Day #2

Hi friends and family!!

Today was our second day of the childrens program in Japan! It's been really awesome being in Japan and it's actually not as hot and humid as my initial impression. The weather is definitely bearable and I'm super grateful for this!

I am definitely encouraged every day by the work that God has been doing in Otawara. Seeing the excitement of the students and hearing of the openness of the mothers has been a huge blessing. Every day has been very tiring but God has been granting us His strength and love to be able to get through each day.

Today was actually very chaotic and high energy. There was a TON of running around, chasing each other, screaming and so much more!

​Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament and Giants, Wizards, and Elves. They love to run around even if they don't exactly play the game correctly...hahaha.

Will playing pictionary with the 2nd and 3rd graders during English lesson. Can you tell what he's drawing?? The kids definitely did not know...

​Bible lesson by Nana. It's pretty awesome the kids are able to memorize the verse!

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Craft for today! Scuba egg divers! These were soooo cute! I think the kids enjoyed making these.

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Snack! Chocolate roll penguins! They were very into making their penguins look good...even though it just ended up in their stomachs. I don't think the girls like Tootsie Rolls...

It's been pretty awesome getting to know the kids. One thing that I was nervous about was the language barrier, but the kids have been very gracious and patient when I don't understand them. Also, they've been giving me mini Japanese lessons...though I can't say that I remember everything they teach me...God has definitely been showing me how even without words, we can communicate His love to the kids.

Random interesting thing that happened to me today... I went into the room that I share with Christy and had an encounter with a bat (no seriously, a live bat! It flew right at me when I turned on the light! Sorry no pictures because I was too scared...)! Holy moly, it was very very scary... But Ohashi-sensei came to the rescue and became Batman...hahah just kidding. But yes, that was SOOOOOO scary. Apparently bats randomly show up at the church...this was the fifth encounter for Pat and Ohashi- sensei.

Some prayer requests:

• Continued dependence on God, drawing strength, love and patience from Him, knowing that what we do is not possible without Him
• Open eyes for the team to see beyond the every day logistics and teaching and see how AMAZING God is and see the work that God is doing
• For God to create more opportunities for Ohashi-sensei and Pat to have good conversations with the parents

We thank you for your continued support through prayers and really look forward to sharing with you everything God has been teaching us and what He is doing!

:D

Nariko and the mission team

Day #3

Konichiwa from Japan!! 

Thank you for your prayers and support. During our devotional time today, Ohashi-sensei and his wife, Pat, shared with us stories of how their church got started and the miracles God has shown them since the time they planted their first church in Fukushima, to their second church now in Otawara, where our English camp is being held. From being able to miraculously purchase a large area of land for the church (that is normally only allotted for farming), to being blessed by unexpected financial resources, we were reminded that our faith in God indeed cannot only be limited to what we have in front of us.

Here are some pictures from the third day of English camp! 

1. Some kids having fun crafting butterflies...

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2. Nathan and Nariko leading singspiration. Can you guess what song?

Father Abraham... had many sons...

3. Bible time! Can you guess who that is!?

​Yup, that's right! It's Jesus and John the Baptist!

4. Although the kids may sometimes say "ramen" for "amen" and "cheese" for "Jesus," we are happy they are being introduced to our savior and are communicating with Him :)

5. Playing Duck, Duck, Goose, or our version of Duck, Duck, Goose- Sit, Sit, Run!

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Prayer Requests:

• For the team to call on God for strength, energy, and patience, as well as spend time with Him in the midst of the busy day. 
• For reflection on today's devotional passage in Mark 8; to be reminded that Jesus calls on us to trust him in spite of any doubts we may have.
• For God to continue to bless Ohashi-sensei and Pat's ministry here in Japan as well as their vision in planting another church in the future.

We can tell that the parents are extremely grateful and the kids are having a lot of fun. We are also thankful we are able to see God's work here in Japan! 

<3 Christy and the mission team :)

Day #4

Konichiwa from the Summer Team!

Today is Picture Day at the English camp in Otawara. We only have one more day with the kids in Otawara! 

Ohashi-sensei, Pat, those crazy kids, and their appreciated mothers keep  us energized throughout the day. We are becoming more efficient prepping for the next day, setting up the rooms, the transitions during the camp, and the clean-up.

I can see God working through us to connect to the kids. The first day, we basically did the singing during song time. Now the kids are singing the English songs loudly, and dancing with so much energy. Praise God! 

Below are some pictures:

Group Picture

Blue team: Kindergardeners (picture from yesterday making toilet paper butterflies/dragons) today's picture is on Ohashi-sensei's camera

Green team: 1st Graders

Red Team: 2nd-3rd Graders

Yellow Team: 4-6th graders

Today the kids really enjoyed the bed sheet wars (2 teams moves balls onto the other team's sheet). We also made dirt cups out of chocolate pudding, oreos, gummy worms and other candy.

Prayer's Request:

For Ohashi-sensi and Pat to help relieve their financial burden so they can continue to create more churches in Japan and spreading God's love.
For the team to look onto Jesus during those exhausting times of day and gathering the many energetic children. 

for the kids to remember these cap days and god's presence during rough times in their future.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Lots of Love,

Steph and the mission team

Day #5

Hello friends and family!

Today was our last day of English camp at the Otawara location. Praise God for keeping the kids and teachers safe this week and for lots of new relationships and meaningful conversations that were built! 

When asked, "What is the thing you will miss most about this week?"

Will: the hecticness of working together with everyone. 

Nariko: seeing the kids every day and hearing them sing the songs, not only during Singspiration, but throughout the day. 

Nathan: you guys! 

Christy: how the kids shout certain words, like wata-mell-ohn!! or fuh-root-u bossu-ket! (watermelon and fruit basket)

Steph: the kids, and their smiling faces, especially the chaotic ones. Even though it's only been a week, they really grow on you!

Pictures from today:

1. The real American experience: eating popcorn while watching a movie!!

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2. Bible story time: we are always really entertained by the pictures even if we don't understand the story. Members of the church volunteer to teach bible lessons in Japanese for the kids.

3. Enjoying an American lunch: barbecue chicken and bacon burgers, goldfish, and watermelon. wata-mell-ohn!

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4. Action shot: relay racing!

5. For our last day, our groups made autograph books! 

Answered prayers:

- Some of the parents are starting to build trust with Pat and Ohashi-sensei as well as relationships with other church members. Some parents have been curious and asking questions about Christianity. One parent is genuinely interested in hearing more and has asked one of the church members about their testimony!  

Prayer requests:

- For a restful weekend and smooth preparation before next week's English camp at Nasu begins!

- For the parents from the camp to continue to seek God and ask questions to church members.

- The songs from Singspiration and the bible verses taught this week are really sticking with the kids. We pray that the truths they have learned this week will not be forgotten and that the seeds that were planted will continue to grow. 

One huge blessing has been seeing how grateful the parents are for this experience for their kids. It's incredible for them to see that people from America would come to Otawara voluntarily and spend their time preparing and putting on a camp for their children. It has also been a great blessing that children have come back year after year, this shows that they are enjoying the time here at summer English camp! 

Until next time...

<3 Christy and the mission team !

Day #6

Hello friends and family,

We hope everyone has had an enjoyable weekend and Monday. Since the conclusion of the Otawara program last Friday, the team has had the opportunity to take a few breaks over the weekend and get back to the swing of things with the Nasu English camp this week.

On Saturday we went with Ohashi-sensei and Pat to an amusement park nearby with ninjas.

​One of these is not like the other.

 The park had various attractions and shows based around ninjas, however they were too stealthy, and we weren't able to get many pictures.

Luckily food doesn't move. 

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On Sunday we attended the church service, after which a member of the church and some friends took us out to see a festival in a nearby city. He said it was the largest festival in the prefecture and given the crowds, that was easy to believe. 

Thus concluded the weekend and preparations commenced for the Nasu English program. The story around how this program emerged is actually quite interesting. Originally the intention was that the Otawara program would run 2 weeks, with one week for the elementary students and the second dedicated towards kindergartners. Due to some scheduling issues with the kindergartners though, the entire second half of the program was combined with the first week and the Nasu program was suddenly added on as an option for students in that city. (Nasu is a city about 45min north of Otawara that is famous for its eggplants and countryside and snakes)

At the beginning of our trip and work in Otawara, about 5 kids had signed up for the program. Somehow throughout the course of the week and up til today when we were driving there, about 16 kids total has signed up for the classes. We later learned from Ohashi sensei that through a series of interesting events, the church was allowed to advertise to 3 schools in the area, something that generally prohibited by the schools. The 3 schools in total had a population of around 300 kids. 

In all the changes to this second week, I think I was able to see God's constant work in our lives and in this ministry here. Sometimes I think the things the church attempts here just might be impossible, but am reminded that in following after God, all these things He has called us to are indeed possible. 

Bible study at the Nasu program. 

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This might be a longer update as the end of the class wasn't the end of the day, sorry. Some of the mothers of the Otawara program invited us over to dinner this week as a thank you for coming to Japan.

Today we visited Manami-san house. Her children Fumiya and Momoka have attended the program since the first year and she's been an active participant in the English program. I am always surprised at how kindly she has treated us as visitors, and all her work in helping us with the program as well as caring for us the other times. This year's surprise was having us over at her house and preparing small presents not only for the members of the team but also for those who were on the team in the past as well. At her house, she also asked us why we became Christian and we were able to share a little bit of our story with her. 

Somen noodle machine. You put noodles on top and try to catch them before they hit the bottom. Momoka on the far left and Fumiya is on the left.

The noodles were just the beginning...

Momoka wrote a story featuring Nariko, Jonny and Karen (old team members)​

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Prayer Requests:

• Christy's stay with the team was only intended to be one week and she is currently flying back to the States :(. Please pray for her safe travel.
• As the Nasu program is growing, please pray that the kids through the English, songs, and Bible study will have the seeds of Jesus planted in their hearts. 
• Manami-san is not a Christian but has been attending the Bible studies and discussions with members of the church. Please pray for her heart to be transformed and for her to see Christ's love in her life. 
• As we will meet two other families soon, please pray for the Lord to be working in these relationships and in their hearts.

Thank you for reading and God bless!

Will

Day #7

Dear Friends and Family,

Today is Day 2 at the Nasu English class. It went smoother from beginning to end.

Attached below are pictures of the bible study and my 3rd and 4th graders practicing counting with candles on their "birthday cake."

Prayer's Request:

-I'm greatful the kids are listening more, but I still have to tell some to stop kicking and hitting each other throughout the day. I pray the shy kids will be encouraged to speak english louder and participate more. I also pray the troublesome kids will be being more attentive. I pray the kids and mothers will enjoy this program and spread the word.

-We had a long discussion with Ohashi-sensei and Pat. We pray for God's provision in the future of the childrens ministry here in Otawara. There is a huge need with this Japanese church and in Japan as a country. We are grateful the mother's want this program to continue, and enjoy American speakers to lead the English classes.  Ohashi-sensei and Pat have a vision for future Summer programs that will help lead more people to the Church and to Christ. There are many English classes in Japan, but Pat shared that the combination of activities and crafts is something not seen in typical English programs here.

-Thank God for Christy's safe arrival back to LA after several train and airplane transfers.

-We pray we will share God's love to the kids, their parents, Ohashi-sensei, and Pat these last 3 days before we head to Tokyo.

<3 Steph and the team

Day #8

Hi friends and family!!

Thanks for your prayers and support! Today was our third day of English camp in Nasu. Woohoo!

There's one thing about Japanese people that I admire a lot - it's their punctuality (which equals being early). I feel like one blessing of ours even though it may seem bad...is that we are not as punctual. We should be ending our camp at12 pm, however we've been running slightly over. BUT, this has allowed the parents who come early/on time to pick up their children to sit in on the last part of our Bible story and song. Hopefully this is giving them a taste of who God is and allowing them to be curious!

The first day of camp was a little discouraging with lack of excitement from the kids, but God has really been over this camp and the kids and our hearts. God has been teaching me what it means to rely on Him and how to have a greater heart to share His love with the kids even in the midst of these challenges.

Ohashi-sensei shared with us a conversation that he had with Namie's (a fifth grader - she's the one below with wrist wraps) father. Namie's father went to Sunday School 20 years ago, but after moving to Nasu, he hadn't been since. Ohashi-sensei was able to invite him to the Nasu church service. This is a huge blessing and also an affirmation of why God has brought us to Nasu to do the English camp - to help open doors. Praise God!

Playing Memory using fruit cards!

My class playing Jenga while practicing names of countries!

Bible story time! It is really awesome having church members involved and seeing their energy! The way they tell the stories is super animated, I almost understand...JK, I don't really understand but it keeps me engaged :D That's John the Baptist!

Today for dinner, the Shindo family invited us over to their home. Riko and Saho came to our Otawara English camp for only a day, but still Shindo-san willingly had us over. They had attended the camp last year as well. It's been so encouraging to be able to visit and eat with the families. Shindo-san was so nice and generous to us. We had okonomiyaki and yakisoba for dinner and ice cream for dessert.

Shindo-san making food for us! And Steph making an origami tanuki!

They also taught us how to prepare tea!

Will whisking the matcha tea furiously! That is Riko to the right.

Group picture in their beautiful home! From the left: me, Riko, Stephanie, Saho, Tink (as in Tinkerbell!), Shindo-san, and Will

Prayer Requests:

• For the team to have continued reliance on God for His love, patience, and strength. Also, for daily renewal through His word - that it would be sustenance for the team.
• For the Ohashi's to have more opportunities to talk and share with the parents. Also, for their church plant in Sakura City, that they'd be continuing to trust in God's provision.
• For the children to be able to experience Christ through this short time that we are with them whether through interactions with us, Bible stories, or singing of songs.
• For Manami-san and Shindo-san to have continued curiosity about who God is and have a desire to get to know Him more. Also, for the family we will be visiting tomorrow. Pray for God's hand to be over these families and that He'd be softening their hearts to be able to be receptive to His Word.

That's it!!! TWO MORE DAYS LEFT! Where did the time fly?!

:D

Nariko and the team