Quick Sketch:
- Reunited with team : heart check-in
- Last rehearsal
- Brazilian home-cooked lunch
- Finale Concert
Trip Diary:
Dear Friends and Family,
Our final dance concert is over! It was truly a grand finale for all the past four months of preparation. The concert was held at the newly built Hiro Civic Center adjacent to the busy train station. Lighting, sound, and stage (with large wings!) and separate dressing rooms made it a perfect place. Natalie and Jenna co-led this one. Who would ever have guessed when they met 17 years ago at MCF that they would be leading dance teams near Hiroshima, Japan!
The local Brazilian hip-hop dancers opened the evening with the vibrant dance:“He Reigns”, followed by “Go Get “em, and later “Living Clean” . Natalie had prepared the dancers well—with four practices each week for the last two weeks—all spoken in Portugese! And this is Japan! They love their Natalie!
Our dancers joined with them in the opening piece, then later in the program added their own repertoire- “When It Was Over” , “Man of Sorrows”, and among others, a powerful Cory Asbury piece “More Than Ashes.” Some of the song lyrics were first read in English, then translated to Portugese, then Japanese. We ended with improv worship to a Battlestar Gallactica instrumental. The evening was a celebration of friendship with these warm-hearted believers; a gift of encouragement during their hard months.
True to Brazilian culture, the socializing continued on and on- first in the civic center lobby, then outside, and finally in a local Italian restaurant. Lots of laughter and hugs… slap-happy fun. Exhausted, we fell into bed after midnight. Our final “chows” and pics taken—our hearts full. We had accomplished our purpose in coming.
Friday prayer points:
- Four hours of train travel to Zushi (near Yokohama)
- Late afternoon and evening with Hatanakas’ (Yutaka’s cousin)…pure relaxing.
- Touching hearts with our team: beginning debriefing
Much love and gratefulness,
Sue
PS: The movie, “Ratatuolli” (sic?) portrays well how much tasty food reminds us of past conversations, places, and emotions. Ask Kimberly. One of the Brazilian grandmas cooked a large meal of soup beans, rice… at noon today. Kimberly’s eyes quickly brightened at the sight and smell….”This is my mom’s food,” she exclaimed! She looks forward to her return with them in mid-July, as we all do with our families and friends. Just three days left here.
Natalie and Kirsti Backrub
Kimberly and Soup Beans
Sayumi and Gustavo
Team Heart Check-in
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