God is good all the time! Yay God moments...
We only have 2 days left in Shingu! We can't believe it! It's been 9 days since our last blog and believe me when I say, that you would not believe that kind of things God is doing here in our last few days.
After my last reflection post last week Joe and I began to pray very diligently for Shingu church and the upcoming ministries we were serving in. This was the result of Joe and I both expressing our reluctance to serving in these ministries at times. So of course God showed up in very big ways....
1. Evening English Cafe: The day after I wrote last week's post we had 1 man show up for the English evening cafe. His name is Aoyama (ah-oh-ya-ma). He came on Wednesdays for the last couple of weeks in the evening. We found out that we was a high school chemistry teacher and was having trouble with a few of his students acting out. So naturally Joe and I gave him some tips, and he said they worked! But the coolest thing was that when he came in this past week he was curious about Christianity. He asked lots of questions about why and how we had become Christians. We talked about Gods love, sin, Jesus, and salvation. What was scheduled as an English class turned into a bilingual bible study. We will continue to pray for him to connect with Shingu Church.
2. Shingu 1 Day Kids Camp: We had an amazing turn out for our children's ministry. We were able to make great connections with children and their parents during kid's English club. We spent a lot of time planning a Christian 1 day camp where we discussed the creation story. Eight children stayed along with two parents. We sang "Jesus Loves Me" in Japanese, and two bible games. Then we had water gun fights, watermelon smash, and more. The children had a great time, and we really saw God at work during the entire event. There are pictures of this below!
3. Basketball ministry: God has opened some really unexpected doors with the Shingu High School Boys and Girls Basketball team. We were given an open invitation to join practices, speak English, and jump into basketball drills. This was exciting but intimidating because we are very out of shape =D. We attended three practices over four weeks, and made some amazing connections with the students and coaches despite our poor basketball skills. Many students had expressed interest in English classes, so on the last day of practice we gave everyone flyers inviting them to English cafe. That night we prayed for God to continue to open their hearts to church. The next morning we started English cafe at 10:00 am with 5 regular attendees. It was a great way to start the day. At 10:07 am, the entire girls basketball team and the coach arrived at the church in full uniform. We were shocked. God had performed a miracle and over 24 teenagers were in a church. So I took charge of English cafe upstairs with the regulars, while Joe went down stairs with Kinoshita Sensei to play English games with the whole team. Joe and Kinoshita also sang some gospel music with them. Most of the girls have connected with me on social media to plan future visits to Ohio. That was the most young people that have ever been in this church, and we are praying that many of them return to connect with Kinoshita Sensei.
This Sunday we will be preaching at Shingu for the last time about "How God is big when we are small." Then we will take a 4.5 hour train to Kyoto to visit our college friend Koki. We will be in Kyoto for 3 days and then we will head to Tokyo for a 3 day kids camp with Tamagawa Church. Then we will preach at Tamagawa church and jump on a plane to Chicago. We will be in Chicago for one week with friends and family. On Sunday August 16th we will present details from our Japan Trip at Faith Church of Grayslake. Please continue to pray for our trip and for God to provide.
Enjoy some updated pictures from Shingu.
1. Evening English Cafe: The day after I wrote last week's post we had 1 man show up for the English evening cafe. His name is Aoyama (ah-oh-ya-ma). He came on Wednesdays for the last couple of weeks in the evening. We found out that we was a high school chemistry teacher and was having trouble with a few of his students acting out. So naturally Joe and I gave him some tips, and he said they worked! But the coolest thing was that when he came in this past week he was curious about Christianity. He asked lots of questions about why and how we had become Christians. We talked about Gods love, sin, Jesus, and salvation. What was scheduled as an English class turned into a bilingual bible study. We will continue to pray for him to connect with Shingu Church.
2. Shingu 1 Day Kids Camp: We had an amazing turn out for our children's ministry. We were able to make great connections with children and their parents during kid's English club. We spent a lot of time planning a Christian 1 day camp where we discussed the creation story. Eight children stayed along with two parents. We sang "Jesus Loves Me" in Japanese, and two bible games. Then we had water gun fights, watermelon smash, and more. The children had a great time, and we really saw God at work during the entire event. There are pictures of this below!
3. Basketball ministry: God has opened some really unexpected doors with the Shingu High School Boys and Girls Basketball team. We were given an open invitation to join practices, speak English, and jump into basketball drills. This was exciting but intimidating because we are very out of shape =D. We attended three practices over four weeks, and made some amazing connections with the students and coaches despite our poor basketball skills. Many students had expressed interest in English classes, so on the last day of practice we gave everyone flyers inviting them to English cafe. That night we prayed for God to continue to open their hearts to church. The next morning we started English cafe at 10:00 am with 5 regular attendees. It was a great way to start the day. At 10:07 am, the entire girls basketball team and the coach arrived at the church in full uniform. We were shocked. God had performed a miracle and over 24 teenagers were in a church. So I took charge of English cafe upstairs with the regulars, while Joe went down stairs with Kinoshita Sensei to play English games with the whole team. Joe and Kinoshita also sang some gospel music with them. Most of the girls have connected with me on social media to plan future visits to Ohio. That was the most young people that have ever been in this church, and we are praying that many of them return to connect with Kinoshita Sensei.
This Sunday we will be preaching at Shingu for the last time about "How God is big when we are small." Then we will take a 4.5 hour train to Kyoto to visit our college friend Koki. We will be in Kyoto for 3 days and then we will head to Tokyo for a 3 day kids camp with Tamagawa Church. Then we will preach at Tamagawa church and jump on a plane to Chicago. We will be in Chicago for one week with friends and family. On Sunday August 16th we will present details from our Japan Trip at Faith Church of Grayslake. Please continue to pray for our trip and for God to provide.
Enjoy some updated pictures from Shingu.