First Day

Dear friends and family,

Thank you for your prayer and support as we are beginning the children program in Japan. We arrived on Saturday 7/26 and today concluded the first day of the program.

It was interesting to come back a third time and I've been really looking forward to it. The one thing I had forgotten about was just how humid the whole place is, and how many vending machines you might cross walking down the street. 

It has definitely been a busy couple of days. We spent most of Sunday meeting the church members, and then preparing for the program. In the past they had an English translation of the notes to follow along during the sermons, however this time around a member of the church provided live translations in English for us and some other members who speak English. This was quite helpful in understanding the sermon.

Afterwards we spend the day busily but enjoyably preparing for the first day to come. 

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Today was the first day of the program. It was filled with many hectic and exciting events, along with some needed restful times in between.

Bible study, one of the rare times all the kids were sitting.

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Along with some delicious lunches.

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Chocolate is dangerous though...

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Prayer Requests: 

- It is sometimes hard to gauge how the kids are feeling, especially with the communication barrier. Please pray that in our work we'll see and be able to address their needs and make this a good (safe) and enjoyable experience for them.

-Please pray that the team has the energy to keep up with all the work each day and that we are learning to rely on God's strength in all things.

-That we don't get bogged down in the logistics of each day but rather remember the real work at hand and to what purpose we were called.

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The team members were also asked a few questions about their first days in Japan. 

1) What was your first thought in Japan?

2) What did you find striking about the kids?

3) What has been the most interesting thing so far? 

Nariko: 

1) Humid and hot. 

2) The kids are very energetic and crazy. But very cute at the same time. I don't understand them 100% of the time, but they think I can understand Japanese. 

3) A kid tried to teach me how to say "expiration date" in Japanese.

Steph: 

1) Humidity

2) The kids were very friendly and adorable. They like to speak to you in Japanese. I thought that all the kids listened very well, more well behaved than American kids. They were a joy to work with. I enjoyed teaching English to them and learning Japanese from them. 

3) When I was talking with the kids, a few kids told me their favorite food was 'aisu (ice)' and I didn't know why that would be a favorite. But I learned later that day 'aisu' is a short way of saying ice cream

Christy: 

1) I like how everything is clean

2) Oh my gosh, the kids are so cute. They were also really clean. They didn't destroy the craft pasta and carry handkerchiefs around. They also roll up all their trash before throwing it away. 

3) During church, one of the pastors was preparing to go overseas. And they had this really heartfelt goodbye where many members of the church shared their personal feelings and said goodbye to him.

Will:

1) Oh this customs line is very fast

2) I had a similar crowd to the kids I worked with last year. I thought overall some kids really took the year to grow bigger but some are taking their time and haven't changed all that much in size

3) I bought this drink and thought it was very flavorful, but it turns out its juice concentrate used to make an entire pitcher. 

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In Christ,

Will