Today – one week before we leave Japan- we had CCSI’s 2009 Entrance Ceremony. This is held at the start of the Japanese-track’s new school year to welcome new students into our school. This year we welcomed two first-graders and one fifth-grader into our school’s J-track. We pray that this will be a great year for the school. Since we are leaving for the year, fellow teacher and MTW missionary, Kevin Dingle, will be taking over as principal.
Please pray for our unique school. It’s neither an American nor Japanese school…we have students from South Korea, the Philippines, Japan, and the USA…we want to teach our students to have a Biblical worldview and help train them to be leaders in Christ’s church…most of our students are bilingual and some are trilingual! Please pray for our small school as we struggle to grow. This year we have just 24 students. Please pray for future teachers. The English track is always in need of teachers, who will become missionaries for a year or two (or longer) and who will raise support and come to teach.
Parents present a Bible, that will be used in school, to their first graders.
Some of the students and teachers of CCSI after the Entrance Ceremony.
Robert welcoming everyone to the Entrance Ceremony. Shin Hirohashi, school board member, translated.
Kevin Dingle has taken over as principal of CCSI.
William singing…”Jesus, He will rock you, rock you.”
William, Isabel and I had lunch with Yukari Sakai. I was a home-stay guest in her home on my first visit to Japan with Orangewood Presbyterian Church in 1999. Three years ago when we moved into this house, Yukari and I became neighbors. She lives in a ‘mansion’ that I can see from my house. In Japan large buildings of condos or apartments are called mansions. These are all owned by individuals. Yukari and I have been ’scrapbooking buddies’ for years. Anyway, when we went to Yukari’s house for lunch, William was thrilled to find her Boys’ Day display already set up!
The Boys' Day display is a samurai helmet, sword, and bow and arrow. It represents 'manliness' and is believed to ward off evil spirits. While William loves weapons...I had the opportunity to explain to him that mere objects can't protect us from evil, but we call on The God of the universe to protect us!
Yukari and William
No, it didn’t really snow… but the walking path is blanketed with fallen cherry blossom petals. It’s been less than a week since our ‘hanami’ with the Suita family, but already the petals are dropping. The cherry blossom trees really are beautiful…but only for a short time!
Sakura Snow!
Isabel, taking her baby for a walk and taking pictures.
...she actually got some good cherry blossom pictures with her little camera.
We had a chance to see (and say goodbye to) our friends Liz and Yuya and their sweet baby Selah. Yuya is a pastor and has a vision to start a church in his home town about an hour from us.
Baby Selah! She giggled and laughed at William and Isabel.
Spring has come to Japan. One of the sure signs is the blooming of the cherry blossom trees. We are so blessed to live near the walking path in our town. It is a spectacular walk down the path when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom! Please enjoy these pictures…we think you’ll be a bit jealous!
The weather has been just perfect for Japan's spring pastime...cherry blossom viewing.
Cherry blossoms are just as beautiful by moonlight.
William and Isabel on the cherry blossom tree lined walking path near our house.
Enjoying a 'hanami' with our friends who live on the walking path.
It’s very popular to have a picnic under the cherry blossom trees during the week the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. We did this last Sunday afternoon with the Suita family. Their 4-year old daughter is named Sakura, which means ‘cherry blossom’. We’ve enjoyed becoming friends with this family.
A Milestone...first lost tooth for William.
William lost his first tooth! At 5 years 8 months…the second one is wiggling around too! I can’t believe my boy is already losing his baby teeth..sniff, sniff. We see William not only getting taller, but we see him maturing in so many ways… starting to read and write, add and subtract, and most importantly, understanding more and more of who God is and what Christ has done for him! We are so thankful for William Ross Stewart!
We have started the process of saying goodbye to our friends here in Japan. One group, whose common denominator is 5-year-old boys, gathered last Saturday night for dinner. This fun group helps us understand modern Japanese life and culture. Lisa, especially, has learned a lot about being a mom in Japan. I get tips on the best places to shop, and it’s from these ladies I learned that a good Japanese housewife always cleans the toilet and ofuro (bathtub) every morning before leaving the house. We also talk about our hopes and dreams for our children and our relationship with our husband. Two families were not able to join us because the flu is still going around! When we are ALL together there are ten children and only two are girls. Hope you enjoy these pictures…
- The Kuboi Family, Fujino Family, and the Stewarts
- Our kids…Hikaru, William, Shion, Isabel, Sho, Nao, and Baby Juri.
- The only 2 girls in the group…Isabel and Juri.
As I mentioned in our first post, our children have been in Japan from infancy. Here are a few pictures to show how they have grown over these 5 years!
William's first Sunday in Japan also included lunch using chopsticks for the first time. Easter 2004
William, almost 2, with his favorite things...his pacifier and guitar...just before Isabel was born
Newborn Isabel - July 15, 2005
Isabel's first Christmas 2005
First day for the International Kindergarten 9/2008
Christmas 2008...William 5, Isabel 3
Since we can’t go back 5 whole years to show you what we’ve been doing…here are the highlights of 2009! We brought in this New Year with our MTW Tokyo/Chiba team, praying for 2009 and celebrating the sacrament of communion together. It was a wonderful time together reflecting on what God has done in our lives and in our midst this year… the hard things as well as the many good things. And then praying, with expectation, for 2009.
Friends
The Suita family
A few days later we celebrated the start of the new year with some friends over a sushi dinner. The Suita family live nearby, and their daughter, Sakura and our Isabel like to play together. Naomi and Lisa have become good friends.
New Year
The new year brings an unusual beginning-of-the-year activity, kakizometaikai – or – the first kanji writing of the new year. This event is held at most schools at the start of each new year, so now Covenant Community School International (CCSI) hosts it’s own with our own twist. We invite our community to attend and this year the kanji written were the nine fruit of the spirit. Mrs. Watanabe, an Oyumino church member and calligrapher, was our teacher.
Mrs. Watanabe showing the kanji for patience, peace, joy, and love (top row, left to right).
Engagement Ceremonies
In January, we also helped with 2 engagement ceremonies. In the Japanese church it is customary to have an engagement ceremony so that the couple can announce their intention to marry. It is not done among couples not involved in a church, but it is reminiscent of an old Japanese tradition to have an engagement ceremony for a marriage that has been arranged by a third party. It may have started because pastors often do act as marriage “brokers” for the young people in their churches. Pastors want their young ladies to marry Christian young men… and since their are fewer Christian men than women in Japan… pastors may feel compelled to help!
One of our CCSI teachers, Ai Tsukamoto, was formally engaged to Jason Kueh on January 17th and fellow team member (not MTW, from Australia) Nerida Bell was formally engaged to Yas Shimizu on January 31st. (Neither of these was an “arranged” marriage!) We were part of a team of volunteers to help with the receptions. Even this is a great way to reach out to our largely non-Christian community. Non-Christian friends of both couples came and heard a short message about Christian marriage!
A group of ladies preparing for Ai-san's reception.
Robert was THE reception planner... we were all his helpers!
Ai Tsukamoto and Jason Kueh with good friends, the Yonemoto sisters.
Nerida and Yas
E-Zone
CCSI has special Friday classes called E-Zone (E is for Enrichment). For the last 2 years Lisa has taught the elementary students on Friday mornings. Each day we focused on a different country of the world, learning a bit about geography, the spiritual state of the country, and then cooking together some food from that country. It was such fun! And, William and Isabel were able to join in on the fun.
CCSI student, Bianca, dressed up for our final day which included an international potluck.
The E-Zone girls with the Danish cookies they made.
The International Kindergarten
Lisa had a wonderful opportunity to pilot a bilingual kindergarten this year. We borrowed a small room in the Keiyo Team’s Christian Education Building, and, with 9 students, started in September for just 7 months. March 17th was our last day! Lisa worked together with Izumi Takeda to introduce various kindergarten themed-units and Bible stories to the children in both English and Japanese. It was a successful pilot, we learned so much and still have a desire to see a full-scale kindergarten started with the hope of reaching out to our community. Since our family is leaving for a year-long Home Ministry Assignment, the kindergarten is on hold for now. Please pray for this as a future ministry of our team. The IK was a great experience for our children too. William loved going to school. Isabel participated too (since her mommy is one of the teachers!). Both children gained confidence in using the Japanese phrases they know and had a lot of opportunity to practice through play!
- IK students posing in their community helper hats.
IK students painting egg-shaped sugar cookies on our last day of school.
The 2008-2009 class of The International Kindergarten
IK students singing for parents on the last day.
Karate
Finally… William as been participating in a karate class since November. It has been a good experience for him and has helped him realize that he can understand what to do even when he doesn’t understand all the words said! William is a bit of a worrier and resisted going to class, even though he LOVES to kick, punch, fight, etc… We felt it was important for him to see that he can fit in – even though he really stands out – in Japan. It helped that he had a friend in the class and occasionally “the English speaking teacher” could come to his class.
William in karate class. In case you are wondering... the children aren't required to buy the "outfit" until they are in first grade and are sure they want to actually do karate. So, we waited.... and the jury is still out!
Covenant Community School International just had their last day of school! In March?! Actually we have two last-days-of-school. The Japanese track begins a new school year in April and ends in March, while the English track follows the traditional American school calendar of September to June. Sound confusing? It’s really not… it’s just one of the joys of having a school that has a variety of cultures coming together to “do school.” Students attend school the same exact days in both tracks, but the start and stop of the year is at different times of the year. With the missionary community coming and going from Japan to their “passport” country, it’s best to leave the English track’s calendar in line with the American school calendar. This is one of the many ways we live out the adage, “just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s bad.”
CCSI teachers and assistants on the last day. Left to right: Lydia Smith, Kumiko Nakano, Eric Noll, Robert Stewart, Kevin Dingle, Ai Tsukamoto, Andrew Lyell
CCSI students during daily devotions. We have students from Japan, USA, Philippines, and Korea. We sing all the songs in English and Japanese. A taste of heaven as we worship together each morning!
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