November and December Report: A Wealth of Reconnections

I’ve been in the United States since the 11th of this month. I returned to be a part of my brother Marc’s wedding. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been able to spend time with family and close friends in several places. I visited with the East Hill church family in York, Nebraska. I traveled down to Oklahoma to see Marc and Katie begin their marriage together (a beautiful ceremony!) and to see friends and family from all over the country. Finally, I’ve spent quality time here in Leavenworth with my mom, Cindy, and my dad, Ron. I was also able to share a little bit about Japan with the youth group and Ladies’ class at Leavenworth Church of Christ. God has blessed me with this time of rest. I return to Japan on Monday. Would you please keep me in your prayers as I travel? I am looking forward to returning home and seeing my teammates and other friends again. I have missed them so much!

One-on-one Bible Studies: I participated in many interesting conversations in Bible studies during November and December. I have been especially humbled and encouraged by discussions with Michiaki and Akiko. Michiaki has probably had the most questions about the Bible out of any of those with whom I read. Akiko and I have nearly finished studying the Gospel of Luke together. She struggles with many of the things we have talked about but is truly amazed by Jesus’ life. Both she and Michiaki are involved in the gospel singing class that Erica and I lead. They offer insight about things they have learned and thought about with the group. Please pray specifically for these two seekers!

Gospel Singing Class/Ladies’ Night Out: After talking with Gospel singing class participants, Erica and I decided to meet every week next quarter as opposed to once every two weeks so that we are able to connect with the group more often and teach more songs! We are so thankful to God for guiding us through our first quarter of group classes and for leading so many people to participate in devotionals at the church over the past few months. A big ‘thank you’ to Erica for planning and leading these classes for the two weeks that I’ve been in the States!

Monthly Activities: Soup and Games night in November was a gathering of about 40 people at the church. Erica’s parents, sister, and brother were in Sendai and able to help us make soup and keep games going in several groups. This month, Erica put in a lot of hard work to prepare for Cocoa, Cookies, and Carols.

Travels: Please keep the Sendai team in you prayers as we travel to Hokkaido, Osaka, and Ibaraki from December 27th to January 15th.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Debi Hobelman, Sendai Japan

Monthly Report 3: The Three-Month Mark

As Erica and I celebrate the three-month anniversary of the day we came to Sendai, we realize that God has worked through us and through others around us in ways we could not possibly have imagined He would. We are blessed by times of worship in which we are able to lay praise at the feet of Jesus together with our Japanese brothers and sisters. We have constant contact with non-Christians at the church and in other places, many of whom have shown strong interest in learning about what it means to follow Jesus. We are able to express ourselves in Japanese at times and are learning more every day. We have grown together as teammates. We have shared our faith, and have been moved as those around us have shared theirs. Father, thank you for your providence and guidance over the last three months. Thank you now for the way you will work in the hearts of people in Sendai, Japan in the future, showing them your love for them in powerful ways.

Gospel Meeting in Hachinohe:
From September 18-20, Erica, Ben, Paul Mawatari, and I visited Hachinohe for a Gospel Meeting and LST activity. Many church members and LST readers from this summer’s project participated. Erica and I met a young Christian from Morioka named Yoko. She joined us in Sendai the next weekend to spend some time and worship with us. Please pray for her. The church in Morioka is very small and she was fed by her time in Hachinohe and in Sendai with a larger community of believers.

Group Classes:
A new quarter has begun! Erica and I are teaching group classes for the first time and learning a lot! We have met once for our Ladies’ Night Out class and once for our Gospel Singing Class. Please pray for courage as we lead these classes for the first time and for the relationships between non-Christians and church members that attend to grow.

One-on-One English Bible Studies:
Erica and I are each studying the Bible with 12 LST readers from this summer. I have studied with most of my readers two or more times now, and it is exciting to see how our relationships are progressing. We feel more comfortable with each other and we always find ourselves looking at the clock and wondering where the time has gone. Many have shared very interesting and encouraging insight into Scripture.
Would you please pray for those I’m studying with by name? Megumi is an older woman who has had a long relationship with the mission team and has done LST reading sessions for a few years. She has a Bible of her own and is looking forward to knowing more about what it says. Kazuhiro is a physics student at Tohoku University who is looking to improve his English so he can study abroad. He thinks deeply about passages in the Bible and asks really good questions. Chihiro is also researching several areas related to physics and is pursuing her doctoral degree. She has read with LST teachers for about three years. Michiaki is a mathematics student who is very amazed by the miracles Jesus performed. He is also in a group Bible class taught by Ben and Joel. Shuichi is an older businessman who wants to expand his knowledge of the Bible. Please pray that as he does so, that he will find faith. Daiki is a restaurant worker with little English, but is drawn in by activities at the church, enjoying the fellowship very much. Rina is a young mother who is very interested by the deeper meanings of Jesus’ parables. Itsuko is a contact the mission team made at the International center in town. She loves to have conversations in English. Katsuyoshi is a graduate student in law. He would like to research the Bible. Tomomi is another young mother who is struggling to understand how a relationship with God can provide guidance and comfort to her in the midst of many painful experiences. Akiko is a single woman whose children are grown. She struggles with loneliness but has been coming to worship every Sunday morning that she is able too. Please pray that she will see that Jesus is the cause for our joy! Namiko is a high school student whose parents are both Christians. She, herself, has shown resistance to the idea of becoming a Christian until recently. She has been coming to church, but has very recently become very busy with studies. Please pray for my friends!!!

Monthly Report 2: Getting to Know our Family

Opportunities to meet and connect with people, in Sendai and in other nearby cities, this month have opened my eyes to the network of church families in Japan. Erica and I met many church members in our travels to the Ibaraki prefecture and to Hachinohe. What a blessing to have faces for the believers I know are worshipping and ministering in other places in Japan!

Fellowship with family in Sendai has also ministered to us in a huge way. It’s been so rewarding to spend time with church members every Sunday in worship and to continue loving and serving each other at the fellowship meal after services. The mission team (Joel Osborne, Ben Berry, Crimsen Ruhnke and Jonathan Straker) left for three weeks to attend the annual Asia Missions Forum in Cambodia and spend time with missionaries in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as well. Erica and I found ourselves wishing we could have gone with them, but were also very thankful for the time we were able to spend together in Sendai. We were able to deepen our friendship, explore our surroundings, study and plan, meet new people, and spend time with friends we met through the Let’s Start Talking program. A lot of growing has happened this month, for which we both thank God, who always provides.

Church Meeting in Ibaraki:
For the 10th, 11th and 12th of this month, Erica and I were in Ibaraki prefecture for an area summer church meeting. We spent a lot of that time with Judith Alexander, a missionary in Takahagi. It was her responsibility to organize the class for the youth at the meeting, so we got to help her with that and also with the preparations for housing many of the college-aged women that attended. One of the activities that the young people participated in was a trip to an area children’s home to teach songs and play games and find other ways to make connections with the children that live there. It was so good to work with Judith, connect with young people she works with, and to meet other missionaries and ministers in the Ibaraki area.

Hachinohe LST Activity:
Hachinohe (hah-chee-no-heh) is a city Aomori prefecture that is about four hours North of Sendai by car. A missionary couple from the Tachikawa congregation in Tokyo, Steve and Debbie Carrell, drove up to meet us Sendai. From there we all went to Hachinohe together on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of August. Erica and I led a Let’s Start Talking follow up activity there and worshipped with the congregation on that Sunday. The church has about seven members, It was good for us to see them working together and to fellowship with them.

Language Study:
We’re plugging away! Erica and I are now most of the way through our first textbook, so we are celebrating how far we’ve come and continuing to ask for patience and strength for the road ahead. While the mission team was traveling in Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, the two of us were responsible for our own language study. It was a good opportunity for us to find out about our learning styles and to keep each other accountable. Our biggest challenge now is using what we’ve been studying. It’s intimidating to know that communicating something to a Japanese person in their language requires them to wait patiently while you find the right words. What a deep appreciation I now have for English-language learners!

Time with Readers and Church Members:
Ever since the Let’s Start Talking team went home in late July, Erica and I have met with a few of the readers to spend time together in several ways. We went sightseeing with Keiko, her daughter Yuma, and another reader, Yui (see picture). Akiko invited us to her house for a barbeque with other LST readers: Daiki, Haruna, and Kaiyoko. We went to see fireworks with Namiko and Yumika. It’s exciting to feel bonds starting to form with readers and with church members. Every Sunday after worship service, the church has a fellowship meal. Over and over again I am touched by the kindness of this family, how they work together, and their patience with my language barrier.

Thank you so much for your prayers, emails, financial support, and all your well wishes.
Debi Hobelman
O, Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Monthly Report 1: Finding Home in a New Place

Greetings from Sendai, Japan! It has been just about one month since Erica Towell and I arrived here to begin our one-year internship and time has flown!!! Between moving in, beginning language study, and trying to involve ourselves as much as we can with the contacts the church has made through the Let's Start Talking program, our hands have been full!

Moving in:
God has graciously provided us with an apartment that is everything we need and more. It's cozy, while big enough to host devotionals and Bible studies. The location is perfect (about a ten minute walk from the church, a five minute walk to the missionaries' house, and just around the corner from a convenience store). Quite a few church members and other friends of the missionaries have donated furniture and appliances for us to use for a year, as well, and we have been very blessed by their help.

Language Study:
Every Monday and Thursday morning, Erica, Eryn Halstead (a six week intern) and I meet with Jonathan Straker, one of the missionaries, to study Japanese. We go through one lesson each class time, so we learn about eight new sentence patterns a week. Jonathan's wife, Michiko, also helps with our study. On Mondays, Michiko meets with us to talk about Japanese culture. Right now we are focusing on basic ettiquette. Both the language study and the culture study have helped us identify and communicate with Japanese people a little more everyday.

Let's Start Talking Program:
Right now, the six-person Let's Start Talking team from York, Nebraska is finishing up their six week project at the church. This summer, about eighty-five Japanese people have had English discussions in a one-on-one setting about passages from the Gospel of Luke. It has been so good to see how each member of the team relates to their readers in a special way. Erica and I have spent much time at the church while the reading sessions are going on to greet readers as they come in and to begin to establish friendships with them. When the Let's Start Talking team returns to the States in a few days, Erica and I will keep in contact with these readers about one-on-one Bible studies, group Bible classes, and monthly activities that we hope to host beginning in September.

Friends Camp:
On Friday, a week-long camp for Let's Start Talking readers and members of the church begins. A camp team made up of several members of the East Hill Church of Christ in York, Nebraska, will be arriving tomorrow night to observe the mission team in action and to prepare for the camp. The team includes several members of the missions committee at East Hill. Those attending the camp hosted by this team will have opportunities to discuss several passages of scripture in discussion groups, providing LST readers with added exposure to the Bible and opportunities to connect with church members.

O, Thou who changest not, abide with me.