Gospel!

A month later...I decided it's high time I gave you a few pictures of life! I had the privilege of helping out in Memphis last week as a dozen Japanese singers came to share Gospel music and see it at its roots. I loved getting to know them a bit and hear some of their stories...can't wait to see them again in Japan!
Other perks of the trip were hearing more about ministries across Japan (like disaster relief up North) and getting to spend more time with the Lowther family (see representative, below :) I'll be working/learning/living with them in Tokyo, so it's a good thing they're awesome! And I think we even successfully kept each other sane through a pretty busy week :)

Belgium (meanwhile in Tokyo...)

I have officially completed my training! Which means I now know, even better than before, that I know very little : ) But seriously, we received a lot of great teaching and experience, but the learning is just beginning (and will, I hope, never end). A lot of our days were spent in the classroom learning about church-planting, language acquisition, evangelism, culture-shock, cultural differences...



...then we put on as many coats as possible and walked/train-ed/bus-ed into the city (even the Belgians said it was really cold last week!)


I had the privilege of worshiping with and getting to know some beautiful and brilliant people at St.Andrew's church...


and a summary of the month, no matter how brief, would not be complete without a shout-out to my little friend, Hannah, and a group shot of the whole crew! They really were a fantastic group of people: love 'em!




Meanwhile, this is a little bit of what's been going on in Japan (article on a 2 day learning experience, "Gospel in the City", of about 30 leaders in Tokyo: super exciting!) I cannot wait to join Grace City Church, and if you follow this link you can even see pictures of the event (aka, some of my future leaders/coworkers/pastors). Could you take just a few minutes to flip through some of the pictures and join me in praying for God's blessing, strength, and wisdom over these men?

Week 1

A week in the life...it's hard to know where to even begin, so I'll just list some happenings and highlights:

-chocolate. waffles. tea. European food. Need I say more?
-as a gross generalization, Belgians are extremely helpful and nice, and their English is fantastic.
-getting to know all the great people I'm living with- they're awesome, funny, and have so many stories.
-after a few days with those absolutely fantastic people I'm surrounded by/learning with, recovering from jet-lag and such, I needed some introvert time. Taking a morning alone to tour the Musical Instrument Museum, followed by leisurely wandering the streets of Brussels, was incredible!
-classes on: Belgium, team development, cultural measures/differences, a pastoral approach to evangelism, culture shock...
-writing my first ethnography (observe, make a hypotheses, analyze/"prove", repeat. This week I observed the Roma/Gypsy beggar women in downtown Brussels.)
-worshiping with St. Andrew's Scottish Church. (Want cross-cultural? Go to a Scottish church, in Brussels, full of everyone from Africa, to Ireland, to US, to Japan! 3 of us even got to spend a few hours eating/socializing with their 20s-30s group afterwards)

That's probably enough random tidbits for now...more pictures and stories to come!


Meanwhile...
Japan is, of course, very much on my heart and mind. Below, a video from my team in Japan. This is Ishinomaki: the city they are focusing on loving and serving, the people they know.

Then and Now from Paul Johannessen on Vimeo.

Zaventem

I'm trying to stay awake a little bit longer before I give up and fall asleep, and the next few weeks will very likely be very busy. So, here's what's up so far! I arrived (travels included: a pigeon strutting right past me in the Newark airport, spending my 6 hour lay-over with an awesome guy named Jose who was about to study abroad in France, and having one flight delayed because United ran out of ink cartridges- haha!) safe and healthy, and am getting settled into our dorm: the OM ZavCenter in Zaventem, an adorable little city/neighborhood outside of Brussels. Oh, and of course getting to know the 15 or so people here, who are an absolutely fabulous bunch (to stay awake, we spent our first day exploring Zaventem, then took the train into Brussels for just a bit before dinner. Which was perfect in the overcast, 48-ish degree weather). Tomorrow our classes begin, I should get a better idea of what I'm doing the next 4 weeks, what church I'll be connected with...and who knows what else! Prayers for my classmates/colleagues and I are very appreciated!

the bedroom view...














sampling the beautiful architecture...




























Special thanks to my roomie Katherine, who definitely gets the photographer of the day award.

Bon Voyage!... to me : )

Tomorrow I head out for the completion of my training: a 1 month Cross-Cultural Ministries Internship in Belgium! I'll do my very best to keep you guys updated, and hopefully have a few pictures up later this week. This picture is obviously not Belgium since I'm not there yet: it's from my flight to Tokyo last summer. However, I think the icy view is very appropriate: as silly as it sounds, the biggest "worry/fear" my brain keeps coming back to today is: I'm going to freeze my butt off! : )

Prayer is, as always, welcome and very appreciated!
-for good, strong relationships to grow with the 10 others at the training, our mentors/leaders, the church I get connected with...
-for health, strength and perseverance, especially the next few days as I begin adjusting to the time change, weather, and culture shock.
-for a good attitude and open mind to soak in every second of this month: learning from everyone I come in contact with. As a dear lady told me this morning- keep my eyes open for God: His presence, His work, His amazing providence, His beauty (or something along those lines).

And now...time to start this journey off right: with a good night's sleep!

Christmas!

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! I've been busy playing and relaxing with family, so I thought I'd share a few pictures from the past few weeks of celebration with the whole Honea clan (parents, 8 siblings (well, 3 are siblings-in-law), and 3 nieces!)


Within 3 weeks we have the big celebration (Christmas), New Years of course, and also an anniversary and 5 birthdays...it's pretty much a constant party :)

Which means, of course, lots of baking and eating!

My youngest niece loved the piano (as do her 3 year old sisters, who now won't play until I put music on the stand- very amusing). But for a 1 year old playing piano, much like eating food, is apparently most enjoyable as a full body experience. (And all this time I've only been using my fingers!)

I also enjoyed lots of time with my "family" at 1st Pres, Danville. I had the privilege of leading music one Sunday (along with bells and vocal choirs!), and accompanied the family/kids Christmas Eve service (on piano and clarinet). I'm praising God for all of this sweet time with my big and "small" family, and His gift of music that we can share together. Merry Christmas!

Light!

When I spent 2 weeks in Japan (summer of 2010), one of the churches we got to spend some time with gave us cards with different verses on them, and I happened to get this one:
It's Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world..." (All I can actually read is the first word, "anata"=you. I can sound out the rest but had no clue what it meant. Thank you kanji numbers chart for helping me figure out the reference!)

My name, "Eleanor", comes from the Greek, meaning "shining light" (Fellow dorks, think Elanor, Samwise Gamgee's daughter, named after the sun-star flower of the elves)

I've heard other Christians in Japan use the phrase, "Shining the light of the Risen Son in the Land of the Rising Sun"- cool, huh?

Especially around Christmas, I can't help but think of Light. The lights on the porch, on houses; candles in windows, and around the Advent wreath. Because the whole point of Christmas is "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned...for unto us a child is born"~Isaiah 9. And Is. 49, "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob... I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Phew! Super thankful for that one!)

Light.

The first thing God created. God is our light. His Word is a light to our path. In His light, we see light. We walk in the light as He is in the light. We are the light of the world.

So much good stuff in the concept and reality of "light". I'm going to stop trying to articulate, and simply...bask.