the beginning of the next week :)

Thanks for coming to our blog :)

Here's what we've been doing for the past couple of days...

Monday..........was our day off =) 

we went to Hirosaki city. everybody was tired so we slept in! and didn't leave til abt 12pm.

First, we went to lunch at a udon place =) 

Waiting to be fed =P

The Egg Udon

We then headed to a traditional Japanese house, which was at the back of a store which sold sake...

The Lounge Room

The Dining Area

After that we headed to a museum in Hirosaki, which showcased the Neputa Festival. It's held on 2-7 August (during the summertime).

One of the floats used in the Neputa Festival

A closer shot of the design...

We listened to the music which was usually played during the festival. It consisted of a flute and taiko drums..we even got to try playing them!

Nat, Judy and Dave playing Taiko drums :)

 We also got to try out another instrument...which is abit like a guitar...

Pete rockin' it out =P

We then travelled to Temple Road. A road literally lined with temples on both sides.

Temple at the end of the road

Then it started raining, so we headed back to church (where we're staying)...and had some time off.

For dinner, we went to eat sushi =)

When you order your sushi, it comes on a bullet train :)

I think it was a clam-like sushi...

After we headed towards the onsen to end the night! This time we went to a smaller onsen, which only had one bath. 

Tuesday (today)

We spent most of today planning for the week ahead...

We will be visiting preschools, elementary schools and holding various children and youth Christmas events in following weeks...as well as holding an Aussie Night!

Nat and Roy were writing up a Nativity Skit. I hear that Roy is going to be the angel hehe =P

Danny and Pete were thinking of big group games we could play with the kids. 

Dave and I were going through children's songs (with actions) and also Christmas carols which we could sing (in English/Japanese)

A hard working team :)

Nat and Danny designed a pamphlet for our Aussie Night...

Tonight we had English Class, where we had opportunities to mingle with four Japanese people. We were split into four groups, and had to find out as much as possible about each other within 7 minutes. We then rotated, so that we were able to meet all four people who came to English Class.

Split into groups

Towards the end, Roy shared his testimony :) and we also got time to talk more with each other. We had gingerbread cake and tea/coffee as well, yuuuuum :)

It was pretty exciting as Dave and I had the opportunity to share '2 ways to live' with Junji, a man who had been coming to English Class for a few months now. He was brought up with ancestral worship - praying to his ancestors for blessings and to protect him, as they watch over him. It was interesting as he said he could see that the world is not perfect and there are many things wrong with it and it's only getting worse. Junji also said he could believe that God came down to earth...but he was unable to believe that one God created the world, and that there existed a heaven and hell. Despite that he was still very open to us sharing the gospel with him..and when asked if he had to choose between the 2 ways, he knew that he preferred eternal life under Jesus' rule.

Praise God for opportunities to share the gospel with people! And please keep praying for Junji - that he may come to understand and believe what Jesus has done for him. He may be coming to visit us at the Harvest Chapel tomorrow! So praying that he will come and we will have another opportunity to talk to him :)

Sharing '2 ways to live' with Junji

Other prayer points:

* Keep praying for opportunities for our team to be sharing the gospel with people and also encouraging the Christians at church

* Pray that we as a team may continue to work well, united in Christ

* Pray that the outreaches we do at preschools, elementary schools and other christmas events may make people more aware of Itayanagi Church

Thanks again for taking a look at our blog!

We really appreciate your support in the gospel through prayers :) as all that we do is nothing if we don't depend and trust on God.

Coming up...Roy will post next. 

Things to be looking out for: our work at Harvest Chapel, Harvest Chapel Children's Christmas event, Night Cafe, Aussie Night

For the glory of God,

Judy :)