Christmas and then some

SO.  It's Christmas time.  It doesn't really feel like it.  Does it to you?

Here, the bigger holiday is New Year.  It's the time that everyone spends with their families and eats sushi.  But nonetheless, Christmas is still celebrated (albeit with KFC and Christmas cakes)... So, we did an outreach event today.  It was our first ever Christmas Production. 

A girl on our team wrote a play; another helped with the translation; one girl did a dance; others helped with video and technology (which was a huge feat in an of itself); special music for the band, karaoke, snacks, sewing, you name it-- we probably did it!

But it was lovely and ran remarkably smooth.  My part in this day: organizing everything and making a timeline/Lighting timeline/organizing responsibilities on the whole day.  My job was basically to make sure set-up, production and clean up/pack-up ran smoothly and that everyone had everything that they needed where they needed it.  And I answered a million questions.

It should be mentioned, the file name for this so called timeline is: Christmas Production Timeline Masterpiece.

Because it was.

Other than that, I also played bass (including a jazz piece I just learned yesterday) and did lighting during my allotted time.

But enough about that-- we had about 30% of our crowd as newcomers and a number of "Hisashiburi" people (Hisashiburi means "long time, no see").  And many got to hear the Gospel for the first time.

So, all these questions and worksheets and rehearsed lines and technology preparation was so that Japanese people-- who are used to top-notch, high quality-- could hear the Gospel for the first time in a clear, powerful and even dramatic way.  There's no better Christmas gift you can give.

And though I guarantee you that nearly everyone is exhausted tonight, we are all satisfied that what we did was done to honor God and to show God's love and our love to those who have never heard.