Sup! This is Collin writing this weblog entry. Today, we had the opportunity to visit two different colleges and have casual conversations with students there. First, we went to Osaka Christian College, which is an all girls school; so naturally guys like me felt very comfortable and right at home (ok not really, it was kind of awkward). We started out by introducing ourselves in chapel after the speaker gave a short message and we had the chance to play a song for them, "Amazing Love." After chapel was over, we went to the cafeteria and had the opportunity to converse with the girls and ask them questions. Their skill levels of English varied, but for the most part they were able to answer our questions. Some of them were very giggly and asked awkward questions to guys (such as me), but it turned out to be ok. Overall, they seemed to enjoy the conversations with our teammembers and are excited to talk with us again tomorrow and thursday.
Later in the day, we visited the English club at Osaka Prefecture University, where we were able to talk with members of their English Speaking Society, which was a very small group. We were talking individually with the students about various things, such as our backgrounds, what we are studying, future plans, and our opinions on various topics. Though we were not allowed to bring up the gospel on our own, it was an easy transition to the gospel through various other questions they brought up, such as our backgrounds and our reason for being in Japan. Overall, it was very rewarding to be able to talk to the students about the gospel, but yet make it clear that we are there for them also to build relationships with them and help them build their English skill level. After conversations, we had the opportunity to eat dinner with them at the university and have more casual conversations with the students. When we were leaving, they seemed very eager to meet with us again on thursday and continue building friendships with them. It was very exciting to be able to talk with the students and we hope and pray that we will be able to build more friendships for the gospel in these colleges.