Despite a crazy typhoon and a very busy schedule, it has been great the past 4 days to partner with a team of twelve Americans from Cerritos, CA, who have come to work with us here over the next two weeks.

Here are a few glimpses of what’s been going on:

We spent the first day training, prayer walking, and enjoying a welcome lunch hosted by our church, Sanda Chapel.

The next morning we woke up to a wild typhoon as we prepared to leave for English camp. Just as we left to pick the team up, the winds started blowing the torrential rain horizontally… The real picture that we don’t have is all of us completely drenched…

But it didn’t stop the fun at camp! Over 60 attended, and it was great fun to watch the team teach English, hula dance, poi balls…and really give our Japanese friends an opportunity to get away and have a great time.

We celebrated Rachel’s first birthday, the youngest Cerritos team member:

Here’s our whole camp group:

…and a rising musician at camp:

The next night, after camp, we went with several friends and enjoy Sanda’s annual summer festival.

One of the greatest stories from camp happened after a banquet dinner that we had. There was a young college guy, Yamada, who was serving the banquet. He was really friendly… and seemed intrigued by our strange group of Americans and Japanese. We finished the banquet, and then had to clear out of the room while he and his crew set up for our program. It took them a LONG time, and we knew our time was getting shorter before we had to be out of that room. I was sure we had made a mistake in booking this room (vs. a cheaper room we could have chosen). Finally, some of us went in and worked with Yamada and his crew to get the room read. Then our program began, and he and some of the staff were able to watch part of it.

When it was finished, and Yamada got off work, he went over to one of the team members and started asking some questions. He said that they all noticed how different we are, and wondered why. Evan, and our coworker Bobby, started sharing with him, and then brought our pastor into the conversation. Listen to this: right there, in the hotel lobby, Yamada gave his life to Jesus! He’s a rocker – now he can use his love for music for the kingdom. Here, I was sure that we had made a mistake in using the room –but God was just setting everything in place so that one of His creations could come into the Kingdom. Our inconveniences – – God’s hidden workings.
(Yamada is second from the right– the beaming face!)