Summer 2022 Update

I feel like a seed planted and taking root! Here is what I have been up to this summer:

KEEPING THE “MAIN THING” THE MAIN THING.

I have successfully made it through my first 3 months of language school! So what does that mean??

Well, to be honest not much yet. I am still building a foundation in this language and I have a lot to learn. I can occasionally understand very simple conversations, but a lot passes over me and I still have trouble forming my own sentences when responding.

In order to help you understand the complexities of the Japanese language to an English speaking mind, take a look at this picture below. It is a comparison of an English sentence to the same sentence in Vietnamese, French, and Japanese.

Do you notice anything interesting about the word order in the Japanese sentence?

It is completely backwards. The word order an English speaking mind would hear is something like “I hotel across the street shop saw suit try on wanted”. If I were to communicate in this way to you, how confident would you be in understanding my meaning? Now, add on the complexity of Japanese grammar (conjugations, subject dropping, formality levels, etc.) and you may start to see why learning this language is going to take some time.

So, with all this in mind, I am keeping language study my main priority. I devote about 40+ hours a week to language study and will continue to do this for the next 2 years. I’m absolutely dedicated to learning this language!

However, even though school has been my main priority,

this is how I have been spending my free time:

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR | FRIDAY TERRACE MINISTRY

This is a weekly ministry located in the suburbs of Tokyo which I talked about in my previous update. The owner of this house is a Japanese Christian artist, and she invites both her Japanese neighbors and Christian friends to come over and spend time together. This is an excellent opportunity for us to build natural and genuine relationships with the family’s in this community. Additionally, it is a wonderful opportunity for me to practice the Japanese I am learning in school as well!

This is such a unique ministry that I plan to highlight it in a future YouTube video.

MUSTARD SEED CHURCH | TEC MINISTRY

Every Thursday after school I go to Mustard Seed Church in Shibuya to attend an English Conversation Ministry that the church hosts for those looking to practice their English. I will often help with leading the conversation groups, and facilitating connections with people interested in what the church is doing. Ministries like this often serve two purposes in Japan, they help people practice English and they also give people an opportunity to build relationships.

My participation has helped me develop friendships within this church and I look forward to working with them on any potential future ministry opportunities.

YOUTUBE CHANNEL | FUTURE PROJECTS?

Besides my 40+ hours of language study each week, I dedicate about 6-8 hours each Saturday to film and edit videos for my YouTube channel. Being able to film, edit, and produce videos is a great skill for me to continue to develop and has led to some unique opportunities here in Japan.

As some of you might have noticed, I recently finished editing and uploading the last Cityline interview I filmed in January (located here). I am now able to concentrate on new video projects in Japan, with the first one being about the Friday Terrace Ministry. I want to take a documentary style approach to highlighting the purpose and impact of this ministry. This will be the first video where some of the interview will be in Japanese (translations will be provided), and I will be working with Japanese editors to understand how to shape my videos for a Japanese audience. With my limited amount of free time, I anticipate this project to take about 6-9 months to complete (the bulk of this work being the transcribing and translating for both an English and Japanese audience).

AND SO MUCH MORE…

It would be easy for me to turn this update into a small novel if I shared everything I have done this summer, so for those of you interested in more frequent updates, please feel free to friend me on Facebook and ask to join my Facebook group.

In the meantime, here are some honorable mentions:

Above (Picture Descriptions from Left to Right):

I was invited up to Hirosaki (northern Japan) to experience some of their major summer festivals. This was the church I stayed at while there.
I was invited out to Shizuoka by some friends visiting from Chicago. My friends dad showed me how to put on traditional Japanese underwear.
My friend from Chicago is now pastoring a church near Yokohama and invited me to spend time with them for the evening.