Wrapping up our first week

Our first week in Japan was great!  We landed in Takamatsu during a thunder storm and it was quite a bumpy ride as we circled the airport trying to land.  We all kinda felt like Satan was trying to keep  us from  arriving.  We spent the first night at the Takamatsu Bible Church.  One of our staff members (Yuka) is a member of the Takamatsu Bible Church and we’ll be partnering with them while here.

We have been welcomed so warmly by Yuka’s parents and the church family.  They have gone out of their way to make sure our accommodations were ready for us when we arrived.  We had been prepared that we may not have air conditioning, beds to sleep on, a refrigerator, or a shower the house we would be staying in.  We also expected we’d be doing our laundry at a coin Laundromat.  It turns out our houses do have air conditioning, they all have mattresses for us, we have showers and don’t have to use the public bathrooms, and we even got a washer delivered so we don’t have to walk to do laundry.  We thank God and the people working behind the scenes to get ready for our team.

We are also extremely thankful for the opportunities God has created for us to serve.  We came in with a very limited agenda on purpose.  We wanted to give God room to fill our schedule for us and he has.  In DTS they talked about trying to find the person of peace in Japan and how important that person can be to opening doors in the community for us.  We’ve had a couple of those people come our way already and are beginning to find ways to serve the Japanese people in our first week!  Sometimes it can take a few weeks to find ways to serve and going into our second week our schedule is filling up.  We get a chance to preach at a new church this coming week and we have connected with a Christian center here that teaches English.  We’re plugged in with a singles ministry and we’ve been asked to go to another church twice a week and teach their group English.  We’ve been asked to visit some students each week and share the gospel in a one on one setting and we’ll get a chance to sing and pray over people at a mall nearby each week.

God has definitely gone before us and prepared a way for us to share His love.  Here are some pictures highlighting our first week:



A few of our team outside the Takamatsu Bible Church.

 

Pastor Sugihara of Takamatsu Bible Church

Worship at Takamatsu Bible Church


This is where the Cheek Family, Tina, Yuka, and Ruth lives.



David & Darian outside the other house.  This is where the Lindsey Family, Josh, Ryan, & Chris live.






Enjoying some worship & fellowship.



Our team riding the train to the top of Takamatsu.  At the highest point of the city is a Buddhist temple.  We prayed over the city and it's people, reclaiming the highest point for God.

 


One of the Buddhist monuments

 

One of the temples at the top of the mountain.



Takamatsu is a beautiful city.

We finished the day at McDonalds.  Japan has happy meals!