We are Here!!

Konitiwa!

So much has happened since the last time we wrote and I am so excited to update you on all of the happenings of the past couple of days. We left Itchikawa station bright and early Saturday morning and caught 4 different trains to get to Itayanagi. Each change was quite the experience because of the equipment we had to carry in addition to our luggage! We were greeted by the Ghents at Itayangi station around 4:30pm.

Job and Nick modeling on the train

Soo Jin and Adam

Kelsey and Aimee

After our tour of Itayanagi Chapel, the Cafe Iris coffee shop and the Lighthouse Christian bookstore, which are next to the church, we spent the evening helping out with the Young Life juniour high group. We ate dinner with them, introduced ourselves, played outdoor games, and some of us shared our testimonies. Also, we had the great opportunity of listening to the group play "One Way" in Japanese. After they played, we spent some time teaching the kids some basics on their instruments.

Sunday was a full and wonderful day! The Ghents host an English Class every Sunday morning before the service. For this Sunday's class, Adam, Kaityln, Rebecca and Soo Jin helped out. The Ghents use these classes as an outreach to the non-Christians who live in the area. The rest of us lead worship for the morning service. All of the songs that we lead with were in Japanese except for one. We had the opportunity to introduce ourselves infront of the church and, after the service, were able to sit down for lunch with the congregation. Many of us had great conversations and were able to begin establishing relationships.

After lunch we drove for about a half an hour to the Ghent's church plant called Harvest Chapel. This church is still in the process of being established and is under ongoing construction. There are a few committed Christian families who attend and, this Sunday, a mother and her two children who have never come out to church before came as well. This was very encouraging for the Ghents as this woman has been affiliated with the church through outreach programs, but has never come out to a Sunday service. This service was also a very exciting one for the Ghents as it was the first service where the actual chapel area was used rather than the side room where it had previously been held. We were so blessed to have the opportunity to lead worship in this new sanctuary. While the adults heard the message in the side room, the nine of us lead Sunday school. We did some interactive songs with the five children there and found that they were incredibly enthusiastic and full of energy. At one point, the six year old little girl was actually having a drum-off with Adam and Colin. After hanging out with the children, we met with the rest of the congregation again and ate dinner together and shared some testimonies. One young man who attends the church with his wife, shared an incredibly encouraging testimony of how he grew up firmly believing in Buddhism and only recently came to faith.

We also lead worship later on Sunday night at a possible future church plant called Grace Chapel. Unlike Itayanagi and Harvest, the Ghents give this service in English. This group meets together in a rented building about an hour from Itayanagi and is considered as mostly a seeker church. About half of those who attend do not claim to be Christians, but are just interested in learning more about Jesus. We were able to enjoy a time of fellowship after the service and went to a local coffee shop to get to know the people in the group.

Laying the groove down with the kids at Harvest Chapel: