Happy Spot Club!!!!!

It all started about three years ago when...

this wonderful young woman decided she wanted to use her life to make other people HAPPY!!!!
So take your shoes off, wiggle your toes, get comfy and enjoy the pictures.
 

There are
LOTS!
Balloon art was plentiful and SO FUN!
 

There were blocks for building and creating.
 

A monkey or two hanging around...
 

All sorts of aircraft
(all made from recycled plastic bottles, cassette tapes, etc.)
 

People came from all over...
even the North Pole!
 

this group of university girls made music using only household goods,
like brooms, wooden spoons, pots and pans
 

The event was scheduled from 10am-4pm
It was months in the making and preparation.
Set up started the day before with people from every walk of life involved and volunteering their time and talents.

Last year there were about 300 people that came to see what the "Happy Spot Club Square Annual Event" had to offer. They dreamed of having about 500 come this year.
People started trickling in just before 10am 

A few squirrels were spotted
 

Most everyone was anxious to get a chance to talk with Santa
 

the young, and the young-at-heart
Notice the 'kid' in the center of this picture?
He was smiling and waving every time he saw me lift the camera ;-)
 

The crowd grew bit by bit as the front stage moved from event to event
 

I LOVE taiko drums!!!!!
And this mixed group of all ages was GREAT!!!
The leader, center, had more energy as he performed than I could muster in a month!
 

This slightly more 'mature' group was pretty impressive as well.
Especially when you consider that with their physical challenges all but two could use only one hand. Bravo!
 

Santa made fast friends with this sweet little man.
His smile just melted me...
 

and this bunny was too cute not to snap a shot  

Santa's new friend from above and his entourage lit up the stage

 

followed by their younger counterparts
 

Even the cheerleaders came out !
 

It was a long, exhausting, inspiring and wonderful time!
Looking forward to next year!

God's Paintbrush!

 Even with all the wires and rooftops in between the lens and the view...



It was SO AMAZING!!!!!

Just had to share :-)

2013 March for Jesus

March 25th was the annual March for Jesus held by the area churches in downtown Nagano City.
We had great weather for the event this year. It was sunny yet not so hot to be uncomfortable.








The group always gathers in front of Nagano Station and we have a prayer before we start out on the march around town.
There is a major renovation going on in and around the station. They started last year and expect the whole process to take about three years!


See those yellow and black banners? They've been waving all around Nagano for the past month or so. A Christian group from around Fukushima travels all over Japan evangelizing and spreading the Gospel. They stand on street corners with their banners flying, passing out gospel tracts, often with speakers proclaiming the Word.


When they heard us singing hymns they asked if they could join in our march. YAY!
They never stay for extended periods in any one place but do work hard extending the offer of Christ where ever they are.

Street corner evangelism is very uncommon in Japan but these folks don't let that stop them!



You might think that is a grand church in the background, and it's built to look like one, but it is one of many wedding halls where elaborate and expensive wedding parties are held - and almost never are Christian weddings.




This year we only had about fifty people turn out for the march. We always pray for a bigger group than before but....














Our march takes us through an area of town known as the "Gondo".
While there are all sorts of shops and businesses located here it is most known for its many drinks shops and night life.




We always walk through the 'Gondo tunnel' singing God's praises and praying that some will not only hear, but listen and be changed by what they hear.










We plant the seeds and wait for His Harvest!

Cooling Thoughts in the Summer Heat

Now that it's finally warming up here I thought it seemed like a good time to post some forgotten pictures from back in February to cool  your thoughts.

Every year the town just south of the ski resort village where I teach holds a snow festival. This year was more of a challenge than normal.

Several of the local schools and businesses go all out creating snow art.

Most years there is an over abundance of the white art material and they have to truck loads of it out to make room for the festivities and make the roads getting there passable.

NOT this year!!!

The artisits still managed to create some pretty impressive sculptures

in spite of the fact that after they had begun working we experienced an unusual couple of days of unordinarily warm temperatures and some rain

which was NOT GOOD for their art!

A great deal of all that snow they had removed had to be replaced with fresh snow from higher up in the mountains to be used to repair and complete their art

There was a bit of very welcomed fresh snowfall just prior to the event.
Enough for the kids, young and not-so-young, to enjoy the day.

You can see some of the mountain areas in the background and they are not nearly as covered in snow as usual in early February.

The sculptures, while impressive, weren't nearly as smooth and pristine as normal due to the weather woes.

The streets are usually packed with snow and all is white.
This "82" is in front of the Hachi-ju (80) Ni (2) bank in town.

There is a new shinkansen line (bullet train) being built and Iiyama will get a new station, therefore lots of shinkansen art this year.
But this year the businesses had trouble gathering enough good snow to decorate in front of their buildings! 

 

...not sure where found all his snow!

Hmmm, a liquor shop perhaps?
The beer mug and sake set suggest so.

They did still manage the annual kids snow slide but not nearly as big as in previous years. All in all it was still a pretty nice time to be had.