newsletter update
“Welkom thuis!” and “okaerinasai!” were familiar sounds these last couple of months. It means welcome home in Dutch and in Japanese. So you can guess the reason for the silence during the summer: we went on home assignment in the Netherlands. In a group oriented culture like Japan these greetings when you temporarily move out and later come back to your community are very important. You go through this ritual every day when you leave the apartment building and the concierge exchanges polite greetings with you. But this summer it was different: we left our Japanese home (apartment, neighbors, church, friends, etc.) for 3 months behind to catch up with a second place we consider home, our family, friends, church and mission in Holland. By the way, Grace City Church is turning into a real church rapidly. We are so thankful that this body of Christ is growing. - read more