Going "home" to Sapporo for a week

Sapporo one summer day, yes, it could
be chilly next week!

Tomorrow I'm going to Sapporo for a week. Sapporo is the capital of the northern island of Hokkaido.

Sapporo holds a special place in most Japan OMFers hearts. It is (for most of them) the first city in Japan where we lived for any length of time (it is where our language school is). It is the place where we struggled through those difficult days of language study and culture shock. For me, it is also the place where my middle son was born. It is a little bit like our "Japanese home town". I haven't been up there for five years. It will be nice to be back, even if only for a short while.

I'm going to an OMF training week that has a scary name: Indigenous Biblical Church  Movement (IBCM). This phrase is a part of the OMF International Vision Statement. For those who are interested, here is a little bit more about IBCMs.

At first is seems a bit strange for someone who isn't involved in church planting to be going to such a training week. But as I look through the programme, it is more about understanding Japanese culture than it is directly about church planting. We have topics like:

• Lessons from Japanese Mission History 
• Japanese Religion and its Impact on Mission
• The Bible, Contextualisation, and the Church in Japan
• Japanese Ancestral Rites

I'm looking forward to learning more about Japan and Japanese culture better. But I also think that I'll be packing some cross-stitch to do (and maybe some knitting too, that is the new hobby I've tried this week) to keep my hands busy during many presentations.

Which leads me to the next thing: I desperately need to pack my suitcase (it is 5.30pm). I'm leaving directly after church in the morning. I've prepared what I can for David and the boys for the coming week. They have enough frozen meals to last them, plus lunch-box snacks too. Now I need to take the time to prepare myself. Strangely enough that is the hardest thing I find about going away, mentally detaching myself from this crazy mob and thinking about me!