Retired

Tomomi and I led the children's ministry at our church for seven years. Yesterday was our last Sunday as leaders. Of course it was a time for reflection and, true to his character, God has been faithful. We began with three children; two were our pastors' kids and one was a missionary's kid. Now, including the satellite church at Narimasu, there are anywhere from thirty to fifty kids each week. We've had tough times--tears, fights, tumbles down stairs, a hole punched in a wall, and worst of all, the untimely death of a little one due to a heart defect. But we've also had wonderful times--lots of smiles, games, parties, songs, discussions, field trips, commitments to Jesus, and baptisms.

With us teaching Monday through Friday and sometimes Saturday at the preschool, doing the same thing on Sunday was getting to be too much. The classes at our main church in Ochanomizu as well as our satellite church in Narimasu are in loving, capable hands and we have confidence that the children's ministry will continue to grow and get better and better.

I know I'll forget some names, but I want to thank all the teachers and volunteers with whom we've been privileged to work over the years.

• Toru
• Maki
• Andy
• Yuka
• Talo
• Nori
  
• Hershel
• Kaoru
• Diana
• Rose
• Emiko
• Snow
  
• Terence
• Kenji
• Kenji
• Fukubi
• Yuka
• Sayuri
• Yoshiko
• Sam
• Sumire
• Momo
• Keiko
• Aiko
• Keiko
• Chan
• Akane
• Vicky
• Yoshiko
• Yukka
• Lila
• Flora
• Midori
• Carina
• Wallance
• Akki
• Nacchan
• Hiroko
• Noriko
• Jen
• Jade
• Keiichi
• Jiyun
  
• Isaku
• Shintaro
• Yuriko
• Yuuki
• Machiko
• Setsuko
• Ellen
• Fuyuji
• Masami
• EJ
• Ed
• Naomi
• Mariko
• Seiko
• Asuka
• Tomoko
• Mika
• Sonoyo

That list turned out a lot longer than I thought it would be. Some have helped just once or twice, some for years, but I appreciate every person on the list. Because our children and so many of our friends are still involved, we will of course remain close to Sunday School. I'm not good at expressing sentiment like this, so I'll just post a picture of Tomomi with the flowers she got from some of the parents and staff.