Day two! Today’s truth was God cares about me and it was connected to the story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4. God is the one who holds the whole universe together, and yet He still cares about what’s happening in our lives. Even in the middle of life’s storms, we can trust Jesus because He cares for us.

Naoto taught the lesson today while everyone else led their usual stations. Praise God, everything went smoothly! For crafts, the kids made a fun (and slightly challenging) yarn nail board bee & ladybug, for snacks they had pretzels and marshmallows to remind them of the Bible story, and for games they played a chaotic game of tiny tanks which was a fun way to remind them that God cares for us even when life is crazy sometimes.

Since the snack room wasn’t available today, we had to make some adjustments to the schedule, but shoutout to Gloria for being so flexible with moving snacks around. It actually worked out even better for Yochien than we had originally planned, which was a good reminder of how God works things out even when our plans change.

Today was our first day having lunch with the families after KSE. It was cool to see so many families stick around, eat their bentos, and spend time chatting together. Most of the families who attend KSE are not believers. Many met at the Bethany Christian Yochien and have remained friends over the years. It’s been so interesting getting to know them and hearing about their lives. There’s already so much love and joy within these families, but we pray that they would come to know the deeper and lasting joy that can only come from knowing Christ.

After lunch, Cindy was a superstar by taking photos for 12 families in the 100 degree heat. She spent around two hours photographing them with a short break in between. It was so special to see her use her gifts as a way to love and serve these families well. The team got to help walk families to the photo location & help with posing which gave Hide more opportunities to talk and connect with families as he doesn’t have too much time to do so during KSE. 

It has been so sweet to see our relationships with the moms and kids growing and everyone becoming more comfortable with each other. And tonight was a really special step in that!

Yoshiko and her family, along with three other KSE families, invited us to dinner at an all you can eat shabu shabu restaurant (which surprisingly also had sushi). This was the first time any team has had the opportunity to hang out with some of the KSE families outside of the program. It was such a great time and honestly felt like a dinner among friends despite some of us just meeting. There were lots of kids, laughter, and opportunities to hear more about their lives. Some barriers were beginning to come down and we’re so thankful for the opportunity to build these relationships beyond KSE.

One of the biggest praises from today was seeing opportunities to connect with the dads. Cindy and Mark shared that throughout their years of ministry, the dads have often felt like a “far-off missionary land” because they’re usually working / not around during KSE, or more reserved and shy. But today, several dads came out for the family photos, giving us an opportunity to meet and talk with them and we got to have dinner with Yoshiko’s husband, Takashi. Ministry in Japan can sometimes feel slow, but praise God for moments like this to remind us that He is faithful with the big things and the small.

Prayer Requests:

• For open conversations with the moms and opportunities to encourage them to attend Logos and the Intro to Christianity class
• Tomorrow we’ll be announcing the homestay and Intro to Christianity class. Pray that many would be interested and that God would use these opportunities to draw people to Himself.
• Praise God for the fruit we’re beginning to see from years of faithful ministry! Pray that He would continue to bring more fruit in His timing.
• For continued opportunities to connect with the dads and build relationships so that they too would come to know Christ
• Yoshiko and her family will be traveling to America in a few weeks. Pray for their trip and that it would be a meaningful time for their family.
• Please pray for Cindy as she has more photos to take on Saturday!