Hello all! This is Hyo, typing a new entry on Thursday afternoon, 2:45 PM. This is the update so far on our team: everybody is doing better than before, praise God! Thank you for your prayers. Dorothy and Leah are still taking medicine, but they are still not 100%. Beland is still recovering from his cold from the plane ride. Adler is also still recovering from stomach sickness, but he could function well today. Ray seems to have a cold, but it's getting a lot better. Addison and Priscilla are fine. I am doing well. God is so faithful to give us energy and strength for ministry work!
Okay, so here's an update on Wednesday's stuff. In the morning at 10 AM we had an English class, led by Aaron, for Intermediate level students. Beland, Priscilla, Addison, Ray, Leah, and I attended this class. There were three students and one of them is a member of HBC. We played a game where we have an word written on a card stuck on our backs, and we have to go around asking questions to each other, trying to guess what the item is. That got the students (except they're not really our age-type students... they're all moms) to practice using their English. So after that, we got into groups of 3 and had "free-talk time". That was a good way to get to know them better. Priscilla and I tried to talk to one of the students (i think her name is Kayoko, but i'm not sure) about Christianity, but after talking about prayer and God, she told us she didn't want to talk about religion anymore. But at least we found out that McDonald's here has the Teriyaki chicken burger. Then, we played "3 truths and 1 lie" again, which was pretty fun. Beland didn't use his "i've been to all 50 states" lie again, so that was a bummer.
After the English class, we had lunch at the church. The church members are so nice to us! They spend so much time and energy preparing meals for us, and they're always so "oishi" - tasty! During lunch, I was reminded once again about Okada-sensei's health. Please please pray that God would heal him and give him strength for all the work that he is doing here!
Between lunch and the "Playroom" class, we had some free time, so Addison, Priscilla, Aaron, Christi, and I decided to go to a local hardware-type store to make new keys for Christi. We all had to take bikes. So I borrowed one of the church's bikes. As I was taking it out of it's spot, I knocked a bike next to me, and like a domino-effect, the bikes in the row fell one by one! There were like five bikes!!! It was so funny... a classic clumsy Hyo move. Anyhow, we rode there safely and came back... it was a good experience going there and seeing the areas around the church.
The rest of the day was spent helping out with the church activities. Beland, Aaron, Addison, and Jun painted the sanctuary of the church almost the entire afternoon, while Priscilla, Leah and I helped Christi's classes. The Japanese children are SOOO CUTE!!!!! She has two levels - one is "Playroom" which is 3-5 year olds, and the other is the "Primary" kids class which range from ages 8 to about 10. Please pray for Japan 2's ministry with children in the next month! The children absorb so much, and getting the truth to them at an early age will hopefully impact their hearts. Next week, Christi's going to teach about sin, so please pray for that ministry as well. After the classes, Priscilla and Leah went to their host home to have dinner with their host family, and the rest of us stayed at church for dinner.
Dinner was really good. I was so thankful to God that He brought out Ayako, one of Aaron's advanced English class students. She is a sophomore in high school, and her English is very very good, so it was/is easy talking to her. During dinner and afterwards, she opened up to talk about religion and Christianity. It was really funny how it all started. There is this funny singer from Hong Kong (someone correct me if I'm wrong) named Wing, and all the guys think it's so funny to listen to her. Basically, she takes American songs and sings them herself... except she's really bad at singing... really bad. So the guys asked if Ayako and I would like to listen to her... so we went... and the ipod was in the sanctuary of the church. Then, Ayako began talking to Atsuko (one of the staff - she has a beautiful voice and she sings at church a lot) about how pretty the church was, and also how she used to go to Sunday school when she was in elementary school. That got us talking about her background, her knowledge, and things like that. Her, Etsuko, Yukari (church staff members) and I talked to her for a couple hours about the gospel. It was totally grace from above! Talking about the cross really hit me hard - whenever you share the gospel, the awesome thing is that you hear it yourself, and it's amazing to be reminded of the precious gift we have in saving faith. Ayako's family is mostly Buddhist, but some of her cousins are Catholic. This got us talking about the differences between Catholics and Protestants. She showed some interest in attending HBC on Sundays, but I am not sure if it's a genuine desire. Still, I was really thankful that God brought Etsuko and Yukari to talk to her... please pray for many more opportunities for our team to reach out and bring unbelievers to the church so that they can hear the gospel and develop relationships with the Japanese believers at HBC!
I was sad that I missed the prayer meeting... I heard that it was really encouraging for all of our team members! One person who came to the prayer meeting, Mika, just became a Christian about a month ago! Priscilla can probably fill you in on her. Mrs. Takenaka, my host home "mom", told me that within 5 years of English classes at HBC, she is the first to come to saving faith. Praise the LORD for His grace! There is no "pricetag" for a saved soul, and that is a testimony of how difficult it is for Japanese people to accept Christ.
Although ministry is difficult here, I really appreciate the effort that the HBC members invest in making it possible for the gospel to be spread around Osaka. It is rebuking to me how much they serve and how the staff here keeps persevering despite the lack of response from their evangelism. They do not give up! They are storing treasures in heaven!
On that note, it's been such an encouraging time at my host home with Takenaka-san (Mrs. Takenaka). She is a very strong believer and she loves the LORD. Her studying time in the Scriptures is a rebuke to me and her faith is so evident. Twice, we talked about the coming of Christ and how soon it will happen. Talking about the truth with a Japanese believer has been so sweet and encouraging.
To top off the night, some of us went to the Onsen - a Japanese bath house. That was pretty fun... and relaxing!
Sorry that was such a long xanga. Congrats if you made it this far. And even if you skimmed through it, thanks! Please keep praying and asking God to change the hard hearts here in Japan!
After the English class, we had lunch at the church. The church members are so nice to us! They spend so much time and energy preparing meals for us, and they're always so "oishi" - tasty! During lunch, I was reminded once again about Okada-sensei's health. Please please pray that God would heal him and give him strength for all the work that he is doing here!
Between lunch and the "Playroom" class, we had some free time, so Addison, Priscilla, Aaron, Christi, and I decided to go to a local hardware-type store to make new keys for Christi. We all had to take bikes. So I borrowed one of the church's bikes. As I was taking it out of it's spot, I knocked a bike next to me, and like a domino-effect, the bikes in the row fell one by one! There were like five bikes!!! It was so funny... a classic clumsy Hyo move. Anyhow, we rode there safely and came back... it was a good experience going there and seeing the areas around the church.
The rest of the day was spent helping out with the church activities. Beland, Aaron, Addison, and Jun painted the sanctuary of the church almost the entire afternoon, while Priscilla, Leah and I helped Christi's classes. The Japanese children are SOOO CUTE!!!!! She has two levels - one is "Playroom" which is 3-5 year olds, and the other is the "Primary" kids class which range from ages 8 to about 10. Please pray for Japan 2's ministry with children in the next month! The children absorb so much, and getting the truth to them at an early age will hopefully impact their hearts. Next week, Christi's going to teach about sin, so please pray for that ministry as well. After the classes, Priscilla and Leah went to their host home to have dinner with their host family, and the rest of us stayed at church for dinner.
Dinner was really good. I was so thankful to God that He brought out Ayako, one of Aaron's advanced English class students. She is a sophomore in high school, and her English is very very good, so it was/is easy talking to her. During dinner and afterwards, she opened up to talk about religion and Christianity. It was really funny how it all started. There is this funny singer from Hong Kong (someone correct me if I'm wrong) named Wing, and all the guys think it's so funny to listen to her. Basically, she takes American songs and sings them herself... except she's really bad at singing... really bad. So the guys asked if Ayako and I would like to listen to her... so we went... and the ipod was in the sanctuary of the church. Then, Ayako began talking to Atsuko (one of the staff - she has a beautiful voice and she sings at church a lot) about how pretty the church was, and also how she used to go to Sunday school when she was in elementary school. That got us talking about her background, her knowledge, and things like that. Her, Etsuko, Yukari (church staff members) and I talked to her for a couple hours about the gospel. It was totally grace from above! Talking about the cross really hit me hard - whenever you share the gospel, the awesome thing is that you hear it yourself, and it's amazing to be reminded of the precious gift we have in saving faith. Ayako's family is mostly Buddhist, but some of her cousins are Catholic. This got us talking about the differences between Catholics and Protestants. She showed some interest in attending HBC on Sundays, but I am not sure if it's a genuine desire. Still, I was really thankful that God brought Etsuko and Yukari to talk to her... please pray for many more opportunities for our team to reach out and bring unbelievers to the church so that they can hear the gospel and develop relationships with the Japanese believers at HBC!
I was sad that I missed the prayer meeting... I heard that it was really encouraging for all of our team members! One person who came to the prayer meeting, Mika, just became a Christian about a month ago! Priscilla can probably fill you in on her. Mrs. Takenaka, my host home "mom", told me that within 5 years of English classes at HBC, she is the first to come to saving faith. Praise the LORD for His grace! There is no "pricetag" for a saved soul, and that is a testimony of how difficult it is for Japanese people to accept Christ.
Although ministry is difficult here, I really appreciate the effort that the HBC members invest in making it possible for the gospel to be spread around Osaka. It is rebuking to me how much they serve and how the staff here keeps persevering despite the lack of response from their evangelism. They do not give up! They are storing treasures in heaven!
On that note, it's been such an encouraging time at my host home with Takenaka-san (Mrs. Takenaka). She is a very strong believer and she loves the LORD. Her studying time in the Scriptures is a rebuke to me and her faith is so evident. Twice, we talked about the coming of Christ and how soon it will happen. Talking about the truth with a Japanese believer has been so sweet and encouraging.
To top off the night, some of us went to the Onsen - a Japanese bath house. That was pretty fun... and relaxing!
Sorry that was such a long xanga. Congrats if you made it this far. And even if you skimmed through it, thanks! Please keep praying and asking God to change the hard hearts here in Japan!