We started off the day with a team meeting, which was really helpful in preparing our hearts for a full weekend with the students. We were reminded of how we are all members of one body, are united in Christ, and how essential it is that we work together for the gospel's sake. It was incredibly helpful to keep that in mind through the weekend and now, looking back, I see how we were able to help each other and serve together.
About 15 students arrived after lunch and we kicked off "camp" with a name game version of mafia. It helped us all get to know each other quickly and have fun doing it. Takashi Kondo then followed with a message to the students on John 3:16. It really got the students thinking, and we were able to break into smaller discussion groups to talk about what he had shared. We all had some really good beginning conversations, finding out a little bit about the students' backgrounds, what they already knew, and challenging them to think more about life and their need for salvation.
About 15 students arrived after lunch and we kicked off "camp" with a name game version of mafia. It helped us all get to know each other quickly and have fun doing it. Takashi Kondo then followed with a message to the students on John 3:16. It really got the students thinking, and we were able to break into smaller discussion groups to talk about what he had shared. We all had some really good beginning conversations, finding out a little bit about the students' backgrounds, what they already knew, and challenging them to think more about life and their need for salvation.
Some students helped prepare dinner while the rest of us played a few rounds of Ultimate Ninja, Boom Chika Boom Boom, and This is so much Fun. The students really liked Ultimate Ninja. During dinner, many of us were able to continue conversations started in the discussion groups and also just get to know the students as our friends. While we ultimately desire to share the gospel with the students and see them believe in God, we also needed to remember that we are here to be their friends and show them that we love them because God first loved us. It is because we love them that we yearn to share with them the great news of Christ.
Later that night, we had a jam session before heading off to bed. It was a really cool time of singing praises to our King and sharing with the students something that we love to do. While they didn't understand all the songs, they seemed to enjoy a more relaxed time of hanging out together. We had a few song books that they could follow along and eventually some of the students even began singing along. I hope that our love for God was evident in our praise and would cause the students to wonder how great God must be that we would gladly choose to spend our time worshipping Him.
The girls headed upstairs to sleep and the guys spent the night in the sanctuary. It gave us more informal time to hangout with our new friends and also get some rest for Sunday.
The girls headed upstairs to sleep and the guys spent the night in the sanctuary. It gave us more informal time to hangout with our new friends and also get some rest for Sunday.
And just for some fun... check out the video below. :)
Please be praying:
~ that the students would really think about the Gospel after Takashi's message and our conversations
~ for the team to be able to rest up and prepare for our second week here
~ in thankfulness, for the church members who selflessly give of their time and energy to serve us and make camp possible.
~ praise: that so many students came and spend over 24 hours with us! So many opportunities for the gospel and for them to be exposed to truth.
Thanks for keeping up!
-Priscilla
~ that the students would really think about the Gospel after Takashi's message and our conversations
~ for the team to be able to rest up and prepare for our second week here
~ in thankfulness, for the church members who selflessly give of their time and energy to serve us and make camp possible.
~ praise: that so many students came and spend over 24 hours with us! So many opportunities for the gospel and for them to be exposed to truth.
Thanks for keeping up!
-Priscilla