ベサニー・キリスト教会

After 30 years Mark Fosson has finally decided to release the album he recorded in 1976 and 1977. At the time, Mark was working with John Fahey and his record was supposed to be a Takoma Records release. However, things did not work out and the master tapes have been sitting in Mark's garage ever since!

They would have stayed there if it were not for Mark's cousin, Tiffany Anders. When she heard that he know John Fahey and had actually made a record she strongly encouraged him to release those recordings. They are now released as "The Lost Takoma Sessions" and are a great example of American Primitive Guitar.

Mark seems to play a Martin 12 string that was bought for him by John Fahey. It seems he used to open for John and so his music has that "Takoma" sound to it.

If you want to listen to some genuine American Primitive Guitar I would strongly recommend "The Lost Takoma Sessions" by Mark Fosson. Happy Listening!

On the 8th of April, Reiko and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary by taking a three day trip to Okinawa. It was a wonderful three days of relaxing and thanking the Lord for all these years together.

However, I realized that it was also my 30th anniversary of being involved in Christian Church work here in Japan. I had at first been involved in youth ministry and also in music. However, God clearly spoke to me that the need in Japan was for more churches and that church planting and pastoring was what I was to do. When I was younger, I had decided that being a missionary was the one thing I would not do. However, if I did become a missionary, Japan was the one country I was going to avoid. Finally, if in spite of everything I became a missionary to Japan, church planting and pastoring was the one thing I would not do.Well, God had other plans and in 1978 I gladly entered into my new ministry of church planting and pastoring.

It has been a wonderful 30 years and I can see God's grace throughout. Of course there have been many battles to fight. 20 years ago I had my first fight with cancer and now I am in the midst of the second round. Developing local leadership in the church has taken time and I have made many mistakes. But, overall, more than my mistakes and more than any hard times the church may have gone through, these 30 years have seen the guidance and the power and the grace of God at work.

I am looking forward to God's continuing guidance and can't wait to see what God has in store for me and for the church in the next 30 years. Praise be to God!

Romans 1:16-17

On Sunday the 13th we will be having an English Service. The service will start at 4p.m. From now on we will be having an English Service every second Sunday at 4p.m. Everyone is welcome! We hope to see you there.

"The really hard life is the one lived in opposition to Jesus' path. All you need to do is to look at how hard life is for folks who cannot forgive others, who desperately need to be the focus of attention, who have to be in control of everything, who are driven to succeed to prove they are significant. This is the hard life, not the life of self-denial. As one gets good at self-deial for the Kingdom, life gets prgressively easier."

Page 148 of "Kingdom Triangle"

It is that time of year again! This morning I just could not get myself to head in the direction of Mt. Kongo.It is still cold and the leaves are not yet out at the peak.

Instead, I took down my rock climbing shoes and headed off towards Mt. Makio. There, all the leaves were out and the late cherry blossoms were in full bloom. The sky was blue and the sun was warm-a perfect day to start the 2008 rock climbing season.

Because of my weak body, it took me a bit of time to get to the main rock climbing area. However, that was just more time to enjoy the scenery and to take pictures. The rock was just like I remembered it from last year-nice and dry and just waiting to be climbed.

I had a very enjoyable climb up to the main ledge where I enjoyed the view and a cup of coffee for a long long time. I then headed up to the peak to again enjoy the breeze and the view and a second cup of coffee.

I'm sure I will still continue to climb Mt. Kongo but at the same time I am pretty sure that when the weather is good, I will mostly be climbing the rocks at Mt. Makio. After the snow and the cold it is great to enjoy a different kind of mountain and a different kind of climbing.

"The flesh and the Spirit are the two powers. Under the rule of either, every act is done. Let our every step be a walk after and through the Spirit." page 190 of The Spirit of Christ

Amen

When I came to Japan as a missionary in 1973 I had no idea what Golden Week was. Either the term was not used in the 50s and 60s when I was living in Shiga Prefecture or it just had no relationship to the Sunde family schedule. At any rate I had no knowledge of Golden Week-usually spoken of as GW.

What Golden Week is is a period of time in Japan where there are so many national holidays that the whole work force pretty much takes it easy for a week. The holidays are April 29th, May 3rd, May 4th, May 5th, and May 6th.

Whap happens during Golden Week? Basically, people that can afford it take long trips while others take in a lot of day trips or just spend their time taking it easy at home I have done all of the above. Some years ago, Reiko and I and the Dugan family took a very nice trip to the Shinshu area of Japan during GW. Shinshu is kind of like Minnesota and so it was a lot of fun.

This year, so far, I only have one special event in my schedule. On the 1st, Shin Chan, who I used to do music ministry with back in the 70s, will be coming over and we hope to do some music together and actually do some recording if possible.

Many years on the 3rd of May I head to Mt. Kongo for their annual awards ceremony. Last year, I received an award for climbing Mt. Kongo 1500 times. My friend and fellow Bethany Church member, Mr. K, received a medal for climbing 100 times. I may or may not make it this year. Interestingly, because Mt. Kongo is over 1,000 meters high, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom on the 3rd so that event is known as the Mt. Kongo Cherry Blossom Festival.

At any rate, if you know people in Japan and are having a hard time contacting them, it is probably because of GW. Wait a week and try again and they will be back on the job..