What a day! Karen

I woke up this morning very tired and just praying so hard for the energy necessary to end the week enthusiastically. Again, God provided. This week Ev and I shared the duties of teaching the bible stories to all of the kids. We also led a group of seven 6^th grade girls in discussions, memory verses, and crafts. And what a joy that turned out to be, as that allowed us to spend significant quality time with our group.

In Japan, I don’t think girls (or boys, for that matter) spend time in discussion- just talking about their lives in general. Yesterday, I led a discussion with the girls about the relationships they have with their fathers. Sadly, most dads in Japan are not active in their children’s lives. The raising of children is the mother’s job. I shared with them how our Father God in Heaven is the perfect father, always available, always listening and always loving. Kohichi was available to translate for me during the discussion. A divine appointment for sure! I didn’t know I was going to talk about dads until Ev told the bible story. It just came to me. Totally a Spirit led thing. I strongly felt the Lord’s presence as we met and I really felt the girls were listening to the message and to each other. All praises to Him!

So, today we had the privilege of harvesting some fruit! On Wednesday, one girl from our group came to Christ. Today, there were two! SUGOI! (That’s Japanese for ‘wow’- I’m learning some of the language, heh, heh!) Ev prayed the believer’s prayer with our whole group. It really was awesome. One of the girls who accepted doesn’t go to church. This was her first VBS. As these kids begin their journey as Christ followers, please pray for them. Pray that they would be encouraged to grow in their faith and that they would feel the peace of our Lord Jesus, deeply.

Thank you, thank you for all of your prayers. I can’t wait to share more with you when I come home!