Saijo

After a 12 hour drive down from Tokyo, we arrived in our new town, Saijo, on the island of Shikoku. We are working with the Saijo Alliance Church. What makes this place particularly special is that Jesse’s grandparents co-founded the church when they were here as missionaries in the 1950’s. In fact, the same Japanese pastor (Misaki-san) that worked alongside Grandpa Town is the same man we will be working with as well. As you might imagine, he is an elderly man (80 years young). Despite his age, surviving both stomach cancer and a stroke, he is remarkably genki (healthy): it obvious where he gets his strength from. We are excited to work with a man that has so much experience serving God. His description wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging his other half; an adorable woman with such a contagious chuckle it resolves even the most awkward of situations.

We are living in a cute one story house on the church property (Misaki-san's house is also on this property). Already we feel so blessed that God has provided not only shelter but also a dishwasher and heated toilet seats. Our house is on a hillside with a great view of the mountains and when the wind blows from a certain direction we can smell the ocean.

As we mentioned in one of our last post we will be teaching English classes at the church as a way of building new relationships with those in the community. Our classes most likely will not start until March, so we have lots of time to prepare. In the meantime we will be assisting with Sunday school and other youth programs that begin. We will also spend these next few weeks building relationships with other church members and our immediate neighbors. I’ve already made a few batches of cookies in order to meet the neighbors.

On the side, we are hoping to get to know the other few foreigners in the area and potentially start a Bible study with them as there are no English services in the area.

Although we haven’t had that active of a time here I did manage to break my toe. As those who have broken bones in less dramatic ways would understand, I would like to say it happened while I was doing something either heroic or at least adventurous. Unfortunately, the first bone break of my life happened when I stubbed my toe on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I am fortunate that it is just my toe. Needless to say, my movements have been limited lately, however I am able to walk around slowly with out crutches after only 4 days.