Tom: Yes, it was a sad day.

We had our last VBS day today. What a great and sad ending. Today we had two people share their faith stories. Susan shared hers at the beginning and out youngest, Vincy at the end. We had many of the children's parents here today and for the first time a couple of dads and some grandparents. The parents and grandparents got to participate in the VBS activities. They got to hear several times how Jesus changes lives. They saw how the children enjoyed singing and going through the hand motions. The only downer was that we skipped recreation today. It was for the better though because we had the most amazing bbq potluck. (I think I've been using the adjective "amazing" too often but that best describes it here. ) Another new wrinkle that I had the kids do was to write stories and essays about the things they been learning at VBS for some of the PE equipment and prizes. Some of the children put a lot of thought and understanding into their the essays. Some wrote in English too. The young children drew cute pictures of the activities we did during the week. Although no one expressed a commitment to Jesus, they did knew that Jesus loves them and protects them. I was quite inpressed on how neat their hand writing was, even the boys. We ended our VBS with a slideshow and a final round of the VBS songs. As we packed up to leave, the children played around us and every once in a while gives a hug or a playful pat on the back. Mrs. Nomoto made us tea in the traditional way. It was so good and refreshing. Finally it came time to head for the train station. As we walked away we all received hugs and well wishes and goodbyes. That was the longest good bye. The goodbyes faded as we put distance between us and the Send Center. What a sad way to end.