Beloved,
Ohayo Gozaimasu from the land of the rising sun. We greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Blessing on all of you.
It's
Friday. Right now as we start this 2nd
day's blog, we are on the Shinkansen (bullet train) moving at 200 miles per
hour on our way from Tokyo to Sendai.
You hardly notice that it's going that fast due to the smoothness of the
ride. But when you look just outside the
window, it is clear that we are really moving at NASCAR speed. Awesome! Even at the speed we're traveling, It will
still take about an hour and a half to get to Sendai. The countryside is green and lush, and the
air is hot (90 degrees) and muggy (100% humidity) ……it's great! Wish you were all physically here.
Due to the
jet lag, we were all up early this morning.
One at 2:30am, others at 4:00 and 5:00.
Kumi and Jonathan were sharing favorite Bible verses at 5:00am in the
lobby; Stan joined in followed by Koby.
These are the times when we really get to know each other so much better. Thank you for your prayers.
Our team
gathered for prayer and left shortly thereafter. At the Tokyo station, we joined up with Kazue
Sugimoto who is Chino's first missionary from their church. It was so good to see her and we look
forward to serving with her. Did I
mention that it was hot and muggy? Several of us are walking around with towels in our hands to keep
dry. At the Tokyo Station, Tyler and
Stan stood in the middle of all the foot traffic to take in the little air
tunnel that was streaming from one of the A/C ducts.
Oh, that felt good.
Taking a pause
here as we are arriving at the Sendai station.
Will reconnect tonight.
It's almost
10:00pm and our first day in Sendai has gone by quickly. Some of the team are showering in the one
shower at the church and others are on their way to the sento (public bath) for
a late one. Tyler and Jonathan will hit
the sento at least once before they leave.
A must!
Sendai is
big, at least in comparison to Chino (1 million in population vs 70,000). We were greeted by Pastor Nakada and his wife,
Kimiko who is also an ordained pastor.
After an orientation of the church and the community center which will
be used for the English Camp, we took a "prayer" walk and stopped at
a high point on a hill above the church where we prayed for the surrounding
neighborhood. We called out to God for
the souls of these unreached and precious people which included the 2014
Olympic champion, Yuzuru Hanyu. With
God, nothing is impossible. Amen? Kimiko prepared a "do it yourself"
sushi dinner and it was fabulous. We are
certainly "gaining" with every day.
One touching moment today was the way in which Kinuko Sasaki expressed
her thanks for our team coming to serve their small church. Her gratefulness was reflected in the tears
that accompanied her sharing. We were
blessed, and we pass that blessing on to you.
We have a
big day planned tomorrow - 7:00am prayer meeting with Rev Nakada; we'll be
helping with "Kid Brown" which is an English curriculum that the
church is using to reach out to the neighborhood kids of which 9 are attending
our English Camp; participate in "Japan Day" in the afternoon; and
attend a house meeting at a members home in the evening. In between, we'll be getting ready for
EEC. Every team member will be touched
in one way or another and we are energized as we anticipate the goodness of
what tomorrow will bring. Thank you so
much for your prayers.
"The steadfast love of the Lord never
ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, new every
morning, great is Thy faithfulness O' Lord, Great is Thy
faithfulness." We look forward to the newness of tomorrow
morning, and all that it will bring.
And we will praise
Him,
Your Sendai
Team
 |
| We never sent you a team photo so here it is with Pastor Nakada on the far left and Kimiko Sensei on the right. (Stan's taking the picture) |
 |
| Go, Chino Team ! |
 |
| Faster than a Speeding Bullet |
 |
| With God, Nothing is Impossible |
No comments:
Post a Comment