Day 10, Kakegawa Castle, Tahara FC Boys Clinic

    It was a 9am breakfast this morning so we all had the opportunity to sleep in a little.  Then it was the opportunity for a little culture, and a new experience.  We had the chance to do a little sightseeing.  We walked to a train station, took a short train ride (the first one) and then walked again to the Kakegawa castle.  This particular castle, at least the guard tower, had completely burned in the 1800's and that portion of the castle grounds had been made into a park. Then a number of years ago, someone donated a large sum of money to rebuild the castle, other donors matched this, and the tower castle was rebuilt to its original specifications.  The steps in the tower are extremely steep, intentionally, so we were told, so that as one retreated up, it was easier to defend as the attackers could not get a good position.  Eventually though the lord of the castle realized that he would be taken and committed suicide.  It was very interested to learn of the history of the castle.  Then between Paul Bostrum and Pastor Hasui, we were shuttled to our lunch area.  After lunch, 10 ladies (& Paul G) were taken to the train for the ride back to Pastor Hasui's, while the others were taken directly to the church.
    By the time we got back to church, we had about 45 minutes to rest, and then it was off to our next location.  We went to field seemingly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by rice fields.  Before, during, and after the event, when they got a break, some of the ladies went frog hunting.  There were literally hundreds, probably thousands around the field (very small ones).The ladies practiced from 4-5 and then the 10-12 year old boys from the Tahara FC Club began arriving.  The ladies immediately began mixing before the official start time of 5:30pm.  There were the usual introductions of the captains, coaches and the leaders of the two clubs (Tahara, Seahorses).  Then both the ladies and the kids were broken up into 8 different teams, with 3-4 of our ladies, and 4-5 kids on each team.  They spent some time doing drills, but what most of the kids wanted to do was play games, which was done most of the time.  It was great to watch the ladies adapting their games to make sure they involved the kids as much as possible.  You could tell that the kids were having a great time.
     After the games, we did the usual post-game activities:  Japanese song, American song (we explained the meaning of the song and Paul Bostrum translated it for us), team cheer (and then they joined us for the cheer), and testimony.  Bree M (Mik) did her testimony.  After her testimony, we passed out the team brochures and there was a lot of informal mixing.  As part of the closing ceremonies, Pastor Hasui was introduced, so that those there then now had a connection to a church should they desire to get attend.
    Please pray that the seeds planted would grow, and that those there would feel comfortable to go to Pastor Hasui's church.
     After the clinic was over, we got a ride to the sento to get cleaned up and then walked next door to eat dinner.  After dinner we rode home and were off to bed.  All except Paul.  Pastor Hasui's son Yo (whose wedding Paul perform the ceremony for).  He had traveled over an hour (with wife and baby) to be able to see Paul and particularly to play ping pong.  They have had this ongoing competition for many years.  Yo was here until 12:30.  Please pray that that relationship would continue to grow and bear fruit also and that Paul could get some sleep today/tonight).

Pictures, Day 10
Pictures, All
Video Montage, Day 10
Clinic Boys Song, Day 10
Bo-te-le-li Team Cheer, Day 10
Bo-te-le-li Team Cheer, Day 10 (with the kids)