Gaijin.Cerebrio: doctrina ergo eruditio



Saturday, March 26, 2005

PEACEMAKER / PEACEKEEPER

Since the last post, life has been pretty huge, lots of highs and lows and then some more, although nothing about the weather is different. It is still indecisive about what it wants to do with itself. It has wanted to be warmer but winter's still got a pretty strong hold of itself. But let me not talk about the weather again. We are just so over it already.

We also, had, a first in our household; a tiff. They say life after a fight, people get tighter if it doesn't tear them apart. I certainly hope so. I really hate blow outs between flatmates, and am especially afraid of getting into bad terms after living with M. When I was living in Queen Street with M, we went from good friends to not talking to each other all in a year and we never once had to raise our voices at each other. I got to thrash this one out with L because, now we've actually worked it out. Not sweep it under the carpet.

What really surprised me was how much hurt I realized I didn't face up to that was just longing to get out. It asked for a fight without actually having to say so itself and surprised me, even as I said it. The long and short of it was that I had been taking on an indifference because I couldn't not take certain casual remarks impersonally - even though I know it wasn't meant to hurt and not necessarily directed at me - because L is so much my family here and how much more personal things got in the family. And that indifference was just a bit to maddening.

I had talked with Lirps about it before and Lirps who works/learns about conflict resolution put it down to a Peacemaker and a Peacekeeper personality. The first rises up to the challenge of making peace in conflict situations, the latter, keeps the peace and doesn't like conflict situation. I belong to the latter which isn't always a good thing since I prefer to maintain a status quo.

Anyway, I'm glad it was forced it out on a rather stunned me, like a deer caught in headlights, but it needed to be done. I don't know when I learnt that people don't like conflict and sought out my preferred way of resolution. Now its like I know again, confronting it doesn't have to end up in tears. Well, that said, I did burst into tears - another surprise to me, on how emotional I have been becoming.

The truth is though, I had been in two minds about it. On one hand I wanted to deal with it. On the other, I was never really sure what sort of outcome it would lead to, whether we would fall out completely and then it would be a very terse situation on the home front for the next three months. The question was, Was it our friendship important enough for it to be dealt with? The heart of my problem is; what sort of friend do I allow for those around me to be?

Man, it's dangerous wearing your heart on your sleeve. It's always vulnerable to be hurt. Now I'm glad we dealt with it and we can build up from there. Because it feels so much better not to take on indifference and wear my heart on my sleeve once again, follow it and take things to heart as they come. But man, does my heart feel like its taken on a beating. It still feels pretty raw.

Audio: How Great Is Our Lord by Chris Tomlin.
Biblio: -/-
Cerebrio: Would I let my guard down and make myself vulnerable to my friends?

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

ANGLIFIED

The weather forecast is an absolute lie. It was supposed to be a top of 11 degrees today. It was a cold, foggy, wet day, nothing of the warm sunshine as promised. There is no way that tomorrow can be a balmy 17 degrees tops. I'm really talking a bit much of the weather. I fear I am being too anglified by my flatmate that I talk that much of the weather.

I've got half the evening to myself so I'm gonna put some rice on, clean up and try a bit of studying before whipping up dinner and then make it a T.V. dinner over King Arthur on video.

That's all I've got energy for today. The kids sapped up 50% of it, the other 50% was lost to my sinuses. Dankesehr.

Audio: Me and My Shadow by Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes.
Biblio: Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis.
Cerebrio: I talked enough of the weather...

Monday, March 14, 2005

GETTING JIGGY IN THE COLD

I take the last entry back. It's like Winter just doesn't want to let up! I can't believe last week was so balmy and then it's like the middle of winter in January all over again. -1 to 1 degrees + snow.

No wonder I caught a cold! It was a big weekend and that probably didn't help. Koji's wedding was a big success - a success alone simply because it managed to happen with so little time and preparation.

Koji's wedding dinner with Mariya and Kaori

We were all dressed to the nines so after the dinner, Jeff & Jenn of the Hachi/Hachi-kita ski-ing weekend, Laura and I decided to paint Sannomiya red. We didn't make it anywhere farther than Ryan's Irish Pub. We managed to entertain ourselves there for 4 hours, waiting for The Tardy Boys and getting pretty revelled on a mixture of cocktails. Mmmm. It's been a long time since we got jiggy on the dance floor but it was so fun!

Getting jiggy with it at Ryan's Irish Pub in Sannomiya

Laura and I went to town last thursday and bought some cameras. She bought her first, I bought my Dad's birthday pressie. So we took a whole lot of pixxies this weekend. Plan to send the shots back home in the camera for Dad to see "A Week In the Life of The Chilibuddy in Japan."

Also, so mom has some idea of what to expect when she comes! She's planning to come in June which means, from next weekend onward, our house will have an endless length of visitors as long as we are home - we are going away for 10 days in May, to Kyushu for a Christian retreat/conference with some NG girls from church - starting with Laura's family (sister and aunt, 3 weeks), Dustin (2 weeks), Laura's cousins + friend (2 weeks) and then Mom (2 weeks) which will take me to the end of June and just enough downtime before I rush off to Thailand.

Audio: Cool For Cats by Squeeze.
Biblio: Voyage of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis.
Cerebrio: I'm so tired of the cold! Bring on the heat man!

Thursday, March 10, 2005

SPRING

The warmth has arrived! Yipee! We had guests over last night for dinner, Jenn and Jeff from skiing. It was good just extending hospitality and fellowshiping with them. After we walked them back to their car - in nothing but two skimpy layers of T-shirt and fleece, we decided it would be nice have some cigars and vino on the balcony. It truly smelled spring. Like the trees give off some sort of scent.

And this morning, my rooms an oven of 19 degrees without a heater. To think just two days ago, it would have been below 10!

Wish me the best of luck. I give my first Easter lesson today. Pray for the soft soils of the kids and of my co-teacher!

Audio: Birds chirping.
Biblio: Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis.
Cerebrio: God, just be on my lips and take charge!

Monday, March 07, 2005

UNWISE

You know when you know better that to bring up a certain topic, when you've been prompted by the Holy Spirit that saying it would be unwise, but you do it anyway? It's not massive damage, but just plain unwise and very undiscerning on your part?

Well, I just had one of those moments. I don't know what good I thought I might do since I thought twice before about sharing it and both times the spirit prompted it "Unwise."

I've been a naughty rebellious little child. God, I'm sorry. I really should have listened.

Anyway, tonight I have a ton of things to work through starting with my first chapter in Biblical Basis to Mission (henceforth BBM), processing digital photos, compiling mix-tapes and making a few calls to Auz...

Audio: Extreme by Moby from The Bourne Supremacy MPS.
Biblio: Revolution in World Missions by K. P. Yohannan.
Cerebrio: That was stupid mistake to make.

Friday, March 04, 2005

From: thechilibuddy@my-eye.my-expressions.com
Subject: Six Month Thailand Mission Trip
Date: 3 March 2005 7:55:17 am GMT+09:00
To: All My Readers and Prayer Warriors.

Hello tomodachi!!

Earlier this year, I emailed you with updates bearing the bad news that "that it would be just a little while longer" that I will be in Japan. Well, as you can guess from the subject of this email, that "little while" is really not so long now!

Let me bring you up to date on what is happening in my life here. From July onwards, I will be leaving Japan permanently and embarking on a six month mission term to Thailand. I will be sent as a missionary from Hope Chapel Osaka (HCO), Japan to Hope Chapel Bangkok, Thailand. There, I will serve 8-12 hours a week as an English (EFL/ESL) teacher in the English Institute ministry of Hope Chapel Bangkok, the Good News English Study Center. This institute reaches out to the local community of university students. The rest of my time there will be spent involved in social ministries such as orphanages, village evangelism, encouraging the local bible schools and possible tsunami-aid.

The aim of the mission trip is to gain a fuller appreciation of missionary work in EFL/ESL ministries, children ministries in orphanages and education and relief aid. I go there to support and partner the national and local missionaries in Hope Chapel Bangkok and the locale. I want my faith to be challenged as I see how they battle to win souls to Christ in the villages and urban settings. The long term goal of this short term mission is to see if this may be where God would call me in the future.

In order to make all these possible, I need to develop a team of ministry partners, a group of people like you who would want an opportunity to make my trip possible and be involved in God's work. I would like to ask you to pray about 2 things. Firstly, I would like to ask you about joining my prayer team while I prepare and go on this mission trip. Secondly, I would like to ask you to pray about supporting me. I need a total of $4000, which covers room, board, food and transport-in-country. Will you prayerfully consider joining my team by giving a gift of $100, $200 or more?

In order to know who would join my prayer and support team, do let me know if you would like to be giving and/or praying for me. Because I am so far away, in order to save costs, I will email (instead of calling internationally) in two weeks time and I hope to hear from you before then and give you more information on how you can be praying and supporting me. Thank you for considering joining my team to help reach people for Christ in Thailand this year.

Blessings in Christ,

The Chilibuddy.