A More Serious Jellyfish Encounter

We were at a picnic/fellowship time last night with many of the staff here at the school. The tide was out so you could virtually walk out to some rocky mini-islands. Mike and Jonathan ventured off. After climbing down to return to shore, Jonathan's knee and hand tangled with a Jellyfish. The nasty buggers and invisible in the water, so he couldn't see it. They got to shore as quickly as possible and he still had tenticle thingies clinging to his hand. We brushed them off and went to the restaurant on the place to ask for vinegar. He doused the areas with that, which is suppose to neutralize the venom. We needed to pick out 2 stingers as well. He soaked the affected areas with vinegar drenched towels on the way home and then we went on line to find out what to watch for...in case we needed to take him to the ER. After 2 hours, he wasn't showing any signs of serious reaction and the pain had subsided quite a bit. Jellyfish stings sort of burn and itch at the same time. His hand has swollen up a fair amount and that is uncomfortable as well. He had a hard time sleeping last night, but he is still asleep now... so he did eventually get to sleep. I guess the affects of the sting can last a while, and the marks may remain for a week or two. I was so glad it wasn't the area knows for box jellyfish... which are especially dangerous. 2 weeks ago, when he got a brush from one of those, it was very mild, but the other teen who helped rescue the kids on the capsized jetski really suffered pain and discomfort from it. Lydia was hardly phased by it...even though she got a stinger. Who knew my Minnesota kids can withstand jellyfish stings??? (God did... and has protected even in our "playing" adventures... He is SO good!) So... it's back to teaching English today... and maybe we won't expect much from Jonathan today... or he may stay home. Time will tell.

Second Week... On our own

Well, we just finished our second day of being "on our own". We are the main teachers at this site and have 7 Japanese students and two English speaking children that come and help as examples. This group is learning quickly and love the games we play. One boy, in particular, is quite the out-going young man, with a flare for drama. Today, as we were discussing feelings (anger, happy, sad, etc.) he had us all laughing at his overly dramatic demonstrations of each. Yesterday, we were all very warm and he starts singing "Frosty the Snowman." Later, he was singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". I think his parents like listening to Western muisic. :)

Mike is doing better physically since he went to the doctor yesterday. He was diagnosed with acute bronchitis. The medicine they gave him makes him sleepy, but he isn't coughing so much and is really on the mend.

One of the highlights today was to hear the kids singing "God is so Big" without prompting. They just start singing it as they are coloring or going outside to play. With the use of the translator, they know what it really means as well. (The Bible lessons have been on creation and how powerful God is to create all He did.) They also have been singing God is so Good... in Japanese. They are little sponges.

Oh... and Jonathan, called "Johnny" by the boys, has become a favorite among the little boys. They want to sit by him, and play with him and "hang" on him every chance they get. It is Jonathan's moment of knowing what "fame" is. It is cute.

Well, that's the latest update. Thanks for your prayer.

The three most important things we need for this trip are prayer, prayer and more prayer. I want to give you all some more prayer fuel. The list of names below has 2 parts. The first, larger part of the list is the list of students who will be at the same location we were at last week. We will be doing an expansion class at a church much closer to where we are living at the OSCI missionary apartments. The smaller list at the bottom is the expension class we will do this week. ALL OF THESE KIDS NEED YOUR PRAYERS. Thank you so much.

ENGLISH IN ACTION MALL CLASS
Tsukasa 6
Mayumi6
Rikana 6
Nio 6
Sora 8
Ayako 7
Syoko 7
Takumi 9
Syoichiro 8
Masataka 8
Manami 9
Karin 10
Saon 9
Shion 10
Urara 10
Masaki 10
Miki 10
Kanon 10
Moeka 11

ENGLISH IN ACTION BELLMONT CHURCH EXPANSION CLASS
Toyoki 11
Minami 9
Yuma 8
Kou 8
You 6
Momoka 6

The Last Day Celebratino BBQ

We finished our last day of the first week. The facility we used is right on the beach. The school is working through another agency which advertises these classes all over, and even gets children from mainland who come down by airplane, stay a week in a dorm or with a host family and then return on Saturday. Anyway, this agency had a BBQ on the beach for everyone Friday afternoon/evening.

The party included activitied including a possible ride on a jet ski or the banana shaped floater pulled by the jet ski where 5 people could ride. Jonathan and Lydia were waiting their turn, when the banana boat flipped over, putting all the riders, (all wearing life jackets), in the water. Then, the jet ski also flipped, ejecting the driver, two 7-year-old students we had and a 9-year-old missionary girl. They all had life jackets on, but we didnt' know how well the little ones could swim with jacket on, to shore. Kazuki, (our OCSI senior who was our translator this week) and Jonathan jumped in the water and began swimming out to the little ones to help them. Lydia soon followed to help the missionary girl. Kazuki and Jonathan got to the little students and helped them to shore, and Lydia's help wasn't needed as Elyssa managed to swim to shore. When the 3 "rescuers" got to shore, they were all itching their legs and Lydia's hand was also itchy. We were on the Pacific Ocean side of the island and this area is known for its box jellyfish. These jellyfish are very dangerous, and their sting can land you in the hospital. It was quickly determined none of them were stung seriously, but the Okinawan ladies there were quick to apply vinegar and other remedies to take away the itch and sting. Kazuki and Lydia each had a bump like a mosquito bite with a possible fiber in the center from the creature. The older seasoned Okinawan man was not too concerned about Lydia's physical reaction to it all because she was laughing about it... probably partly due to a bit of embarassment from the attention all the Okinawan ladies were giving her, putting this stuff and that stuff on her legs and hand. The older Okinawan man was sort of chuckling at Lydia's smiles and laughs about it all. Kazuki, Lydia and Jonathan didn't have any serious affects from it... only a bit of burning pain and itching. I am guessing that it may not have been the box jellyfish that got them, but maybe a much less severe kind... or their encounter was very mild. None of the people who were on the jet-ski or the banana boat were stung. So... that ended the banana boat rides... but they all had fun anyway. Lydia now has bragging rights, she figures... encountering the prickers of a sea urchin and now the "sting" of a jelly fish. (We did go swimming last week after class, at a beach near where we are staying, and had no negative encounters with any sea creatures... so we CAN go in the water without pain.)

Well, that was the excitement for yesterday. We were sad to have to say "good-bye" to the students. They were such fun kids. Next week, we are teaching in a church and Mike and I are the main teachers. So far, we only have 8 students, but may have more. The other class has 20. (The other location is more centrally located and easier to get to for most.) It will be fun and we are so glad to have had the role of "assistants" this week to learn how to do this program.

Day 4 - hear we come

It's morning of Day 4 of English in Action class. Mike is up and seeing if he can make it today. If he does go, he will wear a surgical mask... the Japanese way of not spreading germs. The rest of us are trying to avoid his illness, but we are all showing some symptoms of colds. We are taking vitamins and drinking Japanese vitamin drinks.

Yesterday, we discovered that one of our students, Kalen, is the daughter of an OCSI graduate. Her mom was in 5th grade when I started teaching here in 1987 and Mike taught her Bible and possible other classes when we returned in 1993. Kalen's mom (Lisa Gowan) was a typical OCSI student... Japanese mom and American dad. She is now married to a Japanese man and her daughter attends the Japanese Christian school. When I discovered who Kalen's mom was, I could then see that she looks alot like her mom.

Jonathan and Lydia are fitting in very well and are loving the kids. Jonathan has made good friends with one of the other helpers... Zach, a missionary kids in middle school. Zach is introducing Jonathan to some foods he likes and they are having fun together, working together.

Lydia loves the kids and does well working with them. Manato, a 6 year old boy, who is a tease, has become a favorite. His English is limited, but he is able to get his point across in playfulness. One day, he told Lydia how she should color her picture at craft time. She did it just as he said, using the colors he suggested. When she was done, she asked him what he thought. He indicated it was bad, with a twinkle in his eye.

The place we are teaching is the conference room in the upper part of a small mall. There is a grocery store on the first floor. The kids have discovered onigiri... fair sized triangular balls of rice, with tuna in the middle, wrapped with seaweed. That has become their after school snack the last few days. They love them. We are also eating Bentos for lunch each day. A bento is like a prepack lunch from the Japanese "deli" which always includes a large serving of rice, some sort of meat and various small portions of mystery items such as pickled noodles, cooked bitter greens, etc. The portions of meat and rice are sufficiant to fill us up... so if the mystery items don't suit us, we are not going to go hungry. So far, we have enjoyed them quite a bit.

Well, I need to finish getting ready for the day. Thanks for your prayers concerning our health.

One teacher down but not out.

Hello Everyone,
Please pray for me (Mike) today as I have come down with a nasty cold/cough that has settled in my lungs and vocal cords. Since I cannot speak very well my only duties today will be to drive the Team across the Island to the location of the classes this week. I did so this morning and came right back to rest and pray. I will drive back over to pick everyone up at the end of the teaching day.
Thank you all for praying for me.

Day 1 of "English in Action" Classes

Wow! What a great day! When we arrived we heard that there may be as few as two students this first week of English in Action. One teacher mentioned that she was praying for at least 5 students in order to make it a viable class. I had been praying that there would be at least ten students. God has seen fit to add our prayers together and give us fifteen kids to share his love with this week.

Last week I shared with our congregation that we need your prayers so much because all the work we do will not accomplish anything of eternal value without the Holy Spirit working in the students to draw them closer to Himself... Remember we only have five days to love on these kids as we teach them english and build friendships with them all for the purpose of introducing them to Jesus. Thank you so much for praying for us and for all these kids...

Kaori and Kalen (the only girls in the class), Kozo, Levito, Hikaru, Kai, Raiki, Kouta, Keijin, Isshin, Manato, Yusuke, (This will give you enough prayer fuel for today; I'll complete the list later, LORD willing.)

God bless you all and thank you for praying.