Hakone

Last Friday Abe Sensei (who is the pastor of the church in Sagamihara) and his wife Keiko took me to a beautiful and popular spot to go see in Japan, called Hakone. Their two year old grandson came along too. Aiden is adorable and loves to talk, in both Japanese and English because his father is American.

Hakone is a beautiful natural area of mountains that are actually volcanoes. Don't worry, they aren't erupting. But they are still active. Japan is full of volcanic activity and there are hot springs all over. Hakone is one of the famous places for hot springs.




It is popular here to eat a hard boiled egg that has been boiled in the hot springs. So the shell ends up black, but it is a normal egg inside. They think this makes the egg healthier.

From this area you can see Mount Fuji on a good, clear day. If you look closely in some of the following pictures you can see the very top of Mount Fuji hovering above the rest of the mountains within the clouds, it is covered in snow. Where we were it was 1000 km (or miles?) and Mount Fuji is at 3000 km above sea level.


There is also a beautiful lake, of which I forget the name. We sailed across it on a nice Viking-looking boat.




After the day of sightseeing, Abe Sensei and Keiko took me to their house for dinner. Their house is also the building for the church. It is located in a more rural, quiet area outside Tokyo. Next to their house there is a small chestnut orchard. I talked with Abe Sensei about what his vision is for his church. His son Tomoyuki will finish from Seminary in May and with return to Tokyo with his wife to work with his father. They are interested in starting a church near one of the train stations that is close to where a few universities are. So their are many students in that area that they wish to minister to. Abe Sensei also hopes to buy the chestnut orchard next to his house and build a larger church there someday.

It has been really encouraging to hear from each pastor about their desire for their churches to grow and to see more people come to the saving knowledge of Christ.