Priscilla here! Konbanwa (Good Evening) to you all the way from Japan! So lots has happened since we left Los Angeles...much more than we anticipated actually. Here is the lowdown:
Plane drama: Our team arrived at LAX at 6:15 in the morning. Some brothers and sisters from the Foundry were there to send us off and pray for us at the airport which was very kind of them! They even made us personalized bags of chocolate chip cookies. We were scheduled to fly into San Fransisco at 9:15a.m. on Thursday and take another flight from SF to Osaka at 12:30p.m. The 9:15 flight turned out to be cancelled (it just disappeared) so United told us to take a 10:00 flight to SF instead. That sounded fine, but it turned out that flight was delayed until around 11:30. When we found out the plane was delayed, our team scrambled to find other possibilities to get to Japan, like flying into Tokyo and riding the bullet train to Osaka. We decided that teh best decision was still to fly to SF and try to make the 12:30pm flight. When we got to SF, we bolted to the next gate to see if we could make our plane to Osaka (we were all doing the embarrassing backpack run), and we got there just in time to see the plane leaving the runway. If we had made it 5 minutes earlier, we most likely would have been able to catch it. After that, we went through about 3 hours of haggling with United Airline representatives so that we could somehow get to Osaka. Finally, we were able to talk to a supervisor who gave us tickets to Shanghai where we could take another plane to Osaka. We ended up staying at the airport for 8 or 9 hours to take an 8:30p.m. flight to Shanghai, spending about 4 hours in a hotel in China to sleep. We also found out in Shanghai that my luggage was left in San Fransisco. The next morning, we flew to Osaka where we were greeted by Pastor Okada, pastor Jun, and a seminarian Shinsuke. It was very good to see them! Praise the Lord that we all made it safely and we are so exciting and thankful to be here! I think the whole experience humbled all of us and was good to help us all get to know each other better. Random fact: in the plane ride to Shanghai, I sat next to David Kung`s (from GOC) uncle! Small world!
Hangout with college students: We went straight from the airport to Hamadera Bible Church. We were one day late because of all the plane complications, so we pretty much hit the ground running. When we arrived, there was very yummy Japanese food awaiting us made my wonderful ladies at the church. About an hour after we arrived at the church, we had a hangout with some people from a college that we have visited in previous years, Osaka Prefecture University. This was quite a surprise that they would come all the way to the church to visit us before we even started our visits to their campuses! We played some games with them and chatted. I saw one boy who we`ve met before (his name is Hiro) in the past and a few new faces. It is a big deal for Japanese people to even step into a church, so it was nice to see a good number of students come to hang out with us. It was a really good time, and I think it made us all excited about the ministry opportunities that the Lord will bring during the next 2 weeks.
Orientation: One of the missionaries here, Chris Mortimar, went over the schedule with us for the next two weeks. We will be spending most of our time visiting 2 colleges and 2 high schools, as well as helping around with fixing and cleaning things around the church. Dinner again was made by the church ladies, which we ate during the orientation. All of us were pretty tired by that time, but a few of the boys still managed to make a trip to the onsen (Japanese bathhouse)!
Host family homes: Tim, Brandon, and Beland are staying at Takenaka-san`s house, Tricia and Ashley are staying at the Oumi`s, and Deborah and I are staying at the Kato`s. We are all spoiled by our host families! Deborah and I had a huge breakfast this morning and are having a great time getting to know the family better. Deborah played games with the daughter last night and I helped the son with some of his English homework. As I type right now, the son, Naoki, is working on his math homework while his mom is helping the daughter, Chieko, with some hair issue. It is encouraging to see a Japanese Christian family go through the trials of Christian living in a pagan country. They are very kind and their faithfulness to the Lord is a huge blessing to Deborah and me.
Sunday service: We arrived at the church at 8:00a.m. in time for the first service at HBC. It is beautiful to hear the Japanese people sing praise to God from their hearts. We were introduced by Pastor Kondo to the church and sat through the first half of the worship service. Today`s scripture reading was from Psalm 33 which was a wonderful reminder that the Lord is almighty and compassionate, He knows our hearts, and we are to fear Him. Our team left right before the sermon to have some devotional time. In between the first and second service, there is a Sunday school class. Tricia, Tim, and I went to Jun-sensei`s high school/college class. Beland, Ashley, Deborah, and Brandon went to the middle school class led by Shinsuke. At least for our class, we had some time to pray together with the students which was very sweet. The bond that believers have in Christ proved to be very precious despite barriers in language. During the second service, we left again right before Pastor Kondo`s sermon and Pastor Okada led a English Bible study about how we are to obey God, which was much about being faithful to Him. All good reminders to us for our missions trip and for our lives!
Lunch and Free time: We ate lunch with the church members at the church. It was a good time of fellowship! After that, we had some free time to spend as we pleased. Many of us spent time with Marcia Okada and random church members, some of us used the internet, and some took a walk around the area. Spending time with the believers here is one of the goals of our trip as well, to encourage and edify the saints in Japan. I also received my luggage during the free time which was a huge praise!
Cooking Competition/ Bowling: Tonight was kind of like singles night with church members. At 3pm, the single men left to go play bowling. We didn`t see them again, but I`m sure they had a good time. The girls started a cooking competition!...real life iron chef! jk, but it was pretty cool. It was really fun to spend time with the sisters at the church, laughing, cooking, and sharing with one another. It is a very warm family at the church, and we are so thankful to be here. We ate the food that we made and then prayed together. (btw, my team won for the cooking competition!)
After that, we returned to our host family homes! Tomorrow, we will begin our visitations to the colleges!
General Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for connections between Hamadera Bible Church and college kids. Yesterday was great because the college students were able to come to church (which is one of our big goals) and hang out with the people from the church. HBC is really encouraging church members this year to be proactive in meeting and befriending the students that we will meet. Pray for the salvation of many!
2. Pray for continued humility and unity within our team. The complications were a hidden blessing from the Lord because it gave us time to get to know each other and struggle through a not-so-fun situation together! Tomorrow, we will start our evangelistic ministry, so pray for our hearts and the relationships that will be formed.
3. Health of our team. One of our members has been having some trouble with the bowels. Tim also is suffering from pretty severe jetlag. Pray for them and that the Lord would bring relief to their bodies.
That`s it for now. thanks and pray for us please!
Hangout with college students: We went straight from the airport to Hamadera Bible Church. We were one day late because of all the plane complications, so we pretty much hit the ground running. When we arrived, there was very yummy Japanese food awaiting us made my wonderful ladies at the church. About an hour after we arrived at the church, we had a hangout with some people from a college that we have visited in previous years, Osaka Prefecture University. This was quite a surprise that they would come all the way to the church to visit us before we even started our visits to their campuses! We played some games with them and chatted. I saw one boy who we`ve met before (his name is Hiro) in the past and a few new faces. It is a big deal for Japanese people to even step into a church, so it was nice to see a good number of students come to hang out with us. It was a really good time, and I think it made us all excited about the ministry opportunities that the Lord will bring during the next 2 weeks.
Orientation: One of the missionaries here, Chris Mortimar, went over the schedule with us for the next two weeks. We will be spending most of our time visiting 2 colleges and 2 high schools, as well as helping around with fixing and cleaning things around the church. Dinner again was made by the church ladies, which we ate during the orientation. All of us were pretty tired by that time, but a few of the boys still managed to make a trip to the onsen (Japanese bathhouse)!
Host family homes: Tim, Brandon, and Beland are staying at Takenaka-san`s house, Tricia and Ashley are staying at the Oumi`s, and Deborah and I are staying at the Kato`s. We are all spoiled by our host families! Deborah and I had a huge breakfast this morning and are having a great time getting to know the family better. Deborah played games with the daughter last night and I helped the son with some of his English homework. As I type right now, the son, Naoki, is working on his math homework while his mom is helping the daughter, Chieko, with some hair issue. It is encouraging to see a Japanese Christian family go through the trials of Christian living in a pagan country. They are very kind and their faithfulness to the Lord is a huge blessing to Deborah and me.
Sunday service: We arrived at the church at 8:00a.m. in time for the first service at HBC. It is beautiful to hear the Japanese people sing praise to God from their hearts. We were introduced by Pastor Kondo to the church and sat through the first half of the worship service. Today`s scripture reading was from Psalm 33 which was a wonderful reminder that the Lord is almighty and compassionate, He knows our hearts, and we are to fear Him. Our team left right before the sermon to have some devotional time. In between the first and second service, there is a Sunday school class. Tricia, Tim, and I went to Jun-sensei`s high school/college class. Beland, Ashley, Deborah, and Brandon went to the middle school class led by Shinsuke. At least for our class, we had some time to pray together with the students which was very sweet. The bond that believers have in Christ proved to be very precious despite barriers in language. During the second service, we left again right before Pastor Kondo`s sermon and Pastor Okada led a English Bible study about how we are to obey God, which was much about being faithful to Him. All good reminders to us for our missions trip and for our lives!
Lunch and Free time: We ate lunch with the church members at the church. It was a good time of fellowship! After that, we had some free time to spend as we pleased. Many of us spent time with Marcia Okada and random church members, some of us used the internet, and some took a walk around the area. Spending time with the believers here is one of the goals of our trip as well, to encourage and edify the saints in Japan. I also received my luggage during the free time which was a huge praise!
Cooking Competition/ Bowling: Tonight was kind of like singles night with church members. At 3pm, the single men left to go play bowling. We didn`t see them again, but I`m sure they had a good time. The girls started a cooking competition!...real life iron chef! jk, but it was pretty cool. It was really fun to spend time with the sisters at the church, laughing, cooking, and sharing with one another. It is a very warm family at the church, and we are so thankful to be here. We ate the food that we made and then prayed together. (btw, my team won for the cooking competition!)
After that, we returned to our host family homes! Tomorrow, we will begin our visitations to the colleges!
General Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for connections between Hamadera Bible Church and college kids. Yesterday was great because the college students were able to come to church (which is one of our big goals) and hang out with the people from the church. HBC is really encouraging church members this year to be proactive in meeting and befriending the students that we will meet. Pray for the salvation of many!
2. Pray for continued humility and unity within our team. The complications were a hidden blessing from the Lord because it gave us time to get to know each other and struggle through a not-so-fun situation together! Tomorrow, we will start our evangelistic ministry, so pray for our hearts and the relationships that will be formed.
3. Health of our team. One of our members has been having some trouble with the bowels. Tim also is suffering from pretty severe jetlag. Pray for them and that the Lord would bring relief to their bodies.
That`s it for now. thanks and pray for us please!