…..except for Coffee of the Day.
That is right. Starbucks in Japan does not have decaf espresso beans. You can only get decaffinated Coffee of the Day. Actually, I can’t think of any other place in Japan that has decaf other than Starbucks. But when you are used to getting any kind of decaffinated coffee drink in the States it is a tough thing to get used when the only decaf is the Coffee of the Day. However…………….I found a new drink at Starbucks today called Café Mist (I don’t know if this is on the US menu). I wanted a hot drink on my way home from interpreting for Wagner Leadership Institute Japan and Starbucks coffee sounded great, but I knew I couldn’t have coffee if I wanted to sleep tonight. So I decided I would just settle for a decaf coffee of the day when I noticed something on the menu I have never noticed before……Café Mist. It is like a Latte, but uses the coffee of the day instead of espresso, and YES you can order it decaf!! It was a little different than a Latte as it had regular coffee vs. espresso, but it was still very good. It actually had a very clean and smooth taste and feel. I had it plain with just a little bit of sugar. It TOTALLY hit the spot and I will be able to sleep tonight as well!! Next time I will get it with vanilla.
Kelly made us Heart Pancakes with melted chocolate chips this morning for breakfast. What a great day to start Valentine’s Day. Kelly is one amazing wife, mother, friend, pastor, cook…………you name it, she fits the bill and then some! She puts the Proverbs 31 Women to shame.
Valentine’s Day in Japan:
In Japan the girls give the guys chocolate for Valentine’s Day–no wonder I like it here, ha ha! Couldn’t resist:) The guy who received the most chocolates has the bragging rights, seriously! Leading up to Valentines, every store you go to has unlimited supply of all sorts of chocolates specifically designed and prepackaged for girls to give to their special guy friend (and friends). What do they do with all of the left over Valentine chocolates? Hmmm, guess we will find out.
WINTER WONDERLAND IN TOKYO
Our world is covered in winter’s white blanket. Snow in Tokyo is very rare but it has snowed several times in the past week. The children are delighted to run outside and play in it whenever they can.
HOMELESS MINISTRY & INTERPRETING
The snow has not slowed our busy schedule, however. In the beginning of January we had the opportunity to visit the church of a brother and sister, Yu Jong & Jun Lee, who are currently attending Portland Bible College. The church is pastored by their dad and has an awesome ministry reaching out to the homeless in Japan. They have services followed by a meal every week for the homeless. They also provide them with various necessities to survive. The homeless in Japan are often overlooked due to the fact that they do not look like the part. They are usually neat and clean and you do not see very many of them begging. Quite different from Portland, isn’t it? It was so encouraging to see that this church has not forgotten them.
Through this connection, Joel also has the opportunity to interpret one week out of the month for the next few months. This church will host Wagner Leadership Institute Japan. Joel was not sure that he felt up to the challenge, but decided not to back away from it. He is thankful for this experience to grow and learn. For the record, Joel did a great job and everyone loved him. They want to have him back as long as he is available. What an honor it is to be involved in training leaders in variety of ways.
PASTOR FRANK DAMAZIO AT PASTOR’S CONFERENCE IN JAPAN
The end of January was definitely the highlight of the month. Pastor Frank Damazio and Pastor Jack Louman came to Japan to speak at the Pentecostal Pastor’s Conference. It is an annual conference with over 600 pastors and leaders from all over Japan attending. It is, by far, the largest pastor’s conference in Japan. Pastor Frank was well received and he hit a home run every time he spoke! We, as City Bible Church, are so blessed to have Pastor Frank as our senior pastor. The theme of the conference was “Building a Relevant Church”. Pastor Frank did a masterful job teaching from the Bible and from experience on having a big vision, raising leaders, being relevant to current culture and reaching the next generation. We all went home challenged and excited about what God has for each of us, our churches and Japan. What was really impacting was to see all the young leaders that attended the conference. After one of the main sessions, there was a special youth service. They had a youth band that rocked the house. Everyone was dancing and praising God. They also did several rap songs. This freedom was not there 10 years ago when Pastor Frank last came to speak. God is raising up young leaders in Japan and we are privileged to be a part of this new wave! Pastor Frank has been asked to come back for next year’s conference. We feel that this is a strategic time for Pastor Frank and City Bible Church to be involved in Japan! We are blessed to be a part of what God is doing in Japan!
As a side note, Hope Church Publications, along with Joel, translated 3 of Pastor Frank’s books to have available at the conference. These books were very popular at the conference as pastors took them home to their churches. It was also a delightful surprise for Pastor Frank when he saw these books for the first time at the conference.
CULTURE CORNER
The conference was located four hours southwest of Tokyo in a resort town on a beautiful bay. There were two hotspring baths located in the hotel. One was located outside on the top floor which afforded a beautiful view of the sunrise and sunset. If you can get over the fact of bathing naked with people of the same gender then it is actually a very relaxing experience. If you are walking around the hotel it is very common to see people wandering the halls in bathrobes provided by the hotel. They are called yukatas. Pastor Jack thoroughly enjoyed wearing his!!
Every morning there was a breakfast buffet to enjoy. Instead of the usual toast, cereal, fruit, and bagels we had much more variety. Fermented soybeans, fish, pasta with white sauce, a variety of pickles, salad, fermented soy beans and miso soup were common fare every morning. It was so delicious!
You may be wondering what Elisa and Joshua did during the entire conference. I was wondering that same thing myself on the way to the conference. When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to learn that one of the churches had planned a kids program for the entire conference. They had worship, crafts and even taught the children a dance to perform at the end of the conference. Childcare in Japanese churches is usually an afterthought so I was so pleased to see the churches thinking of the younger generation!
FROM WHERE WE STAND
Elisa
A few weeks ago my family and I went to a conference. The conference was in a hotel. We had our own room. Pastor Frank and Pastor Jack almost didn’t make it in time because their flight got canceled. Our room was on the 12th floor. Also at the hotel they have 2 hot spring baths. There was one on the bottom level and one on the top level. On the top level one if you wake up very early and go there you will be able to see the sunrise. Also if you go at about 6:00pm you will be able to see the sunset. They also had a really good restaurant. It is a buffet. They have lots of food that you can choose from. They also had a kid’s class, so you don’t have sit and be bored. The other kids and Joshua and I learned a dance and we performed in front of everybody that was there.
Joshua
Hi! This is Joshua. We went to a hotel for a conference. It was fun. There were baths, a buffet, and restaurants with eel to eat. I didn’t like it though. I got to see my grandma and grandpa and also my cousin, Yukie. OH! There was a kid’s class too. It was fun. They had balloons and we played games.
SIGN OF THE MONTH
This is a sign we saw at a rest stop on the way down to the conference. How would you like some tea and hot water cash service? J
SUPPORTING THE KAYLORS
We are completely relying upon financial support from individuals and churches that are partnering with our vision of raising and releasing leaders that will build and strengthen churches in Japan. Living in Japan is NOT cheap, but we have experienced God provide in amazing ways. If you have been supporting us we are so grateful as we wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing without you. If you have not supported us financially, would you prayerfully consider partnering with us? Imagine being a part of reaching Japan?
To Contribute Financially
(all financial contribution is tax deductible through City Bible Church)
1. Secure Online Giving at
A) www.CityBibleChurch.org – click on “Online Giving”
B) www.TheKaylors.org/support and follow instructions
2. By check payable to:
City Bible Church
9200 NE Fremont
Portland, OR 97220
Note in the memo line: Joel & Kelly Kaylor-Japan
We took the kids to the Ueno (Tokyo) Zoo today. It is the oldest and the main zoo in Japan. I have always wanted to go since I was a kid as it is one of the few zoos in the world that has a Panda bear. I remember growing up watching the news of all of the activities of the Panda Bears at Ueno Zoo (new Pandas, conception and birth in captivity, illness, death, etc). Yes, any kind of activity relating to the Panda Bears made national news, at least back when I was a kid. All of the zoos are closed on Mondays except when Monday is a holiday. Monday is our only day off of the week so going to zoos is usually not an option for our family day. However, today was a holiday and the weather was good so we went for it and had a blast. Ueno zoo only cost $6USD for adults and the kids are free! A lot of things are very expensive in Tokyo and Japan, but some things are surprisingly inexpensive.
Click HERE for photos I took today (click on the “Ueno (Tokyo) Zoo” link to the right.)
Some of our highlights:
· Seeing a Panda Bear live in person
· Almost all of the main animals were very active and actually “animated”
· I was surprised to find out how big the Hokkaido Brown Bears are. Similar in size to Grizzly Bears. I thought they were the size of Sun Bears. Not all wild animals in Japan are small!!!
· Great selection and variety of animals from all over the world. (464 species)
· And of course just being with the family!!! We will have to do this againJ Ueno Zoo links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ueno_Zoo;
http://www.tokyo-zoo.net/english/ueno/main.html
