Team Adventurous

Again we apologise for the lateness of our latest blog, but life in Sendai is just hectic and we are otherwise absorbed in enjoying and learning from every moment of it
On Thursday of last week we learned a practical lesson on how to be mroe flexible than you think you are. The team knew that they had to go and deliver flyers in the Izumi Park town area. We also knew that some of us would be getting a ride there and some of us would be taking the train. Before that, however, two of us would be going to Myagi women's college with Elaine for the weekly Bible study there. The day was scheduled to finish up with Grace kai, our last Gace kai for now. With all this in mind, we were having team devotions when suddenly Terui Grace, OMF missionary, hostess of Grace kai and wife of Jim Grace, appeared at the door of the dorm.
"Are you here to pick people up for the Bible study?" I asked, wondering if I had left an hhour or so of my life under my pillow upon getting up. "You're a little early, we're just having devotions."
"Oh, carry on, don't mind me," said Terui chirpily. "Except, I was wondering if you could do me a favour. Jim's teaching in Myagi women's college this morning. It's a computer based class, but there's a problem and, well basically he doesn't have any functioning computers. So, er, he doesn't really have a lesson."
"Flip me!" I interjected, constructively.
"Anyway, he was wondering if you would come to class and do conversation practice with the students."
"Oh of course!" I cried, eager to help two of the kindest, all round best missionaries I know. "When would you like us to come?"
"Well, my car's outside," Terui said sheepishly. "How about... now?"
Action stations! We grabbed our half finished devotions, grabbed everything we would need for the rest of the day, Sere got organised for an overnight stay at the Taylors and we leapt into the car.
The class was really fun; the students divided into groups and we divided our time among the students, talking to them about themselves and ourselves, common interests or whatever their ability allowed. Afterward we had about eight or nine students stay for a Bible study on the story of the woman caught in adultery, brought to Jesus for judgement. It was excellent that we all ended up in Myagi as we could all paticipate in the Bible study, which happens over lunch. After lunch we went back to the Taylors' house and began handing out flyers for this weeks' children's programme. Not long after that it was time for Grace kai.
On Friday I took Hannah, Peter and Philip and went to Jim and Terui's ladies' English class. This was really fun; we played hangman and the native speakers had a job keeping their end up against the Japanese as they proved extremely accomplished at the game! The class was followed by a pot-luck lunch and in grand Japanese style the tables were groaning under the weight of dish after dish of delicioous food. Hannah and Philip gave their testimonies before lunch and we had a chance to talk with the ladies about all our stories over the meal. It was a very warm, fun time and I really hope that some of what we said has been encouraging and thought-provoking. After lunch it was time to go shopping for materials for the kids' programme. God bless the hundred yen store, I say; with an amazing area of fabulous, potentially fun materials for only 100 yen (about 50p) a time! Our shopping concluded, we went to Sendai city to do some personal shopping, meeting up later for dinner. Once again I had occasion to be proud of Team Adventure as they insisted upon trying a local delicacy for which Sendai is famous: gyutan, or cow's tongue. I've eaten it before and I love the taste, but sometimes I'm a little dubious about the texture and so I chose gyutan curry, in which the meat is minced. Maximum taste, minimum texture- sorted! :)
Saturday was homestay day. We were all getting picked up from Izumi chuo subway station and so departed early enough for a team Starbucks at the branch by the station. Team Adventure experienced something of a split here however, with numbers fairly evenly divided concerning who loves the coffee jelly frapuccino (I do, it's genius, and yes; you do slurp jelly through a straw, coffee flavoured jelly), and who feels it should not be allowed to exist. Nevertheless there are plenty of alternatives and the soul was much soothed before we moved on to our homestay. I stayed the night with Mihoko Urata and her husbdan; she's a lady I used to meet with regularly, ostensibly for English practice, although often there wasn't much of that! She and I have had many adventires together, and she had planned an elaborate meal, which the Graces had been invited to attend. When I arrived, Mihoko was flapping about, worrying about the preparation for the meal.
"I have to go now," said Terui, who had picked my up from the station. "But I'll be back later."
"I'll be ready!" Mihoko swore, clutching a spatula close to her heart with an expression of sheer determination.
"Natania will help you," Terui assured her.
"Of course!" I agreed.
"Oh thank you!" Squealed Mihoko as though I had just promised to build her her own restaurant.
We went into the kitchen, where Mihoko began pulling food from the refrigerator; dish after dish. My job consisted of trying little bits of everything. Tough old life! It was a wonderful meal and a great opportunity to spend time with Mihoko and her husband while I'm in Japan. The best part was that the homestay agreement includes the promise that the host mother or father (or better yet, both) will bring their charge to church the next day and stay for the service where possible. So Mihoko and I attended church together. After church, a very dear member of the congregation was baptised. It was a most joyous occasion in many respects; firstly because the lady in question is a wonderful, warm individual and I was thrilled to share in her happy day. Secondly because Mihoko could witness such an important event in the Christian life, and it included communion. Of course Mihoko didn't participate, but she witnessed it, and that was good enough for me, for now at least! After the baptism, the team plus a few extra headed into Sendai to meet the girls from the dorm for Karaoke. It was hilarious! We had a really fun time and then we headed to Mrs. Yamashita's home, where we were treated to a delicious meal. A combined effort; Yamashita Mama provided sushi and various salads and meat dishes, while Yamashita Papa whipped up some of his speciality yakisoba (fried noodles). It was again a very warm time, very much like a family dinner. Despite the language barrier, between Elaine and myself we managed to get our (often ridiculous) point across!
Monday was our day off. The team split up to do different things, and all seemed to have a good time. There was an earthquake on Monday night but it was very short and not terribly significant; just about enough to be able to feel and notice it; which I was glad about, as we had had another a few days before that passed the boys by completely!
On Tuesday we began the kids' programme. It was to differ from previous years, in that the children were to be divided into groups; 4-7 year olds and 8-11. In previous years, we pitched things in an attempt to have every child understand and enjoy it, but we lost some of the older ones due to lack of interest, and so we decided to split them, despite this meaning in essence that we were running two separate clubs. The first day we had 30 in the younger group and 13 in the older group, and so we separated them and played different games, sang different songs, completed different worksheets, bringing them together for snacks, a short story or message and craft. The craft was such that it could be done very simply or very adventurously depending on ability and inclination. Somewhat unfortunately (perhaps) it involved copious amounts of glitter glue... who was the bigger messer, the children or the team members...? On the second day the dynamic flipped inside out and we had about 20 older kids and about 8 or 9 younger children. Some very hasty rearranging of leaders and schedule was required, but we did our best to make sure everyone had a good time. Yesterday was the last day and was in a different location, so was essentially a different club. We had intended that it should comprise all the most successful parts of the previous two days. In the beginning it looked as though we might only have about 4 kids. Then a group of women entered the community centre we were using. They were the locla kindergarten's mothers volleyball team, and they had come for practice. Usually, their kids amuse themselves, but they were delighted to hand them over to us for a couple of hours. The kids were a sliitle shy at first, but soon got used to us and we all had a brilliant time. They were impossibly cute, exceptionally well behaved and sweetly enthusiastic. It was amazing to see how God worked to place us in this place at this time; the kindergarten the ladies play for is the same one where we meet for church, and many of them asked about the kids programme we run each Sunday morning!
On Tuesday and Thursday night we attended At Homes at the homes of members of our congregation. It was humbling and exciting to assist the congregation members in their attempts at outreach. I gave my testimony in Japanese again at the home of Mrs Oya on Tuesday night, and the team's friend Yui, who was there, later contacted me to say she found it encouraging and interesting, and that it helped her to understand some things about me as a Christian. Yesterday was at the home of Mrs. Nishimura, and our new friend Marie, who came to the At Home at the Taylors' house purely because she received a flyer (a rare thing for a normally shy Japanese girl to do), came to join in our fun.
The only other thing of note is that on Thurday morning at 12:30 am we experienced a strong (though not particularly dangerous) earthquake of ab out 26 seconds in duration. The epicentre was in Iwate. The prefecture has had two big earthquakes this month. Priase the Lord this time no-one was killed. We found the experience novel and almost fun, but there's a more serious undertone for those who lost people in the previous earthquake, which happened at 8:30 am when many more people were about.
Today is out last International cafe and then on Monday we'll be heading down to Tokyo. Thanks for praying, we'll do our best to keep you updated throughout our last few days here. The time has gone so quickly!
God bless you all.

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