Wow! Sometimes it's hard to take in how blessed we are with so many ways to communicate across the seas! Dale and I were so blessed to see everyone in church at HHBC last night (this morning for you) using FaceTime. We know the Lord has led us to be here in Japan for this time, but we truly miss everyone at home, and we're looking forward to our return and to worshiping and serving together once again.
I took the precaution of making an audio recording of my sermon ahead of time, synced with PowerPoint slides, and then sending it to Pastor Doug and Dr. Bray to have on hand in case our internet connections failed. They didn't, of course, but anyway the media file I made is still there and will become available soon on the church website in case anyone would like to listen again or missed it yesterday for some reason. The prerecording I made is an iTunes movie, meaning you might have to download it into iTunes to listen and see the slides. Check on the church website media player first to see if downloading into iTunes is necessary.
We are continuing to do well here, although it is very busy right now. We are enjoying the relationships here with both students and staff. It was fun and uplifting last night to list to the impromptu "concert" I referred to in the live version of our time with the church yesterday. What happened is this: on Sunday nights after supper, it's not unusual for students and staff to lounge around in the common area of the SYME building just inside the front entrance. Last night some in the group picked up their instruments and started to play and sing their way through the SYME songbook, which contains a little over a hundred worship songs and hymns, ones mostly familiar to all of us. It was such a blessing to listen and worship with them. It didn't take long for me to grab the audio recorder I brought along and to begin recording. I asked Dr. Bray to play one of the songs during our time with the church yesterday, and I also posted the song on my personal Facebook page (in case you want to listen to it again). Come to think of it, I can also paste a link to that song here in my blog. Here it is: www.hamiltonhills.org/filerequest/2181.mp3.
Over the last few days, I've had several people invite me to observe and/or experience what they are doing by way of ministry in the area. I'm excited about these opportunities, which I hope to share with everyone either through the blog or via Nippon Initiative Podcasts. In the meantime, I'm beginning to work on the next podcast, which will focus on certain things Elliott and I are encountering in Japan due to our heights. I think it will be informative, but also a little fun!
We appreciate your prayers for us so much! And we are praying for you!
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