By the grace of God, we made it through a(nother) week of VBS at NBF! We send them back to you in Seattle, still healthy, but maybe just a bit fatigued. We are thankful for the chance to serve together and pray that these few days were enough to plant seeds for a grand harvest! We know the end game already; we are on the offensive, not the defensive! We claim each soul for Jesus and pray we may be faithful stewards of our part in God's plan to win back what is rightfully His and His alone. God has been so good to all of us and has answered our prayers in so many amazing and tangible ways.
I love our group pictures in the park. We forgot to take one last year. Our stats for the week were not as bad as I first thought. I forgot to count a few kids, including Amelia!
Mon-13
Tue-15
Wed-16
Thu-19
Fri-16
This is actually pretty consistent with last year's attendance, 2 fewer children than last year's high. Not that numbers matter all that much, but it is encouraging to know that there are still enough kids interested enough to keep coming year after year, and new kids to replace older children who have moved on to 6th grade or higher.
Our comment cards indicated that all except for a few children want to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior! We are stunned by the general consensus and will follow up with each of them in the coming days. We need to remember to ask a question about baptism next time and also, perhaps, to provide an opportunity to be baptized by one of our rotating pastors during the last closing program that hopefully also coincides with a Sunday NBF service.
We know God is doing a great work in the hearts of each person He brought to our VBS program this year, both young and old. I think the program had an impact on the mothers too, who were helping us during the week.
Praise God for a really blessed week of actitivies and fun. We pray for a safe trip back to Seattle tomorrow! Thank you for sending us this wonderful team. Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for coming to serve with us! We hope to see all of you again on our side of the world very soon! God speed and God bless you all!
thank you, dear Tamuras, for taking such good care of the team members! thank you for all you do to ensure God's harvest is reaped! we pray for seeds to grow, sprout and blossom! Oh, Holy Spirit, convict and draw these dear ones to the truth that is Jesus!
ReplyDeleteamen!
take good care and God bless, Tamura family!
~celia
Praise God for theSE changed lives! May the Lord continue to grow the truth of his love and power deep into the heart of every child (and adult)!
ReplyDeleteCelia,
ReplyDeleteMatt did some great shopping again this year, thanks to Mrs. Hoki and Mrs. Onizuka. Got a nice "obi" to match your yukata from last year, and he found himself a lot of nice shirts for 500 yen each! Had no idea Matt was such a good bargain shopper. Thank you again for lending him to us again this summer. We hope by next time this year, we will see real fruit!
-Shirley
P Nancy,
ReplyDeleteThank you and LCC for your partnership with us at NBF. So grateful for the continuity of the VBS program as well as the members to keep coming back! Establishing long-term friendship is so key here, so we are truly blessed to have you with us here.
-Shirley