Since it is summer time in Australia for Christmas and New Year, spending the holidays in a cold climate was a new experience for me! I spent a few days in Tokyo with friends from Australia, two days in Nagasaki, and about 5 days in Kagoshima Prefecture.
During my time in Kagoshima, I had a special opportunity to spend a few days of New Year with a Japanese family. They warmly welcomed me and made me feel quite at home. We saw Sakura-jima, visited the Kamikaze Museum in Chiran, and saw the Samurai houses. While it was snowing, we enjoyed some outdoor ice-skating in the in the mountains of Kirishima, and warmed up by going to an onsen, which is a very nice thing to do during winter. On New Year’s Eve, we stayed up until midnight and ate soba. The next morning we ate mochi and worshipped God at church.
Something that was really special for me, during my time in Kagoshima, was the kindness of the family I stayed with. The whole family made me fell welcome. They provided anything I needed—lovely Japanese food, warm comfortable place to sleep, and more. They went above and beyond what they had to do. I felt accepted into their lives for the few days I was there. On my last day with them, some of their extended family came as well, which made the time even more special.
Families and friends are special. Where did families come from? Who invented friendships? Where did love come from? Who showed us how to care for each other?
We are all the children of God. God is the one who has given life to us and who has created everything we see. He made our families. He planted love in our hearts so we can love our children, parents, siblings, and friends. Just as a father or mother deeply loves their children, so God infinitely loves us as His children. God is there as our Father to care for us.
- published in the Hiroshima Seventh-day Adventist English School Newsletter, February 2008, by Brad Warden, English & Bible Teacher, 2007 to 2009.