Last Blog before coming home

This will be our last blog before arriving in America.  Our schedule this week was not as busy as usual, but God is still moving even to the last minute.  On Tuesday night, Kaname came over to hang out with the group.  He was a friend of a friend who showed up at the last gathering we hosted.  Justin and Kaname played ping-pong for a while, then we sat around and fellowshipped.  He was asking the group to hold another 'party', but the team was short of time.  We hope to keep contact of him.  We were invited by the English Speaking Society to one of their meetings.  They were preparing for a competition happening soon, and they had asked for our help.  We spent an hour and a half helping them correct their grammar.  Also, we conversed and had set up a lunch meeting on Friday.  Not only are we going to have lunch, but we are also having late dinner with them at a restaurant.  We invited them to our last Sunday service, but many of them had a part-time job.  We also hope to keep contact of them, even when we're in America. Kaji Sensei was kind enough to take us to the Asahiyama Zoo on Thursday.  It was an exciting day and we had a blast looking at the many animals.  He also took us to a breathless farm that was filled with Lavender.  The scenery was beautiful.  Then, he drove us to Mariyama Mountain to get a nightview of Sapporo.  The nightview was also breathless and beautiful.  Kaji Sensei had asked us to pray for the city.  Each of us prayed individually for God's blessings for Sapporo and the people.   Prayer Request: - Safety travels - Our ministry will continue even after we're gone. - Relationships - The Korean team and their ministry after we're gone

Update from Sandra June 18

Tuesday night, Mailee and Maixee had a homestay with one of the mothers of the children of their English class. Rika Nakagawa and her family are non-Christians. They were all very welcoming and very friendly. Maixee and Mailee had a very fun and rewarding time. They were able to build a better relationship with Rika and her family and help connect them to the church.
They had a very nice experience at Rika's house.
The next day, Justin and Sandra joined Maixee and Mailee at the Chitose church. That day was their last day at the church. It was a very happy time as well as a sad time. It was nice to see how close the mothers and church members had grown to Mailee and Maixee. Several people cried and were sad to Mailee and Maixee go. Mailee and Maixee were also sad, but happy to know that they helped connect those women and their families to the church. Their last English class was fun and full of happiness and plenty of pictures.
Thursday night, we had another event at the church. But this time people finally came! We were all so excited that we didn't know what to do. We had five people show up to the event; three people we already knew from the English club, but two people we had not met before. We were excited to meet new people and build more connections. Thursday was a very fun night, and one person is already planning to come back and spend more time with us.
As our time here is growing short, we are all hoping to build deeper connections with the people we have met and show them God's light and love. Please pray for God to work in the hearts of the people we have met and to prepare the way for the Korean team that will be coming to the Sapporo church a couple of weeks after we leave.
We are all very excited to return home, but we will all miss Japan very much.

June 12 Update

This past week we went to the elementary school and had a blast teaching fifth graders English, and then we carried out our normal weekly lessons while growing closer to our students. Mailee and Mai Xee are getting to do a home stay with two of the women in the church in Chitose and Justin and Sandra had their best lesson yet with the two boys that they have been teaching.

Other than that we failed at two English outreach parties, so continue to pray that people will come to our events.

We have been invited also to spend time with the English Speaking Society, at a park in Sapporo City, for a festival.

And lastly we were able to meet up with our semi fifth member Monday, Melissa!

From,
TEAM JAPAN

Update from Japan!

We met the English Speaking Society last Friday. They were very surprised to see us; I think we're the first Americans they have seen. We were able to spend time with them and help them prepare for 2 English contests. The society placed 3rd in the drama they performed. Sandra was able to meet 2 more friends through Risa and Hiromi, students at the university.

This past Sunday, the team performed "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong to the Sapporo congregation, which I hope they enjoyed. Afterwards, Mailee gave a short testimony of Jesus Christ working in her life. Sandra, Mai, and Justin's testimony are to follow within the next four weeks.

This week we went to teach English to elementary school students; two fourth grade classes and two sixth grade classes. The students were very excited to see us. The classes all did a great job in conversation and numbers. Yuki, our translator and Mai Xee, both confused Mailee as a student since she was sitting down with the students. She blended very well since she was the same height as them.

The team also experienced our very first visit to the onsen (hot springs bath house) It was scary at first because we didn't know what to expect, but at the end, it was very relaxing and calming for the mind and body.

We will be having our first American Nights on Thursday, June 11, where we be making hamburgers and hot dogs and then on Friday, June 12, where we will be having games and coffee. We hope the friends that we have made will be able to attend and will enjoy their time with us.

Please continue to pray for the team that we will continue to be encouraged; making friends in Japan is harder than expected.

First Week in Japan

We started our ministry this week. Sandra and Justin work together with a preschool, where they teach short English classes to 3 classrooms. They were very excited to see them. The kids were so excited that they kept trying to touch and hug them each of them. They have 1 more preschool visit and 2 elementary school visits left.
Mai Xee and I had our first English class with the students at the Chitose church. There were 14 students at all different English levels. It was very funny. We weren't as prepared as we would have liked, but God has been teaching us flexibilty. We will be better prepared next week. Japanese students are very different from American students.
About 4 times a week, the team eats lunch at the university. Justin is very popular among the Japanese people, they think he looks like David Beckham, but we can't see the resemblance. Everyone else has meet a few Japanese students.
Monday was our first day off. We went to Sapporo Station, a very large shopping center. We took the transit and subway for the first time, which was very exciting. We also went to Odori Park, which is a very long park.
Please continue to pray for the team that we will be able to make friends with the Japanese students, the people we encounter, and our team as a whole. Please also pray for our next ministry event, Fun with English, where we will be playing games and singing songs with students.

Arrival and First Days in Japan

We arrived May 20, 2009 to Sapporo safely. The health inspection in Tokyo was very fast and we were able to make it to our connecting flight. We just finished about 2 days of training with Tim Clark on Japanese language and teaching English.
Today, Saturday, May 23, the Chitose Church hosted a Welcome BBQ. It was very fun. We were able to put our Japanese to use. We have received many compliments on our Japanese. We are now staying at the Sapporo Church. Most of our time will be spent here working with the church and building relationships with the university students across the street.
Please continue to pray for the team and the ministry that we will be starting very soon.
Updates on our remaining time in Japan will be posted every week or so.
WE love and miss you all very much.