July 29: Starting VBS at Yamanakako

TODAY WAS THE DAY THAT THE VBS CAMP AT YAMANAKAKO STARTED!! WOOOOT! WE STARTED OFF THE DAY BY EATING BREAKFAST AT 7 (EXCEPT RICHIE, JENNY, AND MIYOU WERE LATE). WE ALL GOT READY AND WENT DOWNSTAIRS TO WAIT FOR THE CHILDREN. THEY STARTED TRICKLING IN AND WE COULDN'T HELP BUT SAY 'AWWW!' Richie just told me to not type in all capitals. Okay! So! It started raining really hard, which was a refreshing change. The bus was supposed to be late but it all worked out and the kids were doing fine waiting for a little while. We got on the bus and all of the Agape team tried to split up and sit next to the kids. Jenny sat next to this little ball of loud sunshine named Koto-chan. Richie sat next to a boy named Kohei. Everyone started bonding on the bus and even though some had language barriers, they found a way past that by playing hand games and more. Sato and Shun were great bus leaders and we played balloon games that the kids really got into. There was laughing and smiling all around!

We arrived at the Hana No Minako Park, which is a huge flower park with a greenhouse and many other things. As we walked from the bus to the park, the rain and wind started going super saiyan and people's umbrellas even flipped inside out. The kids were all enjoying the flowers inside the greenhouse. We walked outside all the way to this communal space where they had tatami mats and a stage where we all ate lunch. The girls asked Jenny, Jen, and Sato to sit with them. Tama-chan taught all of us how to properly open a store bought rice ball:P. Everyone took out all their snacks and shared with everyone and we had a feast of amazing Japanese snacks. Japan really does have the best snacks! After, we all walked around the park and went into a cave that was a result of hardened lava from Fuji-san. The kids were all amazed and and were dragging Agape team members to try to show them how cool it was. We walked further and there was a waterfall with loooots of water coming out. It was really pretty! We all walked back to the bus singing disney songs, "Country Road," and "Tonari no Totoro". (:

On the bus ride to the camp Yamanakako cabin, we all marveled at the lush, green mountains and the actual lake. We were still bonding and it was still raining. We arrived at the cabin and somehow Jenny's bag was left outside in the rain when we were bringing everything inside. (THANKS GUYS.) We all went and put our bags in all of our rooms. There was orientation and we all got to know each other's names.

After getting cleaned up and taking showers, we were separated into three groups : The Flower Angels, The Colorful Eleven, and Team Happy. We read Bible stories and came up with the general idea for our skits. The kids were really creative and came up with most of it. We had a delicious dinner of Hamburger, Saba shioyaki with a tomato sauce, corn soup, salad, and a cream shrimp dish on a clam shell. Isn't that ridiculously amazing?! Okay! soo, after dinner we had our first session. People were shy at first, but we sang songs and soon enough everyone was laughing and having a blast. Jenny gave her testimony and there was a "camp fire" ( wood with candles on it) and we ended off on a really good note.

We played a game called Pterodactyl where we had to say "Pterodactyl" without showing any teeth. The kids really liked it and it took a full half hour. It ended with Richie battling it out with Tama-chan and we could not handle the intensity. Seriously. It was crazy. Tama-chan owned him. :D

Overall, it was a great day, and God is doing great things.

a

-Jenny Morris

July 28: Meeting, meeting, and more meetings

Hi everyone back home. Yesterday (Wednesday), the AGAPE team had meetings after meetings about the Yamanakakou VBS and the FMTC camp. Sato, Joanne, and Emi woke up REALLY early in the morning yesterday at 4:00 am. Joanne and Emi went for a 30 minute jog around the church at 5:00. The weather was good, but the humidity made it really hard to run. Surprisingly, everyone on the team was up by 8:00 eating breakfast. We intended to have the AGAPE Team meeting at 10:00, but since everyone was ready early, we had our meeting at 9:00. We practiced our worship song and the first two skits for VBS. For lunch, the people at Koganei made yummy tsukemen for lunch which everyone enjoyed. They also served dessert, which was a matcha jello with whip cream on top and red bean in the middle of the jello.

After lunch we had the Yamanakakou VBS meeting, talking about who was split into what group and what we should do during the bus ride.

After the meeting, we had about 30 minute of free time which everyone went downstairs to practice a few games that Joanne prepared for the kids at VBS. Then we had a short meeting about the FMTC camp. Besides Sato, Joanne, and Emi, the rest went out exploring. Sato was working on Jenny's testimony and Emi was working on Joanne's testimony. At 6:00 pm, we had dinner with people from Koganei and Sakuragaoka church. The dinner that night was dry curry. It was a little spicy, but delicious. Dessert was grape fruit and mizu youkan, which was also good as well. Why does Japanese food have to taste so good?



During dinner, the team got to have fellowship time with the people from the different churches.










At 7:30, we joined the prayer meeting which Paster Nobu lead worship and Emi gave her testimony.












After the prayer meeting, Pastor Nojiri took the AGAPE team shopping to get lunch for today's trip to Yamanakako.

It has been raining lightly in the morning, which is a little sad, but because the sun is not out, it's cooler than yesterday morning. In about 30 minutes, we will be leaving for Yamanakako. We are all looking forward for the VBS and are excited for what God has planned for us.

Blog post by Emi Takemoto

July 26-27: The Longest Day of our Lives

         HI EVERYBODY BACK AT HOME!!!!!!!!!! WE GOT HERE SAFELY, VERY SAFELY AT THAT. ANYWAYS, BEFORE WE LEFT TO JAPAN WE HAD A TON OF PEOPLE SAYING GOOD BYE. THE ENTIRE TEAM WAS A LITTLE SAD THAT WE WERE LEAVING BUT AT THE SAME TIME VERY EXCITED. BOARDING THE PLANE WAS JUST LIKE ANY OTHER PLANE RIDE WE HAVE TAKEN (INCLUDING THE SMELL). 10 HOURS ON A PLANE WITH PEOPLE WHO'M WE HAVE KNOWN FOR THE MAJORITY OF OUR LIVES WAS VERY INTERESTING. THE GUYS (ME AND SHUN) WERE PLAYING OUR GAME BOYS WHILE THE GIRLS WERE WATCHING MOVIES, SLEEPING, AND SUDOKU. MIYOU DECIDED TO TAKE THE ENTIRE ROW AND ENDED UP SLEEPING WITH HER FEET PARTIALLY ON EMI'S LAP. THE FOOD WAS GROSS AND SOME OF US DIDN'T BOTHER EATING AT ALL.

           LUCKILY WHEN WE FINALLY GOT OFF THE PLANE WE WERE RELIEVED TO GET OUT OF THE CRAMPED SEATING AND THE SMELL OF A PLANE. UNFORTUNATELY WE WERE EMBRACED WITH A VERY WARM WELCOME OF THE HUMIDITY AND THE HEAT, AND IT ONLY GOT WORST AS WE WALKED OUTSIDE FROM THE AIRPORT. ADMIST THE HEAT WE WERE VERY HAPPY TO FINALLY BE IN JAPAN AND SEE MANY OLD FACES. AFTER THE PLANE RIDE WE ALL SQUISHED INTO 2 CARS (7 PEOPLE IN ONE AND 5 ON THE OTHER) ALTHOUGH, THE CAR RIDE WAS ALOT MORE COMFORTABLE THEN THE HUMIDITY AND HEAT OF JAPAN, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A 3 HOUR DRIVE TO JONATHAN'S. JONATHAN'S IS KIND OF LIKE A DENNY'S, EVERY YEAR WE STOP THERE FOR DINNER.  AT THE END OF OUR MEAL ALL OF US WERE PRACTICALLY FALLING ASLEEP.

          WHEN WE FINALLY GOT TO THE CHURCH WE WERE SURPRISED THAT AYA TAKEMOTO CAME TO WELCOME US. WE WERE GIVEN A FULL TOUR OF THE ENTIRE CHURCH. LATER THE MAJORITY OF US (ME, SHUN, JENNY, JEN AND PARTIALLY MIYOU) RAN UPSTAIRS ONTO THE ROOF AND PLAYED BASKETBALL FOR A GOOD 10-20 MINUTES UNTIL SHUN AND I FELT LIKE WE JUST TOOK A SHOWER IN OUR OWN SWEAT. AS SOON AS WE FINISHED THE GUY'S WENT DOWN TO THEIR ROOM AND PLAYED SOME MORE GAME BOY AND FELL ASLEEP, AS FOR THE GIRLS; EMI, SATOMI, AND JOANNE WERE KNOCKED OUT AT 10 AND THE REST OF THE GIRLS SNUCK INTO THEIR ROOMS VERY QUIETLY AT AN UNKNOWN TIME. HOPEFULLY THE REST OF OUR NIGHTS IN JAPAN WILL NOT REPEAT THE FIRST NIGHT WE HAD. WAKING UP AT 2 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING SWEATING AND THEN WAKING UP AGAIN AROUND 5 ONLY TO NOT BE ABLE TO GO TO SLEEP WAS A TIRING EXPERIENCE. LUCKILY THOSE OF US WHO WOKE UP AROUND 5 SEEM TO ALL BE SLIGHTLY ENERGIZED AND AWAITING THE REST OF THE DAY. TODAY WE WILL BE HAVING A VBS MEETING AND A PRAYER MEETING AS WELL, BUT OTHER THEN THAT WE HAVE FREE TIME TO WORK ON OUR SKITS OR NAP. I GUESS THAT IS ABOUT ALL THAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR ON OUR MISSION TRIP.

       THE BIGGEST HURDLE THAT WE ALL HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IS SHUN'S GREEDYNESS IN HOGGING ALL OF THE COLD AIR. OH YES AND OF COURSE THE HOT AND HUMID WEATHER. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR PRAYING AND SUPPORTING US, PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR OUR HEALTH AND THAT THE WEATHER WILL NOT BE A HUGE DISTRACTION IN TRYING TO REACH OUT TO THE CHILDREN HERE AT KOGANEI CHRUCH. OH YES AND ONE LAST THING THAT I FORGOT TO SAY, PASTOR NOBU WAS VERY VERY HAPPY TO FINALLY BE GETTING A GOOD MEAL.

Comissioning

We will be at the airport at 9 AM and our plane will be leaving SFO at 11:30 AM today. Thank you for your overwhelming support as we embark on our trip!

Last Meeting!

Today was our last meeting at church before we set off for Japan! We practiced our skits, went over our itinerary, and are pretty much packed and ready to go. Keep us in your prayers while we're in Japan; we're very excited!

One week to go...

The team will be leaving in one week, and even though it still seems very surreal to us, we are excited to finish up final preparations! We will be commissioned at church on Sunday between services at 10:30 AM, and then our flight leaves SFO at 11:30 AM the next day!

Agape 2010 iMix

Joanne made an iMix of all the worship songs we will be singing in Japan, plus a few more that have been inspiring to her as we prepare for this trip.