He Is Risen! Easter is the greatest of Christian holidays. But what does the word Easter mean? Where and when was it first celebrated? The origin of the word Easter is uncertain, but the Venerable Bede claimed that the Christian resurrection festival displaced ancient pagan celebrations involving the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess “Eostre.” That, he said, [...]

  Police protection – Today is officially the first day of spring, and a national holiday here in Japan. People will be taking advantage of the three-day weekend to go and view the cherry blossoms. They will travel to near and faraway places with their families, picnic baskets, cameras and probably even pets to sit beneath the awesome, flowering trees that [...]

“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober (alert), and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity (love) among yourselves: for charity (love) shall cover a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:7-8   “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13   – Photo of a clinging [...]

Made In Japan – Meet Yosuke-kun, born last Monday, 3/9/2009. In Japanese 3 (for March) is pronounced “san,” and 9 (for the 9th) is pronounced “kyu.” Put them together and we get “san-kyu,” which, when spoken, sounds like the English phrase “thank-you!” The Japanese word “kun” is a familiar suffix added to a boy’s name. The English equivalent means “master.” About two years ago we introduced Yosuke-kun’s [...]

SMILE! It’s a muscle builder! – “The joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10. The calligraphy card was made by Eiko Kimura of Kumamoto, Japan. The doll? It’s an original hand-made creation by Ruth McGibboney, a co-worker and friend of Nils’ mother, almost thirty years ago.  We call this little guy by the name of Mad Manny, and he always brings us a [...]