I’m getting too old for this, I mumbled to myself as I chased after young children, trying to keep them in line. While one gets in the line, the other runs off. “Where is Kota?” I asked the older children in the line I was forming at the ranch.
“Over there,” came the answer. Aaaagh. Kota’s little feet were too fast for me to run after him.
Hiroshima Saniku Gakuin is a Christian boarding school for middle and high school children located in the hills of Hiroshima prefecture in Japan. Summer vacation at Japanese schools is only 40 days long, and we started our three-day camp right at the beginning, toward the end of July. The evenings were lovely and cool with the fresh air wafting through the openings of the building, but as soon as the sun hit, the temperature climbed and the air became humid. Dozens of cicadas, sounding like worn-out machinery, called to each other continuously as they perched on the tree trunks in the woods.
About 50 grade school-aged children gathered for the English Bible Camp. Most knew a few English words, but not enough to hold a conversation, so all instructions, devotionals and lessons were first given in English, followed by Japanese. The children were not shy to repeat the prayers in English word by word or short phrase by short phrase, and they learned several action songs in English that they would perform before their families, who would join us for the camp’s ending celebration. The children visited the farm and ranch, where they fed cows and goats. They also learned some basic verbs in English and how to spell the names of the animals, taking that knowledge to write a couple of sentences about their experience in a journal.
The Armor of God was the camp’s topic. Using object lessons, activities and crafts, the children learned about each piece of armor listed in Ephesians 6:13-17. Many of the children come from non-Christian homes or mixed religion homes where one parent or grandparent is a Christian, and the remaining family members believe in other deities. But like sponges, these children soaked up truths about God in their little minds. It reminds me of what the apostle Paul wrote to his spiritual son, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 1:5, remembering “the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
Christian history tells us that Timothy became a faithful elder watching over multiple churches while Paul was imprisoned and afterward. I am persuaded that the little seeds planted in these children’s hearts during camp will grow and bloom into beautiful flowers one day, perhaps becoming the ones who lead their non-Christian family members to Christ. To witness this, I am never too old.
Please pray for the children and their families in Japan to be touched by the love of Jesus, to know Him and to make the decision to follow Him.
