Balance: Lessons Learned from VBS

I thought it might be nice for our faithful readers to hear from the rest of the team. First up, one of our team moms, Janet Chew...

Well, we are in the homestretch of our preparation for our trip to Okinawa only 10 short days away! We have been shopping for host gifts, planning lessons, putting together our menus for cooking lessons, prepping decorations for parties and celebrations, collecting our craft materials, practicing our worship, and finalizing our testimonies. Also, we’re putting together lots of pictures so that when our words are insufficient, we can communicate and share through our photos. We have also been enjoying following the progress of the other two Evergreen Japan teams and praying for them as they wrap up their time there and return home. We will meet with them on their return so that we can learn and better prepare for our time in Okinawa. We are in the training and preparation phase for God’s service.

Proverbs 19:20 “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.”

But we will not forget that ultimately we need to trust in God and his plans for us. The key term for all of our missions teams is “flexibility” and as we saw with the other teams with the typhoons and earthquakes, God will provide if we just wait and trust in him. It was such a wonderful time having all of our MSG groups come together last Sunday for fellowship, fun, lots of food, but most importantly, prayer. To be in a room with 40 other believers and hear the harmonious murmurings of prayer and praise go up to God was so awesome and I really felt that God was with us and we could trust him with every detail of our trip; He would indeed be strength in our weakness.

Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”

Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Typhoon In Japan

As we prepare to head off to Okinawa in a just little over three weeks, we are both excited and anxious for all that God is going to do in us and through us. To me, three weeks still seems like a long way off, but I know it is going to FLY by.

As you may have guessed from the title of this blog post, a pretty major typhoon has just hit the island of Okinawa. Reports are, this is the worst typhoon to hit the area in over four years. (http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=47351) Please pray for the people there, as they begin to "pick up the pieces" and return things to the way they should be. Pray for Evergreen's first team to Okinawa, as they are stuck in Tokyo until at least next week. Pray for Team Tokyo, as the typhoon is expected to hit Tokyo when they are scheduled to land in Japan. But most of all, pray for God to be glorified.

in Christ,
Kevin

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. " -John 3:17