So I have been severely slacking in the blog area of my life lately! But I'm back. Classes have started back up for almost a month now after the winter vacation, and I'm feeling back in the swing of things...but in just six more weeks the school year will be over here in Japan! Recently this realization has been stirring up more feelings and thoughts. In March I will be saying goodbye to good friends and fellow workers who have completed their mission for now here in Japan. In April I will say hello to working with new staff and perhaps new students. Many things will change, and I don't know how that will feel or look like but I do know God is faithful and has been with me through all things so I have no fear.
One thing that's been really exciting to me is that I realized how finally I'm at a point in my work here where my relationships with students and church members etc. have begun to feel much more comfortable and I've had many opportunities to spend quality time with them. It means I'm pretty busy throughout the week except for my day off, but that's a good thing because otherwise I get lonely!
A recent event that I was really excited about was a coffeehouse we held in a library at LLI. It started about 3pm on a Sunday afternoon which was perfect because many church members who rarely attend our English events were just getting out of a big meeting and were able to stop by for a bit and check it out. It was such a fun variety of people. We had english students from two different schools, Bible study members, members from other churches, VYM missionaries, and more!
We had some musical performances, played games, talked and mingled. The event turned out to provide the cozy comfortable atmosphere we were hoping for and people were able to relax and chat for a long time! We pulled in couches into the library from the hallway, put up Christmas lights, and had a really wide variety of coffee, tea and snacks for all.
Many people asked if we were going to have the coffeehouse again or as a monthly event so we hope to have more coffeehouses in the future!
