Ev: Our Mighty God Answers Prayers!

After Shirley talked to us about the problem with some of the new kids, we spent time to pray. To be honest, I felt a little depressed because it was happening under our noses but we did not know Japanese or what was being said. Today I realize that we are facing a spiritual battle and that the only way to win is putting our trust in God. God has given us the victory, we just need to trust in Him, no matter what the circumstances look like. As we rode the train on Wednesday morning, I remembered the story of Gideon who faced 1000s of Midians with only 300 Israelites. God wanted to be sure that all would know it was He who would win the battle, not a large army. Shirley talked to the kids about their behavior and what God expects. We placed kids in the thinking spot if they forgot the 2 rules - 1) love God by listening/obeying and by doing their best and 2) love others by being respectful and by being kind.

The first thing that happened was Karen had difficulty trying to think of how to relate the story of the good Samaritan to the Japanese culture and children. We talked but nothing seemed to "hit" us. When Shirley shared the problem, it was the exact situation she needed to bring the of idea of what "loving your neighbor" really meant. The lesson hit home for the kids. It seemed if God, in His providence, provided the needed situation to present this truth in a powerful way.

The second event was Lucy sharing a story about a little girl lost in the Amazon Rainforest and how she learned that what was on the outside was not as important as what was on the inside. She was nervous but God worked through her to tell a story that kids really listened too.
The next thing that occurred was when Katherine shared her testimony to the kids at the end of the day on Tuesday. A mother of one of the boys shared today that because of what she shared, her son come home and began asking questions about God. God had used Katherine's testimony to touch his heart. God is so good.

Today we had Austin share his faith story and the kids were attentive as he shared.
During the story time we shared the 4 spiritual laws that Richard had given us. We did not have time to talk to anyone about whether they wanted to accept. But God had a divine "disaster" when our Cosco pizzas for pizza party were given away and another batch had to be made. That meant that our 12:00 pizza party would not start until 12:30! But what was a misstep for us turned out to be an opportunity for God to work. One of the girls became a Christian. She accepted Christ as her savior and began to cry. She then went out to tell her other Japanese friends what she had done. They asked her what happened and she told them. If the pizzas were not late, there would not have been time to talk with her!

After the pizza party and the kids went out to do PE in the park. Karen shared her faith story and the mothers were really encouraged. They also shared from their hearts about their lives. One mother shared that would come to church this Sunday!

Finally we went to the nursing home. We sang our songs and share the gospel message as well as the parable of the lost sheep. We passed out bookmarks with John 3:16 printed on them in Japanese as Ausin played (Boy, is he good!) People seemed grateful that we came.


It was a tiring day but for some reason we weren't tired. God was so faithful. When the circumstances look bad, we have to remember that God is still working and nothing is ever unplanned when we give our plans to Him. Thank you so much for your prayers. We can honestly say God answers prayers! May He receive all the glory for everything.