Hello Iwaki City!

The team has left Yokohama, and we are staying in Iwaki City in the Fukushima Prefecture. We began Monday morning by reuniting after our weekend homestays and driving the 3 hours to Iwaki. We are staying at the Global Mission Center which was originally built to house relief teams following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It now has a wonderful cafe and bookstore on the bottom floor where the team gets matcha lattes and coffee after a long day.

The team is working this week with Taira Baptist Church and the Taira Kindergarten and Daycare. The kindergarten recently relocated to a beautiful new facility and has around 75 children! This is a big increase from the 20 kids Ben worked with last year. On Tuesday, the team—led by Cole—taught the three, four, and five year olds some Bible songs. Today (Thursday), Nathan led the team in teaching the four and five year olds some games. The crowd favorite was hot potato!

The children have been really excited to meet us. They chatter away in Japanese excitedly. I chatter excitedly back in English. The joy of that age is that things like a language barrier don't matter as long as you are willing to play in sand and go down the slide. Several of the girls remembered me today and excitedly shouted "Sarah-san" and held my hands (and arms) for the rest of the day. A highlight for me was getting to sit and read with the 3 year olds before lunch time. They snuggled up to me and handed me books written in Japanese, and I made up stories in English to go with the pictures. 

Wednesday morning the team was blessed to spend time with members of Taira Baptist Church at the weekly prayer meeting. We sang a couple songs, and then Abigail, Cole, and Nathan shared their testimonies. The prayer time was focused this week on praying for the Japan Baptist Seminary and the students, faculty, and staff there. I challenge you to keep the seminary in your prayers as well! Pastor Tanno and several church members treated us to lunch after the prayer meeting. I have been overwhelmed again and again by the hospitality and kindness of the Japanese people! 

With much love and gratitude from Japan!
-Sarah