We started of the day with breakfast at 8:30, so the guys were able to sleep in a little. We had a leisurely breakfast and then walked about 10 minutes to visit a local temple. It was interesting for the guys to see people visiting and how they act. One of the sad parts of the visits was to see the little pieces of paper tied to a string or to a tree or the the special pieces of wood. Each of these pieces of paper represent a prayer that the people put there hoping that the wind would take up to heaven (or wherever their God is. Another really sad part is how they pray. There was actually a group of construction workers who came to ask a blessing for their work, and as they all faced the altar/temple, they clapped their hands and bowed. The clapping is to wake their god. It reminds me of the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal and how Elijah chided them that there god was asleep. It also makes me think of Isaiah 65:24 "Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear." We have a God who does not need to be awakened by clapping or anything else we do. What a blessing and what an incentive to support the ministries of BJ and Masa/Chie to do whatever they can to help free the Japanese from such darkness.
We returned to the church after the temple visit to spend some time in worship, followed by a devotional by Phil Yovino on servant leadership. Before the worship, we were joined by Emi (Shizuko's daughter-see Day 1), who told us some of her story. Then we had worship and Phil spoke from Philippians 2:1-8, and also used some servant leadership material that was a part of our tour notebook. He did a great job and it is obvious he has a heart for the Lord and for these players.
After devos, we took a long bus ride to the National Soccer training center where we had games scheduled with two different high schools: Sakai Technological School; and Imamiya Technological School. For all three teams to play round robin, it was decided that we would play 30 minutes against Imamiya, who would then play 30 minutes against Sakai, who would play 30 minutes against us--and then we would repeat that cycle once more. So, we ended up playing 4 30-minutes games. We beat Imamiya (actually the better team) 6-0 and 7-0, while our 2nd group of players beat Sakai 3-0 and 5-0. 21 goals! Wow! The time after the game was great. We did our American song, then actually had the other two teams join us. What a fun time. You will enjoy the video. Then, we had each of the two high school teams sing us a song for a change. Very interesting. Then, we joined their song. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and BJ said later that they had a very good time. True Tamplin did his testimony with Chie translating. I had just heard True's testimony yesterday at church, and this almost seemed different. It was so inspired and really seemed to speak to them. Chie told me later that she could sense they were really tracking him.
I talked with Masa today about what kind of follow-up there would be for the two high school teams we played today. He said that the Imamiya high school is the same high school that BJ's youngest son James goes to, so BJ would have the opportunity to invite them to church activities because of James, and because of BJ's connection to today's event. Again, this shows the importance of relationship here in Japan. Another interesting observation came from Masa's wife Chie. She had not intended to do much translating this tour, but it ended up that she translated both last night at Kinki University, and for the testimony at today's high school games. She said she noticed that the university guys seemed much less open to the message that did the younger boys. She said that because of the Japanese history of persecution of Christians, where people would report on each other for believing, that it is hard for someone to make a confession of Christ for fear of people watching and what others would say. Plus, there is the tough guy attitude. So, it is more important to either get them one on one, or get them at an earlier age. Chie said that observations like these over the years have been a confirmation of their decision to start their soccer school for the particular age group they are working with. It is also a reason for us to be especially in prayer for their ministry.
After the games, we went to the sento and then back to the food court for dinner.
Pictures
Video Montage
Goal Fest
American Song with the Japanese
Imamiya song
Sakai song with us
True's testimony
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