After a restful night at the hotel, we went back to Sakata Mission Church to spend more time with all the sweet people. We sang Christian songs, shared our personal testimonies, and prayed together. There was one lady who came to the church for the very first time in her life. She said she felt loved there and we pray God will continue to draw her closer to Him.
Singing “As the Deer” together.
It was hard to say “good-bye” to them, but we had to come back to Sendai to teach English classes. We are so thankful that God blessed our time in Sakata! We look forward to going back and serving with the Fujii family again.
The team taught two English classes at Taitomi Baptist Church. Both children and youth seemed to have a great time!
Listening to the story of Noah. One girl told us it’s her favorite Bible story now!
Don’t you love their cute puppets?
With the junior high students after the class.
Several moms cooked dinner for us! You may already know that Baptists eat a lot but it’s true in Japan!!! If you are thinking about coming here to serve, you will have a chance to eat lots of good food!
They all looked happy after having a delicious meal!
The FBCA team did a lot to help with our ministry. One place that we took them was Sakata. Sakata is the port town we evacuated to after the March 11 earthquake. There is a mission church that was started by the churches of Northern Japan. The pastor, his wife, and their children have lived there for six long years. I say long because they are ministering in a city that has a very strong Buddhist history. Pastor Fujii and his family have been working hard to reach out the their community.
One of the ways they minister is through their kids program. They open up the church in the afternoons for kids to do homework and learn English. Many of the children that attend are from single parent homes. The majority of them live with their mom and have little to no contact with their dad. As you can imagine this is very hard on the children.
We have felt the need to help the Fujiis with their ministry especially because they are so isolated. We love this sweet family so much! The team from FBCA was a huge help. We got to help with the English programs and spend a lot of time playing games with the children. One of the highlights the team had was visiting the only Christian kindergarten in Sakata. The principal and staff were so gracious and a pleasure to be around.
We continue to pray for the Fujiis and their ministry. Thank you so much FBCA for sending a team to bless the children of Sakata.
On our way to Sakata, we stopped at one of the beaches on the west coast. The girls got to put their feet in the Sea of Japan!
The first class they taught.
Teaching at the Christian kindergarten.
The kids were so sweet. Please pray for this kindergarten! They need more students!
Celebrating Lindsey’s birthday!
The third class they taught.
We all helped the pastor with the church flyers.
Please pray for Pastor Fujii and his family.
On our way back to Sendai, we stopped at this place where some Japanese old movies had been made.
Last month, we hosted a team from California Baptist University. Our missionary friends, Tony and Marsha Woods, brought them to Sendai and we served with the team for a week. They were well-prepared, energetic, and had a BIG heart for those in the disaster areas. We were blessed and encouraged by them!
We took them to the west coast of Japan to have a fellowship with children at Sakata Mission Church.
It was like a field day and we played tons of fun games!
Using her chopstick skills!
Don, who teaches at DBU, came to visit us and he went to Sakata with us. He shared his testimony with all the children. He also brought lots of Texas Rangers gifts for them! The kids were super excited!!! Many Japanese cheer for Rangers thanks to Yu Darvish!
Group photo!
Thankful for all the new friends!
We had lunch at Sakata Mission Church and Pastor Fujii shared his testimony. It touched and encouraged us so much. We finished our fellowship with prayers for this church and its community.
We invited everyone to our house for dinner. Michael did a great job grilling! We were happy to have our friend, Joey, whose parents are on our advocacy team!
Several young adults and students from the local churches joined us as well. We all had fun getting to know each other.
Everyone was so sweet to Luke!
We loved having them all!
We took them to one of the preschools that was damaged by the tsunami. Since they lost their building, they are using the community center right now. The kids looked so happy to play with the college students.
Loved seeing their cute smile!
Of course, Luke was thrilled to be surrounded by the kids!
The CBU team and Don brought lots of gifts for people in the disaster areas. Most of these kids lost everything in the tsunami and some lost their family members. They looked so happy to receive such special gifts from America.
One last group photo!
They helped us with our English class at our church. The kids did a great job introducing themselves to the CBU students!
On Saturday, we went to the temporary housings on Oshika Peninsula. We had an opportunity to serve with the Japanese believers. We delivered fresh vegetables to each temporary housing.
We had a chance to pray with this lady whose husband is in the hospital.
Our little missionary who opens so many doors for us!
We enjoyed singing with people in the temporary housing.
People in this temporary housing were so welcoming and sweet.
After spending a week with us, they served with the Samaritan’s Purse to rebuild houses in the disaster areas. They all worked so hard and it was evident that the home owners were blessed by them.
Thank you, CBU team, for coming to serve with us! Thank you for the ways you encouraged and helped us. We will continue visiting people and children that you met here. We pray that the seeds you planted here will grow in His timing! We miss you guys!
