Amysan

Yesterday, we had a picnic at the park near where we live. It’s right near the waterfront. It was so humid yesterday – even though the park is really only a couple blocks from where we live, i think we were all dripping sweat by the time we got to the park. Ridiculously hot. We set up a tent and put some tarps on the ground, and waited for people to show up. We had invited some of the families and kids from VBS to the picnic and a few said they would be there. The area where we live is about a 40 min train ride from where Nokendai Community Center is and so we weren’t sure if people would show up. It is not very common for people to travel that far to go to church or attend a picnic. Still it was a pretty good turnout. Shortly after a few of the families arrived, a man came by our tent letting us know that there would be a water balloon competition happening at the park. The kids were invited to participate. It was completely unplanned and unforeseen. Our group ended up winning the water balloon competition and won 6 Sony electronic drawing devices – think of an electronic Magna Doodle. I believe this was planned by God. We had won 6 devices – 5 of them were won by members of the Japan team. Obviously, we weren’t going to keep these because we didn’t want to pack them for our trip home. So we decided to give them to the families. We had won enough prizes to give one device to each family that was present. No kid was left without a prize. They were so happy to receive them. THis picnic was an opportunity to bond further with the moms and the kids. I was able to talk with one of the moms a bit more about my life and to learn more about hers.

Afterwards, we met with Shirley and Kohichi for a session of debriefing. We talked about what could be improved this week, what went well, what new ideas we could incorporation for next year. It’s amazing that this week has gone by so quickyl – and yet at the same time, it feels like I’ve been here for so much longer than just a week and a half. I feel God has done so much through our time here – please continue to pray for the Japanese people. I had questioned whether the kids would understand my testimony and I got my answer last night over dinner. Shirley’s two daughters, Emma and Clara, were sitting on my lap after dinner and we got to talking about siblings. I told them that I had 2 sisters too – just like their family. Emma says “You said you also had a brother. And he went to heaven when he was 9. And you said you were sad and angry”. It’s amazing sometimes the details that kids will remember.

All in all, we’re approaching the home stretch! today we are packing, cleaning the condo, going to church at Nokendai Bible Church (at the community center) and meeting up with the other half of the team afterwards. Then tomorrow (Monday) we all head out to Tokyo for one day of sight-seeing. Tuesday, we fly out. I’m ready to come home!!!

Thank you all for taking this journey with me and for being faithful in prayer. The team could not have done this without you!

It’s nearly 2am here in Yokosuka. I’m working on the closing program for Sunday’s service. We’ll be showing a 7-10 min photo slideshow to the kids and their parents one last time! There are some really good shots. Check it out:

Singing the songs

Yuko and Clara – both speak English – sometimes i have to rely on them to translate during crafts. They just really high during our singing time.

Too cool for school girls. From left to right, Sayuki, Ayano (these stick together), Airi and Haruna (another pair), Kana (speaks very good English. very quiet though)

Me and the girls. Left to right, Kana (or Hana… she only came that one day), Yurike, Me, Clara (Shirley’s second daughter), Emma (Shirley’s first daughter), Saya, Susan (another member of the team)

Shirley’s third daughter – Amelia aka Mi-Mi. She is only 1.5 years old but she is the most demanding little girl I have ever come across. Very independent and tough, super smart (she plays DS Lite and knows how to operate things that even us adults couldn’t figure out), and loves rice crackers. After pizza lunch, she insisted that she sit on my lap while I was on the swing. With each sway she said “Weee” …. “Weeee”… etc. Then suddenly she stopped and after two swings of no “Weeee”, i looked over her head and she was sound asleep. I will miss this one.

Today was our last day of VBS – the kids came in and I think I could sense that they were more excited and seemed to have more energy than on the other days. We also had two new kids today – two girls. Our number was up to 21 today.

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I was asked to share my testimony at the very end of today’s program. I don’t like to speak in front of people so this would be completely out of my comfort zone. But I remember that Pastor Nancy told me at the airport that being on missions is essentially making yourself available to be used by God 100% of the time. Whatever You want me to do, God, I agree to it even before I know what You will be asking me to do. So I said sure and then i spent the rest of the day yesterday thinking and praying about what to share. The testimony I had created and shared with the team before we left for Japan was actually rather artificial. There is more to my faith story than just becoming a prodigal daughter. But I questioned whether a child would be able to understand. A friend of mine however, shared with me that kids know and understand more these days than we give them credit for. So I decided to go for it and share something that was rather difficult for me to share.

At the end of VBS today, the kids were coming into the community center after having spent the past 30 minutes running around outside. As they all piled into the room, it was apparent that they were full of energy. I looked at them and thought that there was no way, NO WAY that these kids would be able to sit through my testimony. This past week, I have noticed that the kids have a hard time focusing on the front of the room. After a few sentences of speaking, their attention will wander – they will stare at the ground, or whisper to each other, or fidget with something. I really wasn’t sure what God was going to do with my testimony but I had decided already that i would do it so I decided there would be no turning back. I’ve also decided to share it with you now – it’s so much easier to type it down than to say it to you in person…

Testimony Start
I began by telling the kids that I grew up in the church and how I remember my Sunday school teacher telling me that Jesus was my friend and that I should obey His commands. So i listened to my parents and studied hard and got good grades. Sometimes though, I would fight with my sisters. My family used to be very independent, we would never talk about our feelings. When I was 11, my mom had another baby – I had a new brother! All of us loved him VERY much – he brought our family closer together. When he was 4 years old, he got very sick. I was sad and prayed to God that He would heal him. but when he was 9 years old, God decided to take him to heaven. I got angry at God for not answering my prayer. I decided to stop reading the bible and I stopped praying. I tried to talk to friends but they didn’t understand. I had two sister who understood though. my sister asked me – do you pray? do you read your bible? Jesus is your friend. He will listen to you – you can talk to Him. So i started to read the bible again, and I started to pray. I could feel God comforting me in His arms. I dont know why my brother was sick, or why God decided to take him to heaven so early, but i know that he made my family closer together and closer to Jesus. So when you are sad or lonely or bad things happen, I hope you will remember that Jesus is your friend too. He will listen to your prayers and He will never leave you.
Testimony End

It has been almost 7 years since my brother has gone to heaven. The experience of losing a young loved one actually left me scarred for many years. I never thought I would re-enter children’s ministry because I didn’t think i would be able to allow myself to love children again. Through small steps of faith, I have found healing through Jesus and have decided that it is better to love and lost than to have never loved at all. Now, here I am in Japan – I believe that God has used this trip not only to change the lives of the Japanese children but also my heart as well. Thank you so much for all your support and prayers.

Another good day at VBS. Today we made the burger journals for arts and crafts. The kids really loved them!! It was such a simple concept but the kids were pretending to eat them and when i showed it to them they all yelled out `hambugu!!` (at least that is what i think i heard) THank you so much for the wong sisters who helped me prepare this craft – there were only 18 kids today but the leftover material will be given to Shirley to use at her church. It is something that she said the kids at the church would really love too. The kids were so fast at the craft that we had to come up with extra crafts. THey were able to make bookmarks and a Christian martian (a pom pom with antennaes with crosses on their antennaes – i`ll see if i can find a photo somewhere.)

Yesterday Lyanne gave her testimony after the pizza lunch to the moms who were visiting. Today, at the end of the program, Matt gave his testimony to the kids during our wrap up time. Tomorrow, I have been asked to give my testimony to the kids. It will be essentially the last thing we do at VBS. I:m rather anxious about it because I feel that maybe God is asking me to share more about myself than just the surface level (refer to a previous blog to read my very short testimony). Please pray for me as I consider what to share and how much to share. I would like to share about a very low and sad time in my life and how that point essentially changed my life and how it affected my faith. I`m not sure if it will be appropriate – is it too sad, is it something that the kids will be able to understand, is it something that could be meaningful, or something that God can use ? Again, I ask for your prayers in this and also for our last day of VBS tomorrow. It has been a long week but I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to come here and also for those who wouldn`t let me say NO to this.

In the evening, the weather cools and it becomes bearable to stand outside.  It’s still humid but the absence fo the sun makes a huge difference.  We can see the train station from where we are staying.  It is walking distance to everything – the station, the department store, restaurants, the 100 yen store (aka Daiso!!!) and more.

Gnite!!

Today was a big day at VBS. We had two new students and we were happy to have them. One of the new girls, Kana, spoke English fairly well. It was also encouraging to see that her father had shown up for the songs at the beginning and was taking pictures of his daughter.

For arts and craft, we made the salvation bracelets. They are coloured beads on a string that symbolize different aspects of the Christian faith.

 
From right to left, black represents man’s sin, red represents the blood of Christ which was shed for our sins, white represents the forgiveness we receive from Christ and He washes us white as snow, blue represents our baptism, green represents the growth in our faith – the relationship that develops with Jesus and gold represents the eternal life we receive in heaven with God. Then Ev used the bridge illustration to explain the Christian faith to the two older groups. Unfortunately, we were running late so Ev could not share the story with the youngest group. During closing prayer today, I took a quick peek at the children and caught a glimpse of Daiki concentrated in prayer. It was such a warm sight to see!! Lyanne caught a perfect photo of it.

Today was also pizza lunch day (pizzas from Costco – thanks lil’O!!). We had a lot of moms show up and Yurimi’s (our translator) husband came as well. I think that the kids really enjoyed the pizza lunch and they were happy to share a meal with us and talk with us. As I was trying to find a seat at a table, the girls table waved me over to their table but as I was walking over, the boys table motioned for me to sit down at their table! This made me think of grade school where every new kid’s fear is that no one will want them to sit with them! I felt so welcomed by them The kids are really starting to grow on me. Everyday, we get to know each other better and we become more familiar. It will be hard to say goodbye at the end of the week.