Konnichiwa

Greetings from Japan!

We have made it safely to ARI and begun working! Here is our daily schedule:

6:30 – 6:35 Morning Exercise – A time to bring the community together to start the day

6:35 – 7:00 Cleaning Chores – A time to take care of our own campus

7:00 – 8:00 Morning Foodlife Work – In order to provide ourselves, the whole community engages in daily farm chores and meal preparation. Foodlife is a term coined by founder Rev. Dr. Takami to show the interconnectedness of food and life. Through these daily activities we learn together by working together.

8:15 – 9:10 Breakfast and Break

The heart of ARI can be seen as we gather together at the table for meals. Each and every meal is a meaningful expression of our labors and our community.

9:10 – 9:40 Morning Gathering

This daily devotional time allows for ARI to reflect and share our life experiences and also provides a place for the whole community to exchange information. The leader for each morning gathering rotates so that everyone gets a chance to guide the gathering.

10:00 – 12:20 Morning Activities

Participants take part in the scheduled curriculum program, including classroom sessions, lectures and outside study opportunities. Staff, volunteers and visitors carry out their work in the office, crops and vegetables or with livestock.

12:30 – 1:50 Lunch and Break

As many people contribute to cooking, we enjoy an international variety of dishes that are made with local ingredients.

2:00 – 4:20 Afternoon Activities

Training sessions as well as the daily work of ARI is continued

5:00 – 6:00 Evening Foodlife Work

By hard work and constant effort, we produce healthy food

6:30 – 7:30 Supper

The last gathering of the day, we sit together and share our evening meal

Evening Free Time

This is a time for relaxing, singing, talking, computing, sleeping, etc. Sometimes optional events are planned.   

For the Foodlife Work, Doug will be working on the farm and Jenny will be working in the kitchen! These positions will last the whole year. As for the morning and afternoon activities, we will rotate every month between different groups like chickens, pigs, fish, crops, office, etc.

We will post more about our first impressions and reflections later in the week! Thank you to everyone for your support!

Fellow servants in Christ,

Doug and Jenny