Hello everyone,
Sorry for missing the saturday blog time. It was very full and by the time I got home, it was about four hours before I had to get up to make it to Tokyo Horizon on time. So I decided to put it off until I had some free time, like now for instance ^_^. So let's see, where should I begin. Like I said in my previous blog, I did alot of running back and forth this week. The VBS in ... sorry, I forgot that place's name... was interesting. It was unfortunate that we didn't really get to help out alot. It was very well manned and well planned out and we rarely fit into that plan. However, the ideas we got from that place were Cho Iketeru(Very very good). You see, one of the main aspects of ministry that the church here is trying to start is childrens outreaches. Making Horizon a place that they can always feel safe to come and a place where they know they will be cared for and have great experiences. And most of all, a place where the children will be exposed to God's love on a weekly bases if not daily, either from the teachers, or the lessons or the people in the church. And also a place where their parents can feel the same thing. So we are brainstorming programs and other things mostly focusing on English, a subject that most people here hold very important. But anyway, like I was saying, the VBS gave us alot of ideas for this. Of course big ideas for Shine Kids, the door opening children's program here which we soon hope to expand into a two or three day a week language club. And also, ideas for other activities we can have for the kids in conjunction with Shine Kids, like maybe story telling after school. But not read out of a book story telling. At the VBS, for the lesson time, they set up the room to look like what they were talking about. The teacher dressed up in robes and other such things. They had sound effects going in the backround, they even projected sky on to the ceiling. They also had the kids participate in the story. One time during the lesson, there was a knock on the door and they said "It's the Roman soldiers!! Everyone hide!" And they through a blanket over them and had the gaurds come in, talk sternly, poke at the blanket a little, and walk out. And it made me think of perhaps an after school kind of thing. I mean we are within easy walking distance of three different schools here. And we could use bible stories which pretty much all of them haven't heard before. Dress up appropriately. Robes for peace and some kind of armor for war. And for the battle bible stories, we could have armies yelling in the backround if we could get a sound bite like that. So pray about these kind of ideas and the others for reaching out to the kids and their parents. It is a huge opportunity if we can only pull it off. And if the Lord wills it, we most certainly can.
And of course we had another shine kids program, both this mourning and last tuesday. It has been going extremely well and new kids are coming all the time. The parents are very pleased with the program thus far and say they are eagerly awaiting a time when this can become a after school program. This is all such a blessing to us. It has been opening up alot of doors and bringing in a lot of people who have never been in a church before and, in many cases, have never talked with a Christian before. And to be able to teach these kids and to show them the love Jesus has for them, through the love He has given me for them, is such a beautiful thing to be a part of even if I cannot speak to them directly about it right now.
Oh, but that reminds me of the best experience I had this week which was the teaching in Sayama. We started out the week with a huge English party for all the students that are have English Classes in Sayama Horizon Chapel. We had a great time of course and did the same kind of program we do for Shine Kids. But the major difference was that we were allowed to speak to them about God ^_^!!!! Keep in mind that these were not Christian kids for the most part, only children from the surrounding area. But for some reason that I am not quite sure of, the teachers there were given permission from the parents to use the bible to teach them English. I think it was just something the people at Sayama Horizon said upfront about the program. But because english programs are so rare here that don't cost a arm and a leg, they have about thirty students. And even though I love doing the Shine Kids Ministry in Machida, being able to open up my mouth about Jesus's undying love for those kids and how much He wants to be with them and have a relationship with them, even though we have all walked away from Him... it was absolutely amazing ^_^!!! And then I was able to continue to build on the first lesson in the classes I taught there throughout the week. Words cannot express how great it was. Opportunities like that are so rare here. Most ministry here comes little by little, like getting small drops of water on your tongue. And to have a experience like that was like having someone unleash a river on me ^_~! It was beautifully overwhelming ;D! Please pray for a opening up of that ministry and for a full time English speaker to be able to come to that church. It would so incredibly increase the amount of students.
But anyway, I should probably be letting you guys go now. Thank you so much for listening to what I have to say and my prayers requests. Your prayers are greatly felt here and appreciated beyond what words can describe.
Yours in our Lord with all sincerity,
Alex J. Robinson ><>
Sorry for missing the saturday blog time. It was very full and by the time I got home, it was about four hours before I had to get up to make it to Tokyo Horizon on time. So I decided to put it off until I had some free time, like now for instance ^_^. So let's see, where should I begin. Like I said in my previous blog, I did alot of running back and forth this week. The VBS in ... sorry, I forgot that place's name... was interesting. It was unfortunate that we didn't really get to help out alot. It was very well manned and well planned out and we rarely fit into that plan. However, the ideas we got from that place were Cho Iketeru(Very very good). You see, one of the main aspects of ministry that the church here is trying to start is childrens outreaches. Making Horizon a place that they can always feel safe to come and a place where they know they will be cared for and have great experiences. And most of all, a place where the children will be exposed to God's love on a weekly bases if not daily, either from the teachers, or the lessons or the people in the church. And also a place where their parents can feel the same thing. So we are brainstorming programs and other things mostly focusing on English, a subject that most people here hold very important. But anyway, like I was saying, the VBS gave us alot of ideas for this. Of course big ideas for Shine Kids, the door opening children's program here which we soon hope to expand into a two or three day a week language club. And also, ideas for other activities we can have for the kids in conjunction with Shine Kids, like maybe story telling after school. But not read out of a book story telling. At the VBS, for the lesson time, they set up the room to look like what they were talking about. The teacher dressed up in robes and other such things. They had sound effects going in the backround, they even projected sky on to the ceiling. They also had the kids participate in the story. One time during the lesson, there was a knock on the door and they said "It's the Roman soldiers!! Everyone hide!" And they through a blanket over them and had the gaurds come in, talk sternly, poke at the blanket a little, and walk out. And it made me think of perhaps an after school kind of thing. I mean we are within easy walking distance of three different schools here. And we could use bible stories which pretty much all of them haven't heard before. Dress up appropriately. Robes for peace and some kind of armor for war. And for the battle bible stories, we could have armies yelling in the backround if we could get a sound bite like that. So pray about these kind of ideas and the others for reaching out to the kids and their parents. It is a huge opportunity if we can only pull it off. And if the Lord wills it, we most certainly can.
And of course we had another shine kids program, both this mourning and last tuesday. It has been going extremely well and new kids are coming all the time. The parents are very pleased with the program thus far and say they are eagerly awaiting a time when this can become a after school program. This is all such a blessing to us. It has been opening up alot of doors and bringing in a lot of people who have never been in a church before and, in many cases, have never talked with a Christian before. And to be able to teach these kids and to show them the love Jesus has for them, through the love He has given me for them, is such a beautiful thing to be a part of even if I cannot speak to them directly about it right now.
Oh, but that reminds me of the best experience I had this week which was the teaching in Sayama. We started out the week with a huge English party for all the students that are have English Classes in Sayama Horizon Chapel. We had a great time of course and did the same kind of program we do for Shine Kids. But the major difference was that we were allowed to speak to them about God ^_^!!!! Keep in mind that these were not Christian kids for the most part, only children from the surrounding area. But for some reason that I am not quite sure of, the teachers there were given permission from the parents to use the bible to teach them English. I think it was just something the people at Sayama Horizon said upfront about the program. But because english programs are so rare here that don't cost a arm and a leg, they have about thirty students. And even though I love doing the Shine Kids Ministry in Machida, being able to open up my mouth about Jesus's undying love for those kids and how much He wants to be with them and have a relationship with them, even though we have all walked away from Him... it was absolutely amazing ^_^!!! And then I was able to continue to build on the first lesson in the classes I taught there throughout the week. Words cannot express how great it was. Opportunities like that are so rare here. Most ministry here comes little by little, like getting small drops of water on your tongue. And to have a experience like that was like having someone unleash a river on me ^_~! It was beautifully overwhelming ;D! Please pray for a opening up of that ministry and for a full time English speaker to be able to come to that church. It would so incredibly increase the amount of students.
But anyway, I should probably be letting you guys go now. Thank you so much for listening to what I have to say and my prayers requests. Your prayers are greatly felt here and appreciated beyond what words can describe.
Yours in our Lord with all sincerity,
Alex J. Robinson ><>
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