Week 4

Highlights

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The Parks City Presbyterian Church Team from Dallas, Texas, arrived in Nagoya late afternoon on Wednesday! However, I was stomach sick from Sunday this week, and I was up all night on Tuesday in the bathroom. So, I got to rest on this day and didn’t go to the airport to meet the team. I had only liquid foods/drinks for a couple days, which really limited my energy. On Thursday, we had a burger dinner for the team, and they did the Japanese Watermelon Split game.

Friday:

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On Friday morning, we had the last bit of orientation for the team. The large team was split into three separate groups with each team going to a different church. Claire and I were in charge of the team going to Hamamatsu. We were going to Kasai Christ Gospel Church. I went through logistics and the schedule for our time there, and we prayed before heading out. Our travel time was about 1.5 hours on the train to Hamamatsu.

We met and had dinner with Pastor Kambe’s family and some of the church members, and I was able to eat the curry that was served! I was translating Japanese to English (barely) for the team. Kambe sensei welcomed the PCPC team and talked about how thankful he was that they came to a small church in Japan compared to their large church in Texas. We did our introductions around the room and played 2 truths and a lie. It was a lot of fun and everyone was extremely nice. A family of the church gave us sweets for everyone to share, and they were SO GOOD!

Also the entire time, everyone was saying how I looked like Saki, Kambe sensei’s niece. They told me that she would be coming the next day, so I could look forward to it.

Saturday:

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Saturday was the BBQ Event, and it was so much fun! I felt like a lot of us forgot we serving because we were so immersed in fellowship. We had several different types of amazing meats served right after it was done grilling. We also did the Watermelon Split game, and it was actually the best watermelon I’ve ever eaten in my life.

After all the eating, the PCPC team lead a couple games, and we had a small dance party. Afterwards, we sang a couple of worship songs, and then one of the PCPC high school students shared her testimony. After the testimony, Kambe sensei gave an awesome message with a connection to a children’s book that he read first. The book he read was about a cat who didn’t have a name. The cat compared itself to other cats, dogs, and even flowers and how they all had names. At the end of the book, someone finds the cat and gives it a name. The cat realized that it wasn’t looking for a name, but it was actually looking for a person to call them a name. Kambe sensei connected this with how God has given us a name and connected it to other stuff that I didn’t completely understand. 😀

The event ended and many people stayed and continued to play games with each other until we had to clean up. Overall the day was full of fun, and it was encouraging to see many students from around the town gather and have fellowship with one another.

Side note: I met Saki as I entered the church, and the kids from Friday evening were all looking forward to it. Everyone was amazed on how much we looked alike and the day continued with pictures and stares from those who were friends of Saki. Her mom came too and told me that I could call her my mom as well.

Sunday:

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Sunday church service at Kasai Christ Gospel Church was great. One of the PCPC leaders gave his testimony during the service, and many people said they felt encouraged from the testimony. The church served udon and pizza after the service, and the church prepared gifts for us all! They gave us each a super cute towel, and the kids made origami for us.

The event for Sunday was geared more for elementary students. PCPC led a short game of “bear, ninja, and cowboy,” a version of rock, paper, scissors. Then, the PCPC team did a short skit they prepared called “the Ragman Skit.” Kambe sensei did a short message afterwards explaining how Jesus took all our sins on the cross. After the message, Kambe sensei went over the rules of the water battle, and we split into two teams. We went to a park that was right behind the church, and there were paper targets around the park on two sides. Our goal was to break through the other team’s targets with our water weapons. All the older kids and the PCPC team had to have targets on themselves as well. Almost everyone was soaked head to toe after everything, and we returned back to have kakigori!

After everyone left and cleaned up, we all circled up and reflected on the weekend with Kambe sensei and the church. Kambe sensei first thanked the PCPC team for coming and explained how successful both events were. He asked the team for their thoughts of the weekend. The team shared about how they were fascinated by seeing others praise in a different language and about how they were amazed by the true fellowship that happened at this church. One person also shared how they were encouraged by seeing Kambe sensei’s true joy from the truth of the gospel. Kambe sensei shared prayer requests, and after we prayed all at once, we had a few people close in prayer.

It was really nice to end our time in Kasai with prayer. Kambe sensei requested that we would continue to pray for Kasai Christ Gospel Church and that the church would continue to pray for us during our stay in Japan. It was sad to say goodbye, and I felt a strong desire to come back and visit in the near future.

Overview:
It was an absolute joy and honor to be able to serve with Kambe sensei at Kasai Christ Gospel Church with PCPC. The two events we helped out with were a blast, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. In the short time we had there, I felt like I was a part of their church family. I was grateful to be able to experience how God was working in Kasai, and I left super encouraged. Please continue to pray with me for the Kasai Christ Gospel Church and for the salvation for the students who come to these monthly events.