Ninja museum!

Hi minasan!

We’re rounding up our second week here in Toyohashi. I can’t believe that time has flown by so quickly! So much has happened in the last couple days, and I’m so excited to share with you what God has been doing here through our team.

On Saturday, we went on our field trip with members of THCC, and had tons of fun! We visited the 48 waterfalls of Mie Prefecture. Through a little miscommunication, we found ourselves changing into ninja outfits and hiking through the forest as ninjas! After lunch, we got on the bus to Iga city to see the ninja museum and Iga castle! It was a lot of fun to learn about ninjas, and a couple of our team members got to try throwing real shiriken! Our last stop on the way back to Toyohashi was a really awesome rest stop on the highway. The rest stop not only had great restaurants, but beautiful bathrooms and onsen for your feet! All in all, it was a very blessed time of fun and fellowship with the members of THCC.

On Sunday, we had regular church service and I had the privilege of sharing my testimony with the congregation. Though it was difficult to get through, but through prayer I was able to find courage and boldness in the Lord to share with them. Throughout it, I felt God’s love through the support of my team members and members of this church who have been praying for me. I pray that the members here would be blessed from how God has worked in my life the last couple years.

After church, we were picked up for homestay. Christine, my fellow team member, and I stayed at Nelly Obayashi’s house. We went to a traditional Japanese tea ceremony in the park, then walked around the Toyohashi Art and History museum. Afterwards, we went to Toyohashi’s downtown area for a delicious dinner with her parents. Back at home, we got to play with sparklers which Japanese kids love playing with in the summer. We were able to spend time with Nelly and her family and just share about life in America and in Japan. It was a very blessed time.

English classes have been going well all week too. I think that the fact that this is our last week of English class ministry has really placed a sense of urgency on our hearts. We have been trying to share the gospel in our classes especially to the non believers. Both my classes were able to experience God’s presence, though in different ways.

My adult class had two believers and six non believers. Though it was difficult at times, we were able to read the bible and share about our reactions to the passage. The parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15), provided a great segway for sharing about jesus’s love for us, even those who are lost and confused. By the grace of god, I was even able to share my testimony with my students. They were able to understand my reasons for wanting to be part of God’s family through what He did in my life.  In my junior high class, all my students were Christian so I took a different approach. We just worshipped together and prayed together (in English!). Though they were shy, I saw them start to build relationships with each other and open up about their lives.

Please continue to lift up this team in your prayers!

1. Pray for our students. Though we might not see some of them again, please pray that the seeds we planted in their hearts will start to take root and that they would one day come to know Christ.

2. Pray for our homestays this weekend. Our team will be staying with four different families this weekend. Please pray that we would be able to bless these families with our presence and really encourage one another as brothers and sisters.

3. Pray for the Sunday service at THCC. Bommy, Aaron and Christine will be sharing their testimonies, and Bommy and jin will be presenting a song. Pray that they would be a blessing and encouragement to the church.

4. Finally, pray for the bible camp that we will be attending next week. Pray for protection over the students and staff members attending, and that they would encounter God in a new way. Also pray for strength and energy for our team members as we interact with the kids attending.

Arigatou gozaimasu for your prayers!  We wouldn’t be here without your love and support. We have seen God work in amazing ways already, and we have faith that He will do great things here even after we leave!

Love in Him,

Huei-Yu

Konnichiwa minasan!

We are rounding up our first week in Toyohashi, and have quickly settled into the routine of things here. After church and class orientation on Monday with J.P. Morgan and Yuzo-san (two members of Toyohashi Hosanna Christ Church), we have started teaching our English classes. Our ministry for the first two weeks includes English classes held in the church to not only teach the Toyohashi community some English, but more importantly, providing an opportunity for the non-believers to interact with the church here.

Our schedule everyday here is pretty standard. Because the girls and guys are living separately, we meet at the church every morning at 8.30 for breakfast and prayer as a team. Our classes begin promptly everyday at 10 and go for an hour and a half. By the end of this week, we would have all taught at least one of our classes! After class, the church usually provides lunch for us and our students, which is a good opportunity for us to talk and minister to them. We usually have body worship, skit or worship rehearsal before dinner, dinner, then evening class from 7.30 to 9.

Classes have been going really well. From Bommy’s kindergarten classes to Jin’s adult beginner class to Young’s bible class, everyone in the classes has been enjoying themselves and learning some English (and Japanese for us!). By God’s grace, we have been provided with opportunity to share God’s truth in a number of our classes and interactions with the non-believers who have been coming to our classes. It’s been tough bridging the language and cultural gap, but we’ve seen God’s grace and faithfulness shine through despite the barriers.

Please pray for –

1. Our classes, especially the non-believers in our classes. Pray that their hearts be softened to hear and understand God’s truth.

2. Our team. Pray that we would remember and focus our hearts on the reason why we are here. It is easy for us to just focus on being good English teachers, but pray that our hearts be centered on serving on God here in this community and this church.

3. Safety for tomorrow as we are going on our field trip to Ninja-Iga! Pray that we would have a blessed time with the high school, college students and young adults during our trip!

We have been having a ton of fun here in Japan with the THCC members! Thank you so much for your prayers and support, as always!

Love in Him,

Nihon no team desu!

OKAIRINASAI

We landed in Japan just fine, after leaving early Thursday morning, we spent the next 20+ hours in transit to Toyohashi Japan. A lot of us were pretty sleep deprived, Young in particular was having a really hard time resting, he was struggling with a headache for most of the trip. We made it to Narita safely, where we waited 6 hours for our connection flight to Nagoya. We had a great view of Mt. Fuji during our hour flight to Nagoya.

After landing, the insanity began. We met up with Pastor Kazuya, who greeted us with his warm smile and a gigantic 10-seater van. The guys were dropped off at Azumata Chapel, which is normally used for a Brazilian Church, and the girls were dropped off at the Inaba-family’s house. We spent the first night praying, preparing ourselves for the days to come and to give thanks to God for his traveling mercies.       The first morning, Kazuya-Sensei picked us up and took us to a spaghetti place called “Happy Valley”. There we met up with Megumi Ogawa and her parents (Megumi has come to NYC with the Toyohashi team this past year). After lunch, we headed over to the Ogawa’s house. We played with their Dog, saw his guitars, and he taught us some of the nuances of the English Languages (the Ogawa’s house also doubles as an English School). Most of the time was spent singing worship songs together, the Ogawa’s really enjoyed hearing American worship songs and singing along with the ones they recognized.

Probably the most powerful things that have happend so far also happend on the first day, we went and met with one of the members of the church who fell ill. Except for the returning Japan-Team members, none of us really knew who he was. We sat and listened as he explained to Kazuya-sensei what happend and how his recovery had been going. As he went through his story he broke into tears. Kazuya turned to us and said:

He hasn’t been able to read his Bible and so the Hospital staff has been coming in and reading for him. Also, his doctor is off of work today, the doctor came into the hospital today to come and see him anyways. 

Having God’s word gifted to him by the hospital staff moved him to tears. For the us, there was a message conveyed, truly the word of God is a beautiful gift, something for us to treasure and never take for granted.

The next day was our first Sunday. It was filled with running kids, smiling faces, and many awkward handshakes (Usually Japanese people do not shake hands when they greet people). We were greeted by many “Okairinasai!“‘s (a term used to welcome family members home). For the members of Toyohashi Hosanna Christ Church, RWC members are considered family and so we were welcomed as such.That Sunday, a pastor from Fukushima had come to share what was going on in the Fukushima area with the people of Toyohashi. He showed us pictures of the destruction, which included pictures of destroyed homes, shattered tsunami barriers, and boats on top of boats. One picture in particular really stood out: the Pastor showed us a picture of a woman who had survived the tsunami. He told us that when the Earthquake hit, she had been on the upper floors of her home. She saw the tsunami coming and tried to warn her neighbors. They responded: “There have been worse earthquakes, it’s not going to be a big one.” She fit as many people as she could into her car and started to drive for the mountains, two minutes later, the tsunami hit. We spent the rest of the service praying for the victims, the pastor tried to encourage everyone to come and help the victims: there are many people still struggling with the disaster, many are still missing, and all are searching for answers.  The rest of the day was spent meeting the members of the Church, playing games, worshipping, praying, really just loving on the members of the THCC.  We are spending most of today, Monday, preparing for the classes starting tomorrow. The elder members of the church have been prepping us and supporting us in our class preparations.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for our classes, we have finished each day pretty exhausted and that was without teaching classes. Please pray that God will not only give us the strength but the vision behind the classes.
• Please pray for health, one of our members is a little sick, please pray that the others will remain healthy throughout the trip
• Pray for vision, that we would always remember the heart behind our time here, that we would look for God to move radically in the Church.
• Finally, please pray for God’s presence to be here in Toyohashi, there are many struggles within the Church and many are looking for answers to their hardships. Pray that God would reveal himself and his plan for their lives.

From the Front,

JAPAN TEAM OUT-O