Welcome to the Church of Isekai Part 1
"Welcome to the Church of Isekai" – the banner printed in big bold letters was hanging over the stage at the end of a sprawling lawn. Below it – a large square portrait titled – "Robert and Tammy's wedding" with two happy youths hugging. A crowd dressed in their "Sunday Best" was moving between tables set up "À-LA FOURCHETTE" or as they called it "Ala Furshet" – let's not be too fancy ok?
"How do you do, Sir, my name it Steve. The young lady with the caterers suggested I ask you about this church" he addressed the read-headed Tammy's uncle. "Oh she did, didn't she… well little Alya knows me too well… And isn't that little anymore… he-he-he… OK … well… Nice to meet you Steve. I'm Mike. Mike Geiger… I'm in construction… Here's my card… So… about the church…"A middle-aged man thanked a uniformed girl receiving a plate with snacks and asked "can you explain what this church is about?". The girl refused – "Sorry I'm with the catering. I can't discuss anything other than food. I did come here as I was younger – we had lots of fun. But you can ask anyone in a fantasy costume or … see that read-headed man next to a woman in a green dress? He's Tammy's uncle and he likes talking to strangers.... A lot…". "Thank you," the man said thinking to himself about small towns with everyone knowing and annoying everyone else over the decades. That "A lot" sounded like it has in it many, many, many hours of repeated stories that the kids had to endure while being too polite to break him off. Just then the green-dressed lady seemed to have wandered off and the moment seemed perfect.
The story was long and rich on details. The way Steve remembered it was:
The man who runs it just calls it a "Church" – probably for accounting reasons. He showed up about… what was it.. about 20 years ago. Showed up and started working in a town's youth center. Somehow the kids of all ages loved him. Helped them with homework, told stories keeping the youngsters glued to their seats, took them to the woods, taught survival skills… Yeah like the boy scouts but more… Even taught them fencing and languages. He seems to know several – we took our daughter to Quebec, Canada and she did all the restaurant ordering in French! We went to Mexico and she spoke Spanish there! Oh no, we don't speak any of it at home. Somehow she picked it up at the youth center. Oh about the Church – he started it. He calls it "Isekai" – says it's Japanese for "Other Worlds". Apparently there are Japanese cartoons about kids getting transported into video games or fairy-tales. Yes, they watch some cartoons. Yes, and read "manga" – I think that's the word they used. Age-appropriate? Oh yes, we checked. He's not arguing about religion and doesn't mind people being protestants or Catholics or whatnot. He just calls it a Church because one needs to believe in those worlds and being able to travel between them – his line of reasoning is – when people have the same belief they come together in a church. No it's more than a "Manga Club" – remember all the outdoorsy stuff? In the summer he took the kids into the woods for 2 weeks at the time – they come back so happy. We had signed up our daughter for 3 sessions in a row and she still loved it. They gather right here and then go off into the woods – tents and stuff. Come back after a week, say hello to parents and off they go again. They have to dress up as elfs, dwarfs, knights, learn real fencing. We had a boy take a county trophy in it two years ago. Yes, small town, we all know these things.
Oh, sure, we do have regular churches – my family goes to a Presbyterian one, there are two catholic ones… there must be more… I'm sure there are all kinds – if not in our town then somewhere in driving distance. No, the pastors and ministers didn't come here for a joint protest – they do have "youth clubs" but there is no homework help and their afterschool program is just not fun comparing to this place. Sunday service – you drive the kids here after lunch on Sunday and you're free till 8pm – shopping, resting. They do the sermons but it's the kids who read them. They write essays about a life lesson from a cartoon they watched together in Japanese. Yes, in Japanese. I don't know if they really understand it – never took my kids to Japan. Sure, we do pay but it's not that expensive. Besides we do want this place to look nice. The "IsePope" … he-he-he … no he doesn't call himself that … doesn't have a Ferrari… I don't know what car he has but surely if he drove anything fancy we'd know. Strange, I don't think I ever saw him drive – he just shows up a your door if he has to talk to you. So yeah, he made a name for himself here. To my knowledge he doesn't want to branch out. The "Misses IsePope"? Yes, I think I've seen her but she's probably too shy – she rarely comes out. The kids say they all saw her during the Summer Outings but we don't like people prying into our lives and we let him have his privacy. Probably that's why he picked our town and isn't leaving – I think his lady doesn't like large crowds and in this town you never come across any place with more than 3 cars parked near it.
