The Tower of Babel

This week we taught the children about the tower of Babel. We began our lesson with our usual Good morning song. Then, we told the story about the building of the tower of Babel and taught them that our way is not God's way. We reminded them about God's love for us and how He reaches us despite our efforts (such as the building of the Tower of Babel). Then we shared how God mixed the languages of the people in the world and used that to introduce the various places of the world, primarily Israel, as we explained the the geographic locations of the Bible stories, and America. Then, we went "sightseeing" around the Sumida family household and visited various pictures of popular sights in the Western U.S. that we had placed for the children to see, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Grand Canyon, etc. It was a "grand" time! Then we played an interactive English learning game with dice called, "Sugoroku" (as shown in the picture). Once again this week proved to be a blessed time with the children and we are thankful that the Lord has continued to bring Yuki and Nagisa each week. May they grow to know the Lord in the near future!

God's Creation

Today we taught the kids about how God created the world. We began singing our usual good morning song accompanied by guitar. For our English lesson we taught them to say the days of the week. We ran around playing follow the leader while saying, "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday..." Then we told the story of how God created the world. How He created the earth and all the animals, and finally Adam and Eve. The children we very attentive and listened well, (there were only two this time). Afterward, when asked what the story was about, Nagi-chan said, (flashing a peace sign in the picture) "It was about God creating the world!" How wonderful to know that these little ones are hearing the truth. To end our time together we played balloon games. We had a "balloon stomp!" We all tied balloons to our ankles and tried to stomp on each other's balloons. Then we hit a balloon back and fourth between us while saying the days of the week and counting 1-100 in English. There were only two children who came this week. But the Lord encouraged me and put Luke 15:4 on my heart. "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses ONE of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the ONE which is lost until he finds it?" Once again a truly blessed time. Praise the Lord!

Noah and the Great Flood

Yesterday we had five neighbor children come to our "Saturday Sunday School". We taught them about animals and the great flood. We taught them the English names of animals like the elephant, monkey, bear, and the pig. We sang a song to practice saying the animal names in English. Setsuko flipped through the cards as we sang the names of each animal and I played guitar. Then we read them the story of the Great Flood from a children's book. I read in English and Setsuko translated into Japanese. First, we told them that after the beginning of creation and Adam and Eve, there came a time when God was very displeased with mankind and so He decided to destroy the whole world with a great flood. Then we told them that God was only pleased with Noah and so He told Noah build an ark that would hold his family and the animals. At this time we made sure to mention the animals we had learned in English. Then we told them how the flooding stopped and the earth began to dry up and Noah and his family and the animals came out of the ark. We told them that God was very sad because of the destruction He had caused with the flood and therefore He promised never to flood the earth again. We told them how God created the rainbow to remind us of His promise. We emphasized that God loves us and wants the best for us. After sharing the story of Noah and the Great Flood we made balloon animals and played animal Pictionary while listening to various children's Bible songs. It was another blessed time with the children. Praise the Lord and may the Lord begin moving upon the hearts of these little ones so that one day they may truly know Him!

Celebrating Easter

This past Saturday on Easter weekend we were able to share about Jesus with the children of Yorishima town. We began our time together with an English lesson, teaching them how to say "Good morning," "How are you?" and "Fine. Thank you." Afterward we told them the real meaning of Easter. They knew that we had planned an Easter egg hunt, so we used that to share with them that Easter eggs are not what Easter is all about. We told them the story about how Jesus died and rose again so that we could have eternal life. This was the first time all seven of them had heard the Gospel! Praise the Lord! Afterward, we went to the park hunted for eggs. Then we came back to Setsuko's house and colored them. Praise the Lord that these little ones are beginning to be reached! Tomorrow, we will be sharing about Noah and the great flood. May the Lord bless our time together.

Going to Takeshima Chapel

What a blessing it was to attend Takashima Chapel this morning in the Hiroshima area. He gave a sermon from Luke 19 mentioning how the world is much like Israel, unable to submit to the Lord just as Israel did not submit and thus it is written, "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side. And level you, and your childrne within you, to the ground..." (Luke 19:43-44) When Jesus entered the city He wept because He knew the hearts of the people would cause them to be far from the Lord. Therefore, He preached about quiet time, making time for the Lord, drawing near to the Lord, and waiting on the Lord, that we include time for the Lord each day. Quiet time has been quite a theme for me regarding the last few messages I have heard.
The church is small by American standards, but it is good size for Japan with about 20 people attending today. They were all so kind and quick to welcome me as a newcomer. I look forward to working together with them and fellowshipping in the near future.
Today it rained a little, but not too much. Setsuko and I did a prayer walk for Yoroshima town this evening. Also, there is a college nearby, and since the town is so sleepy, the students tend to hang around the convinient store which we walked by before beginning our prayer walk. There is another opportunity to reach out get some type of ministry going. The facilities are here, so we are praying about this too.
Oyasami-nasai. (Goodnight)