Thursday 24th!

The blog has come back to life, so there are two old posts for you to catch up on and now today's, the up to date news. With less than a week to go now before we leave, things are starting to get very busy for everyone, with last meetups with students and two more events to plan and run, an English tea party tomorrow afternoon and our farewell party on next Tuesday. Mark will be speaking tomorrow, and Rob on Tuesday, so do pray for their preparation.

The meal on Friday at Minami went well - attendance was good, and despite the students being quite tired due to a taxing week of exams (they all seem to cram the night before over here rather than sleeping), they enjoyed the various items throughout the evening, notably a short skit conceived and directed by Richard about 20 minutes before the evening was due to begin! Praise God that more students have had a chance to hear his gospel, and pray that he will grow the seeds that have been planted.

Saturday was our day off this week, we spent it with Alaric playing "park golf", a uniquely Japanese phenomenom which is extremely popular with retired people who take it very seriously indeed. We had to stop more than once to let speedy parties of septagenarians move through to the next hole, and we were also told off by some for committing such varied offences as sitting on the grass, or taking the flag out of the hole. On Sunday we were all off at church again; Mark went with Rob and Nat to Oasa, and Annie and Tom had one Tokai student at the English class after church, which was a great encouragement as they were able to study a short Bible passage with him.

On Monday, meetings with people continued. Tom and Annie went to the wedding of one of the church leaders at Minami, which was a great experience - Japanese are not in the least camera-shy, with flashes going off in the bride's face as she walked down the aisle and during the rings ceremony. On Tuesday Rob and Nat were at Oasa in the evening for Open House, and Mark, Tom and Annie were back at Tokai for the last ESS. Pray that some students from Tokai would come to the farewell party at Minami church this Sunday. Wednesday was the last ESS at Rakuno, where Rob gave a short talk on the resurrection and he and Nat were able to have some good conversations afterwards. It was also the last English Bible Study at SIC, and everyone met up once more at Mr Donuts, like in the first week, for more conversations. Praise God for the many chances he has given all of us to speak about Jesus with these Wednesday night students and their openness and enthusiasm for the Bible - but also pray that with a two month break, and many familiar faces leaving on holidays and so on, that follow-up would be possible and that they will continue to come back next semester.

There are two more busy days now before our final Sunday and day off. Tomorrow will be a full day of prep for the English tea party - please pray that the weather will be fine, as it has been very wet recently. Saturday is largely free for meetups, although the lads will be helping Nancy, another OMF missionary, move house in the morning. After church on Sunday we will be off camping with Richard for a night, which should be a lovely break before our last full day on Tuesday. We are all very excited about the opportunities coming up, please pray that our energy will hold up and that we will be starting to think intentionally about what is going to be the aim and the follow-up for our particular friends before we leave.

Comments