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!