Saturday, July 27th - One More Day In Utsunomimya

Dear Friends - It is Saturday, 7PM, and everyone seems to be resting right now.  This morning we went to "Edo Wonderland", a village that is a recreation from the Edo Period - during the 17th century.  There are performances, exhibits, restaurants and stores to visit.  It was a little over an hour-and-a-half drive from the church.  It was very interesting and fun in spite of the showers at the end of our stay.  From there we returned to Utsunomiya to sample what the city is famous for - gyoza.  The Kawanos treated us and they ordered the gyoza for us.  I think everyone agreed that it was the best gyoza they've eaten.  The dumplings had a lighter shell than I've ever had and the meat and vegetables inside were very soft and not a tight meatball like I'm used to.  It is worth the airfare to come and taste it.  From there we returned to the church, full of gyoza and ready for a short rest.
     Tomorrow will be our last full day here.  In the morning we will have a 6:30AM prayer meeting, MEBIG at 9AM, and the worship service at 10:30AM.  Mason will present the lesson for MEBIG, and then Seiko and Mason will give their testimonies at the worship service and I will present the message.  There will be a farewell luncheon and then we will have to pack for the takkyubin.  The takkyubin is a delivery service that we use to send our large luggage to the airport.  We will pick it up there when we take our return flight home.  We will use carryon luggage for our stay in Tokyo from Monday until we leave to return home on Thursday.  It will be tough saying good-bye to the Kawano family.  They are great servants of Jesus Christ and are wonderful people to be around.  Chihoyo-sensei keeps getting better and better at English with each passing year, as my Japanese keeps getting worse and worse.  Kawano-sensei's joyfulness and sense of humor make him a joy to be around.  Chi-chan is growing into a very young lady - she will be 12 years old in a couple of weeks.  The church members have been very kind in their monetary support, prayers, gifts of food, and participating in our activities.  I trust that this year is just the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership between our two churches.  I need to lay down - my eyes are heavy and it is hard to focus on what I'm writing.  Please pray for our final day with these wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ.  God be with you and bless you.  With love, Don
Did you make teacher Donny cry?

Mason pouring the deadly ping pong balls on
the unsuspecting camper.


"No, I don't want Mason in the picture with me." 

Group photo of the campers and volunteer leaders.

Pastor Shin with some of his campers in the Bible class.

Nam-sensei giving grace for his group at snack time.

"Dear God, please send me a puppy in place of my little sister."

The campers doing Limbo in Jonathan & Donny's game class.

Jonathan and a couple of his new friends.

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