Shirley-NBF Day 3 of VBS

Today was Costco pizza day, hurray! We had our largest turnout today of both children and people in general. We had 25 children in attendance and a total of 47 people at lunch this afternoon. Several new mothers joined us which was just wonderful. We were able to pull the moms out of the lunch group around 1pm and had a special time to listen to Karen's testimony with Mrs. Funo as translator while the kids did crafts and recreation time.

The ladies had their second bible study in the morning, and the kids heard Joanne's testimony. It was the last day for some kids, but the first day for others who joined us today. We passed out our beautiful tie-dyed T-shirts and there was one for everyone since we made some extras just in case and for those whom we knew could not attend until today.

Although our afternoons never seem to go exactly quite as planned, the children and mothers all seem to be happy to be there and there is a lot of meaningful conversation going on all around all the time. They just like to stay and hang out; we did not leave the center until 4pm today! Several new moms thanked us for lunch and our time together and said, "yoroshiku onegaishimasu" for next year, meaning they would like to attend next year's VBS also! This is the beginning of the "Obon" season, so many people are leaving on vacation and/or going to visit grandparents/parents who may be out of town starting tomorrow, Thursday.

Things seem to start to wind down after Wednesday, which is a bit of a let down, but we pray that we all would have the energy to see everything and everyone through to Friday. We are inviting people to our closing ceremony on Sunday when we will see our slide-show for the week. The NBF team goes to share at the nursing home tomorrow afternoon at 2pm, so they will meet Mr. Onoe at the nursing home at 1:30pm. We pray that would be a blessed time for everyone.

I think I need to turn in early tonight to make sure I have enough energy left for the last 2 days. It goes by all too quickly, but I pray for focus and openness to God's Word and His leading. Please continue to pray for the VBS team members, each and every one of them, that they would feel ready to boldly share the gospel these last couple of days, and that they would find a way to share God's love with the kids and parents in a special way that is particularly special and meaningful to them.

Thank you and good night!