A New Source of Protein....

I entered my Intercultural Communication class today with a stomch full from SDR tacos and still plenty of coffee left over from the morning to find that my professor had brought us a little snack. As she spooned a few little brown balls into our mouths, she restrained from telling us what this little things were. As a class we chewed and talked about what we thought these things were. They had a very unique taste and we all agreed that they tasted a bit like a lake. We all finished chewing and the true identity of these brown balls were revealed. They were in fact silk worms, a common snack in some parts of China. Now I know that I can indeed stomach a silk worm if ever offered one.

I got all my paperwork and a schedule back from Japan this week. The plans turned out to be a bit different than I thought, but I'm excited. I'm going to be teaching Enghlish as an outreach for the Kaminoyama Bible Baptist Church in Kaminoyama Yamagata Japan. Also unlike I was expecting, I'll be going there alone. We weren't going to be able to get the required 72 hours of teaching time in for the three of us in one location, so we had to split up. Park is going to be teaching in a church right near Tokyo. I'm going to be in Kaminoyama which is a few hours northeast of Tokyo, and they still don't have a location for Anna yet. Pray that they will be able to get a location for her soon! I'm still hoping that they'll work out a way to have us in the same place, but we'll see...

I'm pretty excited about what I'm going to be doing at the church. The church currently is running a kindergarten class so I will be teaching them some English and the church is soon going to open registration for summer ESL classes. This is a way for the church to be involved with people in the community. I've been thinking a bit about my role and what my teaching is actually going to do in the long run and it made me see how important of a job it is. For the beginning at least, I'm going to be the representative of the church that these students will interact with. I'm only going to be there for two months. Right now I'm praying that God will use me as a means to connect my students with the local church in Kaminoyama and also that my Christian witness will be stong in my teaching and that I will be the aroma of Jesus Christ to my students.

I'm currently have over three times my goal in prayer support and I'm at 80% in my financial support...I'm psyched about this. It's all due May 10th. Please pray that the last 20% comes in on time. This is my first time going on a mission trip and it really has been a blessing to see the body of Christ come around me in prayer and support. I've been truly encouraged in the process and I feel as if I'm being sent off really well. Thanks!!!

Melissa

*Side note prayer request-I need to have the money for my first two school bill payments for July and August in my bank account before I leave so I'm looking for a little extra work to show up before then.