English Camp has begun!

The last few days have been a whirlwind.  We have seen and experienced a lot in our few days here already. Today we started our English camp.  We all didn't quite know what to expect.  After meeting with Seima yesterday, we decided we needed to change up some of the material we had planned for the week.  At first I panicked a little bit trying to figure out what we were going to do but were able to spend some time thinking it through and came up with revised skits for the week that all tied into a theme.  God was at work even when we doubted.  This is a lesson that God continues to teach me (Sarah).  I want to do everything on my own but thankfully God intervenes and reminds me He needs to be in the center of everything.

We had such a great time with the kids and their moms.  We ended up having a lot of young kids (5 and younger) and not as many older kids.  They most enjoyed the games and crafts.  Who doesn't love a good game of red light/green light and a chance to make hand puppets!  It was so wonderful to see the kids running around and having a good time.  I really enjoyed meeting the moms.  They were all very sweet and even though there was a slight language barrier, we were able to communicate.  Drew mentioned in a previous blog post about the story of the mom in the community who had committed suicide.  When I heard that story I was very moved and my heart went out to other women in similar situations.  I was so glad we could in a small way support and care for the moms and their kids that came today.

I hope that through the work of Seima and his team that this whole community would feel love, support and a strong sense of community.  We are excited for tomorrow and a chance to be with the kids again.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of the week.  I do know that God is at work here and I pray that Grace Harbor church will be a refuge for this community.  Sema said today that he hopes in a 100 years that Japan will be known as a Christian nation as opposed to today where as little as .2% profess to be Christians.  I second that hope with Seima!