Konichiwa! It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached yet another weekend here in Japan but it’s true! Thank you all so much for keeping up with us on the blog and faithfully praying for us.This past Saturday, we were able to spend an entire day with the girls from Nara! This was honestly a huge blessing for us since it has been harder getting to know the Nara students. To be able to spend basically the entire day with them gave us many opportunities to talk with the girls that came out to show us around Nara. They took us to Todaiji Temple, a largest wooden building in the world. Because the temple houses the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha, the team was able to have numerous intentional conversations with the students.
Many of us were able to talk with the girls about their religion and culture and get a better understanding of their lives. These conversations transitioned easily into opportunities for us to share the Gospel with a few of the girls. It was really encouraging to be able to hear many of the conversations going on around me and hear my fellow teammates sharing the good news. The girls who heard the gospel seemed to be attentive and asked good questions. We noticed, though, that it was difficult for them to understand because 1) language barrier and 2) we were presenting completely new concepts to them. Both girls said that they agreed with certain parts of the gospel but had trouble accepting all of it.
Please pray that these 2 girls would go back and really think about what we’ve shared with them.
Another highlight of the day occurred while we hung out after dinner. We were hanging out at an ice cream shop and the shop owner gave us slips of paper to write our wishes/prayers on for Tanabata (Star Festival) which will be on July 7. One of the girls was explaining to me that the Japanese believe that on Tanabata, two lovers, represented by stars and separated by the Milky Way during the year, can finally meet, but only on that one day. It is believed that when the stars meet, the wishes written down will come true. Since the papers are hung outside the shop on a tree for the public to read, some of the team members used this opportunity to write some verses or write prayers that Christ would be known and proclaimed in Japan. Others of us were able to talk with the girls more about the festival and see what they believed.
Even though it was a long day with the girls, we’re thankful to see how God has slowly grown our relationships with the girls and allowed us to go deeper in our conversations with them each time we see them. We’re eager to see the girls again on Wednesday for one last time.
Many of us were able to talk with the girls about their religion and culture and get a better understanding of their lives. These conversations transitioned easily into opportunities for us to share the Gospel with a few of the girls. It was really encouraging to be able to hear many of the conversations going on around me and hear my fellow teammates sharing the good news. The girls who heard the gospel seemed to be attentive and asked good questions. We noticed, though, that it was difficult for them to understand because 1) language barrier and 2) we were presenting completely new concepts to them. Both girls said that they agreed with certain parts of the gospel but had trouble accepting all of it.
Please pray that these 2 girls would go back and really think about what we’ve shared with them.
Another highlight of the day occurred while we hung out after dinner. We were hanging out at an ice cream shop and the shop owner gave us slips of paper to write our wishes/prayers on for Tanabata (Star Festival) which will be on July 7. One of the girls was explaining to me that the Japanese believe that on Tanabata, two lovers, represented by stars and separated by the Milky Way during the year, can finally meet, but only on that one day. It is believed that when the stars meet, the wishes written down will come true. Since the papers are hung outside the shop on a tree for the public to read, some of the team members used this opportunity to write some verses or write prayers that Christ would be known and proclaimed in Japan. Others of us were able to talk with the girls more about the festival and see what they believed.
Even though it was a long day with the girls, we’re thankful to see how God has slowly grown our relationships with the girls and allowed us to go deeper in our conversations with them each time we see them. We’re eager to see the girls again on Wednesday for one last time.
Prayer requests:
+ that the 2 girls who heard the gospel will think more about it
+ our last time with the girls on Wednesday would be profitable
+ that we would be able to connect the girls with HBC
+ strength and energy as the team heads into our 2nd week here in Japan
- Priscilla
+ that the 2 girls who heard the gospel will think more about it
+ our last time with the girls on Wednesday would be profitable
+ that we would be able to connect the girls with HBC
+ strength and energy as the team heads into our 2nd week here in Japan
- Priscilla