Fukushima, June 8

This morning we were able to sleep in! We started the day with some much needed quiet time to do our devotional, read our bibles, and pray. We began our morning team meeting during breakfast with a type of group prayer where everyone prays out loud at once. It made us really appreciate the power of prayer and recognize that God is calling us to pray for and into different things.

We had the opportunity to interact with children both in the church and out of it with a children’s event put on by the church. It was similar to a vacation bible school with songs, a story, and some other activities. We read about Noah’s ark in both Japanese and English. After the story, we all drew pictures of boats symbolizing salvation through Jesus Christ! 

From there we dispersed into individual groups and we able to explore Fukushima and build relationships with both Japanese students and members of our American team. Some groups went to sing karaoke, others hung out at the church, and the rest went out to eat. It was great to get to spend more time with others!

At 5:00, we went to a restaurant called Nanaya as a team. Everyone had so much fun talking and it was nice to have more time to connect as a team and fill each other up after pouring into the Japanese people all week. 

Worship is something I know a lot of people on the trip had been craving tonight, so we played a few songs and sang along. The Holy Spirit felt so present and we all felt the Lord’s power in that worship after serving him all week. Everyone got to share about the friends and family night tonight, and hearing everyone’s stories about last night truly showed how many people were impacted in just simple conversations. The Japanese people are truly craving for the Lord in a way we as Americans can’t understand because we are always surrounded by Christians and Christianity. So many people were able to tell more about Jesus and show his love to students from various high schools that night.

Overall, this Saturday was a day of resting in God, and a time of reflection on what the Lord was able to do in our lives during the past week. He is so present and Japan and it was hard to see that each individual day, but getting an overall view showed us just how much he truly worked each and every day.

Prayer Requests:

-That we don’t stop working and pushing for the Lord even though our time at the schools is done

-To continue to open eyes and minds of the Japanese people and plant seeds in them

-Rest and recuperation before heading to Tokyo

-Safe travels when we go to Tokyo as well as going home on Wednesday  

Caty and Lucy