Final concert at Ichikawa and our last few days in Japan

Hi I’m sorry I wasn’t able to blog whilst out there in Japan. We are all safely back in the UK now.

On Saturday was the final concert in Ichikawa. Praise God it went really well! The kids sang so beautifully and many non-christian parents had turned up. The concert consisted of songs sang by us as a team and by the kids. Instead of a testimony, Pastor Sozo gave a message.

After the concert, many parents and the kids stayed for afternoon tea. We as a team also said a few words about how we felt about Kid’s gospel programme. Phil also used the opportunity to promote the kids to come to Sunday School. The church also gave out manga (Japanese cartoon) bibles to the kids. It was great to see that most of the kids were already sitting down and reading them. Please pray that they will continue to read them.

On Sunday, It was the church service at 10am where the kids and the team performed 2 of the songs. We thank God that approx. 10 kids came back to sing for the service and went to Sunday school. After the service, Rachel and Amy gave their testimonies to the teenage Sunday group and Becca taught the young kids, “Jesus calms the storm”.

I (Esther) invited my Japanese friend, Ayaka to the church service whom I had met at university in the UK. The last time I spoke to her about Jesus was in November 2009 and since that time I have been praying for her. It was great to hear that she had read some stories from the bible! However, she still finds it hard to believe the Jesus is the only way. Please pray that Ayaka’s eyes will be unblinded and that she will read the New Testament bible I gave to her.

On Monday, we had a debrief with Alison (OMF worker), packed our belongings and our long flight back to the UK was in the evening. Thank God for a safe journey back.

Prayer requests:

Please continue to pray for Japan as a country.

Please pray for the church leaders, Pastor Sozo (Ichikawa) and Pastor Ohashi (Yotsukaido) that they will stand firm in their faith and continue to preach the word which is God breathed.

Please pray that the gospel will continue to spread and that churches will grow.

Please pray for all the kids who attended the Kid’s gospel programme that they would think about what they have learnt and not forget it and would seek to find more about Jesus being our King.

Please pray for the parents that they will start coming to church in order to find out the truth about Jesus.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support during our time in Japan. Prayer is so important and we thank God that he has really been working in people hearts during this time.