felt like I was at a sisterhood retreat with the beds and shared rooms. There was also a great little coffee house attached to it which had a Christmas tree set up, and I even got an Apple Cider! Totally made my day.



This was our first time to meet those who have been working down in Kumamoto, on the southern most island of Japan, Kyushu. Being able to talk with the other missionaries that have already been working this job for several years gave me a great perspective as to what teaching Japanese students will be like, what you can expect from the schools, and the difficulties that follow. We also worshipped together, sang together and had “family talk” time with Mary, which allowed us to talk about some of our excitements in the program, the daily stresses and what we do to overcome those obstacles. It was nice to know that these other missionaries know exactly what I’m going through, and went through these same challenges upon their arrival in Japan. So I guess it’s nice to know you’re not alone in the struggle, so that was really reassuring to me. We also had one on one time to talk with Mary so she could catch up on how we were feeling about everything. This time allowed us to talk candidly about how we were feeling with the program on a spiritual, emotional, physical, and academic basis. It was really nice to share those feelings that I may have not been sharing with anyone else, it felt good to lay it all out on the table and realize there are resources to get you plugged into other networks within the city to make it feel like not such of an isolating experience.

While in Karuizawa we had free time to walk around the area and experience that town. There were amazing shops everywhere with tons of jams, jellies, honeys and other fun local treats. One thing I’m learning while in Japan is that Kit-Kats are kinda a big deal here. Each region or season has different flavors of Kit-Kats, and Karuizawa had some interesting ones. I admit I wasn’t brave even to try all of them, but I now think I might start to keep a log of how many I try! Their local specialties were blueberry cheesecake, chili powder, and apple; interesting fun fact I guess. We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant, that had a menu printed in French…not sure why, but I’ve learned to stop asking questions. I picked up two pairs of nice chopsticks and had my Japanese name デイナ engraved on them so now I can be “eco” (echo) friendly as they call it here.



Overall the retreat weekend was a great time to be with other missionaries. It was a nice time for me to be around a group of Christian Missionaries who were in my peer group. Doug, Sue and John have been a great group to be with, work with, and socialize with, but there is something to be said about being with your peers. So that was really refreshing for me, and exactly what I needed. We stayed up rather late one night, talking and joking around and I honestly have not laughed that hard in a LOONG time. I really cannot explain how much those other missionaries really lifted me up that weekend, and those conversations were hysterical and definitely kept me going. The retreat was a very fulfilling experience for me and definitely reminded me of why I’m here and that I can make it through this experience despite my age and the pervasive loneliness at times. The other missionaries are absolutely fantastic and I’m glad that we can all share in this experience together! Overall I would say the J3 retreat was a success!