We have been richly blessed by our friendship with Mrs. Honda whom we met through the retired English conversation group in our community. She has been a wonderful friend sharing cultural experiences, practicing Japanese and English with us as well as recently providing us with beautiful yukatas.
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| Yukata given to me by Mrs. Honda |
This fall we had the privilege of attending a festival with Mrs. Honda as her guests. She gave us beautiful Japanese
yukatas (summer kimonos) and Mrs. Fujii also provided us with traditional shoes. They came to our house early the evening of the event to help us get dressed for the festival.
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| Stephanie getting ready for the festival in her koi yukata |
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| Mrs. Honda, Mrs Fujii, Stephanie and me at the festival |
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| Enjopying the live music and lights |
Mrs. Honda took us to the city center a couple of weeks prior to the festival to practice dancing so we could learn the traditional dances before attending the festivities. We had a wonderful time dancing, seeing friends from Stephanie's basketball team, and particiating in the various activities during the festival.
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| Dancing at the festival |
When we arrived they gave each school aged child a bingo card in order to play with the crowd. Alex won a kitchen timer shaped like a robot. It was kind of tricky playing Bingo in Japanese but we had some help from Mrs. Honda who confirmed we were marking the right squares on our bingo card.
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| Robot kitchen timer Alex won playing bingo at the festival |
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| Our family at a local Japanese festival fall of 2016 |
We appreciate all Mrs. Honda has done in welcoming us to Japan and befriending our family. She has become a dear friend and we enjoy getting to know her better and spend time with her. I had a wonderful time at this event and fully enjoyed being included by Mrs. Honda and her friends in their social gathering.
Thank you to all of our support partners for your generosity and kindness. We appreciate your faithful contributions to what God is doing in Japan and in our community. We value your prayers and continue to be amazed by the friendships and oppotunities we have been given. May God open hearts and draw the people of Japan to Himself.
Grateful to be serving in Japan,
K. Chadduck
