Tuesday, July 23rd - Preparing for EEC

A photo of the staff for EEC.  There are Utsunomiya church members, people from Crossway Church, a missionary
from Korea, and the pastor from a local church.  Quite a collection of volunteers.

Seiko with the youngest camper.  She plans to
bring her home inside her suitcase.

Kawano-sensei giving the Bible lesson in his
superhero costume.  He should wear it every
Sunday for his sermons.

"Play Day", held on Saturday before the
English Conversation Classes.

Dear Friends - It's Tuesday, 10PM and all the team members have gone to their rooms to go to sleep.  It seems we are going to sleep a little earlier each day.  Today we finished up the decorations for EEC - decorating the sanctuary and two of the smaller rooms.  The only activity was an exercise class for seniors led by Seiko.  I believe there were 8 people from the church who participated.  The rest of us went out walking and doing a little shopping.  Donny said we took 11,000 steps.  I don't know how he can count so high in his head.  We returned at about 5PM and took a rest before dinner.  We had cold noodles with at least 10 toppings - lovingly prepared for us by Chihoyo-sensei.  After dinner we had a meeting for the Kawanos to explain the schedule and procedures we will follow for EEC.  I think this is the 11th year they are presenting the EEC program - it gets better and better each year.
     I'm getting pretty tired right now, so I'm going to lay down on my futon.  I'll continue my report to you tomorrow.  Good night.
     It's now Wednesday, 3PM.  We've finished the first day of EEC, had lunch with the volunteers, and we're sitting around just relaxing.  (And people used to belittle my teacher friends and me, saying how hard can it be working with children?)  The EEC went pretty well.  Donny was the emcee for the opening period; Jonathan, Jayden, Mason & Donny led the singing and dancing; and the classes all seemed to go pretty well.  Everyone had costumes on of superheroes, but Donny took the prize with his "Flash" costume.  For the opening assembly Jonathan was the star in leading the singing and dancing for "The B-I-B-L-E".  It's the Christian equivalent of "YMCA", with the people spelling out B-I-B-L-E with their arms.  It was a hit as Jonathan looked like one of the Village People.  During our debriefing time, everyone seemed to think that the classes went well and the campers were generally well behaved.  There were 14 campers participating today.  6 in the oldest group, 6 in the middled group and 2 preschool kids.  There's a possibility that our numbers might double tomorrow.  Chihoyo-sensei has talked with someone from an orphanage and the children have just finished school for summer vacation.  She has invited them to attend free of charge.  We won't know until tomorrow morning if they will attend.  Please be in prayer for us.
     The sun came out yesterday for the first time during our stay.  It was good and bad.  The days have been very pleasant even though it was cloudy and rainy.  We've been able to walk around in shorts and t-shirts very comfortably.  When the sun came out yesterday it brightened up the day, but it also brought the humidity.  The sun has been out today, which was good for the kids coming to camp (staying dry) but the humidity has been pretty high again.
     Mason just sent me some photos - I'll share some with you.  I'm going to say good-bye for now.  Everything has been going well for us - thank you for your prayers and well-wishes.  May God bless you as we have been blessed.  Love, Don

Ito-san, from next door, learning to make spam musubi with Seiko-san.

"...singing in the rain..."  Jonathan & Jayden going out to
Lawson's - similar to 7-11.

 

Kawano-sensei showing off his
Kenta Maeda t-shirt.