Kanagi Chapel

On July 15th Amy and I went up to Kanagi by train and met up with Adrian and Deborah in transit. The entire trip was full of excitement which started when Amy and I got on a train we thought was headed for Kanagi but when another train pulled into the same station we realized we'd better double check, so we asked someone and discovered we were on the wrong train. Without further ado we grabbed all our stuff and ran across the platform to the correct train. From there we arrived in Goshagawara where we had to make a transfer in order to get to Kanagi. We succesfully boarded the train and met up with Adrian and Deborah here, and a good thing we did because we assumed that since the church we were going to was called Kanagi Chapel, that our stop would be Kanagi station. By the grace of God, however, Adrian and Deborah were there to inform us that we had to go about another three or so stations.
Upon arriving, the four of us helped a German missionary, Angela, hand out tracts in the area surrounding where she lived. After we finished with this she drove us to Kanagi Chapel where the Messers', the German Missionary couple that ran Kanagi Chapel lived. Once we arrived, Amy and I gave an english lesson to Japanese children, ranging in age from 2 years of age to 6. Meanwhile, Adrian and Deborah were preparing dinner, which we all enjoyed at the conclusion of the english lesson.
Then we went to an Onsen or natural hotspring, which we all seemed to enjoy, and then Adrian and I spent the night at Kanagi Chapel and Deborah and Amy spent the night at Angela's house. After spending the night there we met up in the morning to go and work on the Messer's vacation home. Although such places are provided for the missionaries, due to Heika Messer's severe allergies they had to buy a more modern place which contained less allergens, so we spent the day dismanteling old furniture, removing old grout, stripping the walls of wallpaper, as well as ripping up the old vinyl flooring in some of the rooms. After finishing a good days work at this house, the four of us took a train back to Goshagawara but when we got on the connecting train to Ityanagi we were suprised to find that it was a reserved train which would have cost us 500 Yen more (around $5.00) so we opted to just wait an hour for the next train. So while we waited to go home we passed the time playing Uno in some mysterious small room with nothing but four chairs and a trashcan so we had to use the trashcan as a table but it wasn't that bad. All in all it was a great experience and God was definately with us throughout it all.

- Jordan