Apologies for the shortage of updates. This week has been really busy and quite a blur. Thanks to Christina for updating about Monday. This is Tim updating for the rest of the week.
Hi All, This is Christina writing her first blog ever! Today the team split up into two teams in order to cover all the bases. We visited two schools: Sano High School and Seikyo High School. Ed, Tim, Ophy, Chris and Deborah went to Sano. The teacher organized an activity and divided the class into groups with each of our team members assigned to a group.
Hey everyone! It's Evelyn. Today was our second Sunday at Hamadera Bible Church. We received yet another opportunity to worship with the church members, share our lives with them, and learn about our great God. It's so awesome to learn that although we all have different backgrounds and cultural lifestyles, we're ultimately the same- sinners saved by the grace of God and now brothers and sisters united through the blood of Christ. I love recognizing that, especially since this is my first short-term missions trip and I get to see God work on a global scale.
HELLO!!!! This is Deborah =). I have the privilege of updating you about Saturday`s English camp, an event we have been anticipating long before our arrival in Osaka.
Hello everyone! This is Ophy. Before I begin recapping the team’s activities for Friday, June 27th, I just wanted to say thank you for caring enough about God’s kingdom to read our xanga and to support us through prayer. We are so encouraged by you all.
Konnichiwa! (Good afternoon/Hello) This is Dan, updating for Day 6. By now, most of us are getting used to the daily life of STMers in Japan – the food, the time change, scheduling, various skills such as how to speak English in a way which they can better understand (slowly and using a Japanese accent) – except for the mosquitoes. As I write this, I am trying very hard not to scratch my newest one that I just got an hour or… too late. Anyway, God has shown Himself to be faithful again today through our student ministry at OCC and OPU. Praise the Lord for His continued goodness in demonstrating the power of His Gospel!
Hello! This is Chris speaking. Today was another great day of student ministry. In the morning, we split our team into two groups: guys and girls. The girls went to OCC for the second time while the guys went to Sano Tech High School. Since I don’t really know what happened at OCC in the morning, I’ll talk about our visit to Sano Tech.
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.
Greetings again! This is Ed writing and I will be filling you guys in on our Day 3 activities. Don't worry, I'll try to keep it brief.
This is Estella writing, and I am currently writing to you all from Hamadera Bible Church in Osaka, Japan. To recap the last few days, we arrived after a long flight on Friday evening, went to our host homes, and went to sleep. Saturday we had a brief orientation meeting and spent the day playing games and doing Bible story activities with the kids from the “church school” that is held on Saturdays at Hamadera Bible Church. Sunday we enjoyed a time of worship and fellowship with the HBC church body and five of our team members (Ed, Christina, Ophy, Evelyn, and Dan) gave their testimonies in front of the church body. It’s these five’s first time serving here in Japan, while Tim, Collin, Chris, Deborah, and I are returnees. For me personally, I can say that it has been such a joy to come back to Hamadera and to be welcomed with such love and joy from my fellow Japanese brothers and sisters in Christ. It is truly such a joy and privilege to be given the chance to be part of their ministry here in Japan and to see the faithfulness of these men and women who are here serving faithfully all year even when we leave.
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