Konichiwa!

Michael and I arrived in Japan yesterday. I have to be honest it is

more than confusing to leave from Detroit at 4pm June 2 and arrive in
Nagoya at 6pm June 3 and the flight was 12 hours. Michael and I were
sitting in between two Japanese men. The one next to me looked as
though he didn't trust anyone and completely misunderstood every form
of communication I directed towards him. For instance, he spilled
some water so I handed him my napkin and nodded. He nodded back and
set the napkin on his seat tray...he didn't even use it, he chose to
just sit in the water...The man next to Michael managed to sleep the
"entire" flight. Which was a feat in and of itself. So there sat
Michael and I crammed for 12 1/2 hours...it had to have been the
longest feeling trip of my life. Nothing to look at, I didn't feel
like reading, the movies were all boring and worst of all I couldn't
sleep.

Due miscommunication, the people who were originally going to pick us

up (Joji & Kate) and take us to Hamamatsu from the Nagoya airport
were unable to make it. So instead of being greeted by people who
spoke English, we were instead greeted by two girls from local church
who were friends with Joji which was fine except they didn't speak
English at all. Personally, I'm so glad things happened this way
because it was so much fun trying to communicate with them. They got
us coffee from Starbucks and also purchased small chocolate/tea
treats. They helped us take the bus to Hamatsu where we were greeted
by Yukiko, who fortunately spoke English. Yukiko showed us around the
church and helped us get set up in our rooms.

Once we were settled Michael and I went straight to bed. Michael

forgot to reset his watch and came and woke me up at 6am and was
like, "Man...we slept until 2pm" I just looked at him and looked at
my watch and told him, "Michael...it's 6am dude." "Oh, ha, sorry I
forgot to reset my watch."

Since we went to bed at 9, we both got up around 7 am. Neither of us

knowing where Yukiko was and not sure how to interact with all the
other people we heard walking around the church considering there are
about 5 total people who attend HCC Live Church who actually speak
English.

Eventually, we found Yukiko and she sent us out to eat with Joji to
get breakfast. Joji is awesome, he went to seminary in Illinois and
spoke good English. We had a discussion with him about Christianity
in Japan and the difference between Japan and the U.S. He talked
taking advantage of all the Christian resources there are in America
and he told us how he met his wife (Kate, an American girl from
Chicago). We had breakfast at some strange bakery restaurant. Joji,
was like "This nice place, all you can eat for 500 Yen" Which sounds
cool but it was all bread rolls and salad. I thought that was a
strange breakfast, they also had onion soup too. Joji knew the girl
working there and she made us complimentary eggs, sunny side up. It
was just great connecting with Joji and talking to him, he was really
interested in the fact that we wanted to help the church and minister
to the Japanese people. He said he wished more people cared about
Japan because it is
such a spiritually poor country.

Overall, the first day has been great, it's not even 1:00 pm yet and
I've learned so much already and enjoyed myself so much. It's great
so far and I expect God to do big things while I'm here this summer,
please continue to pray for Michael and I and feel free to e-mail us.
However, forgive me if I don't reply to all of your e-mails ASAP
because it looks like we're going to be quite busy.

Thank you so much to all who gave financially and to those who have
prayed and continue to pray for us. We are so thankful for your
support! Until next time!

Daniel son of Michael

Ohayo gozaimasu!

Just to let you know if you hit reply, your message will be sent to
everyone in this newsletter. If you want to reply specifically to me
type in my e-mail address so that everyone doesn't get your e-mail.
Also, if you know of someone who wants this newsletter feel free to
forward it to them because I can't figure out how to add addresses to
the list I created, sorry.

We went to McDonald's yesterday, it was similar to the American with

exception of the items on the menu. Michael and I both tried teriyaki
burgers for the first time, and I have to say they were pretty good.
Moving along...it's true, it's true, I got my hair cut. The hair cut
cost 2940 Yen! That's close to $30! Yeesh! Anyhow, I'm glad Drew gave
me some Yen because it is what paid for the haircut. Fortunately we
go to the bank today so we get some money and pay the church for
letting us stay here. I'm sure Michael will put more pictures up on
facebook of the haircut and McDonalds. Also we hope to start putting
videos up on YouTube but I don't know how that is going to work,
so...no promises, but we'll just see.

Last night we sat down with Yukiko to discuss the summer program that
we intend to set up. We are going to be teach adult and children
English classes with the goal of using these lessons to share the
Gospel. Yukiko will help us with the classes, i.e. translation,
interpretation, etc. We are to spend the first two weeks preparing
our lessons. In addition Yukiko and Joji told us about ministry
opportunities around town. Every day there is an outreach group from
the church that goes to 3 local universities. Every day. They serve
dinner at the church every night and invite college students away
from their instant ramen to the church for a good hot meal. They also
help local farmers harvest their crops, potatoes, rice, etc. the
farmers often, in turn, give some of the crops to the church for the
daily meals they cook.

We got up at 5am for prayer meeting this morning. The only word to
describe it is, wow. They have small breakfast dishes and coffee/tea
for everyone and they participate in scripture memorization, time of
testimony, and they discuss the past weeks sermon. Then they spend
the last 30 minutes in prayer. The pastor (don't know his name yet)
told everyone it was time for praise and prayer. Michael told me the
man next to him looked at him and said as best he could in English
said, "Ok! Let's pray!" and then he stood up and began to praise,
shouting "Yes Jesus!" He wasn't the only one, everyone in the room
immediately either stood and started praying or got on their knees
with their face to the ground. Some sat with their heads down but
most everyone was praying aloud. At first, I didn't know what to
think but I began to pray and on occasion I would look up at all the
Japanese people in this room praying, and doing so passionately, it
was just so...powerful.
I have to be honest and say that man this church makes my faith
seem so weak. This prayer meeting that they have isn't just for
pastors or church workers, it's for everyone. There were children and
teens there. All in which were seriously praying.

It's amazing how evident God is at this church. It is so obvious

these people are Christians and that they love the Lord. The loud
praying man next to Michael bought us breakfast (bran flakes in
yogurt with banana slices) and kept nodding his head saying "Gift,
it's gift, gift." I'm so overwhelmed with the culture. I constantly
switch back and forth from being nervous to excited. Situations
switch from being fun and interesting to just plain awkward sometimes
but through and through God is working and I feel like I'm learning
so much.

I don't even know how I am suppose to contribute to such a loving and

dedicated church. I don't think I've seen a church that is so set on
serving Christ as a whole.

Ha, ah yes, on a less serious note. Last night, I got an opportunity

to play drums and I was just dinking around playing various beats,
just having fun. This older man who lives at the church, asked Joji
if I would play a drum solo. Joji smiled and looked at me and said,
"He wants you to play drum solo, can you do this?" Some of you know
this but, I am not a fan of showing off on the drums. I don't like
drum solos, I think they're cocky and arrogant feeling and I just
like to play drums and leave it at that. Well...I didn't want to be
rude and I played a drum solo as best I knew how. The older man
smiled real big and just started clapping and nodding his head. I
think that was the first time I've ever played drums intentionally to
show off (sort of) or for someone else's pleasure.

Later that night, I was up in my room, on the other side of the

church and I could hear the drums very clearly. It hit me...everyone
at the church heard me. Everyone. We met up with Yukiko at 8pm to
assist in an English lesson she was teaching. She introduced stating
the following, "Daniel-san, he's a very, very good drummer!" Which
left me thinking to myself "Wow Lord, I'm feeling real humble now..."

Well, there is so much more I could say but I suppose I will stop
here. I'm sorry if I am writing too much but there is so much more I
want to say. This is such an amazing experience and the people are
wonderful. That being said, sayonara!

Daniel son of Michael (Glosson not Tooley)

P.S. We will be here until July 29, in addition if all goes according
to plan Drew will be here July 23 to visit with us. Perhaps by that
time I can escape being known as "younger brother of Drew" and back
to being Daniel.

Konichi wa!

Domo arigato gozaimashi-ta to all who have written us e-mails,

facebook messages, offline MSN messages, etc. of encouragement. They
are all greatly appreciated! Also, keep in mind that I'm trying to
reply to all of your messages together in this newsletter, so as to
conserve time, it doesn't mean I don't like you if I don't respond.
Just so you know...

I must say that after writing yesterday's newsletter, the rest of the
day was by far the best so far. I learned so much yesterday. Yukiko
got Michael and I to help prepare for Gospel Hour. Gospel Hour is a
weekly outreach they have at the church where they serve dinner and
have music and a speaker. They invite non-Christians from their
workplaces or from the local universities. Every week. (Oh, keep in
mind this is a city of 800,000, I had no idea it was that big until I
got here.) It was awesome. Yukiko purposely put us with people who
only speak Japanese so that we could practice and better understand
their language. I'm not sure what all Michael had to do but I do
recall seeing him in the kitchen rolling little balls of dough in his
hand with a puzzled look on his face while some woman went on and on
in Japanese. So, knowing none of this people understood much English,
I would shoot little comments to Michael when I passed him such as,
"Hey there
buddy you're doing a good job" or "Look at you, wow!" I was with
Kimei (Kee-mee-ey) all day, also I have no idea how to spell her name
but anyways. She was the girl that we met at the bakery with Joji our
first day here. She and I helped set up for Gospel Hour in the
sanctuary. We set up the popcorn machine and popped popcorn for about
an hour and a half...seriously it takes forever. Through made-up sign
language and broken English she told me that she knows Drew and that
she was glad Michael and I were there to support their church. I
grabbed my Japanese dictionary and practiced various phrases with her
while we waited for the popcorn to pop, so that was fun.

Let me just say Gospel Hour last night was the best thing that has
happened so far. I met up with Shion last night! Shion used to go to
CCCB with Drew and he is Joji's younger brother. He was in Tokyo &
Yokohama the past few days visiting his younger sister. It was so
good to see him. They served curry and rice for dinner and it was SO
good. So much better than the random vegetables and "meat" we've been
eating. I've made myself eat a few things, but overall it really
hasn't been that bad at all. Anyhow, after trying to follow along
with Japanese worship songs (and failing miserably), a speaker came
up and shared the Gospel using the prodigal son parable. The reason I
know that is what he shared is because Michael and I wore headsets
while Yukiko translated the message for us. After the message they
sang another song or two and then a few people left. It was 8:30pm
and since we got up at 5:00am Michael was tired and headed off to bed.

Sadly that is when the best part of the day began. I sat around the
table talking to some Japanese guys through Shion's translation. We
talked about American's handshakes and high-fives and they had
questions about "pounding fist" when you hit your fists together. I
told them it was "urban." I thought that we were just socializing a
bit before we went to bed but then Shion told me that the night
wasn't over, he said there was a "meeting for the believer" (he can't
enunciate the "s" well and I think it's funny, because I'm a jerk).
This "meeting" was, in essence, just a discipleship class of sorts.
They talked about last Sunday's sermon and the scripture that was
used. This blew me away. The fact that every early morning prayer
meeting and at Gospel hour they talk about the most recent sermon and
the scripture shared. In America we hear a sermon and forget about it
the next day or even that afternoon but here they discuss it and
discuss self application.
The sermon was distinguishing between happiness and blessings in
life. How often trials are initially difficult and make us unhappy,
but in the long run they are a blessing because of how we grow and
what we learn from them. I shared with Joji how difficult it was to
raise support early on and how it didn't feel like many people cared.
I talked about how my reliance was on myself and on "supporters" as
opposed to God and His provision. I told him how once I realized this
and placed my focus back on God and put my trust back in Him that my
support came in full, with excess in less than two weeks. Joji
translated this to the rest of the table where we were sitting.
Everyone around the table listened intently and kept nodding. In
particular there was one fellow who had just lost his job and because
of this he had to move out of his apartment, he is now temporarily
living at the church. I looked at him and said "God-is-faithful" and
Joji, in turn translated
and the young man nodded his head. It was wonderful to finally be
able to somewhat communicate. After this they had a time of praise &
prayer, this guy Shimo who had been sitting at the table with us got
up and walked up front. Through Joji's translation I learned that he
said the following: "I want to praise God that Daniel-san &
Michael-san are here. They care for the Japanese people and were
willing to travel across the world for us. In the same way, I want to
share the Gospel with my friends." Following that, Sakikiyama-sensei
(the pastor, Joji & Shion's father) said to him, "Very good, listen
to them and learn from them."

This floored me, I couldn't believe that this quickly someone was
impressed by me. Me? Here I am, observing and extremely impressed by
this church and the pastor says to learn from me? Wow. I just don't
know if I can describe accurately how I felt nor can I completely and
wholly describe all that has been going on, but if I can say one
thing it's this. God is amazing and at work, please if you're reading
these newsletters, take time to fellowship with God and feed from His
Word. I don't know if I can go back to America at the end of the
summer and be the same. Ha, I'm saying this after 3 days...

There is so much more to say but I will end this here, please
continue to pray for HHC Live Church and for Michael and I. I will
hopefully write again tomorrow sometime. Until then...Sayonara.

Daniel son of Michael

Ohayo gozaimasu!

Yesterday morning was ministry focused, prayer meeting, worship practice, etc.
I got to meet Jun (Ureka's husband) and better introduce myself to
Ureka (Joji's older sister) we practiced a song that Michael and I
are going to play tonight with Jun. It's awesome, we hope to take
some of the songs we've been playing at Vennard and translate them to
Japanese so that Ureka can sing them and perhaps the HCC worship team.

After practicing for a while Jun's phone rang, he answered it and it

was Shion. Shion was with Joji and his friend Hayato. They were going
to the hot springs, Shion wanted to relax and ease his mind before he
heads off to Thailand and China all summer for missions trips. Shion
wanted Jun and Ureka to come and they invited Michael and I to come.
I'll write more about Jun and Ureka another time, but let me just say
they make us feel wanted. I can tell Ureka wishes she could speak
English. Jun grew up in England so he has a British English accent
and it's funny hear him talk sometimes.

At first, I felt bad because I didn't want to take what I label as

"ministry time" to spend all day in a sauna. But Hayato (who has
great English) told me that was silly thinking, he said "Daniel,
you're experiencing the culture, how are you suppose to minister to
people if you can't spend time with them doing some of the things
they do." I instantly felt better. You see, it started out with us
getting really hot showers and then we went to a room that said 60C
on the door. At the time I knew it was hot but when you talked in the
room...wow, it was close to 140F I think. Insane. It felt so good at
the same time though. After spending hours talking and socializing,
moving from hot room to cool room to another hot room, I noticed they
had massages. Well for plenty of reasons I wanted a famous Japanese
massage and let me tell you friends it was great. I really do like
people who can give massages, they're great.

There are also hot tubs of all different sorts and while I was
getting my massage Michael was sitting in a carbonated water hot tub
or some weird thing they have. He was sitting next to Joji and Joji
said something along the lines of, "I'm really glad you are here.
It's a real blessing, I'm glad you are here helping us." Michael and
I talked about what he said last night and we feel like this trip so
far has challenged us and if anyone is blessed it's been us and it is
just surprising to hear them say that we're having some sort of
impact. I am so glad to be here, I feel like I've learned so much and
it hasn't even been a week. I can't believe I get to be here all
summer. I am so thankful that you all back home gave to help us come
here. It is a real privilege.

One a different note, we went to the university the day before

yesterday to see if we could get involved with one of the English
circles (or clubs) there. Yes to help teach English, but primarily
for outreach. Joji told me that we will go to the universities a lot
for outreach to invite the students to church and to share the Gospel
with them. The Japanese aren't as defensive as Americans, the problem
here is that they don't understand Christianity. A lot of them
perceive us as a cult of sorts.

Please be praying that we can continue to learn about this culture

and grow. In addition, that we're able to minister to the people we
come into contact and that we're able to continue to live out the
Gospel.

In Christ,
Daniel son of Michael

Ohayo gozaimasu!

Yesterday we got to experience church for the first time in

Hamamatsu. It was awesome. In Hamamatsu you don't have church just in
the morning and evening, no, it lasts all day. The morning service
starts at 9:45 and we finished at 9. The morning service was so full
of life. The music was wonderful, I felt dumb because for like 10th I
almost cried. I just can't help it.

After the service, Michael and I thought that church was done so we
went up stairs and were socializing a bit, checking e-mail, etc. Joji
knocked on our door and said "Are you coming?" I said yeah, because I
was getting up right when he knocked. When we got downstairs he
stopped us and said "Look, you can't just stay up in your room. You
need to get to know people and be more social. Why are you here?
You're here for the church right?" This threw me off, I was
intimidated at first and Michael and I both apologized. What Michael
and I usually do if we don't have a particular assignment or task is
head up to our rooms, check e-mail, or talk to each other. This isn't
a sin per se but I think to an extent even though we thoroughly enjoy
it here, we haven't the slightest clue what to say to someone we
don't know at the church, let alone the fact they don't speak our
language. When I took into consideration what Joji said and why he
said it, it changed my
perspective of the people here. I view them as "others" instead of
"brothers." In other words, they are "Japanese people" and not my
brothers and sisters in Christ. So what I've been doing is observing
more than engaging. I fully intend to change this immediately.

When we got outside we hung out with some of the guys were closer to
our age. Through Joji's translation I tried to teach them BANG! and
surprisingly they picked it up pretty well. I was surprised. We had
to cut it short though so that we could clean the sanctuary. It's
amazing really, the entire church picks up all the chairs and pulls
out the tables and sets everything up in the chapel area in less than
20 minutes. Everyone is so disciplined here. I'm so used to laziness
I don't know how to respond. Again, humbled.

Beyond Joji putting us in our place, a local non-Christian band

called Sharp came and played at the church. What the church does is
they use the band to help with outreaching to the community. They get
the band to play and they invite people from the community to come
and eat and watch the band play. In addition they try to share the
Gospel with band. I thought the band was hilarious. They weren't a
joke band, that's the sad part. Just the way they were dancing and
they had a drum machine instead of a drummer. I could tell they were
trying though so for the sake of outreach and just to support the
band I bought one of their albums. Jun jokingly told us to get an
autograph. I refused. Yurika said I should get my shirt signed. Jun
busted out laughing and said "Oh yeah have the word "SHARP" on your
shirt." In the end Michael got the CD autographed...I tried to get
Yurika (not Ureka...you're welcome Drew...) to get it autographed but
she didn't want
to...probably for the same reason I didn't want to. After the band
played Michael and I played Hosanna, and Michael shared a bit of his
testimony and some about the meaning of the song.

Following the evening outreach we had a small birthday party-like

thing for Joji and Yukiko. Their birthdays are both today and so we
all tea jelly and coffee jelly (it was delicious!). It was supposed
be time for the praise team to practice but instead they did the
birthday shindig. We were all sitting around a table and it was
decided that we would all say something nice about Yukiko and Joji.
Let me say this, all Japanese people look so much younger than they
really are. Yuriko is 30 but she looks our age. There is this man
named Shinya who looks our age and he is 37! It's ridiculous.
Anyways, everyone went around the table saying nice things to Yukiko
and Joji, while Jun translated for us. When it got to me I told
Yukiko that all she does is smile and that I can't picture her doing
anything except smiling. I told her that sometimes during the morning
prayer I look around and I always see her standing with her hands
raised. She is so sincere. I told
her that she clearly had the joy of the Lord and that Christ was
very evident in her life. I told Joji that he has played the role of
big brother (aniki) for us since we got here and that without him we
would be lost. Whether it's joking with us or scolding us, he has
greatly helped us. I told them both that I've only been here 5 days
(now 6) and it feels like I've known them so much longer. Michael
told them similar things and he said that he could already tell that
he was going to miss them. It's funny, we haven't even been here a
week and we both know that it will come and go so quickly. It feels
like it's almost over already.

After the birthday party, we hung out with Jun and Yurika. We gave
them some music, such as The Glorious Unseen and Jared Anderson.
However, we started playing Anathallo and Yurika liked it and asked
if we would give them that. This made me happy because I love that
band and I was trying to give them music that fit what they already
like and she pointed out that she liked something more along the
lines of my taste...I don't know, it was just cool.

I let them hear some hardcore music (Beloved) and I danced for them
at the breakdown and explained a little about the hardcore scene,
just for fun. They got a real kick out of me dancing.

Since today is Joji-kun's birthday and Yukiko-san's as well, I wanted

to buy them something small. However I didn't want to aimlessly spend
my supporters money. Please reply and let me know if you think I
should do something for them. I thought about taking them out to eat.
They have been so kind and helpful I feel it is the least I can do.
Please reply soon so I can decide whether to do this or not. Thanks,
please keep praying for us, this church great needs your prayers.

Daniel son of Michael

Ohayo gozaimasu!

So it seems that I may not be able to write as frequently as I have

been. It looks like we'll be getting busier this week. We begin
planning our English lesson curriculum today with Yukiko.

Monday was slow. Joji said Monday's usually are slow and that not
much happens. We had the whole morning free so I walked around
looking for something to do. I saw Joji and some other's from the
church sorting through potatoes. This is the very chore that Michael
and I had to do on Saturday so I knew exactly what they were doing. I
approached Joji and asked if I could help, I want the people here to
see that I'm not some confused, lost American. Joji replied, "Oh, you
don't have to do this, it's ok." In which I said, "Yeah I know, but I
want to help." He gave me a pair of gloves and I sat down and started
picking out all the bad potatoes and sorting the big from the smaller
ones. I don't think I've ever enjoyed working so much. I love working
here. Normally I hate work, even at Smokey Row where the work is
easy. The only reason I normally work is because I know I need the
discipline and I have to make the money. Yet, here in Hamamatsu I
look for work, I
look for ways that I can help. I'm not myself here...and I love it.
I asked Joji when he was going to help the local farmers again, he
said Wednesday. I told him I would go, again he told me I don't have
to, but I told him that I wanted to go. I want him to see that that
is why I'm here, to help in anyway I possibly can. Everything from
playing drums to harvesting potatoes is ministry to me. I just sat
there thinking about how this was "the church" and how awesome it was
that they have dinner every night and how ex-homeless people now live
at the church.

Speaking of which, I really do love the men who live at the church.
One of them takes care of all the birds that are around. He has some
in cages and he feeds them and whistles to them. Another one is
always praying and singing...seriously he's always doing one or the
other every time I see him. It's awesome. They help cook the meals
and do chores around the church. This place truly is a community.

I took what Joji said about us not being in our rooms so much very
seriously and sat outside most of yesterday. I was listening to Old
Crow Medicine Show and Merle Haggard. You know, just had to get some
country in my veins since their isn't any good ol' American music out
here. Anyhow, the church has a nursery all day, every day for
community parents and some of the kids came out did a little
performance for us. They all so showed us what they had learned by
reading English on flash cards. Then we looked through a photo album
at pictures of Drew the first time he came. The "teacher" or whatever
told them that Drew was my aniki. It was fun listening to them speak
English and dance and run and laugh. Made me think about Jesus loving
the little children and such.

From there we went to eat what they call "barbeque" however it's
basically just a bunch of meat that you cook at your table. What I
mean is, for only 1000 yen ($10) you get a tray and similar to a
cafeteria you pick out various raw meats and you take them to the
little grill at your table and cook the meat. The only stipulation is
that you eat everything you have. I, of course, not knowing this
picked out all sorts of different meats to try. Pork here, beef
there, a little chicken and some lamb. You see we haven't had much
meat since we've been here. Mostly rice, potatoes and vegetables so
Michael and I really wanted some meat. Well after the first few
pounds of meat I was starting to get full and decided I didn't want
the rest. Joji looked at me and said, "You know, you have to eat all
of that right?" I thought he was kidding but he insisted he was
serious. So I downed all that I could with exception of some ramen
that Yukiko gave me. Folks, I think I
truly experienced gluttony. I ate so much, it had to be a sin.
Yukiko is so nice but man...she makes us eat so much, the funny part
is that I think I lost weight since being here. I really do feel so
much healthier here. Eating so much rice and so many vegetables not
to mention going to bed at 9 and getting up at 5 everyday. Seriously
though, Yukiko has no mercy, she's always like "Please, eat" and
keeps giving us food. In addition, the church members always buy us
random foods as "gifts." I joked yesterday that I'm going to become a
sumo wrestler by the end of the summer.

Last night after Yukiko made me eat dinner (I was still full from the
huge lunch), I had a great conversation with her. She asked why
Americans hug, because in Japan you only your spouse and your
children when they are young. Otherwise, it's all bowing with the
exception of the church here, they shake hands to show that they
care. I explained to them the difference between a friendly hug and
an intimate embrace. I told them it is also a family thing. From
there somehow, I shared my testimony and I talked about what led to
my decision to come to Japan and how it has been my dream for quite
some time. I honestly don't believe that I have ever been so content.
I love the people here, the atmosphere, the food, the culture, the
time I spend with God. It's all so "uplifting and refreshing" as the
coke bottles say Japan. It was nice to talk about how much I love
this church and how impressed I am by it and I think that America
could learn a lot from them.

I also told Yukiko that I hope to bring others here so that they can
experience what Michael and I are experiencing. I also told her that
maybe some of the Japanese could come to America and see first hand
what the American church is like.

Please continue praying for Michael and I, and especially this

church. I appreciate all the prayer support more than you realize.
Thank you so much for all the encouraging e-mails and messages.

Daniel son of Michael

Konbonwa!

Yesterday we were able to get a better grasp of

exactly what we're going to be teaching in our English
classes and how we're going to teach it. In other
words, I'm worried anymore.

Beyond that Michael and I help with college outreach

for the first time yesteryday. Folks, I'm here. I'm
actually here in Japan. Even after a week, I still
can't believe that I am actually here. It has been a
dream for so long to come and to actually be here is
still hard for me to grasp. You just go to school and
daydream about what to do with your and to actually
take that first step into what you desire to do...it's
just awesome. Michael went with Yukiko and Shinya to
Shizouka University. While I went with Joji and
Suzuki-sensei to Hamamatsu Medical something. Anyways,
we went to the university apartments and knocked on
doors inviting students to church and to dinner, while
also mentioning the English lessons that Michael and I
are teaching. Truthfully my "team" only had two
genuinely interested people, however, it was just
awesome to talk about the church and then to ask if
they have time to hear the Gospel. In my mind, I
usually write off the idea of door to door ministry. I
just have it in my head that door to door stuff is too
much like Jehovah's Witnesses and that Americans
generally could care less about some strangers
knocking on their door. However, the culture is so
different here, people actually listen and at least,
to some extent, show interest in what you have to say.
I'm just glad to be doing something that has vaule.
Needless to say, I love these people and I love this
country.

I am here.
Daniel son of Michael

Ohayo gozaimasu!

Before I write about what I did yesterday let me say

that this morning at prayer meeting I had a
realization that I think will greatly affect my
ministry here this summer.

Each morning someone shares a brief message that

correlates with the past Sunday's sermon. In addition
people share brief testimonies that parallel with the
short message. Why Michael & I were sitting there
watching random people go up front and share various
things about todays message (which was about serving
inspite of the fact that sometimes its a battle to
serve others) a man was sitting next to us and
translating as best he could. Through his translation
of what each person was saying it hit me...I somewhat
grasped the idea of just how hard it is for these
people here. Although this country may not be
"physically" persecuted they are in other ways. You
see, in Japan honor is very important and it is very
hard to cope with shame or failure. So when people
ignore the Gospel but that person continues to share
it with others despite being turned down so frequently
it says a whole lot about that person. It shows true
strength, courage and perseverence. In America we
don't enjoy failure or shame either but most of the
time we're not going to up and kill ourselves over it.
However, Japan has the highest suicide rate because of
such things. What I'm trying to do is help you grasp
how huge it is for this culture and these people to be
doing door to door ministry and to continually focused
on outreach.

It is amazing.

Oh God, break me...

I've been able to share Biblical knowledge with some

of the people here but the wisdom these people portray
far outweighs my own.

My faith compared to theirs seems so weak, so frail.

Moving on to yesterday's activities, I helped teach

English to the children by using flash cards and
playing games. It's funny because I'm really no good
with kids but you can't help but enjoy these children.
They are so funny, Michael has captured a good bit on
film so perhaps in due time we can post that on
YouTube. It was just fun teaching and playing with the
children. They still can't grasp the fact that I don't
speak their language, but it's ok.

We did more door to door outreach yesterday. It was

awesome, it kind of stinks for me because I just stand
there smiling and nodding my head but to watch
Suzuki-sensei talk to people with such...I don't know
what the word is...bravery maybe? He is a warrior. The
funny part is that he has this poofy, curly mullet and
he is really scrawny. However, when he talks to
people, he talks to them as though he already knows
them. I always hesitate, but not him, he walks up to
people like they're his family. Which is interesting
because Yukiko told me that they are able to have such
approaches because they expect God to work. So
basically if I can't stop viewing these people as
strangers but as "souls." You know, not just people,
but something important. Each person has a life, a
story and they matter...all of them, everyone.

May God teach you the things He is teaching me here in

Hamamatsu. May you grow in America. I hope that you
step up and install discipleship back into our
churches. That outreach becomes the center again. It
feels like the majority of the churches I've been too
have somehow missed that in America...let's change
that.

In Christ,

Daniel Glosson

So I talked to Yukiko about the website and we got it

set up so that when you go to the link I sent a few
days ago, all you have to do now is scroll your mouse
over each of the links and the English translation
will appear! So for those of you who don't want to go
back and look for the link here it is again.

http://hcc-family.com/hcc-live/archives/archive.html

At the top there are 3 links, Sunday Worship Service,

Gospel Hour, and Special Event.

Michael and I will hopefully be playing for next

Thursday's Gospel Hour, but I'm not 100% on that so
anyways, each service is listed by date, just scroll
your mourse over the yellow button on the right and it
will say "streaming," that is the link you want to
click to watch the services.

Also, you need RealPlayer to watch them so...you can

either download it from the church website(you'll see)
or go to realplayer.com and download it there. I think
it is in Japanese if you do it from the church website
so for all you English speakers out there may just
want to go the official website.

Beyond that my day consisted primarily of playing with

the children. I don't know why but the kids freak out
when I show up. They're just being themselves and then
I walk up and it's "Dan-e-el-san! Daniel-san!" and
then swarm me. You'd think I'd have candy or something
but all I do is play with them. I have fun playing
with them but man, I get tired and they don't
understand that I don't speak their language so they
keep shouting random things in Japanese and I just
keep shrugging. I have no idea how to them I'm tired
except by making faces and using sign language. I help
the "teachers" teach them English using flash cards
too and that is interesting.

Last night was Gospel Hour again and we invited one of

Yukiko's English students who is also enrolled in our
upcoming classes. Her name is Makiko and I think she
enjoys this place and all the nice people. However,
she isn't a Christian, which is why we invited her.
She is very nice and really wants to learn English so
we're going to try our best to help her as much as we
can while we're here. In addition she seems interested
in this whole Gospel thing and agreed to come Sunday
morning to visit again. Plese pray for her!

The rest of my day would be me just be me recapping

things I've already told you. I'll be sure to let you
know when more happens, until then continue to pray
for this church, Michael and myself. Thank you!

Daniel son of Michael

o much happened yesterday and I have close to 30 minutes to write

about it, we'll see if I can get it done.

Yesterday, of course, was Saturday and on Saturdays we work. We went

out to the mountains where the church has a camp site. We helped move
enormous logs from one pile to another. I think they were trying to
clear an are for construction or something. Anyways, it was nice
being out in the sun working and sweating. I tanned fast, got a nice
farmers tan that's developing.

Something I really love about all the people here when they're
working is their attitudes. I hear them all the time randomly saying
"Iesu-sama" (e-ess-ama), which is the name of Jesus in Japanese. When
they say it like that while working and such, to my understanding, it
means "yes, Jesus" or "praise God." It's just great to hear even the
teens saying it while working or the women in the kitchen or the
mechanic outside working on some random piece of equipment.

Everything these people do seems to be for the sole purpose of

"Kingdom building" and they at least appear to have the right heart.
It's encouraging.

After enjoying the beautiful mountains and some early morning hard
work we went back to the church and enjoyed some curry and rice.
Shinya and Yukiko took us out into town so that we could buy Yukiko
dinner for her birthday and so that we could look around and shop a
bit.

While walking around, Yukiko saw a little booth of sorts and she
wanted to get her belt adjusted or something weird like that. We all
walked over and one of the men working at the stand spoke to me in
English. Long story short the guy was Israeli and he was just working
in Japan. I still didn't really understand why he was in Japan but he
asked why we were there and I told him we were working with a local
church. When Yukiko finished getting her belt fixed she walked up
next to me and asked the man where he was from and she was so happy
he was from Israel and she told how much she loved the Jewish people
and how important to her. She just hopped right in with the Gospel,
she immediately started talking about Jesus. Man...it was awesome,
she is amazing. From there the four of us stood there telling this
man in the middle of the mall about Jesus and how it was great news.
This was the first time I was actually able to engage and it was
awesome.
Unfortunately he has a lot of family in New York and he had a
post-modern world view. In other words, he didn't accept what we were
saying because he doesn't think people should impose their religious
beliefs on others and that it should be a choice and that religion
doesn't matter as long as people are doing good. I asked him how
people were suppose to choose if they weren't given options, and I
was also curious how they could weigh those options if they were
shown clearly what the options were? I told him that it's something
great that has changed my life and that it would be selfish if I
didn't tell others about it. I was proud of Michael too, he said some
powerful stuff that I can't really remember but the fact that he
spoke gave me courage to talk. I'm glad he's here when I face times
like that, God is using us here and it is awesome. I think we may go
revisit the man later, pray for courage for us and that the man's
heart will be softened.

That more or less summarizes yesterday, there is more to say but I

don't really have the time considering church is going to start
shortly.

Continue praying for us, Makiko and for the Israeli man named Gil
that we met in the mall. Also remember this church in your prayers.
Thank you for all your prayers they don't go unnoticed.

Daniel son of Michael

Before I write this newsletter let me leave a special notice for all
the ladies (and Jake) that the ice cream in Japan is awesome.
Seriously it is better than America's. They have so many choices and
the flavors are so much more...vibrant? Perhaps it is easier to say
they are just flavorful.

Anyways, yesterday during I church I thought about how I wish that

when I return to America that I couldn't understand anyone. As in,
the language they spoke. I wish the way that I view Japan currently
(or rather, Hamamatsu) was also true of America. I have to base
everything off of people's actions here. What is so awesome, and that
I hope you've noticed from my newsletters, is that I see Christ every
where. These people clearly love Jesus. I see the ex-homeless men
always walking around praying and reading their Bibles. Seriously,
when I see them they are either working, singing, praying or reading
their Bibles and thats all. Perhaps that is all they have time for
but I can't picture them doing anything except smiling. The worship
team here is so genuine. In America, and I'm guilty of this, it just
seems like so many of us who lead music put on faces sometimes. These
people everytime there is a song raise their hands and pray and sing
and dance. These
people dance! It is so funny sometimes but it is such a blessing
too. This is a reserved culture who is very conscious of how others
perceive them and they are dancing! Only God can do something like
that. I'm not just talking about the youth I'm talking about
everyone! Watch the clips on the website and you can see
Suzuki-sensei and Nakamura-sensei dancing and singing on stage. I
remember asking people why they didn't get into the music at Vennard
and often the reply was something along the lines of "you don't have
to raise your hands or dance to worship." This may be true but let's
be honest if you're excited about the good God you serve, something
in you is going to move, you'll at least clap. How can you praise God
by just standing there with a blank look on your face. If someone
sang a song to me like that, I would think they were joking.

Worship God, not what makes you comfortable. That is something I've
learned. It was frustrating going to Lancaster Christian Church
because I had to get up at 7:30 on Sunday. I would complain to myself
and consider going to another church just so I didn't have to get up
so "early."

I'm ranting, I know. I'm just excited and I want others to learn and
experience what I am currently.

I have plenty more to write about but instead I'll end it here with
this thought. What if you spoke a different language and people
couldn't understand you? How would they perceive your actions? Who
are you really?

Daniel son of Michael

Ohayo Gozaimasu!

Yesterday was Monday which meant not a lot was going on around here.
Mondays are very slow here. However, with the extra free time I was
able to cover a lot of ground concerning what I'll be teaching in my
English classes. Our focus is going to be on phonetics. Pronunciation
of words. We're going to help them learn how to properly say words
such as "all" or "look" so that it isn't arr or rook. Michael and I
pick on them for it but its not like they can help it. Its all in
good fun, they pick on our Japanese.

Anyways apart from that Shinya and Yukiko took us to some "dream
bridge" or something. It was beautiful. Mountains all around and a
huge river and a bridge so that you could walk over the river. Fear
not, Michael took pictures so you'll get to see it. However, to truly
experience it you'd have to see it.

Oh and yes I am aware of the bad audio quality on the church website,
it's only mono and you can primarily only hear the vocals. Sorry, the
recordings or videos really don't do the live performances justice at
all. Matter of fact I think the videos sound bad and the live show
sounds great.

Sadly, that is all for now, I've got a lot to do today. Shizouka
University has a small unofficial English circle(or club) that has
invited us to come speak English with them so we are going to join
them. Please be praying we are hoping to use this as a form of
outreach in hopes to invite them to the church or share the Gospel
with them.
Thanks again for the encouraging e-mails (DAD) and for your prayers.

In Christ,

Daniel son of Michael