Hello All,

Here is the video I did for my home church. It is just a small glimpse at what has been happening at NORTHSTAR this fall. I will let you watch for your yourself.

Japan Address:
4306 Azumi
Matsumoto-Shi, Nagano-Ken 390-1513 Japan

U.S. Address:
29964 286th Street
Carter, SD 57580 U.S.A.

Financial support may be sent to:
Grace Brethren International Missions
PO Box 80065
City of Industry, CA 91716-8065

Dear Friends,

Maybe you are thinking summer is almost gone, and to some degree it is. So I hope you are going to make the most of the remaining week of August! Summer finally came to Norikura about three weeks ago when the rainy season lifted, the skies cleared, and we could wear shorts all day long. What a change! I realized only after packing two pairs of shorts too many that I wasn’t really going to be needing them.

ALTIDUDE Camp
A lot has happened in a little time, so I am only going to hit the highlights of our summer adventures. My favorite week came during the ALTITUDE  [Adventure Leadership Training and Discipleship ] Camp. I lead this four day backpacking trip with the summer staff Andrew and Takeshi-sensei from our home church, Azumino Family Chapel, in the Northern Japanese Alps not far from NORTHSTAR. Five people joined the trip which was designed to learn about leadership in the wilderness setting, much like Moses did while leading God’s people to the Promised Land. We began by learning about teamwork and sacrifice through fun initiative games before setting out on our own journey through the mountains.

The day that impacted me most was after hiking an eight hour day to the top of a mountain where we were able to talk about new perspectives. When we usually look at the world around us, we have a routine view of all that we see. We walk out the same door every day, to the see the same things, to go to the same places. But when we reached the top of that mountain, we had a new perspective. A perspective from above that makes everything look completely different. We see the world in a different light. It is much like how God sees us when we become His children or when we seek forgiveness. Psalms 103:11-12 says this:
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

Not only did we watch the sun set that evening, see fireworks from above in distant valleys, but almost everyone got up to see the sun rise as well. What an experience to compare God’s perspective of our lives with. How majestic!

We also talked about choosing the wrong paths as leaders, following faithfully, and some practical applications of what a leader does. I was surprised by some of the things which members of the trip said about their experience. They all in their own different ways realized how important it was to share their life and faith with the people that mattered most to them. I know that God really showed them something about their lives. Wow.

This Summer
We also hosted an English based camp for our home church’s youth in the beginning of August. It was so good to see more of our own church youth be challenged in big and small ways as well as their friends who came along to the camp! It was really great to serve our own local church right here at NORTHSTAR.

I have met so many new [and some return] guests this summer. I am already hoping and planning to visit or keep in contact with many of them. Pray that God would really use these relationships for His purposes.

Last week, I was able to take another trip into the mountains with a friend from my adult English class. Ichiro, not the same one who plays for the Seattle Mariners baseball team, was my “tour guide” to the top of Japan’s third highest peak, Mt. Hodaka. Last year, we climbed Mt. Fuji together, and we decided to keep the tradition alive this summer. This time, I introduced him to using a tent instead of one of Japan’s myriad of mountain huts for which you can pay hotel prices to stay in overnight. The second morning of our trip after packing up to leave, Ichiro surprised me by asking if he could take some time to play the Alpen Horn. “Only for fifteen minutes -” he said.

Ichiro walked to the neighboring lodge we were camping by, borrowed their Alpen Horn, and we set off to a large boulder. Ichiro put the horn together, as it is rather large, and began playing some morning tunes for everyone in the valley to enjoy. I could see many heads [or bodies from a distance] turn from many hikers above us en-route to the tops of the peaks that were surrounding us. Ichiro asked if I’d like to try…

We had a great trip together, and the one thing I thought about most was how do I share about my faith with someone who has no understanding of Christianity. Ichiro had some interesting questions for me on the trip which were good friendship builders. We are already talking about making another trip next summer.

A quartet of Christian musicians from the Columbus, OH symphony spent several days at NORTHSTAR playing music for our guests and outside at the visitor center in the village. One of the musicians was Japanese, and talked about the music they were playing. It was very different to have classical music being played at NORTHSTAR, especially live! But the musicians were amazing, and I was able to ask all about learning to play a stringed instrument like the violin and the Suzuki Method. The Suzuki Method for learning to play stringed instruments was invented by a man of the same name from the city at the base of our mountain – Matsumoto. Matsumoto is famous for its skill and appreciation of music, and several of the quartet members had actually lived in Matsumoto when they came to learn to teach the Suzuki Method. Not only do the musicians play for the symphony, but most of them teach as well. What a beautiful sound!

What’s Next
Here is what is left of the remaining two weeks of the summer for NORTHSTAR. Tonight, we will be doing a social event for our local friends here at the lodge. We have started trying some different things to be able to spend more time with our local friends when we don’t have any specific ministry related activities like our winter English class at NORTHSTAR. I have started doing an evening climbing time here on our climbing wall for neighbors, friends, and anyone else interested to get to know them better, spend time together, and Lord-willing begin to share our lives and our faith with them as well. We have to work around our own camp/group schedule, so we are really just testing it out. We had our first climbing night about a month ago, and tonight we will be doing an adventure movie night. We will be watching a climbing movie called King Lines. It should be a fun time!

This weekend is the annual Mountain Cycling in Norikura road bike hill climb event. 4,400 competitors will ride from the visitor center just up the street from NORTHSTAR’s lodge to the top of the mountain – 21 kilometers all up hill! Many of our very own staff will be competing this weekend, while the rest of us cheer them on. The race begins on Sunday morning. We will of course have a full house with guests coming from all over Japan to ride the most famous road bike hill climb in all of Japan.

The week after, we will have a little vacation time before our fall season starts the second week of September. I will be visiting some people in Tokyo who I have met at NORTHSTAR in the past year. Please pray that I can spend some good time with these new friends. We will also have new staff arriving for our fall season. One new intern, Seiya – a Japanese Christian snowboarder, will be preparing for an even bigger winter season this year. Three to four new staff will be coming from America and possibly New Zealand. They have already had a busy summer serving in camping ministries, so please pray for them as they pack up from their own summer adventures to continue the adventure of serving God in Japan this fall!

How you can help:
• Please pray for rejuvenation from a beautiful summer and the transition into a crazy fall.
• Please pray for the witness potential of the upcoming road bike hill climb next weekend.
• Please pray for my “vacation” time as I go to spend time with those I have since met at NORTHSTAR.
• Please pray for a difficult financial situation at NORTHSTAR and a lot of major and minor facility repairs including our main circuit breaker, the water pump for our boiler, updating most of our electrical outlets, getting new rental bikes for our fall season, and the potential need for a new vehicle or two once our current vans are beyond repair!
• Please pray for our new intern, Seiya, as he transitions to full life here and for the support he will need to raise.
• Please pray for the outgoing summer staff, Andrew, as he returns to start his fall college classes the day after he returns from Japan. He has been diligently keeping up with his Greek studies while he has been here, so I am already anticipating an A+ for him in Greek classes this fall. Good work Andrew.
• Please pray for the incoming fall staff as they are in different transitions, raising support, and packing up to catch a jet plain to Japan in less than two weeks!

Much thanks for your support of this ministry. While it may physically be far off, your gifts of time, prayer, support, and love allow God’s hands to reach farther than we can imagine. Arigatou.
Brad

Japan Address:
4306 Azumi
Matsumoto-Shi, Nagano-Ken 390-1513 Japan

U.S. Address:
29964 286th Street
Carter, SD 57580 U.S.A.

Financial support may be sent to:
Grace Brethren International Missions
PO Box 80065
City of Industry, CA 91716-8065

Konichiwa Everyone,

It’s already mid-July, and while you are half-way through your summer, mine hasn’t even really started! Since the summer season is really based on our school years, summer for Japan won’t begin until the end of this month when schools go on break for about one month. The summer break is only the end of the first semester in the Japanese school year, so while students are “away” on vacation [natsu yasumi] they have assigned homework to be completed before they return for second semester in late August. This does not even include all of the time especially middle and high school students will spend practicing with their clubs nearly every day of the week – sports, music, or studying for school exams. I will, of course, have the summer off from teaching at the the local elementary and middle school. For our last classes before the summer vacation I am thinking through what new kinds of games using English we can play. Duck, Duck, Goose always seems to be popular with the 1st and 2nd graders.

This time of the year is known as 梅雨[tsuyu], or rainy season. Typically, between mid-June to mid-July Japan is covered in rain-bearing storms. It is also the time for landslides due to the constant rain. According to the forecasters, yesterday was the official end to “tsuyu,” so hopefully we will no longer have five straight days of rain again this summer. The weather is clearing up for beautiful outdoor adventures, and we pray that it can be a season well spent in meaningful and deeply rewarding relationships.

Due to the rainy season, our springtime is a much more laid back time than our summer, fall, and winter seasons. This spring, I was able to do some pre-summer preparation by venturing into the Northern Japanese Alps where we plan to lead our summer backpacking trips called ALTITUDE [Adventure Leadership Training and Discipleship/Development] for middle school age through young adults. Although the weather was a bit cloudy, I was able to see a side of Japan I had not yet seen before – a place with few people. Only one day during my trip I had to turn around due to bad weather and an inability to find the trail through forest and snow. I’m sure I was praying every five minutes that God would help me find the trail again! After spending much more time than I anticipated hunting down the path, I decided the wisest move would be to head back the way I came and try a different route. It was a good, humbling experience.

After I was refreshed having seen a different side of life, we started our spring work and welcomed the new summer staff who came from the U.S. in mid-June. One of my favorite events of the year – the Norikura Run, Walk, & Eat – was held the last weekend of June. It’s the only time of the year that we get to dress up in costumes [I went in my 70's attire as Saturday Night Fever], run around local trails, and stop at the aid station for a large variety of local foods that change every fifteen minutes. You could eat fruit, fried fish on a skewer, multiple kinds of soba [buckwheat noodles], sandwiches, curries, and a drink bar of healthy and not so healthy beverages [I'm not so sure the coffee and Coke could really be good to rejuvenate tired muscles]. Whenever you were tired of running or walking for that matter, at the end of your six mile lap [or multiple six mile laps] you could ring a bell and the finish line would be opened for you to run through the banner completing your race. I’m fairly sure a man wearing a full monkey costume “won” the race – although there were no official winners – after he ran about 25 miles worth of trail that morning.

Before rainy season began, I was also able to take a trip to a place I have wanted to visit ever since I heard about it. It is the rock climbing mecca of Japan called Ogawayama – known as the “Yosemite of Japan” after Yosemite National Park in California. I was able to take two of our friends we are getting to know and another staff member for their first time climbing on real rock. Once we arrived in the valley, I knew it was going to be a popular place with the sheer number of cars and tents lining the roads, parking lots, and camping spaces. That definitely helped to make it easy to find what we were looking for.

After a little hiking and talking to some other fellow climbers, we were able to find a site suitable for some first time outdoor climbers. It was quite intimidating but an overall good experience to hang out with these friends. Although Kenji, my friend, confessed to being so nervous he nearly threw up, and after convincing my fellow staff member Michie she wasn’t going to get anywhere trying to slide herself up the side of the rock but to instead actually move her hands and feet, the views from atop the spire we climbed of the valley surrounding us was beautiful. I hope to go back again sometime. In the meantime, our friendship with Kenji and his wife Yuko have been growing since they also love to do outdoor adventure activities like backpacking. They have been the focus of many of my prayers.

Upcoming, we will have mountain bike groups and some road bike groups staying at NORTHSTAR nearly every weekend from now until November. We are also hosting a variety of camps and events during the summer such as a parent/child bike camp, a summer English camp, and backpacking trips. Please pray that we will be ready for the spiritual battles we are going to encounter as we live to intentionally impact our community, our friends, and Japan.

Without prayer there are so many impossibilities, but I know that we serve a God of possibilities. Please pray that God will turn the things that seem undoable and the people that seem unreachable into more than possibilities!

-Brad

Hello All,

The spring season is winding down, but the colors outside have just begun. It’s a new world here in the mountains of the Japanese Alps. I have been getting out much more lately to see all of the wonders of nature that can be found in Japan. The smells are just as good or even better, which has allowed me to find another side of life called allergies. I don’t think I have ever been around so many different plants in bloom all at once. I wish I would have thought of packing allergy medicine before I left!

Tonari ni Totoro

We had many good weeks of adventure this spring. One of our main spring events was the Kirara [sparkle/shine] Camp for young, skilled snowboarders. It was an event sponsored by Burton and lead by a former olympian who rode half-pipe in the Salt Lake winter Olympics. NORTHSTAR staff helped by providing coaching for the kids, and we also did some of our regular activities as well. When the kids were not up the mountain riding in the park, we introduced them to mountain biking , rock climbing, and a different challenge called a tyrolean traverse.

Kirara Camp

All of the kids loved these new adventures, and they challenged themselves to go beyond the ordinary and comfortable to really push themselves. We saw many of these kids improve not only their riding skills, but they encountered personal growth as well. It was very special hearing what the kids had to say about doing a challenge activity like the high-line tyrolean traverse and thinking about how doing something that might be intimidating or scary can help us handle real-life issues. Doing something fun yet challenging can create a big opportunity to learn so many things about ourselves and how to respond to bigger life issues.

Tyrolean Traverse

Now that we are at an end to the white season and packing up the winter gear, we have had some great opportunities to begin expanding our green season. On the last weekend of this month, there is a regular trail running event held just down the road from us which takes participants over miles of Norikura hiking trails – through open meadows, past waterfalls, and by enchanting mountain ponds. We assist the event by doing a lot of pre-event work such as setting up all of the directional signs for the race course and helping with logistics. Trail running is a moderately new sport in Japan and is just beginning to catch on. Instead of running on regular flat courses, trail running takes a different kind of endurance to push your way up a long arduous trail and safely navigate down the steep side of a mountain. But the one thing I sure love about trail running is that it provides fantastic views and is a great way to enjoy creation!

Trail Running in Noriura

This spring, several professional trail runners in Japan came to Norikura to discuss with locals about this event and other possibilities throughout the seasons. Afterwards, these runners came over to NORTHSTAR for us to show them a few of the local trails and enjoy what can be found here. I think they had a good time, but we are not quite as prepared to run a trail running marathon like these guys!

I’ll tell you a little more about some of the other things we’ve been up to a little later, but for this week here’s what is going on:
• Dan Junker (NORTHSTAR’s Director) will be returning from the U.S. after thee weeks of sharing about what we are doing here in Japan.
• New seasonal staff from America will be arriving for the summer and staff training will begin this weekend.
• I am preparing for a speech I will be giving next Monday to a group of Japanese who work with English tourism. I will be sharing about my home and some of the differences between life in rural America vs. life in Japan.
•  We are still working on plans for the summer season including mountain biking groups, camps, and the ALTITUDE trips.

I hope you are enjoying the season just as much as we are! See you again soon.
Brad

Financial support may be sent to:
Grace Brethren International Missions
PO Box 80065
City of Industry, CA 91716-8065

A view of the Grand Tetons on my way to Idaho.

I got back to share with my home churches about the previous year in Japan, and meet with many people I had not connected with for a while. It felt good to see familiar faces and reconnect. Thank you all for what you shared with me while I was there!

As I was revisiting friends and family, I was also sharing about continuing work in Japan with NORTHSTAR and my missions partner GBIM. Though it felt good to see familiar life in America, I knew that God still had more for me in Japan. After the fall season, we had been discussing the upcoming 2009 summer. NORTHSTAR had asked me to consider leading the planned summer backpacking programs, and I was prayerfully willing to consider staying. God had already opened the door obtaining my visa, so we knew that there was more in store for me. My GBIM advisor Ralph has always encouraged me to see that God is going to use us if we are willing to be used by Him. By December I understood that God wanted to use me more here in Japan.

Together with GBIM, we worked out a new ministry contract to continue partnering with them as my sending agency to Japan. Fortunately, they were willing to allow me to continue as an intern only revising our previous years agreement to meet the upcoming needs and changes of the ministry at NORTHSTAR. What a huge blessing not to have to redo all of the foundation work to partner with GBIM and NORTHSTAR!

For the upcoming year, my work will become a little more focused. Like last year, I will continue to be an English-sensei in the same village elementary and junior high schools as well as teaching an adult focused conversational English class. The changes will come in my relationship to leading the summer backpacking trips called ALTITUDE [Adventure Leadership Training and Discipleship]. I am working on this together with my director Dan on how to best market, organize, and lead these summer excursions into the Japanese Alps this upcoming August. For the fall, I will as well continue to update and adapt our outdoor education based school programming. Over the year, I am also helping to grow and develop our staff care as an international youth adventure ministry. Those are some big projects, but God is changing us and growing us.

When I was in the US, I was very limited for time and unfortunately unable to communicate with everyone this new direction and my continuation of work in Japan. I know that it is through God’s blessings from friends like you that allow me to be Christ’s hands and feet in Japan. I don’t take that lightly because I know many of you make big sacrifices to support me, pray for our work here, and encourage me on this path. Thank you for blessing me to be able to be a blessing here in the community of Norikura, Japan to both the locals and those that stay with us here at NORTHSTAR.

Also, while I was in the US, I was able to have a couple other fun experiences. About half of my month in America was a road trip with my grandparents to Idaho for a wilderness first aid class I took as preparation for the summer backpacking trips. We had great conversation along the way, and we visited relatives I had not seen for some time. After the class, I travelled to Omaha, Nebraska to visit old friends and take part in a wedding. It felt so good to see many friends who had written and sent crazy gifts over the past year. Thanks for the encouraging letters!

Watch out! Snowshoes can really trip you up.

It’s now spring here as you see from the photos. We have snow another 500 meters above us, while here at the lodge we are unpacking the mountain bike park in our front yard while packing up the winter snow park rails and boxes until the fall. What a beautiful mix of colors, sounds, and smells this time of year is. It is the perfect season [unless you have allergies]!  There are some really neat things going on this time of year which I would like to share with you more a little later. God is doing some exciting things in this community.

Spring backcountry on Mt. Norikura

For the upcoming year, some important things to keep in mind and pray for would be:
• NORTHSTAR original camps which are part of our culture penetration ministry
• English classes which give us a foundation within this community
• Relationship building with local lodges/pensions
• Prayer and financial support raising for the full-time staff as well as short-term seasonal staff

These things are all part of the big picture of NORTHSTAR.
Some of my personal prayer requests include:
• ALTITUDE camp preparation
• Deepening of  relationships with several local friends who don’t know Real Life
• Prayer and financial team support building

I am praying that this upcoming year will truly be a life-changing season.
Brad

Financial support may be sent to:
Grace Brethren International Missions
PO Box 80065
City of Industry, CA 91716-8065