"He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." Psalm 32:2-3 is a good description of our activities of the past week. Monday we held a 4th of July party and then left out early Tuesday morning for our Intern Retreat and we arrived back home Thursday night. These verses remind me so much of the Seelen family. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He doesn't advise, or encourage, He makes. This wonderful family I am working with this summer is so dedicated to their mission and so enthusiastic and hard working every single day that I am glad the Lord provides opportunities of rest and retreat where He makes us lie down and rest.
Monday was our 4th of July party at Suma Beach. It was the Seelen's homeschool party as well as a time for our Japanese friends we have made to get together. We spent the morning preparing the food and packing everything up to go. Tents, grill, decorations, etc. Because I like to think that I am the next Paula Dean, I absolutely loved the time in the kitchen that morning helping prepare the food. There's nothing like wearing red white and blue, making potato salad and listening to Lee Greenwood while you're in Japan. I've never felt so at home on the other side of the world. We had been praying the the rain would hold off as there was a 60% chance all day. We arrived early to set up and spent some time on the beach before our guests arrived. My friends Ayaka and Yuri were supposed to come but they would be a little later because Ayaka had a big exam that afternoon. The party started to die down and the rain started to come and Ayaka and Yuri were nowhere to be found. I began to pray/panic and was very excited when my phone rang and they were almost to the beach. Jenna and I went to meet them and fixed them a plate of food. They had traveled two hours to come to this party and had to eat in the rain while everyone was beginning to leave. Something about that doesn't settle well with Southern hospitality so after talking to Mrs. Teresa and Jenna we decided it would be best to invite them over to our house after the party. They brought their friend Mickey and they all came to the house. We talked, sang and danced and they had their first taste of Dr. Pepper, cookie dough, and pop rocks. I gave them each a ring pop and they almost cried. They said they had seen them advertised on tv but couldn't buy them in Japan. When I told them to open them up and eat them they gasped and said ''Oh no, we can't eat it, we will save it forever!"
The first event of our retreat was going to Soba village and making our own Soba to eat. After we made it, we went in a room and waited for them to bring our Soba out to eat. We said the blessing and a few minutes later, one of the kitchen ladies came up to our table with a huge smile on her face and told Hannah "I am Christian." She folder her hands, bowed her head and said "Yes, I believe, I believe." This was amazing and definitely was a good boost of encouragement for the day. Later we made it to our cabin and had spaghetti and smores and good ol round of Catch Phrase. The next morning we woke up and went to Tottori to the sand dunes. If I never go to Egypt, I'll be okay with that. Climbing up that sand dune, I felt like I was there. It was beautiful. Afterwards, a few of us rode camel which for me, just made the day. I had a two hump camel from Mongolia named Cherry. He had to wear a mask though because he had a bad spitting habit according to the our guide. I leaned closer to his face to take a picture and he flung his head back and jerked. I guess he didn't like that very much. Afterwards, we went to a beautiful cave, like nothing I have ever seen before. I am doing a horrible job of describing it because I just don't know how. Absolutely gorgeous. Because I lack in balance and coordination about as much as height, I found a pretty little rock about half way in and planted myself until everyone had climbed all the way through. We then spent some time on the beach and headed back to the cabin. The day before was Hannah's birthday so we had cake and icecream and played a mean game of Sharades. I've never been one to play games, but I think that may be changing, and well, I don't hate it.
This next week, I hope to get back in the groove of things and continue our harvesting work. It was nice to have a break, but I'm ready to get back doing work. Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement.
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