Sunday, July 30, 2023
Church, Lunch with Congregation, Worship Time, Game and Dinner/Fellowship with SSU, 7-30-23
This morning started at 8 with the ladies needing to clean up the sanctuary where they sleep and put everything away in the room at the back (where Lauren sleeps) and get the sanctuary ready for church. Breakfast was at 9 and started by a devotional from Lauren. Church here is not like in the US where people arrive last minute or late. People started arriving as early as 9:45 (for a 10:30 service) and were coming up to visit. Paul got a visit from a man called Yoji. It was very special, but the story is way too long to repeat here. We also receive a visit from the Nakamuras (Kojai). Kojai had become a christian way back in 1998 or 1999 during the Seahorse ministry in Nagoya. He drove an hour just to see the Seahorses and have a chance to worship with them. We were also joined by Ken-Chan (& her husband). Ken-Chan is a master translator who also became a Christian through the Seahorse ministry in Nagoya in 1998. The service was so special. Hasui-sensai's son Yo led a lot of the service. There was a song by 5 children (very sweet), a Bible time done by Keiko (Pastor's wife), singing, Paul's testimony, the team's Kimi-Wa song (accompanied by the band) and Pastor Hasui's sermon. After church and some post-service visiting, we had lunch upstairs with the congregation who could stay. This is always a special time of encouragement for all. At 1:30 it was back to the sanctuary for a time of worship with the band until about 2:45. The words for the songs were on the screen with some verses being in Japanese (but the Japanese included both the Japanese characters and the words using the English alphabet, so we could try to sing along). There was special music too: a 6-person choir number made up mostly of the older members and a soloist who had a phenomenal voice. As one of the girls said, it was a little taste of heaven worshipping with another culture in another language and imagining what heaven will be like. Sophia gave her testimony at this service. After worship there was about a 90 minute break and then it was off to the field for our game with SSU (Shizuoka Sangyo University). They are a very good team. As I am not a soccer player, I will leave it to the players to tell you about the game. After the game, Paul told about the team, there was some passing out of gifts (Paul's book, team brochure, a Biola womens soccer shirt for each girl), and then Kierstin gave her testimony. After testimony, we did our Hippo song and Kimi-Wa song. After the Hippo song, we had the translator for Kierstin's testimony come up and line by line explain the words of the Hippo song, so it was not just a fun song, but a simple testimony also. Paul then tried to get them to do a fun song, but this time they were hesitant. So, Paul improvised to break the ice and put several jerseys in a circle and created a Sumo ring and had some of the girls do Sumo. You'll just have to see the video to see how it worked. After that it was a time of mixing, which you can see from the pictures and video went really well. When that ended it was showers, back to the church for another wonderful meal prepared by the church ladies. We had invited the Sangyo girls back to the church for dinner and we were told that 15 of them would come. It was quite a turnout. All the girls had a great time and seemed to bond really easily. We have been told in the past that it means something to them to hear that these girls who believe in God can also have fun and express their emotions. That was certainly evident tonight. Only God knows the long-term impact it will have, but tonight it was great (as you will see in the pictures and video montage). AND, the schedule worked such that we will play them again tomorrow night and also have dinner with them. This is a first and a great way to continue relationships.
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