I’m working on my fifth load of laundry as I type this. It’s been a day since we got back to the States. Shelley went back to work this morning. I don’t have work to go back to right now but I’m actually kind of glad. Though the Japan trip was fun, it wasn’t a vacation. Much work was done and there is still much work to do. A presentation needs to be put together, follow up letters need to be written and distributed, finances need to be organized, a medical reimbursement form needs to be submitted, a report needs to be given to the elders, and much much prayer and follow up needs to take place. I’m glad I have some time to work on some of these things.
The last four days of the trip went by like a whirlwind. Last Friday, we had Joy Joy during the day as usual and in the evening we had what you might call Joy Joy One Night. Three junior high school boys came. I got to share my testimony and Soga Sensei had the boys read Romans 1:20and answer some questions regarding the verse. We ended the evening with some fireworks. Saturday was the last day of JJ5D which means presentation day. I posted some pictures of the presentation below. Shelley gave her testimony in Japanese during the presentation. About ten parents, all unbelievers came to the presentation. Afterwards, we got to talk to them briefly. Soga Sensei treated us to some shabu shabu for dinner in the evening.
On Sunday, we had another marathon church day. We left for Hamadera Bible Church around 7 in the morning. We attended both services (except the sermon part). During the sermons we went to the dining area and had our own teaching time. For the first hour I taught on Genesis 11 and for the second I read Okada Sensei’s sermon (Mark ’s account of the Rich Young Ruler) from an English manuscript. After lunch, we headed back to Izumisano and attended their service. Jen shared her testimony during the service. Shortly after the service, we had a going away party. Sarah shared her testimony toward the end of the party.
On Monday, a whole gang of people came to the airport to see us off. I counted about 19 in the picture but someone must have taken the pic so that makes 20. They came from all three churches that we worked with (Inochi, Izumisano, and Hamadera). We had lunch with them and then it was time to catch our plane.
