Rules are rules! - & Construction / Demolition

No smoking – painted on the sidewalk at regular intervals (there is only one smoking spot we know about). The Japanese are pretty good about keeping this rule. Sometimes we spot a smoker on the street, but it's rare.

On the other hand, No Biking signs are also painted on the sidewalk. Too bad the bikers don't notice them. We have to be on the alert for bikes.

No shoes inside a house is a Japanese custom– maybe even when the house is still under construction! These workers wore slippers while installing floor heating pipes.

They're putting up pipe scaffolding all around the above site, getting ready to build.

We’ve been watching other new houses go up –  some are just tiny - no more than 12ft. wide, crammed between existing buildings.

Demolition comes first. They put up high protective draping and carefully remove a house that is hugging several other ones. It’s an art they do well and quickly.  We could view this house being demolished from our porch.

A week later, here's what you see...

There's also lots of commercial construction and remodeling happening in our area. Everyday we walk by another building being wrapped in scaffolding and netting. It goes up quickly. We don't know if it's an annual thing or town "renewal" or ??

Churches/shrines

The first Sunday we were here, we were taken to a church that meets at Christian Academy of Japan. While we enjoyed it, we felt it was too far away for us to attend regularly.

We heard about an English church close enough to walk to, and that was where we settled. MCC - Musashino Chapel Center.

The MCC church has parking available:

Hope Bible Church meets very close by, but it's all in Japanese (except this celebration party of theirs that we were blessed to be part of on Mother's Day. A fellow missionary translated for us. Normally, this church has 15-20 people attend, so you can see this was a BIG celebration, including some "seekers".)

Shrines are some of the biggest attractions in Japan. We pass several on our way to church each Sunday:

We are here to tell people - and help others who are telling people - about Jesus and the abundant life He gives. It's so sad to see people bow to idols made of stone and wood - with eyes that don't see; ears that don't hear; hands that can't reach out and help. I'm reminded of the story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel; the idol worshipers did all they could to "arouse" their gods, but to no avail. There is only ONE TRUE GOD!!

Telephone rings, delivery carts & emeregency services

After several “wonderings”, we discovered that the old fashioned telephone ring we hear when out walking is a truck’s turning signal, warning pedestrians of their intentions.

Some delivery “vehicles” don’t ring anything – they only have a human motor, but they “drive” on the street. This cart is man-powered. We see them every day.

Ambulances stop at red light intersections – then they use their loudspeakers to warn cars before venturing into traffic. It’s interesting to see them park on the (narrow) street to serve someone in need. There’s a high rise near us where we’ve often seen an ambulance stopped. Traffic goes around them.

The fire department is all ready for a call. Note their shoes are ready - must need to change them before getting in!

RAINy Season

We just ventured out and returned safely in a rather heavy rain. We’ve been told the rainy season was coming, we were just hoping we would miss it!!

However, we did come prepared – we each brought an umbrella. The mission also provided us each with one! So, we are “well covered”. However, this rain comes from below, too. Our shoes got soaked as well as the bottom of our pant legs. I only slipped once and was glad to get home still standing!

I try to be prepared for such days, stocking my and the mission’s fridges well. However, with us leaving in 8 days (using up supplies) and 8 unexpected guests for breakfast (4 for 2 days), I really needed to go shopping. Of course, we didn’t shop on Sunday, so Monday is always a little low on supplies.

The temperature has also dropped. I didn’t mind having my rain jacket on – only the exposed elbow got wet! And as we walked, I watched to see how others were handling the rain. I saw only 5 pedestrians without umbrellas. These folks know how to do rain! 3 of those had full plastic rain covers (one in a wheelchair); one older lady had a large hat! and one young man stood under an awning.

It rained heavily Saturday night and we were concerned about walking to church on Sunday. The park next to us was a sea of water. But the Lord graciously dried up the clouds, and we walked both ways without using our umbrellas.

Pray we’ll be able to finish up our outreach to the kids and clerks without having to give them soaked notes and pamphlets!