Yesterday morning (Monday) we left at 8.25am from Itayanagi station and travelled back to the OMF office at Ichikawa for our debrief.
But back tracking a little...
Saturday:
We had a children's Christmas meeting at Itayanagi Chapel.
We played many different games...
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| Playing 'Bzzt' (the Aussie version) |
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| the Emu position in 'Bzzt' |
We had the Christmas message of Jesus told through a story board and a brief talk by Martin. There were about 45 children who turned up - and about 20 of those kids had come because of the fliers we handed out at the elementary schools on the early Friday morning! Praise God for bringing so many children :)
Roy and Nat left for the night cafe held at Kanagi during this time. Pete left for an overnight home stay. Which left Danny, Dave and Judy to play with some of the children after the children's Christmas meeting! It involved much running - playing games like stuck-in-the-mud, bull-rush, musical chairs, bum shuffle...
Sunday:
It was our last official working day of mission =( We were sad to be attending our last service at Itayanagi chapel, Harvest chapel and English service.
Morning service at Itayanagi chapel....we had our weekly worship service - with Dave and Judy helping out the music team, a sermon by Martin on Luke 2. After service we had a pot-luck lunch feast, and we played Australian Bzzt, Christmas Charades and Bingo. Everyone had to bring a 100yen present for Bingo, so everyone got to choose a present from the pile once they Bingo-ed =) It was a little sad as it was the last time we could chat and mingle with the church members. Over the past few weeks we've gotten to know many of the church members and I think we're all very encouraged by them! It's hard being a Christian in Japan and it's amazing to see their faithfulness and trust in God despite the tough times they've had. So please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Japan - that they will continue to be strong in their faith and that God will continue to grow His people as well as to bring more people to know Jesus.
Harvest Chapel service was similar - worship in song, a sermon by Martin and a dinner feast with the church members =) Once again it was sad that it was our last opportunity to see them. During dinner the Aussie team had a chance to share about our experiences on mission. One thing that has been really encouraging to see at Harvest Chapel is that the church members are so faithful and regular! There are not many that attend Harvest Chapel (there's around 10 regular members not including the Ghents and us Aussies) so an absence at church is noticeable. It's also really encouraging to see them united as one big family under Christ =) Please keep praying for Harvest Chapel - that they may continue to stand strong in their faith and God may bless them and grow their church!
At English Service we sang many Christmas carols and each shared about something we've learnt (the Aussie team shared about our experiences from mission). I shared about two things I learnt:
Then to end the day, we went to a bath house to unwind and relax =)
Thank you so much to all those who have been reading our blog and supporting us through prayer =)
Coming up: Pete will share about his home stay experience =)
Roy and Nat left for the night cafe held at Kanagi during this time. Pete left for an overnight home stay. Which left Danny, Dave and Judy to play with some of the children after the children's Christmas meeting! It involved much running - playing games like stuck-in-the-mud, bull-rush, musical chairs, bum shuffle...
Sunday:
It was our last official working day of mission =( We were sad to be attending our last service at Itayanagi chapel, Harvest chapel and English service.
Morning service at Itayanagi chapel....we had our weekly worship service - with Dave and Judy helping out the music team, a sermon by Martin on Luke 2. After service we had a pot-luck lunch feast, and we played Australian Bzzt, Christmas Charades and Bingo. Everyone had to bring a 100yen present for Bingo, so everyone got to choose a present from the pile once they Bingo-ed =) It was a little sad as it was the last time we could chat and mingle with the church members. Over the past few weeks we've gotten to know many of the church members and I think we're all very encouraged by them! It's hard being a Christian in Japan and it's amazing to see their faithfulness and trust in God despite the tough times they've had. So please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Japan - that they will continue to be strong in their faith and that God will continue to grow His people as well as to bring more people to know Jesus.
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| Feasting :) |
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| Lunch Feast at Morning Service :) |
At English Service we sang many Christmas carols and each shared about something we've learnt (the Aussie team shared about our experiences from mission). I shared about two things I learnt:
- I never really thought about going on short term mission outside of Australia - and so coming to Japan for mission I didn't have many expectations on what it would be like. But one thing God has showed me is that He IS working all around the world! I've come to realise how small 'my world' is. I'm so used to being brought up in a place where Christianity is the 'norm'. So it's quite surprising to think that many of the outreaches we have held (e.g. children's christmas meetting) almost half or more of the children that come don't even know about Jesus!
- We are so blessed at GracePoint! Although we say we lack leaders and resources - it is nothing compared to the churches here. I've been so encouraged to see the Ghents work so hard in all of their ministries. At GracePoint we have separate teams dealing with separate ministries...but here because churches aren't that big, the Ghents all have multiple responsibilities in different ministries - and all church members are involved in some way. I think this makes church feel like like one big family because everybody is serving God together =) which is pretty cool!
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| Set up for Evening Service |
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| Dessert feast at Evening Service |
Thank you so much to all those who have been reading our blog and supporting us through prayer =)
- Praise God for all the people He has brought to the outreaches we'ave had, and pray that God will continue to grow the seeds he has planted in people's hearts to want to come to know Jesus!
- Please also keep praying for the Ghents! Even though our team has our time of rest (where we will be travelling this week, the Ghents will still be working hard! So pray that God may give them energy and strength to continue with their ministries.
- Lastly, please pray for our team. Although we may be on holidays, please pray that we won't forget all that we've seen/learnt in the past few weeks. Pray that we will continue to reflect on everything, give praise to God for what He's been doing but also for us to keep praying for all those we have met!
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| In case you don't know, this is AnPanMan. |
Thanks for reading! =)
In Christ,
Judy
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