Day 8 (Steve)
Today (Saturday the 26th, or as the Japanese call it, Dirt-day) saw the team split in two, half going to Koyasan High School (KHS), and the other half visiting Nara to go sightseeing with OPU and OU students that we've formed friendships with. I'll be updating on our time at Koyasan High School. Kondo-sensei (Sr Pastor of HBC) had visited KHS 20+ years ago and preached the Gospel there, and Momo-san (a 42-year old bro at HBC) gave his life to the Lord. HBC has had an occasional relationship with the High School, and our objective was to go and spend some time with the high school students there, and strengthen the connection HBC has with KHS.
Priscilla, Collin, Sarah, and I hopped in a car with Jun and Momo-san and took a 2 hour Dramamine-is-necessary drive up windy mountain roads to Koyasan. Collin barfed on our way up. We spent two hours with high school students. Each of us handled 3-5 students and spoke some elementary English to them. And by elementary, I mean "What. Is. Your. Name?" about 3 times and one word per second the entire time. We also invited them to Joy Joy 4 Nights, a program that Japan Team 2 will be conducting geared toward high school students. Bear in mind, we weren't there to preach the Gospel as much as we were there to spend time with the students and strengthen the teachers' and administrators' trust in HBC and our church's ability to provide some meaningful activities to the students. I made some friends with 5 boys, and was able to connect with pretty much all of them on the level of games, anime, and manga. That would be because every boy here in Japan is into those three things with few exceptions. We spoke in 5-year-old-level English for an hour and a half, took some pictures together, and said our goodbyes.
Today was certainly different from the other days of the past week, where there were lively conversations with college students at some reasonable level of English and with them all wanting to be there. The four of us who went were in agreement that it was tough and stretching for us to lead the conversation and be the only one talking and asking questions. A more unique highlight of the day was spending some good fellowship time with Jun, Momo-san, and one another. These two brothers are part of the "core" of HBC who serve the Lord with regularity and love. You know that thing most STMers say all the time? "We went to serve but ended up getting served, how humbling!"? With brothers like these two, that's why most STMers say that. What great guys. We are praying that the Lord would keep on strengthening HBC's relationship with KHS such that there will be a regular flow of high school students coming to HBC's programs, forming relationships, and getting saved.
Priscilla, Collin, Sarah, and I hopped in a car with Jun and Momo-san and took a 2 hour Dramamine-is-necessary drive up windy mountain roads to Koyasan. Collin barfed on our way up. We spent two hours with high school students. Each of us handled 3-5 students and spoke some elementary English to them. And by elementary, I mean "What. Is. Your. Name?" about 3 times and one word per second the entire time. We also invited them to Joy Joy 4 Nights, a program that Japan Team 2 will be conducting geared toward high school students. Bear in mind, we weren't there to preach the Gospel as much as we were there to spend time with the students and strengthen the teachers' and administrators' trust in HBC and our church's ability to provide some meaningful activities to the students. I made some friends with 5 boys, and was able to connect with pretty much all of them on the level of games, anime, and manga. That would be because every boy here in Japan is into those three things with few exceptions. We spoke in 5-year-old-level English for an hour and a half, took some pictures together, and said our goodbyes.
Today was certainly different from the other days of the past week, where there were lively conversations with college students at some reasonable level of English and with them all wanting to be there. The four of us who went were in agreement that it was tough and stretching for us to lead the conversation and be the only one talking and asking questions. A more unique highlight of the day was spending some good fellowship time with Jun, Momo-san, and one another. These two brothers are part of the "core" of HBC who serve the Lord with regularity and love. You know that thing most STMers say all the time? "We went to serve but ended up getting served, how humbling!"? With brothers like these two, that's why most STMers say that. What great guys. We are praying that the Lord would keep on strengthening HBC's relationship with KHS such that there will be a regular flow of high school students coming to HBC's programs, forming relationships, and getting saved.