Day Three MONDAY

Big news of day three is this: HAWLEY IS BETTER! She came to camp with us this morning. Thank God for answered prayer. She has been well all day.
Today was our first day of the VBS camp. I think a lot of us were secretly nervous--nobody showing it, but still anxious on the inside. We woke up early and Michael made us eggs like he promised. He realized we didn't have any cooking utensils, no spatula, so we made one out of a paper plate (we have video footage). We had no mixing bowls, but no problem, we mixed the eggs in the glasses provided in the hotel room. No butter, but it was a non-stick pan (not really). These kind of experiences make a trip like this. Total fun and hilarity. We walked to the international school where our camp is being held and we had devotions there to start with. The campers arrived for registration and all of us greeted with them and starting mixing with them. Campers were assigned to their groups and our TKA students were assigned to these groups as "camp counselors". We had a busy morning with all the groups making 4 rotations through arts and crafts, games, Bible and English class. Everybody agreed that the classes went really well, no problems.
After the morning classes, we all had lunch together (we all ordered bento boxes, lots of variety--chili shrimp, hamburger steak, curry etc) After lunch, we took off to our afternoon activity, which was bowling for today. We walked to the bowling alley and had fun bowling for the first time in Japan. A little bit different, you rent your bowling shoes in a vending machine. And then they have a game where the bowling alley shuts down the lights and play loud music (felt a little bit like a disco) and the first 3 people to get strikes get a prize. It was funny--only in Japan. After bowling, we walked back to the school to clean up and prep for tomorrow morning...another day of camp...different curriculum, activities etc. Mr. R. is very proud of the students. TKA has a great reputation and the students are living up to it. We are now back at the hotel getting ready for dinner. We're going out to "Royal Host", a family restaurant. After dinner, we'll have a short debrief/devotional meeting and then beddy-bye time. We have a convenience store right next door to our hotel, so sometimes we make runs to the store for "midnight snacks" (though not at midnight), drinks etc. God's blessing on our group is evident at every corner. God is providing for our needs in so many ways. The Japanese campers are too cute for words and our TKA students are completely taken by them. The campers are charming the heck out of our kids. If you can't tell by the mood of this blog, our first day was a great success--very good feedback from the missionaries and their crew. Mr. Reinman is a happy camper. :)
Have to go to dinner. Day four tomorrow!