WE HAVE THE INTERNET!!

Now that we have only about a week left, WE HAVE THE INTERNET!! :o)

We all just got back from FriendsCamp this weekend. Taga church is very blessed to have so many members and friends who help support this camp. For camp, we invite all of our readers to come join us at a retreat type facility out of the city. We sleep in cabins and enjoy our meals in the great outdoors (with the wonderful mushi...bugs... and all!). We have four reading/class session spread out over 3 days, where we read more about Jesus and share our lives.


This past weekend we had about 30-40 people, although only some were part time, participating in reading sessions, activities, and fun. Scott and Luanne Snow led camp this year and it was a blast! Here are just a couple of pictures of what we did:

Devo held on the stairs overlooking the beautiful forest covered mountains.

We had some team/group building time. Everyone had to put their the puzzle piece that matched theirs and put together their group puzzle!

We had a great talent show this year. Here our famous church member, Mr. Siato did a little dance for us. Everyone sang the song "As the Deer" while Mr. Siato pranced around in his reindeer antler on his head. It was hilarious. Mr. Siato is about 85 years old and has the heart of a 20 year old!! He loves to laugh and has so much joy in his heart about God. Him and his wife are wonderful examples to us.

Another highlight was Sammy`s reader, Masa. He is has a black belt in Karate. He showed us how to punch and kick. Then he did a couple of really awesome karate routines.

We all got together Saturday afternoon for a game of kick ball out in the field. And luckily the weather was perfect that day! It rained all day Sunday!

Saturday night we had Japanese BBQ! Oh it was soo good! First you marinate the strips of meat in a sauce and then you fry them on this griddle that sit in the middle of your table! You then fry up all the vegetables (cabbage, mushrooms, bell peppers, and egg plant). Once you are full on that and think it was the best meal you`ve had in forever, they bring out the yakisoba! You add more veggies and soba noodles to the mix. Oh, it is so good! I`m thinking that it just might be better than an old fashion American BBQ!

To end our camp pictures, here is Jake being really silly for the camera. Unfortunately, I didn`t get as many pictures of camp as I wanted to because my batteries died on Saturday night... right in the middle of the talent show! I was a little unprepared for that. I would have loved to show you a picture of our worship service this morning.

Since it was pouring rain, we ALL crowded into ONE cabin this morning (we had 4 cabins just to fit all of us Saturday night). Although these cabins were a fairly good size... there was a nice downstairs part with a small kitchen table, sink, and two gas burners. A little "living" area, the bathroom and shower room. Then there was small upstairs room that is more like a balcony. It is about half the size of the downstairs part with railing that overlooks the living area. Anywho, we all packed into this one cabin... people sitting downstairs on the chairs and window sills, and then upstairs looking down through the railing! We had a great time! It was nice to be able to all be in the same place together and I think it was a fun experience for our readers too!

Time goes by too quickly! Now there is only a week left, and only 3 more days to meet with our readers! I had an amazing week last week with my readers. I grew really close with two of my favorite readers. Kiyomi, the woman I had met in Takahagi in 2004, has been very stressed with work and the things she is involved with. She came in the other day crying. We talked about her things, I share some of my stress back at home and we found so many things in common. At that point we both knew that it wasn`t chance we met again this year. I had asked her when was the last time she did LST (many of our readers do LST for 3+ years, every year). She told me that not since 2004 in Takahagi. That is when I started crying. God works in some amazing ways. Kiyomi and I have two more classes together... I am looking forward to them but also dreading them because I know that after Thursday it will be all over. This woman is searching for God in her life and she feels Him working in her heart. I just pray that she finds Him. Please be praying for her also.

My other favorite is Yuko, I`ve posted several pictures. She is so sweet! We have been sharing so many things. She talks a lot about her beautiful daughter Sakura and how much joy that she has brought to her life. I was talking to Judith (one of the women who has been working in Japan for 5 years. She helps prepare for LST and does a lot of adversiting before we arrive on site. Check out her blog!) about Yuko on Friday and she told me about an email Yuko had sent her:

“I really enjoyed my English conversation lesson so much today. Tanya is teaching me so many things…. the words in the Bible are so great! I am learning so much from it. I am not a Christian but the things we talked about today are still deeply impressed on my heart. After each class I share these stories with my husband. I appreciate you so much for telling me about LST. Thank you so much!”

I will post some pictures of our readers here in the next couple of days. Tomorrow we have a day off, since this past weekend we worked at camp. We will be helping to prepare for VBS this Saturday. Our theme this year is Serving... our families, friends, and community. Hopefully we will have a good turn out. Please be praying for that also!

GOOD NIGHT! (or good morning for people in the US! ha ha)