To Tokyo and Back

I went up to Tokyo for the latter half of Golden Week. The trip was somewhat spur-of-the-moment, but it was well worth it! I do not care for the city itself - so big, busy, and impersonal. But the purpose of my visit made the whole thing worth it. Calvary Chapel had a pastors' and leaders' conference, which I was blessed to be invited to. Pastor Tom has more pictures and even a video of the trip, so check out his blog. But here is the breakdown of the trip, as well as a few pictures of my own. We arrived in Tokyo on Thursday early afternoon, and went to Shinjuku, one of the major hubs of Tokyo. We went to the Japanese Twin Towers, where we got to see the city from the 45th floor. It's amazing how many buildings there are - practically as far as the eye can see in all directions! Then we met up with Tom's aunt Ayuko. She took us out for dinner to a really fancy tempura restaurant. The food was so good! At night, we stayed at Pastor Travis Takamiya's church in Tokorozawa, which is just outside the Tokyo area. The next day was a full one, with 3 messages and one workshop. The messages came out of Ephesians 1-3, and were given by missionaries from the States. But the last one was actually delivered by a local pastor, Chizuo Sakurai. He is filled with the Holy Spirit, and I really felt the Lord speaking to me through his words. The workshop I attended was entitled "Practical Christian Living" and also kind of kicked my spiritual butt. Pastor Katsumi Santo of West Tokyo is also a man filled with fire, and I really enjoyed sitting in on his teaching. That evening we went to Costco and pigged out. One of the missionaries from Australia almost polished off an entire 18" (45cm) pizza by himself! Lucky he's still young and burns that stuff off really easily! The next day we only got to attend one session, which was on Ephesians 4. The entire trip was so blessed, and I believe that myself, Pastor Tom, and Michael Snider (Bible college student and future missionary to Japan) grew immensely those 2 days!