Another November, Another Community Barbecue!

Yes, November. It's never rained in five years of holding community barbecues and this year was especially warm. The only problem is, with so many new people moving into our area, the barbecue park is getting pretty crowded!

The barbecue gives us a good chance to meet the families of the children and women involved in various programs.

And since the Loves are in Calgary this year, the men of my Saturday English & Bible class stepped in to help with the grilling duties. We'll have to continue this even when Loves return, since it affords us an opportunity to mingle and meet people.

You can hardly see Carol and Tomomi for all the smoke from the grill. No burnt offerings, though.

Making s'mores has become a tradition, although roasting a marshmallow takes a very long time when one is timid about getting close to the hot coals and holds the marshmallow up high.

Fifty four adults and numerous children. Thumbs up on this day as a great opportunity to meet community people!

Boys' Clubs!

In Toyosu our cohort of boys has become busy with the rat race of cram school and entrance exams to get into high school, so we're down to just two. As you no doubt can tell, we're practicing the tautline hitch here. I didn't need to tell you that, did I?

30 minutes of English conversation, 30 minutes of some craft (like learning essential knots) and then 30 minutes of reading and discussing the story of one of the heroic men of the Bible.

In Hachioji, 90 minutes west of Harumi, there's a larger group of Jr. Hi boys meeting for Boys' Club. This is at snack time after our continuing study of the life of Joseph.

I learned that the bigger the group, the longer it takes to do the craft. No one had mastered any of these basic knots before I taught them at Boys' Club. And, no one had read anything in the Bible before Boys' Club.

Enough of knots. On to paper model building. This was printed on glossy photo paper, so the picture doesn't do it justice. How long will it take to do this project? How much more challenging a model can we attempt? I'll keep you posted.

Girls' Club!

Some games, a craft, some English, and a message from the Bible...That's Girls' Club.

...and, sometimes the little sisters sneak in on the action.