Holidays, Happy Families and Handcuffs

Hello there and I hope you are having an enjoyable Christmas period so far. Maiko and I have been working away at doing a number of children’s Christmas parties, and it’s been great to tell kids for the first time the real Christmas story. What’s even better is the response we have had and their interest. We hope to build on this interest to get more kids along to our various kids clubs which we hope to expand in the New Year. Having just finished my sixth party the other day, we still have three more to look forward to. I am now studying Japanese in a school for two hours a day, and combining that with work, and the extra Christmas work has been tiring but very rewarding. Maiko has also been working hard, not to mention being pregnant, so we are both looking forward to a wee break in the New Year holiday.

Baby News In other news, Maiko went to the hospital again and we got another cool picture of our baby (currently measuring in at 44.8 mm!), thus prompting more detailed analysis from me and a flurry of baby related topics cropping up in my English classes! Maiko also got to see a live picture of the baby moving around inside and she said he/she was kicking, punching, and spinning around all over the place! Surely a sportsman/woman! I can’t wait to meet the little guy/girl!

Police Matters Following my recent run in with the police, I was asked (told) to go to the public prosecutor’s office to hear if I would get any penalty. Upon arriving and being guided to the waiting room, Maiko and I were surprised to see that everyone else in the room was handcuffed and tied up with a rope around their waist! Each person had a guard of some sort holding on to the other end the rope to stop them from making a run for it! Obviously serious offenders I though, but as I sat there the thought crossed my mind that perhaps they just handcuff everyone who comes in because literally everyone else in the room was handcuffed and tied up! A rather uncomfortable hour passed in the waiting room, during which I contemplated making a run for it myself before they tied me up. But happily the time passed uneventfully and it was soon our turn came to face the music. When we entered the room, a stern faced woman asked us to sit and began relaying all my faults. (1) Your driving caused a girl to fall off her bike and (2) you drove with an invalid international driving license. She then proceeded with a mini lecture about safety when driving in Japan (no mention of oil on the windshield this time though), before finally getting to the part about my penalty. Maiko and I sat nervously waiting to hear what, by this time, we were sure would be bad news. But then there was a somewhat strange change in the atmosphere as the woman suddenly seemed to brighten up and tell me (1) you were not really at fault and you did pretty much as much as can be expected and (2) actually the police made a mistake about your license and it was valid after all. Therefore, no penalty, off you go, take care and have a nice day! And just like that Maiko and I were out the door and happily on our way! Great!

So all in all there was no problem and the whole situation took a lot of time for essentially nothing… but hey I learned from it. Also, the thought of wasting my time down at the police station again is certainly an incentive for me to be even more careful when driving! The system seems to work!

More seriously, Maiko and I did feel really sorry for the guys in the handcuffs at the office. They really looked like they were normal, hard working guys who have somehow fallen into hard times. We were reminded that even here, in one of the world’s richest countries, there and many unfortunate people desperately in need of God’s love. So far we have tended to focus our evagelistic effort on families and children, but this incident has shown us that there are many other groups and individuals open to and in fact just waiting to hear the good news. In Japan, where shame and social conformity (it is said “the nail that sticks up is soon hammered down”) play important roles, imprisonment is a disgrace that is virtually impossible to recover from. We thank God that His kingdom does not work like this and pray for the opportunities to share this message with those who need to hear it.