by Mike Costanzo | Jan 4, 2008 | Culture, Missions, Prayer, Travel
For months now, Pastor Tajima (our pastor from Koriyama Baptist Church) has been encouraging us to visit his sister, who lives in the historic city of Kyoto . Apparently, she loves to host folks from out of town, especially if they have never seen the city and its...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 24, 2007 | Faith, Music, Video
Back in November, I discovered a poem in my daily devotional by William Jay (published in 1828) called “Though Dwelling With Strangers Around” . The words were so powerful, I decided to see if anyone had ever put it to music. To my surprise, I found...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 15, 2007 | Holidays/Special Events, Missions, Teaching
For the most part, opportunities to talk about God or share one’s faith are rare in the job of an ALT. The reason has less to do with religion in public schools (many students have Shinto charms on their bags or pencases) than it does with the fact that everyone...
by Jen Costanzo | Dec 8, 2007 | Holidays/Special Events, Missions
Today was the day of the big Kindergarten Christmas program — and my acting debut. :0) Our team mimed the picture book story “You Are Special” by author Max Lucado. Mike did the narration all in Japanese too. It went really well — Yay! Here...
by Jen Costanzo | Oct 7, 2007 | Faith, Jen, Reflections
This is such a controversial issue among Christians today. I don’t want to get embroiled in the controversy, but I can’t help but talk about some of the areas of contemplation my brain has stumbled across after living in Japan for a year. I think...
by Mike Costanzo | Sep 24, 2007 | Missions, Teaching
Yesterday was Shuubun no Hi (the Autumnal Equinox, one of the two days in the year when the day and night are equal in length). These two days, together with Obon (the day when the spirits of departed ancestors supposedly return to earth) mark the three biggest days...
