Castle, Sermon, Birthday, Weather

Today was nice... relaxing. One short English class in the morning.

Went to Hiroshima Castle this afternoon. Taking a step back in time in Japanese history and culture. The castle is on few acres of land which is surrounded by water, close to the centre of Hiroshima city centre. Inside the castle, there was much to see. Historical accounts of the settling of Hiroshima beginning about 8th century AD. Many old writings, armour, living items, samurai swords, photos and other fascinating objects and writings. Even got to try on some of the traditional fighting clothes :-) The view from the top of the castle (about 12 metres up) was nice!

Yesterday I preached for the first time in Japan. The normal Japanese worship program operated as usual, but we had an English service which about 15 to 20 people came to. We sang, prayed, gave thanks to God and then I spoke.

I shared my story of why I believe in God, how I know He is real and how I know the Bible is true. It formed an introductory talk to the 10-part "uncover! Seminar" which will be run at the English school. We'll be looking at some foundational teachings contained within the Bible. There was a summary sheet from the talk I gave. I've also uploaded the full transcript of the talk on the seminar website (bilingual): http://bwis.net/uncover

Also, it was Mum's birthday! Happy Birthday Mum! (yes, I did call her)

Tomorrow is a Sport's Day in Japan (which is a public holiday). The Kindergarten is having some games at the school and I'll be there helping out, running around, having fun!

Next week we hope to go to the Hiroshima SDA Academy (boarding highschool). It's located well out of the city up in the mountains. It's the only Adventist high school in Japan. I'm sure it'll be a nice time... catch up with some of the other foreign English teachers there, meet some of the high school students.

Weather is nicely cooling off! It reminds me of the month of March in Toowoomba a little bit, but here it's more moist and the sky not so clear blue.