Goodbye Barbecue

Today was an incredible day. We attended church this morning for the last time. Today is Pentecost so it was super cool getting to hear a message about such an important and significant part of the Church. Although we couldn’t understand what Sensei was saying, it was still very powerful and awesome to get to be a part of with Izumi Lutheran. After church, we had a few hours to take a break and just hang out or go somewhere for lunch. Then we met back at the church to clean for the church barbecue.

We split into groups to take care of the different things we needed to prepare. Like some people started the grill, some made the hamburgers, some made mac and cheese, and others helped prepare the tables, food, and drinks. We all worked well together and got the job done! Then people starting coming and we were amazed by how many people came.

There were a lot of Japanese students there, and it was great to see some students we had met and gotten to know at the schools we went to. There were also many great conversations and we could really see God working in those people who attended, especially the students. After dinner, we got to just hang out and play. There were so many people there, that a lot of us were outside and some even went inside. The best part of the night though, was having a super fun dance party. It started with just a few of us as we made a circle and just started going around the circle, having each person take a turn choosing the dance move, and everyone copied. Then soon after, we had a big circle, as a lot of the Japanese students and a lot of our team joined in.

After the dance circle, we taught the Japanese students how to do the Cupid Shuffle and then the Macarena. By the time we got to the Macarena, we had a gigantic circle of people, and even a lot of the adults joined in! It was a really cool moment and just amazing to see the people come out of their comfort zones and just lighten up! You could tell that the students were wary at first, but in no time they were dancing and having a lot of fun! There were so many smiles, and it just filled our hearts with joy! It was eye-opening and amazing to see expressions of happiness in a country that doesn’t like to show emotions outwardly. I felt like this moment is one that will stick with our team and the Japanese people, as we all really just bonded over the dancing.

We hope that we were able to just show God’s love to the people. The night was highly energetic, crazy, and fun! We definitely saw God working in many wonderful ways! It was such a beautiful God moment, and such a wonderful way to end another amazing trip! 

Prayer requests:

- Seiko and Gakafuku students that attended. There were a lot more than last year, according to Cindy. It definitely seemed like their hearts were opened last night, so please pray that God will work in them and that Cindy will have more opportunities to minister to them, especially outside of school 

- Nyla and Tara will be here for another month or so. Please pray that they can continue to help Cindy work in this hearts of the students they interact with at and outside of school. Pray that they can help grow the many seeds that were planted this trip.

- The students that are coming to America. Pray that they will be able to see the Lord through the families they are staying with.

Erin and Kaleigh