Saying good-bye to our neighbors

Before the four GRITers left, the neighbors next door waited for the van to be packed to say a final farewell. The night before, they invited all of us over to light sparklers and shoot off some little fireworks in our street. We have definitely made some deeper relationships these past six weeks with our neighbors!

At the airport….One last picture!

Now, we are figuring out the schedule for Rachel who will be staying on for a while. (She’s the one who came just two weeks ago.) Tonight, she and Chloe are at a restaurant meeting with a Japanese girl who is helping Chloe with her conversational Japanese, and they are helping the girl with her English. Tomorrow, Rachel has been invited to help all day at an international preschool! She sounds excited to do that! Thursday, some of us will go help a fellow missionary move from one house to another in a different city. Friday means attending my monthly English conversation circle, and then she will stay overnight with one of the members for a homestay.

Meanwhile, I am gearing up to help my children finish up their schoolwork, so we can be ready to begin a new school year in August. After a month or two off, this could be challenging! (For all of us!) And there’s always a lot of cleaning up to do following GRIT. How many soda bottles can 6 kids go through in just 6 weeks?! We have to rinse out each one, tear off the plastic labels, and recycle them on the appropriate day…which is Wednesday. Hope I don’t forget!! I’ve got 2 large trash bags full so far…with a few more to process. Today, we cleaned out the house the girls stayed in, did two loads of laundry (limited to two since we hang out the wash, and it’s still kind of overcast), worked on more bottles, cleaned bathrooms, made pumpkin bread for the lady whose house we used for the girls to stay in, etc. Whew! And we rested a little, too!

Our kids are glad EVERYone didn’t leave yet! Rachel is a lot of fun!

Keep us in your prayers! A lot of good things have come about from this year’s GRIT. We pray that we’ll see dividends for many years to come. Please pray for the GRITers who have gone home, back to their normal routines, old friends, and the many distractions of life in the U.S. Our desire is that they take what they learned, run with it, and share it with those around them. To God be the glory!

Well, there are only two more days left of GRIT this year. It has flown past pretty quickly. It helped that last week the entire group left Kumamoto area to help another ministry in Kagoshima prefecture. They sounded like it was lots of fun, and hiking, and English, and hiking, and good food, and a little hiking! 🙂

Today (Friday), we had our normal morning activities (exercise, breakfast, quiet time with God, group session, lunch preparation). Then Mr. Matsumura came for lunch. We had invited several others, but only he came. He enjoys speaking to native English speakers, and this was a great chance for him! Following lunch clean-up, I took the group to do a few errands, then dropped most of them off to shop for an hour while Dixie and I visited my Japanese tutor. Shortly after supper, the group loaded up to drive to a nearby town to converse in English with a friend’s English students. I stayed home with our two youngest and made banana bread for tomorrow’s breakfast. I have a feeling there will be some happy GRITers tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the last full day the young people will be with us. It will be spent mainly at the home of Nathan, a man Norman has been discipling this year. His family is inviting other friends to attend the barbeque, and we hope to be a blessing to them.

After that, I have a feeling there will be lots of packing and squeezing things into suitcases and last minute details. Sunday morning, Keiko and I will be driving four GRITers to the airport for their flight which leaves around 1 p.m., and dropping off Cassy to stay the next week at the home of a fellow missionary. That will leave us with one lone GRITer, Rachel! She will get to see “normal” life at the Smith household! (Have I ever seen that?)

We appreciate all your prayers during the summer. God has been at work, and He will continue to work in coming weeks and months through the doors opened during GRIT. Praise the Lord!

HOMESTAYS!
We don’t always do homestays during GRIT, but this year we had some Japanese friends who wanted to show the students what Japanese living is like. Most of the team went two by two, but one had to go alone…and to a family who spoke very little Japanese. Good thing she studied Japanese before she got here!

Josh and Amanda with their homestay hostess

Dixie and Cassy with their homestay family

Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of Amanda’s hostess, so I took this cute picture instead!

CONCERT
Directly after the homestays, the group put on a concert at the same tearoom our family sang at last month. The small restaurant was full of people, and we all stayed to mingle afterward to allow the Japanese people time to try out their English. The kids did a great job, and had been busily practicing for this event for four weeks. Whew! Glad that’s over!

Concert picture

Concert picture

Of course, we can’t have GRIT without daily time spent with God and daily exercise!

I was caught in the act of taking embarrassing pictures during exercise!

PERSONNEL CHANGE
This week, one GRITer returned home as scheduled, and today the group is at the airport to pick up the final GRITer of the summer.

RAINY SEASON
It is currently considered rainy season in Japan, even though this year has seen very little rain. However, one of the best parts of rainy season is that it ushers in beautiful hydrangeas! God is the Master Artist, isn’t He?

Hydrangeas!

The GRIT team continues to learn and grow, and we (the leaders) are not exempt from it either! I’m so grateful that God isn’t finished with us yet! We all have so much to learn and change to be like Jesus Christ. His promise is such a comfort, knowing that the work He began in us will be completed one day.

LOCATION CHANGE
This week, the group heads south two hours to help fellow missionaries and another ABWE work in areas such as English classes and the singles ministry. Pray that God will use them in Aira Town.

Again, thank you for your prayers. We need them so much.

The past two days have been a blur for me. Lots of things going on in a short time. But it has proven again how helpful it is to have the GRIT team here. Let me tell you the Daycare story!

Our neighbor, who is a cook for the nearby daycare center, invited our whole group to view fireflies one night with the daycare children. Norman and I were too busy preparing for other things, but the GRITers jumped at the chance. Even though they didn’t know much Japanese, they happily went. Turned out that a couple daycare staff knew some English. And the principal of the school invited them to visit the following week at 10 a.m. to join in their English time.

We had time in our schedule to do this, so I accompanied them to the daycare. Our friend and fellow-Christian Keiko joined us, too, and hit it off with the principal and the kids! We sang silly songs in English, introduced ourselves, had a question and answer time, and then were invited to stay for lunch! Despite the fact that some of the GRITers are less than adventurous when it comes to food, they did an admirable job cleaning their “bowls.” Good job!!

Our family has a standing invitation to drop by the daycare any time, and because of the GRITers being here, we now have new contacts right down the road!

That evening, we attended my English conversation class at the cafe downtown. It was a small group, but we got to meet and talk.

Today (Thursday) was very interesting and fun, too, with God at work again. We attended an English time at a Japanese friend’s house, and she invited about 6 sixth grade girls over to learn English from Amanda G., whose dream is to be an English teacher some day. They had a Q&A time, and then the whole group played a game in English.

While the young people were doing that, I was able to spend time talking to a new person from Singapore. We got to discuss our religious backgrounds, the common bond we have in learning Japanese, and getting to know each other. I hope to be able to meet her again soon.

Earlier this week, the GRIT girls were able to share the gospel with some Japanese ladies who spoke some English. They gave us their contact information, so who knows what God will do with that!

Coming up next is homestays in Japanese houses and the GRIT concert. Thank you for your prayers! God can do more than we can imagine!

Every day, the students take one hour to study the Bible and pray. Keeping close to the Lord is vitally important to spiritual growth.

The concert is on Sunday afternoon at a tearoom. Time to practice!

More practicing!

Song time at the daycare

“Look at my boo-boo right here!”

“Hmmm. I hope it’s good!”

(clockwise from top left) Green tea, salad and deep-fried vegetable ball, tofu side dish, pork broth soup with bean sprouts, and special rice! Would YOU like some?

This was my table mate. He was rather quiet!

Coffee and English conversation time

The whole group at the English conversation class

The GRITers help prepare food for the group each day. Amanda’s eyes were bothered by the onions, so she tried a new method to counteract it!

Playing an English game with the sixth grade girls

The girls had fun, and the winners each received an authentic dollar bill! The losers got real American quarters!

English conversation group on Friday

Friday was a busy day meeting with Susan’s monthly English conversation group. The GRIT team interacted with the ladies, allowing opportunity for English dialogue.

One of our GRITers is still a kid at heart…well, actually, she IS still a kid at age 12! Running barefoot through grass is one of her thrills in life!

We were grateful for clear weather on Saturday since we hosted a barbeque at our home. Several friends and Bible study members attended, and the GRIT team was able to get to know them better, share their testimonies of why they came to Japan this summer, and give more opportunities to practice English.

Norman and his friend

Wednesday was a day for Japanese okonomiyaki (fried as you like it “pancakes”) and visiting the Kumamoto Castle. Norman was down for the count with some bug, so Keiko and I took the group to experience Kumamoto!

The restaurant is located on the 2nd floor of the narrow building.

Keiko demonstrates how to mix well the bowl of special flour, egg, cabbage, and preferred meat.

Next step: Place well-mixed batter onto the grill set into the table.

How long do I stir this?

Once the bottom is nicely browned, it’s time to flip it over. Look at this face of success!

All that’s left is the special sauce, mayo, fish flakes for the brave, and trying to eat it with chopsticks!

Following our romp at the restaurant, we walked the two blocks or so to the castle. Then the real work began. There were quite a number of steps to climb outside the castle, and I counted 136 steps inside the castle. Whew! But the view at the top was worth it!

GRIT team 2014! About to enter the castle grounds.

The castle! (I had to get at least one picture of me in here!)

Proof that they were there!

A random castle-goer from Tokyo stopped us to practice his English.

Great view of Kumamoto City!

After a quiet Monday and Day of Prayer, Tuesday had a different taste to it.

First, the GRIT team attended a culture class led by Mr. Matsumura, a friend of the Smiths.

“This is sushi.”

He has taught many a group of foreigners about why Japanese work such long hours, the mindset of Japanese, and what they like to eat.

To make the lesson even more memorable, they all went out for sushi afterward!

Will it be good? Will it?

This particular restaurant has a revolving train of sushi options which you can retrieve when it comes by your seat. Or you can order specific dishes that appeal to your taste buds.

This one looks good!

As you can see, they lived through their experience with a smile on their faces!

Every year we have GRIT, God uses the young people to open doors to make new friends and contacts. He also gives opportunities to share our faith with others. This year is no different.

Because the GRITers joined me at the Gingira conversation time, I was able to meet a Christian woman who is searching for a good church. She knows an American guy who is also looking for a service in English, and she wants to introduce me to a friend of hers who’s interested in homeschooling. One meeting with this woman, and our network of relationships could be exponentially expanding!

At the children’s event yesterday, the GRITers provided games and English activities. Because of the GRITers presence, a man in his 50’s came to join in the fun and to practice his English. Norman was able to share with him the gospel and tell the difference between religion and the relationship we can have with God. God directed Norman to speak about the hope we have in Jesus, and the man said he was interested in that.

Please pray that God will work in these people’s hearts, and give us more opportunities to reach out to the lost Japanese people around us. My heart was breaking when I sat across the table from an elderly Japanese man, who does not have much time left on this earth, and hear him say, “I’m Buddhist,” and disregard the talk about Jesus. There is such a great need here. Only God can crack open hard hearts with His glorious light. Nothing is impossible with Him!