Sumire Cafe - Fellowship & Language Learning Time

Every Friday from 10:30, the ladies of Koyo and Kabe Chapels get together at their respective churches to meet for Bible study. They call the group "Sumirekai", Violet (as in the flower) Committee. I haven't been to one at Kabe Chapel yet and don't know what their program is like, but once a month at Koyo Chapel, they have a special program called "Sumire Cafe" where Pastor Haitaka gives a message and they have a cooking class or a mini-concert, or some sort of "lighter" program as an outreach event and a small fee (around 200-250JPY).

This one, on April 15th, was the 3rd one I attended and I went thinking that it was another Japanese cooking class followed by lunch but found out once I got there that there wasn't a cooking class, but there was lunch! :) One of the ladies, a young Chinese mom gave a testimony and shared about her relationship with her (Japanese) husband. I couldn't understand 99% of it :) but I could tell that she was very honest about her sharing and there were lots of laughter and quiet moments of reflection too.

Pastor Haitaka's wife, Keiko-san, watched Sungjae for me, so I was able to try and concentrate, and write down lots of words that I wanted to look up. I was able to actively try to learn much more than I thought I'd be able to! (Pic of Keiko-san and Sungjae after lunch.)

Lunch, of course, was delicious, consisting of two ham and egg salad rolls, two chips, a soup, tea, and a pudding dessert. It was a great time of getting to know some of the other ladies better. Pastor Yamada, the new Japanese pastor, picked up his daughter and Juhee at the bus stop (they attend the same school and are on the same bus) so that his wife and I could stay a bit longer and the girls could join us for lunch.

I'm going to try to go at least once a month this "year" (as in April 2011 - March 2012) to try to continue to get to know the other ladies better and to learn / practice Japanese in a friendly and loving environment. :) Not having to cook lunch is an added bonus! ;)