The following 3 videos were spoken with translation. The translations have been edited out for ease of viewing, but that is why they might seem a little jumpy.
Video Montage-None today as there was too little to use
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Slow day, Shopping (Mall), Lunch (Mall), Training, Special Thanks Dinner with Iwata Church
Today was a needed day. Breakfast was 8-9 and then about 9:30 it was off to the mall for a Japanese shopping experience and then lunch at the mall. After returning to the church, the team had an hour training session. Then, since it was a slow afternoon anyway, the Lord used this to help save some money. Instead of sento, we let the girls shower one at a time at the church (saving several hundred dollars to go to the sento). This is quite the sacrifice for Pastor Hasui and Keiko, as the shower used is in their house on the 3rd floor. So, one at a time while the rest of the team is watching the US women's world cup game. My apologies at this point. Since I was behind with such a busy day yesterday, I stayed behind to catch up on the blog, I was not able to get any pictures of the morning activities, but have included a few I picked up from the team. The evening's program was designed as a special thank you dinner with all of the people that the Seahorses have worked closely with over the 23 years (2001-2023) of ministering here in Iwata. The program started with Pastor Hasui doing a presentation on his computer with pictures over the 23 years and talking about the impact the Seahorses have had and also thanking those Japanese coaches who have partnered with us (Two coaches from SSU and the Daiichi soccer club coach were in attendance). Each of those coaches spoke to say their thanks also. Then Paul spoke for awhile (as difficult as it was for him) and had many words of gratitude for the people of Iwata, the partnering with them in ministry, the wonderful relationships that were developed and cherished, and how much he will miss coming back with a full team. He did emphasize though that he would likely be back for visits. Then there was a whole series of people passing out gifts. Gifts from the church to the Seahorses, from the Seahorse to all the various church members, gifts from the coaches to the team and from the team to the coaches. One special gift that Paul gave to all the church members, was a Japan tour t-shirt (which he does every year), except that THIS year, he had them all specially made with the person's name on the back (you probably saw this early when Yoko the cook got her shirt). Pastor Hasui and Keiko got Paul a special shirt with a picture of him and Vickie on the back. Pastor Hasui asked me to close the meeting in prayer. It was so hard to say thank you knowing that most likely I will (unlike Paul) never see any of them again. A very difficult but precious evening. We leave tomorrow morning at 9:30 (ish).
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