Hey everyone,
Mike here blogging about Sunday.
Sunday – This was a big day. On Sunday we had three college students actually visit Hamadera Bible Church! It was a really encouraging sight to see. It was definitely the most significant thing that happened on Sunday. They were able to make it for the second service as they heard Okada Sensei’s sermon from Psalm 119:49-56 on true hope found only in Christ. Afterwards, the three students along with Priscilla, Ashley, Eric, and Beland went to play tennis with Chris Mortimer while the rest of us (Shannon, Tony, Justine, me) stayed at the church to hang out with visiting high school students as they practiced their English skills. During first service, the team had the privilege to hear Eric preach, and we then attended the second service to hear Okada Sensei preach. We hung out with the church members for the rest of the day. Good, good times. Pictures and videos to come below!
Mike here blogging about Sunday.
Sunday – This was a big day. On Sunday we had three college students actually visit Hamadera Bible Church! It was a really encouraging sight to see. It was definitely the most significant thing that happened on Sunday. They were able to make it for the second service as they heard Okada Sensei’s sermon from Psalm 119:49-56 on true hope found only in Christ. Afterwards, the three students along with Priscilla, Ashley, Eric, and Beland went to play tennis with Chris Mortimer while the rest of us (Shannon, Tony, Justine, me) stayed at the church to hang out with visiting high school students as they practiced their English skills. During first service, the team had the privilege to hear Eric preach, and we then attended the second service to hear Okada Sensei preach. We hung out with the church members for the rest of the day. Good, good times. Pictures and videos to come below!
Preach it, Eric! We started the day off by listening to Eric preach from Romans 8:31-39 during first service. By now we’re about a week through the trip and it’s easy for us to not always consider Christ in our daily conversations with the students. When we’re talking to the students, I’ve found that it’s a lot like an intense Tour of Westwood experience that’s especially difficult with some students who do not know English very well. We’re initiating conversations, carrying on conversations, and at the same time trying to move the conversations to spiritual matters. There’s the tendency to lose sight of our purpose when we’re physically drained, so Eric gave us a good reminder that it is Christ who needs to be proclaimed to these perishing students.
After Eric’s sermon, we joined the rest of the congregation to listen to Okada Sensei’s sermon at second service. This is the time when the other students showed up. I said before that it was the most significant event that happened on Sunday. We can keep preaching the gospel to students and they can show interest or even understand it. But if they’re not connected to the church, that initial interest or belief will slowly dwindle and soon become nothing if they’re not continuously being fed. One of the biggest struggles that we face is the difficulty in bringing the students to church and getting them to build relationships with church members, not just us. Once we’re gone in about a week or so, they won’t really have a lasting connection with church and have an interest to come. It’s the same thing with any situation in America, but the students we meet from OPU and OU are all over Osaka. Many still live at home with their parents and take the train to school. Even though the two university campuses aren’t too far away from HBC, the students themselves live far away so follow-up is not easy. Some are one or two hours away from HBC, so it’s amazing to see how God worked in them to bring them to church.
During second service, Beland, Eric, and Justine performed “Before the Throne” and it was really, really good. Priscilla got it on video. Check it out below!
After the service, the three students went to go play tennis. We split up the team up and Shannon, Justine, Tony, and I stayed at church to hang out with the visiting high school kids. Even though I wasn’t there at tennis, the students later said that they enjoyed playing with Chris and everyone else. A few games of tennis might not seem like much, but any connection the students have with church can go a long way.
For me and the others who stayed at church, it seemed that we had a tough time talking to the high school students since their knowledge of English was really limited. As Shannon and Justine would say… we were all strugglin’. While we talked to the students, the high school teacher was smiling and watching us. He then started circling around us and recording our conversations on camera, so that made it a little weird.
Here’s the teacher giving me a thumbs up. This was about when the high school students were preparing to leave. He’s taking a break right now, but I think the teacher got almost every conversation on video. Even though our conversations didn’t get very far, we were able to break some of the ice with some interactive games like Moose Moose and Fruit Whack. The students seemed like they had fun, so hopefully they were able to see the love of Christ in our interactions and return to church in the future so that they can hear the gospel. |
Sunday was also a big day because it was the birthday of our very own Justine Pan! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She was surprised with balloons and a cake. She looks so happy! She got origami paper as a gift, and Okada Sensei and one of the students made cranes for her. I learned from a very reliable source that if you don’t know how to fold an origami crane, you’re not a true Japanese person. Very interesting stuff.
After Justine’s birthday celebration, we ate the delicious cake (courtesy of Tomomi!). Then we played the Oreo game, Chubby Bunny, Big Booty, Fruit Whack, and Moose Moose with the church members. The expressions are priceless. Shannon face is the best because she looks like a pirate. There were also a lot of balloons after the celebration, so Tony introduced us to a great balloon game. We all thought it was a lot of fun. Especially Tony. I think it can be called Pop-the-Balloon-by-Chest-Bumping-the-Wall game. You can watch it below.
Tony’s timing was a little off… Justine and Shannon are laughing really hard and Ashley has one of those “Did he just do that?” faces. Tony was really determined so he tried again.
We don’t call him “Flying Squirrel” for nothing. Tony entertains all of us so well. haha
After the games, we finished for the night. Sundays here have been great times of fellowship. I reminded that God is God of all nations. The church people here are so hospitable, and the love of Christ is so evident in the way they care for us here. This upcoming Sunday we’re planning American Day, so you can pray that God would bring students to the church and connect them with people here. Thanks for reading!
In Him,
Mike
After the games, we finished for the night. Sundays here have been great times of fellowship. I reminded that God is God of all nations. The church people here are so hospitable, and the love of Christ is so evident in the way they care for us here. This upcoming Sunday we’re planning American Day, so you can pray that God would bring students to the church and connect them with people here. Thanks for reading!
In Him,
Mike