No; that really is not the name of the church. It's really just "Koriyama Baptist Church". But I couldn't NOT blog about yesterday. The Men prepared the meal for the ladies of the church (it was their Mother's Day gift a week late).pictured: several of our deacons and oldest church members. Thank God for "servant's heart" role models!
The meal was 手巻き寿司 (temaki zushi). Ingredients are put out, and individuals get to choose and prepare combinations to their liking. First, some rice is loaded onto the 海苔 (dried seaweed). Then you can choose toppings: 刺身 (raw tuna or raw salmon), 納豆 (natto, or fermented beans), ホモソーセージ (fish sausages), カニ棒 (artificial crab leg meat), egg, cucumber sticks, 葱 (long onion), 貝割れ大根 (white radish sprouts),しその葉 (edible leaves--honest!); and you can add your own 醤油 (soy sauce), ワサビ (horseradish), or 練り梅 (Japanese plum paste). Of course, the meal came with the regular 味噌汁 (soup made from a bean curd paste) and お茶 (green tea).pic: Temaki Zushi meal, prepared by the men. Aren't you just drooling? It really is quite good!
It seems the church folk look for any excuse to fellowship, to have food! Graduation/entrance for college, high school, jr. high, even elementary are celebrated; baby & bridal showers are held, special anniversaries and birthdays are celebrated. Christians in Japan are ostracized by society in such a way that the only time in the week they can relax and be themselves is at church. Is it any wonder that most Japanese believers--there are always exceptions--come early, stay late...and I have never yet heard complaint about the sermon being too long! It is true that mission work in Japan is slow; but at the same time, there is less concern for nominal Christianity in Japan, where you have to take a stand to be a Christian, where it would not make sense to falsely claim the name "Christian" for the disadvantages it would be sure to bring.
pic above: 2 girls on left are starting college; the one seated next to them finished jr. hi; and the boy on the end? He just finished elementary!Some day I may post images from the "Summer Festival", the barbecue picnic we have in our church front yard.
