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| Travelogue #6 Sept 2009 |
Dateline: Saitama Prefecture, Japan; September 5, 2009—The hiatus in writing is now over and I am once again in communication with my world. After a seminar at Andrews University in Michigan and a seminar in San Francisco, followed by a regrouping and recovery at my sister’s home in Placerville, California, I turned my steps so westward it became the Far East. Japan again, my yearly visit to the land of mountains and plains, old tradition and ultra-new innovation, of an aging native population and rising medical costs. Perhaps a picture of the United States in not too many years…or months.
But to the trip here. Probably the most problematic I have had, with the exception of a comedy of errors in India a few years ago. But this is today.
Last Monday I arose at 04:15 for a 5 AM departure from my sister’s home, heading for the Sacramento airport. Lots of business commuters and so we arrived early to miss the crowds. At the airport at 6 am, I was sitting at the gate by about 6:20 AM. At least some things work well in California. My plane left on time at 08:10 and I was at the Los Angeles airport by 09:35. Had a bird’s eye view of many of the horrific fires scorching the hills of southern California. It was hard to distinguish the smoke from the fires from the low clouds clinging to the eastern side of the hills and mountains. It all looked like something from Dante.
Switching from Southwest to Northwest, I was soon waiting patiently for a 1:20 PM departure for Narita. But by 1:20 PM there was still no plane. Hours ticked by. The plane had been delayed leaving Tokyo due to weather. Upon landing, a part broke. Workers were working on the broken hydraulic pump. Finally, around 6 PM we were told the part could not be fixed in order for us to depart that day so they were going to transport the whole lot of us to the LA Hilton. Thankfully I found my way to the pick-up point early as there were a lot of people to be checked in and an hour after I had checked in there was a very long line going through the process of securing a room for a short night’s sleep. You see, they told us to be back by 6 AM for an 8 AM flight. We dutifully arrived bleary eyed and after sitting patiently at our gate for a while, we were told the plane would leave from another gate, in another concourse, so another exodus began. It is always amazing to me how good naturedly people take such snafus. Frankly, I enjoy them, as I know God has some surprises ahead.
At the new gate we waited again. About 10 AM we were directed to go to distant help desk to receive a breakfast voucher. In spite of all the problems, they were really trying to accommodate us. So another line to stand through which exposed another quirk of humans. As the thread of our queue meandered down the concourse, other travelers, those with no connection with NW-1, gravitated to us, as if this was their line too. Some would stand there questioning themselves, looking nervously around, wondering if all these people could be wrong. Some would sheepishly sidle over and ask, “What is this line for?” Ah, human nature; get in line before it grows any longer.
A spider spins his pre-dawn web,
A line upon a line;
Athwart an airy corridor,
Then bides his spidery time.
Soon awake, a smorgasbord
Of dainties fill the air;
Buzzing off on bug pursuits
Without a buglet care.
Till one by one transfixed they veer
To see this silvery sight;
A tempting tapestry of silk
Reflecting morning’s light.
Too late they learn the vital truth
That most are loath to gain;
Senses have a thousand ports
While truth steers to the main.
Finally an aircraft found its way to our gate. Before boarding it had to be catered and crewed. It was near noon, nearly 27 hours after arriving at the airport, that we were thrust into the LA haze and began our journey across the Pacific.
The flight was not crowded at all. I had a whole row to myself with no seat in front of me so it was like business class at steerage price. Once arriving in Tokyo it seems as if the vast majority of my fellow passengers were flying off to other countries as there were few people going through customs and in record time I was on a bus heading for Honjyo.
This is my sixth straight year of coming to Japan, the fifth year of conducting medical missionary schools, a new one beginning each year. We were meeting in a youth camp in the foothills and seven third year students were set to finish their course.
Now, there is a 10-hour time difference between here and the West Coast so I arrived upside down and dead tired. I would sit in the back of the classroom, sometimes in very deep sleep, when someone would nudge me and tell me “I was on.” Yea, like I was on some controlled substance. It was all a fog sometimes because I started teaching immediately. I would ask quickly what the subject was and then lean fully on Jesus and just open my mouth. And the days of the final classes passed and we were done.
It was a great class; one man and six women. Time and foggy memory prevents a long dissertation on the various stories of the students, but a few notable things come to mind.
The lone male student recorded every word spoken, then would transcribe every lecture for his fellow students. He also took the first chapter of the excellent book Proof Positive, a book about the major killers of Americans, and substituted every statistic with Japanese data. We are talking a lot of work here.
Another student joined the school a year after she had breast cancer surgery and her husband left her over the same. She was a broken woman. It took her a bit longer to finish but Friday, as we were having our dedication ceremony, she told of how she was now a five-year survivor (the magic number) and that, through this course, her mind and heart had been healed. She is a precious woman and made the many months I have spent here more than worth it.
Another woman, a non-Christian when she began her studies, had been transformed. She develops intellectual patents on microorganisms gathered from around the world for use in industry. We are talking about a highly educated and refined woman. She was invited to take the course by another woman who makes box lunches for people who lack the time but desire quality. Over the time of the course, which is heavy in spiritual things, she has given her heart to Christ and will soon be baptized. Another blessed reason for Uchee Pines suffering me to wader so far and long away from home. Another former student, who works as a dietitian in a major hospital, has turned the whole hospital where she works vegetarian. Now there’s a step in the right direction.
So, one student at a time, one year at a time, progress is being made in this land of the rising sun, and indeed the Son is rising through earnest and simple efforts like those of Nippon Kensei Kyokai and Uchee Pines Institute.
God bless your efforts today
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Posted by WorldMighty on 2009-10-28 13:32:03 | Rating: | Views: 4
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