Our Arrival in the Tama City Area

We arrived at the Kunitachi Station in the Tokyo area early in the afternoon on Saturday, October 21. We found a phone outside the station and called Pastor Yuasa, who had planned to pick us up. I first met Pastor Yuasa almost three years ago when I travelled to Japan to mediate a conflict that had developed between a missionary and the church where Pastor Yuasa serves. Pastor is a dear brother in Christ and has suffered significantly for his faithfulness to the Lord. It was a joy to see him once again and also to meet his daughter, Izumi, who had come along for the ride.

Pastor Yuasa and Izumi took us to a restaurant for a late lunch. At the restaurant, the five of us linked up with Brother Mark, a Japanese national who functions as Pastor Yuasa's right-hand man. Brother Mark, age 55 or so, was led to the Lord back in 1978 by a missionary with BMM. He has led a difficult life, having been orphaned early on. While living at an orphanage, one of the other boys, a bully, stabbed Brother Mark in the left eye, resulting in its loss. The bully was probably picking on Brother Mark because of his short stature. He is not a dwarf; nevertheless, he only stands about as tall as Elliott. Brother Mark has a delightful personality. He kept Elliott, and us, laughing for most of the time we were with him. We praise the Lord for the joy that is in his heart. We will never forget him!

After lunch, we stopped by the apartment of a blind woman, who is a member of Pastor Yuasa's church. Miss Yoshikawa has been blind from birth. She lives in a small apartment, with one of its rooms used for a massage therapy business she operates. Pastor Yuasa set up the meeting for us to minister to Miss Yoshikawa, but she is the one who did the ministering. She insisted on giving Dale a neck and back massage, and her overall joy in the Lord was such a blessing. Though she isn't always able to get out to church, Miss Yoshikawa promised to attend services on Sunday knowing we would be there.

As evening approached it was time for Pastor Yuasa to take us to the family that would be hosting us for two nights. Mr. and Mrs. Sato are about the same ages as Dale and me. They have four sons, ages 28, 25, 23, and 15. Only the 15 year-old, whose name is Shimya, continues to live at home. The others are out of school and on their own. Mr. Sato is on a foreign work assignment in Vietnam, so we were not able to meet him.

Mrs. Sato was such a gracious hostess. She and Dale bonded immediately. Mrs. Sato had prepared a traditional Japanese meal for Pastor Yuasa, Brother Mark, and us, consisting of shrimp tempura, chicken, pork, beef, mushrooms, and rice. It was delicious, and we were stuffed.

Soon it was time for Pastor Yuasa and Brother Mark to leave. After talking for a while longer with Mrs. Sato, we decided it was time for us to retire for the night as well.