Tom: 13 VBS days down, 2 to go.

It's been a while since I've blogged. I've been busy. A lot has happened since then. We have 2 more day of VBS in Nokendai. Contrary to popular belief the Nokendai kids are not as wild as I have heard. We have a great VBS so far. Yesterday, we had a memorable visit to the nursing home. Matt and Vincy were a hit as they did a duet. Vincy on the piano and Matt on the guitar. Matt also did a solo and acompanied us in our Japanese version of Jesus loves me and Seek ye first. Janis did an outstanding job on her presentation of the "Bridge" salvation analogy. She combine her faith story with the "Bridge". Mr. Anoy translated. Almost all of the elderly receive our are wooden crosses. Today, we had the famed Costco Pizza Day Afterwards Sharon had a sharing time with all the mom that were there. From what I heard it went very well and spurred interests amongst the women, who were a mixture of non-believers, seekers and believers looking for a new church.
An aside: It's been a long time since I've live with a large family. At first it was kinda irritating because of all the noise and commotion. But as the day went on it was fun. Being a bachelor for so long I was use to complete quiet and solitude. Although I cherish solitude, this has been an interesting time and a learning experience. It's life, its real community. Yes, we got on each others nerves but I appreciate everyone for bending over backwards to accommodate each other.
A special thanks to the Koichi and Shirley for their passion for Japan and their church. They are so strong spiritually and so positive and excited on any little thing. I also had a chance to spend some time with the older girls and am so impressed with the faith and personalities. Over half the kids at the VBS are because them. Just the other day when Susan left her orange folder on a bench at the train station, Emma took Susan back to the station which was a few stops back and start talking to a woman about the VBS and invite her to the VBS and walked her to the community where people were able to talk her. We found out that she was a "home ec teacher" and she and her husband had a business selling natural soaps and cosmetic products.
Back to Koichi and Shirley: I've had a chance ride in their car to Nokendai from Yokosuka. It has been interesting needless to say. A history and Japanese culture lesson.
Okay my brain is fried. I need some sleep. Bye for now. (I'll fix my writing errors in the morning)