July 12

Today was our last day in Toyota. We had some more orientation, but I still feel like I could learn more by actually talking to the japanese people, rather than the missionaries. We all got a bit of a scare when we went to take out money, and it wouldn’t work. However, we got some money out at a bigger post office, thus saving us from having to live here for a month with no money. For those of you who want to see japanese money, I’m bringing back a few coins for you to look at. We then hopped onto a subway, which took us from Toyota to Nagoya City. From Nagoya City, we caught a bullet train to Osaka. We were driven through some beautiful hills. Not quite mountains, but they were beautiful none the less. My ears popped every time we went into a tunnel though. As for the bullet train, it was beautiful, spacious, clean, comfy, and just a perfect way to ride. It was really fast, so fast that the corners of the tracks actually had to be angled to keep the train on the track. It was an amazing experience, one that I’ve truthfully always wanted.
My body is still stuck on jet lag, and just won’t let me stay awake. If you want to know what time it is here, just at 14 hours to your time. Basically, for over 12 hours, I’m living in a different day then you are. It’s quite mind blowing, and I’m still trying to fathom what just happened. I miss everyone back home, but I’m really excited to be here.
Just a few stats that I gathered from our devotional this morning, so you to think about. If I come back, and you wonder why, this is the reason. Japan is a beautiful country, and a very advanced country, but with a loan that is 113% the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). 10% of the population is 65 or older, and by the year 2020, that number will be 30%. Japan holds the highest suicide rate of any developed nation, and the highest suicide count in the world. There is one church for every 16000 people, and average attendance for a church in Japan is between 5-30, and that count is decreasing. I used to never think that Japan needed missions of any kind, but looking at those numbers, it seems to say otherwise. This is a beautiful country, and I can see God working here, but the Japanese are really traditional, which makes it really hard to let go of these traditions for something different. Pray for a revival in Japan!