After waking up early in the morning, the PFMC mission team and nine members from Sakuragaoka church went on a six hour long drive to Oue-cho church in Yamagata prefecture. Compared to Tokyo, Yamagata prefecture is much greener and more rural with an even smaller Christian community. There, we were greeted by the friendly Pastor Nishiyama (along with her adorable Pomeranian, Coco) and the ever caring Pastor Ouichi. The Yamagata people are known for going to the hot springs. Therefore Yuuki as well as myself decided to go to the hot springs where we gazed at the mountains and admired God's work and beauty. After a rejuvenating bath, we returned to a delicious pizza party at church where the team socialized with middle schoolers from the school as well as church members from Oue-cho church and Zao Church.
After helping out with washing the dishes, we had a special nighttime service consisting of worship teams from Oue-cho church (Trio Gracia), Sakuragaoka church and PFMC (the mission team), a message from Pastor Iida and birthday song (God Bless You) dedicated to me which was performed by the wonderful trio from Oue-cho church. What truly took me shock was not the fact that total strangers were wishing me a happy birthday but that every single person talked to me as if they really did love me. Even though we had never met each other before, we were all connected through God's love and glory. As we were eating the birthday cake that Pastor Sakakibara had bought for my birthday, I felt God's presence in the room and was truly thankful for an opportunity to praise and appreciate what the Lord had done for us.
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