Utsukushii Nichiyoubi

Utsukushii Nichiyoubi means "Beautiful Sunday" in Japanese. The picture below is the view from the Huggins porch and is the view we woke up to.It is day 2 here in Japan and everyone is headed to bed. It has been a long and blessed day here at the Huggins. I thought it would be fun to let everyone who wanted to post something here on the blog. Below you will find peoples comments and pictures I have taken throughout the day. A quick rundown of our day goes as follows:

• Sunday Service
  
  The service was beautiful! Listening to Mr. Huggins go seamlessly from Japanese to English was fascinating. When we sang hymns the combination of Japanese & English mixed with the love and fellowship of the congegration and an added dose of musical talent by many people was nearly enough to bring me to tears. I was seriously choked up a couple times. ;)
  
• Sunday Lunch
  Curry & Rice - Spicy or Mild. It was a great tasting dish served and all were happy and full.
• None Other Lamb Performance
  The "Japan 12" sang None Other Lamb in Japanese for our hosts, then everyone joined in for a second round.
• Walk to the Beach & Park
  Everyone went out for a walk to the beach nearby. Then we took a short jaunt through the mild heat and humidity to the park. By short, I mean very long... and by mild heat and humidity I mean to say that we needed scuba gear to breath in the boiling water they call air.
• Dinner at the Huggins
  Hamburger Pie, Salad, Ice Cream & Pears. Pretty much just plain yummy
• Fellowship, Art, Goof-Off, etc time

That pretty much sums up the day. Below are the comments from others as promised.

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Well we survived the day of travel and our first full day was Sunday service and a meal with the wonderful people of Grace Bible Chapel. So far I’ve been feeling that being with the Huggins family is not very different than being at a family camp but with Japanese guests.

David N.

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Today, we experienced the best of Japan in several ways. First…church. We were able to join Grace Bible Church, a very special group. Second…we went on a long walk around the back roads which led us around rice paddies, a small bamboo forest, and parks around the house. Beautiful!

Kate C.

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What a great bunch the “Disciples 12” are! Their presence in our worship service, their voices raised in song really filled out small sanctuary. We enjoyed observance of the Lord’s Table together. Being communion Sunday Machiko fixed curry rice, which seemed to be a real hit with the Americans. And like the cherry on the cake they sang “None Other Lamb” and blessed our hearts. Indeed! It was a blessed Sunday.

Tim H.

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Praise the Lord we have finally arrived and the people here are absolutely wonderful. The 20 hours of travel didn’t keep us down long; we had sweet fellowship with the Huggins family and friends in the evening and the next day we enjoyed worshiping the Lord with the people of Grace Bible Chapel. What a blessing it has been already to have made this trip and it is only day one. Thank you all for your prayers.

Melinda

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Hey all. We’re having a great time here!! All the sights and sounds bring back old memories! Meccha natsukashii!!! We went for a walk and found many cool things: Spiders, cicadas, and many more critters.

Jeremy

P.S. What do you think about my new piercing?

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Konichiwa! We are having a wonderful time in beautiful Japan. Dad, you would not like the humidity! This morning we were given the opportunity to hear Pastor Tim preach from the Word with conviction. We are blessed. On another note, saw a praying mantis on the sidewalk today while walking to the beach. Thanks to all who helped to make this trip a reality!

Kimberly

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Kait says hi!

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Sam says double hi!

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*Steph says oyasumi*

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Geneva says "Hi! Can't talk right now..."

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Today by the numbers:

5 beds in the sanctuary when the sun came up, 2 great sermons, 2 regular ties (David, me), 2 bolo ties (Tim, Yamaguchi-san), 1 tiring walk, 2 bugs in the house larger than my thumb (so far), 12 smiling foreigners.

-Will