Miyako Mission Trip pt. 2

While we were in Miyako, we visited three different elementary schools. Each school requested something specific from us in terms of a gift or program. But we did many of the same things at each school. We played card and board games with them. We donated a lot of sports equipment to each school and played football, soccer and frisbee with the kids. We also gave each child an American snack of Pringles potato chips and a juice box. Finally, the children who participated in vacation Bible school at the chapel the week before we left decorated hacky sacks for the children in Miyako. So we handed a few of those out to each student with a hand written note from a child their age offering encouragement and best wishes. What a special gift!

 All of our gifts were much appreciated by the schools. I know many of these children lost most of their possessions in the tsunami. So a simple ball can mean the world to them! Our goal was to demonstrate God's extravagant love and FREE gift of life with these donations. I think my favorite memory of the gift-giving process was at the first school. We gave them some American footballs, which they had never seen before. We used the Japanese words for "foot" and "ball" to try and explain what it was for - but they did not understand why we called it a football if we don't kick it with our feet. Hahaha. They caught on pretty quickly though.

 At first, the Japanese children were very quiet and shy. But soon they started to open up and started smiling, laughing, and rough-housing like normal kids. Our students and I agree - seeing their faces light up with genuine joy and laughter was the greatest part of this trip.

The special thing the first school requested was water guns and water balloons. We were a little surprised by that, but indulged them with dozens of small squirt guns and bags of balloons. The kids had so much fun squirting not only each other, but our students. I also think our students enjoyed having an excuse to throw buckets of water at the leaders. By the end of the day we were all soaked to the bone and freezing. But it was fun and definitely worth it!

 Below are some pictures of us handing out the hacky sacks. Those children were so excited to receive a gift from American kids their age. =^)

 The second day we spent a lot more time at our assigned school. The girls spent the morning inside with the children, doing arts and crafts projects and doing some face painting while they boys set up a BBQ outside. We only had a couple of days to prepare an "American program" for children who don't speak English. Since we didn't have time to learn much of the language, we opted for something simple and interactive that we could leave behind. We also thought long and hard about how we could tie this in to God. I think we succeeded pretty well. =^)

 We wanted to leave this school with something to remember us by,

that also helped us communicate the gospel message. So we helped them finger paint a mural of a Japanese maple tree, inspired by Jeremiah 17:7-8:

"Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,

Whose confidence is in Him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water

That sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when the heat comes;

Its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

And it never fails to bear fruit."

We had our translator read the meaning of the scripture to them after we finished. I pray they understood the message.

 More arts and crafts projects. We glued hearts to paper plates

to make flowers, and glued fruit loops and cotton balls

to construction paper to make rainbows. Both symbols of

promise, peace and new growth. =^)

 Before lunch, my fellow leader Erika (who is an excellent artist) pulled out some face painting supplies. At first, the kids were to scared to try. But finally one of the older students stepped forward and volunteered to be her guinea pig. After they saw the big bat drawn on his face they got very excited and couldn't wait for their turn! So cute!

 By this time, the food was ready. So we cleared away the art supplies and brought out the food. In addition to hotdogs and hamburgers, we gave each child some Pringles and a juice box. For a special treat, we bought some melons and cut them up for the kids. Melons are extremely expensive off base (sometimes reaching the equivalent of $20 for a small one!!)

Before we ate, the Japanese children tried singing the ABC's for us. They did pretty well until they hit QRST. Then they just kind of trailed off... So our students got inspired and sang the ABCs back to them. After that we had our translator read the lyrics for Jesus Loves Me. We sang it to them once with accompanying sign language, and then invited them to join us in doing the motions. After that I prayed for the meal, and our translator repeated each line after me. Their teachers were very receptive and told the children that God is good, and that is why we were there doing good things for them. So they should thank God. During the prayer I thanked God for allowing us to be there to serve these children. The teacher made a point of coming over and telling me that she was very surprised and moved that we would thank God for a chance to serve them. It was pretty clear that God was working in that place and we are SOO thankful!

After lunch, we headed outside for a couple more hours of fun in the sun. We had one big circle of students tossing frisbees back and forth. It was really cute because the girls started trying to share the frisbees and toss them together since there were not enough for each person. (SO Japanese.) The older Japanese kids joined many of our students in a rowdy game of soccer as well. I am so excited that I captured the picture below of one of our boys giving them a high five. Our mission was to share God's love with them, and often we had to do that without words. But I think the message got through just fine. =^)

 When the day was over, neither group of students wanted to part ways. The Japanese kids insisted that we all sign the sports equipment we were leaving behind so they could remember us. Many of them signed their names on US as well. One boy had writing all up and down his arms because everyone wanted to sign their names on him. Then we took a big group picture and said our final farewells.

 In Japanese culture, gift-giving is a big deal. Whenever you give someone something, you always expect something in return. They were overwhelmed with the gifts we gave them, and the fact that we wanted nothing in return. (We are building bridges for the gospel here! Difficult to understand the free gift of salvation if there is no such thing as a free gift!) But they DID want to show their appreciation, so they gave us this cute poster of origami characters they had made, as well as a beautiful Japanese poem expressing their gratitude. The poem says:

"Our tears are like an ocean,

Like the tsunami that came to Akamai (their village).

You came here to encourage us and

We will never forget." 

In addition to playing with young kids, we also did a lot of work for our hosts from OMF International and the 3.11 church network. Right around the time we arrived, they were preparing to move to a new temporary location. So we moved several hundred pounds of boxes of supplies down four flights of stairs, packed them into a rented truck and our vans and transport them to the new location. They were very appreciative of our help.

After that we headed to the third school. We only had a couple of hours here, but still enjoyed playing with these sweet children. We did some more arts and craft projects, painted many more faces, played some card games, and shared another American snack. We sang Jesus Loves Me again. Then we presented them with a lot of sports equipment before heading home.

This was a deeply impacting trip for everyone involved and we cannot wait to go back!