July

July held a couple trips out to Shioda, both to teach and to visit church there. I always enjoy seeing the crops growing out there. It's especially interesting to see how the grapes are grown. I just love all the green out in Yamanashi prefecture!

I taught English for two full weeks, and then we came to VBS week. This year, Javon returned, and we were also joined by the Zeltwanger family. They were all such a joy to work with!

During the team's first weekend here, we did something that I have been very much looking forward to. We held our first Girls Camp, Japan! We rented an Airbnb and eight girls joined us. It was a special time to get to know these girls as we talked about our theme - What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Because it was our debut girls camp, there were definitely some learning curves. For example, the noise policy at our Airbnb house. In Japan, neighbors are very close, and they are very conscientious of staying quiet out of respect for their neighbors. That was a hard thing to remember with a group of middle school girls. Another challenge was planning devotion time. Because we had some girls who only speak Japanese, and some who only speak English, we had to translate everything, so each discussion took about twice as long as it normally would. All that to say, it was a wonderful couple days and we look forward to doing it again!

VBS was also a joy! It's very neat to see how God works through the team each year. This year was the first year we had a family, and we appreciated the different layers of having teenagers as well as adults to interact with the kids. Our theme this year was on Hope. We shared Bible stories, sang songs, played games, and did some crafts.

After VBS, summer break began. I spent five and a half weeks back in the States, and it was so special enjoying time with family and catching up with friends. The highlight of the summer was meeting my three-month-old nephew, and two newborn neices, who were born that week, just before I arrived back. I returned to Japan at the end of August and had a few days to adjust before jumping back into teaching English classes.

God is faithful all the time, and I pray He will lead throughout this year.

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8