August 14-17, 2019 Kids Connection

We finished up our final week of OMP at Kids Connection in Yamate!

Kid’s connection is an after school youth program where students learn English and develop additional skills for their schooling. It was founded and run by a Christian couple, but their work is non religious. During the summer break, Kids Connection runs from 9:30-3pm on weekdays, and about 10-12 students, ages 3 to 17, attend the program daily. 

The summer program at Kids Connection is largely unstructured. Most of the students learn and play in he main classroom, which is the size of a large studio apartment. There, students can play on musical instruments, read books, play board games, and use the computer for Minecraft or Fortnite. Upstairs, students receive 1:1 English tutoring, or get help with their homework.

On Tuesday, we took the youth on a field trip to the Ramen museum. Wednesday, we had a science teacher come and give a lesson on dry ice. On Thursday we had fun around the classroom, playing board games for the majority of the time. 

I made good friends with two youths in particular, Yusuke and Kesuke. They’re twins who have to use wheelchairs to get around. Since Pastor Tetsui had been tutoring them in English, we practiced our English each day. At first they were too shy to engage, but by the end of our time we were able to converse in simple sentences!

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the final day of our mission trip. We will be attending YIBC service in the morning, and then Yamatocho (Pastor Tetsui’s church) in the afternoon. During that service, we will be giving our thoughts on what we learned during our trip. 

Please pray for our final day, that in the process of preparing to share we will reflect and see how God has been leading each of us. Also, please pray for our separate journeys next week— Trevor will be returning to the States Monday, Daniel to Korea on Tuesday, and I will be traveling to other parts of Japan during the week! 

Grateful for your prayers. See everyone in a couple weeks!!