Sunday at NBF on Sep 4

Here is a picture of our students on September 4 at NBF's 3pm afternoon service. Kohichi had them up front and interviewed them in a Q&A format since it is a rare Sunday that we get to see all three of them together (lots of school clubs on Saturday and Sunday afternoon). It was a blessing to hear about their time in the US with their host families and at JEMS Warm Beach camp. Apparently it was very cold for them, something they did not expect, I guess, although I did tell them to bring a fleece jacket just in case. They all spoke fondly of their time with their host families and how much everyone gathered at night just to talk. They enjoyed camp, especially Kaoru, and visiting Lighthouse church, seeing past and present VBS members, meeting new people and making new friends, eating American food, and just seeing the great American outdoors. They were amazed by how many cars there were, how big everything was and how "free" it felt to be there. We have asked each of them to prepare a more formal presentation and will schedule each for a time to share on Sunday when they are able to attend service again.

We had lots of visitors this day, because Larry and Alma Oline, our former TEAM missionaries, were in town visiting. We always have lots of people when they are in town!

We asked Larry if he could share a short message with us after the kids shared. He talked briefly about Proverbs 3:5-6, and Matthew 11:28-29, two timeless passages that all of us go back to again and again for encouragement, guidance and comfort.

We ended with a pretty grand tea and snack time as many visiting ladies brought sandwiches, fruit, pizza! and other more substantial snacks for a wonderful time of fellowship. We are thankful we have the chance to see the Oline's at least once every year in Japan. They are already in Kobe now serving as relief missionaries for 2.5 months as the assigned missionary family there takes a short furlough to the USA. We praise God for all his faithful and willing servants and pray that the Oline's time in Kobe would be fruitful, too! Amen.

Homestay Students Back Safely in Japan

August 30 at SeaTac Airport


August 31, 2011
On behalf of Nokendai Bible Fellowship, we are happy to report that our 3 homestay students arrived safely back in Japan on Wednesday afternoon in Japan, ahead of typhoon #12. Our heartfelt thanks to Lighthouse Christian Church body of believers and the host families who gave so generously of themselves to show Kaoru, Saya and Yuko an unforgettable first US experience.

God bless you and we look forward to the next time we may fellowship again in person!

-Shirley

I am back my regular schedule already, fighting off the jet lag. It's the first time that I had the time and energy to blog. On the VBS days, I got about 4-6 hours of sleep on average. While it was a busy time, the adrenaline kept me going and the mission was a satisfying experience. It was great to have an intense week of focus of sharing the gospel and spending time with those who Jesus loves and who He wants to know him. I was able to share my personal testimony twice - with the kids and also at Sunday Service, share the basics of the gospel, teach how to do a simple bible study, pray for personal concerns of the women in my bible study and just love the kids through recreation time and crafts.

Some of the most touching times were just seeing the kids having a good time and showing whole hearted interest in learning about Jesus. And while we didn't have the time to know how much the kids really understood, it was encouraging that almost all the kids raised their hands to say they wanted to accept Jesus into the hearts.

Free-spirited Lisa. Showing off her new Manga bible.

Kokoro. His name means "heart" and he lives up to his name. He does everything with his whole heart.

Garrett, Matt, Ayumi, Mimi, Andrew and Daiki

One particularly, heart-warming time was to witness the baptism of one of the children who attended VBS last year. Yuka was only 8-years old and yet she showed an understanding of who Jesus was and what he had done for her.

We really got the sense that we were building on the work of the previous years of VBS. There were many opportunities to experience Christian community through worship, prayer and fellowship. There seems to be movement toward wanting to know Jesus more and experience his love.

Three students - Yuko, Saya and Kaoru -- around 13-14 years old, will come home to stay with Lighthouse families and it is our hope that they will experience the lifestyle of loving Christian families as well as the extended family of God at Pacific Northwest JEMS Warm Beach Conference and the Lighthouse community. It makes me wonder about God's plan for the 3 students who are so fortunate to have this experience at a young age. My prayer is that God would use them to lead the church at home in Japan having witnessed a greater vision of what church could be.

Please pray that we would continue to build on the work of this year, and we will see even greater fruit next year.

Shirley-On Their Way Back

August 15, 2011

We all made it to the Yokohama City Air Terminal (YCAT) bus terminal at Yokohama station before 11:00 AM this morning, praise God! This was not such an easy task since the team was staying in several locations. We were all there on time and met Kayoko and Yukina and their mothers, the two homestay girls from Soshin who will be traveling back with the team. Saya and Yuko and their parents were there, too, so we had a big group of people sending off the team. It was joyful, exciting for the homestay girls, and a little sad with tears in many eyes of others, but we trust the Lord will bring all of us back together again someday soon. We are so very thankful for the time we had together and for the blessing we received all around from our work together for God's glory. Here are some photos of them leaving on the bus.

Afterwards, we all got together for lunch. It was great to see 4 dads at a table eating together and the moms and kids at a long table.

After lunch, we parted ways. We took Nozomi to the JR train entrance and sent him on his way to his grandmother's house after we put some ice-cream into him and my 3 girls. He called already to say he arrived safely, another praise.

We did not receive any frantic telephone calls from the airport, so I presume everyone made it onto their respective flights on time with all their luggage.

We continue to pray for our homestay students, for their experiences at Warm Beach, Lighthouse, JBC, and with their host families and our extended church families in Bellevue and Seattle. May the Lord have His way with all of us during this time as we each seek to know Him and love Him, and obey Him as He calls us to various work He has planned for us in advance all around the world. Kaoru will join the other students at Warm Beach; he flies out on August 17 with a camp counselor from Warm Beach, another unexpected blessing that was arranged by our Lord back in June. The 2 Soshin students return with the Hwangs on August 25, landing in Japan August 26. The 3 NBF students return on August 30, landing in Japan on August 31. Our many thanks to those who helped arrange all our homestays, especially Mei-Ling, and to the families who are willing to host our students. We look forward to hearing their stories when they return to NBF in Japan. God bless you all!

Shirley-Blessed Weekend

Saturday, August 13

On Saturday night, we had the privilege of going to Semplice, Mr. Pagnotta's restaurant in Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, an amusement park with aquarium very near Kohichi's workplace in Yokohama. We enjoyed his Italian cooking and a time of wonderful fellowship with the whole Pagnotta family.

We celebrated Yuko's 13th birthday together; her birthday was today August 13.

And, we even saw some fireworks in the park around 8:30pm.

Except for not meeting up with the TMK team that evening at 5:30pm, because I miscommunicated the train station, it would have been a perfect night. But the Lord's mercy and grace are ever present, and we were able to meet them in Yokosuka at our apartment building, got Al and Ev settled into their room, got the 3 older boys to the Hoki's house, and dropped off Matt and Nozomi at the Onizuka's for the next 2 nights, all before midnight, praise God!

Sunday, August 14

On Sunday afternoon at our 3pm service, we were surprised to see 48 people at our service. We almost ran out of chairs, a wonderful problem to have.

This was a special day since the TMK team with with us and we had a planned baptism for Yuhka-chan. She was so brave and did such a good job answering Pastor Gerald's questions about her faith and commitment to Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Yuhka's step of faith was a powerful witness to other children in the room who later told their mother that if that was what baptism was, they wanted to do it too. They had been scared off by the concept of being dunked under water. If their faith is there and sprinkling works for them, then praise God! Perhaps this is the beginning of many baptisms among the VBS children this year!

Overall, we had a joyous time of worship and celebrated with a potluck dinner afterwards. We ate and talked and laughed and had wonderful fellowship together until almost 8:00pm!

What a blessed way to end a week of VBS at NBF. We are so very thankful for our partnership with the Lighthouse Church in Bellevue and pray that our continued work together would reap a grand harvest in Japan for God's glory. Amen!

Shirley-NBF Day 5, Last Day of VBS

Praise God for a terrific week of VBS at Nokendai Bible Fellowship. We had 21 kids today and were joined by many moms who have come faithfully all week to help and observe. Several dads showed up this afternoon, also to pick up their kids and see what they have been doing all week.

We took a group picture at lunch with many of the kids wearing their tie-dyed T-shirts! After a wonderful morning introduction, Mrs. Karen's experiment depicting sin and turning water into wine, we also had Nozomi-kun's testimony and an in depth bible discussion in each group and an invitation to say the believer's prayer, also. We pray for those who checked the box that said they had accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior today! We will do our best to follow-up with each person to encourage them in their new life in Jesus.
After lunch, we did marbling paper crafts that turned into beautiful cards complete with envelopes. The kids were still revving up and wanted to continue to do iron-beads and other recreation games, but we just plain ran out of time. We handed out pictures with picture frames, our gift bags and "Messenger" manga bibles, the fifth in the series that starts with "Messiah".

It is hard to believe a whole week has gone by already and it is almost time to say "good-bye" to our NBF team. We look forward to meeting up with the TMK team tomorrow night in Yokosuka. We pray that the Lord would continue to work in the hearts of all the children and parents we met this week as we continue to nurture our relationships with each of them. May God bless them and keep them and shine His face on them and give them peace. Amen.

Al and Ev: Final Night at Okutama and the animals come out!

Tonight's dinner was a jungle theme. We decorated the dining room to look like a jungle and each cabin group had to come down to the pool, get in a raft and row to the another side while fighting off a hippo who made big splashes (BJ in a rubber hippo mask), a frog that used a squirt gun and wanted to jump into the boat (Andrew in a rubber frog mask) and a very scary baboon (Tim) who tried to grab you if you got too close to "shore". We were afraid that the boys would get bonked on the head with a paddle by some of the girls. One girl even stood up to get better aim. Elias Reasoner was also a monkey and he and Tim really moved like a monkey and baboon! The kitchen staff all come out to watch the show. There must have been 8 rafts of kids at least. Those guys were so tired. We had a great dinner of salad, German sausage on a bone, fried boneless chicken, broccoli, corn on the cob, and dirt pudding with a gummy worm for dessert. All the meals have been really delicious - almost like a restaurant than camp food. God has blessed us at Okutama because we really got to serve not just with a servant's heart but literally as servants - meeting physical needs of believers in Japan by putting aside our comforts and doing hard work. Our wonderful "slave masters" were Laura and Bruce Harris, the director of the camp. The staff at the camp is so dedicated - the cook has been serving for 15 years! Ev learned to crack an egg properly by hitting it against another egg!! It works! After breakfast, we will be heading back to Tokyo area and then to Yokohama to have dinner with the NBF team. It will be so good to see them again. Thank for all your prayers. Al and Ev

Al: Can a woodchuck chuck wood?

Can a woodchuck chuck wood? Well, Tim, Andrew and BJ certainly can. These guys moved a whole stack of wood to a new location. They were at it all morning. OBC is clearing out the wood piles and fig trees to make way for storage trailers as they prepare to tear down the oldest structure which is 2 stories and build a new structure that will be 3 stories high. These guys are amazing!

As a reward the guys got to go rafting down the river near the chalet.

Al: Serving at OBC

We made it to OBC, Okutama Bible Chalet, just before noon on Thursday. There is a middle school/high school camp going on right now. There are 69 campers here in the tiny camp located on 0.7 acres of land. There are only 7 sinks for the boys to cleanup with and 7 sinks for the girls. The shower here is a guy's only community type shower with 5 stations to shower and one 6'x6'soaking tub. I assume the girl's only shower area is the same. Ev and I are sleeping in a tatame room without air conditioning but we do have fans and a dehumidifier. The dehumidifier collected almost a half gallon of water in 8 hours. This area of Japan is cooler than urban Tokyo as we are in a valley surrounded by high hills covered with trees. We had heavy rains and thunderstorms during the early afternoon today which later cleared up and allowed the guys to work outside.

When we committed to this trip, we wanted to have a servant attitude and serve the people in Japan. There service opportunities here at OBC are ample. So far we washed dishes, cleaned windows, printed designs on 90 DVD's, helped prepare for a bulk mailing, the guys dug out a fig tree and planted it in a new location. We have helped prepare food, and cleaned and set up the dining room. We are tired but it is a good kind of tiredness.

As a reward for digging up the tree, the guys were allowed to use the swimming pool.

Well, We got to go and help set up for breakfast.

Al

Shirley-NBF Day 4 of VBS

Another wonderful day full of God's grace, God's mercies and God's provision. It was really, really hot today, 35 Celcius which is 95 Fahrenheit and that does not account for humidity. Even at 7:30am, it was already very hot and muggy.

Again, we were out the door on time. The team typically takes the train and I meet them at the center since I drive all the heavy stuff up there in the car. When I pulled up to the center, I saw everyone sitting outside on the walkway. They key was, thankfully, in someone's backpack which was in my car, so one crisis was averted and the first of many of God's mercies and provisions for the day!

Kids showed up on time. We had 19 kids today, total. Mothers and friends from other churches showed up to help translate and do all kinds of things to help make things run smoothly. The morning song time was joyous and fun. The kids are really learning the music quickly and enjoy singing together. Matt had them do some very fun things this morning, a conga line that went through the hallways, then singing while lying on their backs. It was very different, but most of all, lots and lots of fun for everyone.

The morning introductions have been terrific. The stories work and the way they are told to the kids really works in Japanese. I loved the purple box intro yesterday and Nozomi's 5 onigiris and 2 fish was wonderful this morning. Katherine shared her testimony today and got a lot of kids talking again in a very good way as they are trying to understand what she has to go through when her alopecia is in progress.

Noon came quickly today and we ate lunch and got ready for the team to go up to the nursing home to meet Mr. Onoe at 1:30pm. The VBS team was sent off by the kids in the park, which turned into some of the children leading the team to the nursing home. There was some misunderstanding, because I instructed them to come straight back, but Randy called me and said the kids were welcome to stay and sing with them as they were well received and welcomed by the nursing home staff. Well, due to the miscommunication, a couple mothers were upset since they did not know where their children were which was completely understandable and it was not well communicated that they had gone in the first place. In the end, Randy walked all the children back first and went back to the nursing home to rejoin the team. They were able to finish their picture frames for tomorrow, did some very creative fuze-bead crafts and we cleaned up and were out of the center by 3pm. We were thankful that the Lord again provided, praise God!

It is so hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of VBS. A week really goes by so quickly. We see the Lord's hand at work for sure and pray that for tomorrow, each shepherd would feel empowered to act boldly to ask the questions and receive answers that will make all heaven rejoice. We covet your prayers and ask for supernatural sustenance as I know that many on the team have had very little sleep all week and are pretty much wiped out.

Thanks again for remembering us and praying for us!

Ev: Final Day of VBS and God is so good!!

It was the last day and Andrew and I were reviewing all the motions to the song. I don't know if it's just old age or what but I cannot learn as fast or remember as much any more. Tim, however, showed infinite patience and kept going over and over the motions. We weren't perfect but the kids still seem to enjoy the songs. Chieko taught the story of the lost son, and the kids were very attentive. Then we had memory verse review and the new one in Japanese and the kids sure did know them. We were in front and we could see them close their eyes and recite by memory. We did the gift boxes as the introduction to the invitation time which happened during shepherding time. Chieko and Jon gave out cards with response choices. Chieko later told us that the 3rd graders had checked that they wanted to know more about Jesus. We thank God that seeds were planted. After shepherding, we had craft and we all helped with the cards and beads. My Al is amazing. He had it organized, figured out a way to rubber all their cards together with their names on the rubberband so nothing got lost, had the coloring pages and bead craft all grouped with the cards on the table for the kids to pick up, etc. The kids loved the craft so much that we were late for lunch. Chieko and Carol Suzuki, Paul Suzuki's wife, and other mothers helped cooked a delicious yakisoba noodle lunch - 3 kinds!! Carol has been such a blessing throughout this who VBS. She was helping in every possible way, translating, cleaning up, setting up, etc. We were all amazed at all the delicious dinners Chieko made for us and this morning she is making us Swedish pancakes for breakfast. We brought some cake mixes for her and I think she used them all during VBS for Wednesday's lunch, women's tea, etc. She said that is energized by all this. Now that is the gift of hospitality! I just got tired watching her. After lunch, our fearsome threesome, Tim, Andrew and BJ, took the kids out so the mothers could have tea time. We went up to the conference room so if the kids came back early due to the heat, they could play with the parachute. Chieko had a lace table cloth on the conference table, and there were 11 altogether. She made a lemon cake and a dark chocolate rose shaped cake for the ladies. About half were non-believers.Chieko began talking about the earthquake and tsunami and asked how they felt and what were their fears. That led into my testimony. I prayed that God would use it to plant seeds and bring someone closer to understanding the love of God. I also prayed that other believers would be encouraged. The verse that came to me was 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

God allows trials in my life so I could have the opportunity to share how God carried me through them and that knowledge gives comfort to others who have their own trials. Carol later shared with me something she had to struggle with and her story gave me such encouragement. God is so good. Chieko shared with me comments other women made and she was encouraged by their openness. In fact she and I have decided to pray specifically for 3 women who seem more open that they would someday accept Jesus as their Savior. One of the women gave me her email and in a very teacher voice (she's a retired English teacher in a Japanese school) said, "I expect to see you right here in this chair next year!" I know God will reap a harvest in "the proper time, if we just keep persevering." We came downstairs and sure enough the parachute was going. At three they folded up the chute and one little boy, Kairi, begged Jon to let them stay longer to play ping pong - just 15 minutes more. We had to finally "kick" them out at 4PM. We started cleaning up and the kids ended up trying to help! We stood at the door and waved good bye, we took pictures and hugged. Then we collapsed! I got a great picture of Tim totally zonked out sitting against a wall.

We headed home so the boys could shower before going out to a Japanese restaurant with the Reasoners and Suzukis. It was a great way to celebrate the end of VBS. Carol, Chieko and I sat at one end of the table and talked and talked. It was a wonderful time of encouragement.

Tomorrow we're off to Okutama Bible Chalet to help serve in whatever way is needed. Another chance to see God work and to meet other people. I am excited. Please pray for strength to continue serving Him and those He brings us into contact with.

Thank so very much for your prayers. Nothing can be done or accomplished unless His people pray. Ev

Matt: Ga, ga, ga, ga, ga.

Wednesday: Oh, you say you want me to skip right to VBS?  Okay, I will.  It's good you asked because it's almost 1 AM here and I need to sleep.

Today's song was "I'm Keepin My Eyes on Jesus," from 2009.  Immediately following music, it was my turn to give the day's introduction.  Karen brought me about twenty small square gift boxes on a silver tray which I presented to the group.  I said, "Look what I have here!  I have a question.  What color is it?  [No, Yusuke, it's not pink...he likes to distract people.] It's purple--the color of royalty!  Around the world kings and queens wear purple as a symbol of their high status.  Purple is also the color of my college, the University of Washington!  (Woot woot)  Nevertheless, purple is a very important color.  What if...I don't know...I were to...I don't know...let's say, give you (some girl in the front) a box?  And you? (Another person.)  And you?  Did any one of these people do anything to deserve it?  Is there anything special about these specific people?  (Silence in the crowd.)  uh...the answer is no: they did not.  (I passed out the rest of the boxes.)  I gave them something they did not deserve.  It's called grace."

The bible story was from Luke: the Prodigal Son.  Without the felt board the kids were slightly distracted.  I asked them, "Who was the father?  Who were the children?  Why did the younger son leave?  What did the younger son lose from leaving his home and his father?  Why did the younger son return home?  Why did the father celebrate the son's return?  Were both of the sons perfect?  Which son are you?"  Then I shared about how sometimes I feel like I'm both sons--sometimes running away on my own and sometimes judging others for the grace they do not deserve.  I wanted to be honest.

We wanted to know where they were with God, so we asked them if Jesus was their personal lord and savior.  Only one kid in the group could say that he was.  Two girls are a bit young and didn't answer and the eight year old boys said they are not quite there yet...they said they aren't sure.  Tomorrow, I might give an invitation--maybe Friday...

Our lunch was the annual Wednesday pizza party--COSTCO PIZZA YO!  And yes, it tastes better in Japan, of course.  Around fifty people were stuffed in the main room of the community center with Kirkland Signature pizza.  Every year it is such a great opportunity to meet the mothers and families of the VBS kids.  This is essential to our relationship building in Japan.

Yike

Rita

Yuuske

Masanori

Clara

Daiki

Women's small group

Women's small group

After pizza party 

On our way home

A few minutes ago, Randy showed me how to clear my sinuses using this bottle of stuff.  As he squeezed the bottle up my nose, I had to say "ga, ga, ga, ga."

My sinuses are now cleared.  Goodnight.  I'm sorry if that last part kind of freaked you out.

matt