URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!
dear fellow prayer partners,
everyone on the team is sick in bed except for hyo and me (beland)
we desperately need your prayers now, because everyone is so weak they've been resting the whole day and can't really do anything else.
dear fellow prayer partners,
everyone on the team is sick in bed except for hyo and me (beland)
we desperately need your prayers now, because everyone is so weak they've been resting the whole day and can't really do anything else.
it seems like the stomach flu has been going around among the team members. it started with ray feeling sick after the plane ride. ray was ok for a while today and he was able to attend one of Aaron Bitzer's english classes today and help out, he took a nap after the class and was able to go to the book store and able to eat some noodles for dinner, but after that he had to rest, and he has been resting since. he just got up and he seems to be okay now, but he says he still feels out of it. please pray for him especially, because he has a great responsibility being the team leader, and it's not so easy when he's sick.
Yesterday, leah got sick during lunch as addison had already mentioned in his entry, she was very weak last night and vomited a lot. even after a night's rest she still had to be taken to the hospital this morning and they gave put her on IV. the diagnosis was the stomach flu. she is at her hosthome resting right now, according to the pastor, she is doing better now. please keep praying for her recovery.
This morning, dorothy also woke up feeling pretty sick, so she went home shortly after our team meeting. she had to go to the hospital tonight as well because it was pretty bad , they put her on IV, and jun told me the diagnosis was the same as Leah's. he said there was some inflammation in her stomach as well as her throat. stomach flu. she is back at home now resting, and we're hoping and praying that the IV will help her recover.
addison woke up with a really bad headache, and he has been zoning in and out throughout the day, he was also able to attend the english class in the morning, but after that he felt pretty sick and rested the whole day. he just woke up right now and is writing in his journal next to me. he says he still has a little headache and his stomach is not feeling too well either, but he feels much better. please pray for him.
priscilla starting feeling sick this morning as well, but she was well enough to attend the same english class ray and addison attended along with adler, hyo and me. after lunch priscilla wasn't feeling too well so she slept in a room at the church for a while. The last time i saw her was when she woke up in the afternoon, she told me she was feeling much better. she went home to eat dinner with her host family. i think she is not feeling that bad, but please pray for her nontheless.
adler was the healthy one all along. he attended the english in the morning as well, but after that he felt tired and took a 1.5 hour nap and missed lunch. he woke up later and ate lunch and even did some painting work for the church with aaron, jun and me in the afternoon. after we were all tired from that, adler went with ray, jun and aaron to the bookstore. when he left he was fine, but when he got back he said he started feeling a little sick in the stomach. this was 5:30pm, he went to sleep at that time, and he woke up at 9:30pm feeling sick and weak and he threw up and felt better. he drank some hot water and now he's asleep again. please keep adler in your prayers.
hyo is fine physically. she got here yesterday and she was able to attend many of the english classes today at the church and help out the teachers. she is staying at the same place as dorothy, please pray that she will stay healthy.
beland (that's me) caught a cold when i was still at UCLA. nothing really happened to my stomach. i wasn't feeling really well on the plane, really congested in my upper respiratory system. but since i got here i had good sleep over night, and i feel fine right now.
Pastor Okada's theory is that the group probably caught some stomach flu on the plane ride here to Japan. the symptoms and its severity are appearing with different people at different times. he's guessing that perhaps my sinus infection (bacterial) somehow stopped the flu virus from attacking my body.... don't know if that's what happened or if it's valid at all.. maybe we'll find out from doctor shingo. nonetheless.. God is very sovereign.. i didn't get the flu and that allowed me to update you tonight.
Addison updated you about our trip to Osaka Prefecture university yesterday.
let me tell you about today.
so our planned schedule was to get up in the morning, have a team meeting, attend the english classes and help out while the rest of us painted the church in the afternoon, and at night we were originally going to babysit for the Okada's so that Daisuke and Marcia can go and enjoy a night together without having to worry about their kids (since Marcia and the 3 boys, nicky, noah, and nathan will be headed back to the states next monday).
the babysitting had to be cancelled because people were sick, and some of us who weren't feeling so sick had the opportunity to be in Aaron's english classes.
10am~12pm was the beginner's english class, we had a good time getting to know the students. most of them were adult women with family and kids. we had some good activities during class and "free talk time." everyone stayed for lunch and some of us were able to chat with some of the women over lunch. i was sitting with 4 ladies: koyama (church member, student of english class, husband not a believer), ishigami (not believer), matsumoto (not believer), and kotani (not believer). we started talking about death somehow and that lead to a gospel conversation. Mrs. Hibino (active church member, ray and adler's host mom last year, also a student in the english class) came and sat down and talked to all of us. she preached the gospel to all of us, and it was really exciting, even though i didn't understand too much of what she was saying. praise God the gospel was proclaimed, it made the ladies think a little, and it challenged their beliefs. mrs. kotani and matsumoto are considering visiting the church on sunday. we had a very good time overy lunch. another student, chihiro (a young mother) also stayed and talked to some of the girls on the team, she has a son who attends the childrens english class during the day.
speaking of which, there were a couple of children english classes during the afternoon, one was for toddlers and one for elementary kids. during the class for the toddlers, while adler and i were sitting in the room playing with the puzzles with one of the boys, this one boy who is usually really happy about coming came in and saw us. so his first reaction was to run away, and he started crying and screaming because he was scared of us.... his mom was trying to carrying him into the classroom but he used his arms to hold himself at the doorpost.... at the same time crying "IIIYAAAAAAAA..... KOWAAIIIIII!!!!" which means... "oh no, i hate it..... scary!!!!" yeap. that's referring to me and adler. but he eventually settled down when adler and i left.
the second children class was cool. hyo was able to help out with the teacher kristi (from masters college) during that class. aaron and i came in during craft time, and we did some fingerpainting with the kids. aaron decided to paint my face green along the way.
i mentioned the adler, aaron, and i got to paint the church for a little bit today during the afternoon. we were basically doing some prep work, because the real painting of the big walls will be for tomorrow. or whenever the team feels better.
during dinner time, the students from the night class came to join us for the church-cooked meal. it was curry rice. there were 5 students total: 2 girls in high school, ayako and manami. 1 jr. high girl, takako, and two ladies (one who is a deaconness at the church) we had a lot of fun in the class, we played "3 truths and a lie" in class, when we write down 4 statements and we have to get the rest of the class to guess which one is the lie. that was a lot of fun and it took an hour and a half. hyo and i were able to attend this class with aaron, and they thought it was very amusing that my false statement was "i've been to all 50 states" they laughed at me for a while for being fob..
according the aaron, manami, who has lived in england for 4 years and went to catholic school is starting to read the bible more now and has become more interested in it. she said she didn't used to believe in what the bible says but it is now becoming more convincing to her, except for the resurrection.
takako, who has been an english student here at the church for 5 years apparently knows a lot about the bible because of her exposure to christianity, but she does not believe.
please pray for these students.
so that was our day. the ministy, the people, the team. WE REALLY NEED YOUR PRAYERS!
God is faithful. it is clearly shown in his word and God is faithful to His word. there is no doubt that He is sovereign over this trip just as He was sovereign over last years trip, the year before that and the one before that. as you can see, different things happened to us everyyear... different situations come up. last year it was the typhoon, some sickness, some fire accidents... this year it's the whole team being attacked by microscopic organisms. every year there seems to be something that tests us, but how amazing it is to know that the same GOD is in control of all these! different situations run us down, but God hasn't changed at all since last year.... that's so cool. this is a good opportunity for all of us to truly learn how to trust God... many of us are so weak physically, but we are thankful to know that our heavenly Father is beyond all these things. God will work in his timing, whether it's through a sick team or a healthy team... we believe that, and we ask for you to pray alongside of us for your brothers and sisters here. we represent the body of Christ! that's YOU! so please spend some time after you read this xanga entry to pray.
one of the Christians in the english class today me that his favorite verse is Romans 8:28. haha yes we all know that one... but... how awesome it is that God uses the japanese believers here to encourage us to stay focused on God's plan and not ours.
God works all things for good for those of us who love Him. please pray for the brothers and sisters who are on this team, they love the Lord and they need your prayers!
many of you supported us financially, and you sent us over here, but we need your support the most now! please support us, support the proclamation of the gospel by praying!
there is a battle going on here for the gospel... please pray for all the Christians here in japan because we are here ministering and we are not fighting against microbes, people, worldly cuture nor flesh and blood.... but just as paul says...
"... but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forcese of evfil in the heavenly realms. therefore put on the full armor of God.... and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
Ephesians 6:12-18
p.s.
it started raining pretty hard outside.
Yesterday, leah got sick during lunch as addison had already mentioned in his entry, she was very weak last night and vomited a lot. even after a night's rest she still had to be taken to the hospital this morning and they gave put her on IV. the diagnosis was the stomach flu. she is at her hosthome resting right now, according to the pastor, she is doing better now. please keep praying for her recovery.
This morning, dorothy also woke up feeling pretty sick, so she went home shortly after our team meeting. she had to go to the hospital tonight as well because it was pretty bad , they put her on IV, and jun told me the diagnosis was the same as Leah's. he said there was some inflammation in her stomach as well as her throat. stomach flu. she is back at home now resting, and we're hoping and praying that the IV will help her recover.
addison woke up with a really bad headache, and he has been zoning in and out throughout the day, he was also able to attend the english class in the morning, but after that he felt pretty sick and rested the whole day. he just woke up right now and is writing in his journal next to me. he says he still has a little headache and his stomach is not feeling too well either, but he feels much better. please pray for him.
priscilla starting feeling sick this morning as well, but she was well enough to attend the same english class ray and addison attended along with adler, hyo and me. after lunch priscilla wasn't feeling too well so she slept in a room at the church for a while. The last time i saw her was when she woke up in the afternoon, she told me she was feeling much better. she went home to eat dinner with her host family. i think she is not feeling that bad, but please pray for her nontheless.
adler was the healthy one all along. he attended the english in the morning as well, but after that he felt tired and took a 1.5 hour nap and missed lunch. he woke up later and ate lunch and even did some painting work for the church with aaron, jun and me in the afternoon. after we were all tired from that, adler went with ray, jun and aaron to the bookstore. when he left he was fine, but when he got back he said he started feeling a little sick in the stomach. this was 5:30pm, he went to sleep at that time, and he woke up at 9:30pm feeling sick and weak and he threw up and felt better. he drank some hot water and now he's asleep again. please keep adler in your prayers.
hyo is fine physically. she got here yesterday and she was able to attend many of the english classes today at the church and help out the teachers. she is staying at the same place as dorothy, please pray that she will stay healthy.
beland (that's me) caught a cold when i was still at UCLA. nothing really happened to my stomach. i wasn't feeling really well on the plane, really congested in my upper respiratory system. but since i got here i had good sleep over night, and i feel fine right now.
Pastor Okada's theory is that the group probably caught some stomach flu on the plane ride here to Japan. the symptoms and its severity are appearing with different people at different times. he's guessing that perhaps my sinus infection (bacterial) somehow stopped the flu virus from attacking my body.... don't know if that's what happened or if it's valid at all.. maybe we'll find out from doctor shingo. nonetheless.. God is very sovereign.. i didn't get the flu and that allowed me to update you tonight.
Addison updated you about our trip to Osaka Prefecture university yesterday.
let me tell you about today.
so our planned schedule was to get up in the morning, have a team meeting, attend the english classes and help out while the rest of us painted the church in the afternoon, and at night we were originally going to babysit for the Okada's so that Daisuke and Marcia can go and enjoy a night together without having to worry about their kids (since Marcia and the 3 boys, nicky, noah, and nathan will be headed back to the states next monday).
the babysitting had to be cancelled because people were sick, and some of us who weren't feeling so sick had the opportunity to be in Aaron's english classes.
10am~12pm was the beginner's english class, we had a good time getting to know the students. most of them were adult women with family and kids. we had some good activities during class and "free talk time." everyone stayed for lunch and some of us were able to chat with some of the women over lunch. i was sitting with 4 ladies: koyama (church member, student of english class, husband not a believer), ishigami (not believer), matsumoto (not believer), and kotani (not believer). we started talking about death somehow and that lead to a gospel conversation. Mrs. Hibino (active church member, ray and adler's host mom last year, also a student in the english class) came and sat down and talked to all of us. she preached the gospel to all of us, and it was really exciting, even though i didn't understand too much of what she was saying. praise God the gospel was proclaimed, it made the ladies think a little, and it challenged their beliefs. mrs. kotani and matsumoto are considering visiting the church on sunday. we had a very good time overy lunch. another student, chihiro (a young mother) also stayed and talked to some of the girls on the team, she has a son who attends the childrens english class during the day.
speaking of which, there were a couple of children english classes during the afternoon, one was for toddlers and one for elementary kids. during the class for the toddlers, while adler and i were sitting in the room playing with the puzzles with one of the boys, this one boy who is usually really happy about coming came in and saw us. so his first reaction was to run away, and he started crying and screaming because he was scared of us.... his mom was trying to carrying him into the classroom but he used his arms to hold himself at the doorpost.... at the same time crying "IIIYAAAAAAAA..... KOWAAIIIIII!!!!" which means... "oh no, i hate it..... scary!!!!" yeap. that's referring to me and adler. but he eventually settled down when adler and i left.
the second children class was cool. hyo was able to help out with the teacher kristi (from masters college) during that class. aaron and i came in during craft time, and we did some fingerpainting with the kids. aaron decided to paint my face green along the way.
i mentioned the adler, aaron, and i got to paint the church for a little bit today during the afternoon. we were basically doing some prep work, because the real painting of the big walls will be for tomorrow. or whenever the team feels better.
during dinner time, the students from the night class came to join us for the church-cooked meal. it was curry rice. there were 5 students total: 2 girls in high school, ayako and manami. 1 jr. high girl, takako, and two ladies (one who is a deaconness at the church) we had a lot of fun in the class, we played "3 truths and a lie" in class, when we write down 4 statements and we have to get the rest of the class to guess which one is the lie. that was a lot of fun and it took an hour and a half. hyo and i were able to attend this class with aaron, and they thought it was very amusing that my false statement was "i've been to all 50 states" they laughed at me for a while for being fob..
according the aaron, manami, who has lived in england for 4 years and went to catholic school is starting to read the bible more now and has become more interested in it. she said she didn't used to believe in what the bible says but it is now becoming more convincing to her, except for the resurrection.
takako, who has been an english student here at the church for 5 years apparently knows a lot about the bible because of her exposure to christianity, but she does not believe.
please pray for these students.
so that was our day. the ministy, the people, the team. WE REALLY NEED YOUR PRAYERS!
God is faithful. it is clearly shown in his word and God is faithful to His word. there is no doubt that He is sovereign over this trip just as He was sovereign over last years trip, the year before that and the one before that. as you can see, different things happened to us everyyear... different situations come up. last year it was the typhoon, some sickness, some fire accidents... this year it's the whole team being attacked by microscopic organisms. every year there seems to be something that tests us, but how amazing it is to know that the same GOD is in control of all these! different situations run us down, but God hasn't changed at all since last year.... that's so cool. this is a good opportunity for all of us to truly learn how to trust God... many of us are so weak physically, but we are thankful to know that our heavenly Father is beyond all these things. God will work in his timing, whether it's through a sick team or a healthy team... we believe that, and we ask for you to pray alongside of us for your brothers and sisters here. we represent the body of Christ! that's YOU! so please spend some time after you read this xanga entry to pray.
one of the Christians in the english class today me that his favorite verse is Romans 8:28. haha yes we all know that one... but... how awesome it is that God uses the japanese believers here to encourage us to stay focused on God's plan and not ours.
God works all things for good for those of us who love Him. please pray for the brothers and sisters who are on this team, they love the Lord and they need your prayers!
many of you supported us financially, and you sent us over here, but we need your support the most now! please support us, support the proclamation of the gospel by praying!
there is a battle going on here for the gospel... please pray for all the Christians here in japan because we are here ministering and we are not fighting against microbes, people, worldly cuture nor flesh and blood.... but just as paul says...
"... but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forcese of evfil in the heavenly realms. therefore put on the full armor of God.... and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
Ephesians 6:12-18
p.s.
it started raining pretty hard outside.