Hearing the Call

[true_noir_chloe]

This is fantastic to hear, Kaji. *hugs for you and your wife* ^______^ May you greatly be blessed in this endeavor. I know you both will. Enjoy every moment and please - take notes. If you keep a journal it will be an added blessing when you get older. ~_^

I seem to have learned that contrary to common romanization, there are no r's in Japanese evidently, only l's. Every r is an l in translation, and every l is an l.

Hm, I can't agree with this, since I know when in Aikido, which is a Japanese martial art, the instructor most definitely gave us a lesson on the pronunciation of "r" in Japanese words. There is the word "rokku" where you roll the "r" and it is the number 6. Also words like "ryote," "riai," "renzoku," just to name a few.

There is most definitely an "r" which was influenced by the Spanish "r" in Japanese. It is not as distinctive as our "r" in English, but it is definitely a rolled "r" sound.

[Angel37]

Kaji-san that is SO AWESOME!!! God's blessings and strength on both you and your wife! I ,too, have been called to do missions however after college, i have no idea where God wants me! I'm happy to see someone who's actually going to be going to do what I yearn to do soon. You and your family will be forever in my prayers! May you win souls from Satan as true Warriors of Christ. Praise God for you! *hugs* Much love, peace, and joy forever and ever.
Your servant,
Angel

[GhostontheNet]

There is most definitely an "r" which was influenced by the Spanish "r" in Japanese. It is not as distinctive as our "r" in English, but it is definitely a rolled "r" sound.

I had emailed my Japanese teacher on this matter, herself a native, and she had replied]I don't know about the pronounciation of Spanish. The best way of explaining seems to be the tongue position, and whether the tongue touches (also where to touch) to the upper mouth or not.[/QUOTE] As I recall, the spanish r closely resembles the proper tongue motions, and thus I issue a retraction, merely noting that an l sound which touches parts of the mouth a little is frequently used, and our stock r sound is not so.

[kaji]

A couple of other tips for kaji that I forgot to mention. First of all, do not underestimate the linguistic importance of honorifics like san and kun, in fact, I read lack of honorifics after a name is either an insult or an indication of intimacy with the person in question. Therefore, you might want to learn the honorifics. Second of all, many Japanese names seem to us to be hard to pronounce, but this seems to me to be more of a case of our own minds confounding ourselves. Two helpful tips on this is that Japanese in fact only has 5 vowels; a pronounced like aloha, i pronounced like eating, u pronounced like uber, e pronounced like elevator, and o pronounced like oasis. Furthermore, Japanese is a very syllabic language, and its alphabet is in fact also quite sylabic. An example of this can be found in the katakana characters you see on the boards here, which read ke (or is that ku, these fonts throw me off) - li - s[u] - chya - n a - ni - me a - lai - a - n - s[u]. Third suggestion is that I seem to have learned that contrary to common romanization, there are no r's in Japanese evidently, only l's. Every r is an l in translation, and every l is an l.

Thanks GhostontheNet,

I’m actually doing pretty good on my annunciation (so my computer says…), though those pesky ‘R’s’ do give me the most trouble. Some times they even sound kind-of like a D, in addition to L’s… But Im sure it is much more complicated then that. @_@ I guess it heavily depends on which vowel they get paired with. It gets a lot easier if you just practice pronouncing letter pairing, then just break down each word one syllable at a time when you are trying to say it. Well, that’s what works for me. ^_^

I always wanted to know what the different honorifics meant!!!

This is fantastic to hear, Kaji. *hugs for you and your wife* ^______^ May you greatly be blessed in this endeavor. I know you both will. Enjoy every moment and please - take notes. If you keep a journal it will be an added blessing when you get older. ~_^

Thanks a t_n_c, that means a lot to me. Great idea! I will be sure to keep a journal and share all when I get back.

Kaji-san that is SO AWESOME!!! God's blessings and strength on both you and your wife! I ,too, have been called to do missions however after college, i have no idea where God wants me! I'm happy to see someone who's actually going to be going to do what I yearn to do soon. You and your family will be forever in my prayers! May you win souls from Satan as true Warriors of Christ. Praise God for you! *hugs* Much

Thank you very much Angel. ^_^
We will do out very best for God (and the people of Japan).

Don’t you lose heart as you prepare for Gods work in you someday. Satan loves it when Christians just sit around and do nothing for God. If you start towards missions (or whatever God has planned for you) you can bet Satan will be actively trying to stop you.

We covet your prayers,

-kaji

[Kura Ookami]

That's awesome Kaji. I hope you can really do the Lords work and be successful in whatever He wants you to do. I hope you can find some people who want to listen to your message and save some people. Even if you can only save a single person the trip will have been worth it. Do what you can, but remember only God can bring anyone to Him in the end.

[GhostontheNet]

Thanks GhostontheNet,

You're welcome.

I always wanted to know what the different honorifics meant!!!

Assuming this isn't a sarcasm (and I doubt it is), evidently manga published by Del Ray preserves the various original honorifics and gives something of a lexicon on their meanings at the beginning. As my friend owns a few, I might even talk him into lending me one title again long enough to type them and post them here. Perhaps the net might help as well.

[kaji]

Oh, I thought you might already know what they were GhostontheNet.

Well, that’s ok then. You don’t have to go through any trouble for me. I will just look them up on the net. Thanks again though!!!

And thanks Kura. Your right Christ alone can save, and no matter what you do/say its up to the individual in the end. However it’s not my message, its Gods, and I wont find the people, God will, and I don’t need to have any one accept Christ to make my trip worth-wild. I only pray that God would use me to show Him to the people there. That one day they might come to know Him. Though the harvest may be the most rewarding, I don’t mind just planting seeds. ^_^

-kaji

[kaji]

*Update*

Well, its been a little while since I last posted an update.

First up, I just want to praise God for His provision as my wife and I continue to prepare. Every time we get frustrated, and begin to wonder if we are following the right track, He provides for us, reassuring us that we are heading where He wants us to be. ^_^

To prepare for our trip, we will be attending a training conference in Colorado this weekend (which we could have never afforded with out Gods help). We would both appreciate your prayers that through this experience God would mold our hearts and minds to better minister to the people of Japan.

Thanks again to every one who has been praying for us, that kind of support we need more than any amount of money. I will try to keep you all a little more updated from now on.

-kaji

[true_noir_chloe]

This is wonderful news, Kaji. ^______^ May the Lord truly bless you and your wife in this endeavor. He is going to do such wonderful things in both of your lives. I truly am happy for you both.

BTW, can you clean up your pm box? I've been trying to send you a pm for like two weeks.

[Doubleshadow]

That is so awesome!!! I hope you both have all sorts of witnessing opportunities.

[kaji]

Thanks everyone, we really apreciate the encouragement. ^_^

BTW, can you clean up your pm box? I've been trying to send you a pm for like two weeks.

Yeah, I realized that it was full yesterday and cleaned it up a bit. Sorry about that.

[kaji]

I wanted to update this when we got back on the 30th, but the last week was just crazy.

Anyway. God totally came through for us in providing the funds for us to make it to CO for our Short Term Missions training.

But there were some snags... As we had thought, most of the weekend was geared toward teams, and team building (as many people had never met those they would be traveling with). But my wife and I are already a team (and we are being indevidually placed).

So for the first day and a half we were a little discouraged. Well, my wife was really discouraged. Not only were most of the activites centered around group dynamics, but there was only one other team going to Japan, non-of-which had been there before... and we got stuck with them (in a team, but not part of a team sort of thing).

Saturday night we sat down and prayed to God, that He must have provided the means for us to make it here for a reason... And that the remainder of our time would be better.

Well, the next day the sessions werent quite as group centered, but still not new information. Our only hope seamed to lye in our 'Culture Specific' session that night. But the leader who was supposed to run the sesson for Japan was not there yet.

Still we remained positive that God would provide. And He did. That night we met Erin (I cant remember her Japanese name). She was actually interviewing with OMF and was asked to fill in for the missing leader. All I can say is: ERIN ROCKS! Her family was from Japan (though she grew up in Hawaii), and she had been to Japan on a number of short term missions trips. She was fun, encouraging, extremely knowlegeable and has a HUGE heart for the people of Japan.

Despite some short commings of our trip, God totally came through for us in this wonderful young lady. He blessed our time in a way we couldnt have imagined and continues to prepare us for his work in Japan.

-kaji

[Mr. SmartyPants]

see! God pulls ya through!

keep us updated ^^

[GhostontheNet]

But there were some snags... As we had thought, most of the weekend was geared toward teams, and team building (as many people had never met those they would be traveling with). But my wife and I are already a team (and we are being indevidually placed).

So for the first day and a half we were a little discouraged. Well, my wife was really discouraged. Not only were most of the activites centered around group dynamics, but there was only one other team going to Japan, non-of-which had been there before... and we got stuck with them (in a team, but not part of a team sort of thing).

It would have been wise to pick up everything you could though of this, my pastor and his wife do make a very killer team in running my church, but even so the church is more effective with all the deacons. One missionary to either Taiwan or Thailand visiting my church for a time commented that one major component of the job is consistently working with people you don't like or don't get along with well. Those you got stuck with are a good example, you would have to learn to compensate for their weaknesses as far as you can and they for those you may have.

[quote]Saturday night we sat down and prayed to God, that He must have provided the means for us to make it here for a reason... And that the remainder of our time would be better.

Well, the next day the sessions werent quite as group centered, but still not new information. Our only hope seamed to lye in our 'Culture Specific' session that night. But the leader who was supposed to run the sesson for Japan was not there yet.

Still we remained positive that God would provide. And He did. That night we met Erin (I cant remember her Japanese name). She was actually interviewing with OMF and was asked to fill in for the missing leader. All I can say is: ERIN ROCKS! Her family was from Japan (though she grew up in Hawaii), and she had been to Japan on a number of short term missions trips. She was fun, encouraging, extremely knowlegeable and has a HUGE heart for the people of Japan.

Despite some short commings of our trip, God totally came through for us in this wonderful young lady. He blessed our time in a way we couldnt have imagined and continues to prepare us for his work in Japan.

-kaji ] Glad to hear it.

[kaji]

It would have been wise to pick up everything you could though of this, my pastor and his wife do make a very killer team in running my church, but even so the church is more effective with all the deacons. One missionary to either Taiwan or Thailand visiting my church for a time commented that one major component of the job is consistently working with people you don't like or don't get along with well. Those you got stuck with are a good example, you would have to learn to compensate for their weaknesses as far as you can and they for those you may have.

Please dont be mistaken. We in no way were uncooperative in working with this other group. Infact they were all very nice people and we got along well. But one couldnt help but think we were a bit of a hinderance to them building a stong relationship amongst them selves (as we would not be traveling with them).

The fact that the group was comprised entirely of woman was also a bit awkward for my wife and I (as I was the only man).

But you are right, in any frustrating situation, it is best to step back and see what the Lord may be trying to teach you. "James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, for you know the testing of your faith developes perceverance."

Thanks,

-kaji

[GhostontheNet]

[quote="kaji"]The fact that the group was comprised entirely of woman was also a bit awkward for my wife and I (as I was the only man).

But you are right, in any frustrating situation, it is best to step back and see what the Lord may be trying to teach you. "James 1:2-3 Consider it pure joy my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, for you know the testing of your faith developes perceverance."

Thanks,

-kaji ] A taste of situations to come perhaps? At any rate, I'm glad to hear it, and hope you make sure to enact my advice even if not spurred by negative experience.