Monday, July 09, 2007
Fun and Exciting Things
If you read my blog, you might be wondering why I haven't posted in a long time. The answer to that would be that I've been in Canada and in America doing so many fun and exciting things that I never had any time to write about all the things. So right now which is the last day I have before going back to Japan, I want to tell about the things I've done in various places.
Ever since Spring Folly in Sualt St. Marie, Northern Ontario where I saw Manic Drive at a concert, we dorve down to Toronto again and spent some time there. While we were in Toronto we went to go see the sight where the JGCT was going to start building their new church. Thankfully they got permits to start building so they should be building right now. Micah will be working there this summer, so I should ask him how things are going there. Other than that Kevin Ueta from the JGCT took Naomi, Bethany and I to downtown Toronto one day. That was pretty cool. We saw the cool looking city office and stopped by the world's biggest bookstore and went into this huge mall building, so there was a lot to see . One thing I realised in Toronto was that they have so many squerrels living in the city. It was quite similar to Chicago, Illinois. I always seem to see them running across telephone wires and climbing around trees. It was quite interesting. While in Canada we celebrated my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. All the relatives on my Dad's side got together and celebrated it. We had a big party in the gym of Faith Baptist Church in Mount forest. A lot of people came. My Aunts family in Missouri came and we even had some relatives come from Sctland. We all had a great time seeing each other as family and hanging out together. Oh yeah, the first time going to a skatepark was in canada. The park ws actually in Mount Forest. Since it's such a small town I didn't think that they would have a skatepark, but they did!!! They had some ramps, poles and a concrete bowl. I always wanted to skate at a skateprk so it was one of my great accomplishments of all the things I wanted to do. I also got a chance to skateboard on a homemade half pipe in Massachusetts, so that was really cool. I didn't start off too good, but as a kept trying I managed to go back and forth so that was great.
We left canada around the end of May and spent time in the U.S. We had two people from our church in Japan come and travel with us in America so that they could cook Japanese meals for us when we had Japanese nights. So Yoriko and Nobuko Sasaki flew from Japan and brought some Japanese ingredients with them. We were able to have a Japanese meal at Eastford Baptist Church and at Sommers Church in Connecticut. we also had another one in virginia. It was great being able to eat Japanese food after being away from Japan for 3 months and talking Japanese with them. At these Japanese nights it was encouraging to see how many people would come to hear about Japan and try Japanese food, but it was very moving for me to hear my Dad talk about Japan and the needs we have there. It reminded me how in need and desperate Japanese people are for the Gospel, for the salvation Jesus gives. The change Japanese people need from worshiping creation(created things) to instead worshiping the Creator and nothing else. To worship the one true God who created everything. It just reminded me how much the One and only true loving God and the hope Jesus gives needs to be heard all around the world.
My parents and older sister, Bethany left America to fly back to Japan on June 10th and left Naomi and I behind to stay in the U.S. for another month. During that time we mainly stayed at Uncle James and Jeans place in Eastford, Connecticut. We studied whenever we could and when all our cousins came back from school we would hang out and do things together. I've helped with haying and bailing on fields for uncle Glen and stacking bails in the barn. It was actually quite fun. Naomi and I were able to help with Eastford Elementary Schools' sports day. We were incharge of the sack race, so our job was to explain the rules and say "Go" and to watch and see who came in 1st 2nd and 3rd. All the kids listened to us so it wasn't too bad. It was actually nice seeing how they do sports days in the U.S. We were also able to attend Johnny's graduation party, so that was nice to see. While in Connecticut we went to the Purgatory Chasm and climbed overand around rocks. There was a place called fatmans misery where there was a slight gap in a big rock a little less than the width of your shoulder where you could walk through, so Nathan, Joe, Johnny Naomi and I all walked through it. It was kind of tight, but we managed to get our way through. Naomi was able to do it walking straight, because her shoulder was narrow enough. It was a short hike, but it was fun. The next day after going to Purgatory Chasm, Uncle Dennis, Michelle, Naomi and I climbed Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire. Aparently it is known as the 2nd most climed mountain in the world and the height was 3166feet(965m) It was a very nice hike with a total of 4 hours going up and then coming down. I think it's worth hiking up whenever you can if you get the chance.
While in North America I've visited a total of 5 schools. Uncle James asked me if I wanted to know more about UCONN(University of Connecticut) and Eastern(Eastern Connecticut State University), so we had a tour of both of the schools. I was amazed at the size of UCONN. The university had so many buildings and so much campus land and also so many options of things you could study. It seemed like a really nice University. Naomi and I also had a chance to see Woodstock Academy where all or a lot of the Barlows went to High School or are still going to. It was nice to see where our cousins go to school and to see an American High School. I've also visited 2 Bible Schools. NBBI(New Brunswick Bible Institute)in Canada, Where my parents went and MBI(Moody Bible Institute)in Chicago. We actually ate the school's food and attended some lectures. Both places I thought were very nice. They had good food, nice Professors. I'll be going to a Bible school somewhere after I finish my last year of High school, so please pray for me to know which one I should go to. There are so many around I don't know which one is the best for me.
One thing I will remember for a while is going to a christian music festival called Creation in Pensylvania with Barrie, Tony, Kyle, Uncle Herm, Kristine, Marisa, Tiffany and Naomi. We took such a long time driving there from Eastford,CT and even after getting there we had to stay in a 6 hour long talegate line in order to get to our campsite. We ended up not getting to the camp sight untill 3:18 AM, but it was still worth the great cancerts we were able to see. I saw a lot of bands and artists I really wanted to see like, Switchfoot, Relient k, KJ-52, Grits, Family force 5, Hawk Nelson, Skillet, TFK, Third Day, TobyMac, Casting Crowns, David Crowder Band, The Voice etc... so I really liked it. We were quite hot in a sever condition in the middle of a farm field without any showers, no toilets except Portapottties, but it was all part of the experience. We had fun together with each others company, talking, playing and singing worship songs together. There was something like 120,000 people there all together which sounds like a lot, but it actually wasn't that bad. If I have another chance to go again sometime I would definetly go, either Creation or Soulfest.
For the past week we have been at Word Of Life Camp in New York. If you look at the camp photo gallery of their website you might be able to see me, but I doubt it. We were on the island in the middle of scroon lake from June 30th to July 7th. It was a good week. I stayed in a cabin where all the boys from Eastford Baptist Church stayed in, so I knew mostly everyone. During the camp I was able to meet 4 Japanese counselors so that was cool. I was able to do a high ropes coarse, wall climbing, volleyball, dodgeball, Basketball, tubing and also just meet new people and have fun. Every morning we had a Bible hour and then we had quiet time. The afternoon was basicly free to do any activities and at night there were speaker sessions and group activities and such to do.
The two main speakers, Ron Bishop and Joe Jordan really challenged me and spoke to me. The devotions where each of our counselors in our cabin shared were very nice, too. I remember one of my counselors devotion time where he read 1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." and I was reminded that whatever I do or say I need to do it for God's glory. Bible passages like Revalation3:15, 16 and 2 Timothy3:16 have really stuck to me after camp. The theme of camp was Matthew 6:21. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Ron Bishop talked a lot about the treasures we can have in Jesus. It was really good. He encouraged us to live for Jesus.
I've had a really good time in Canada and in the U.S., but I really miss not being able to do GT this year in Japan. There was a person who kept up a GT blog, so I sort of read it whenever I could. Hopefully if possible I would like do it next year, but I'll have to see how things go with school work and starting Bible school works out.
After coming back from camp we've been able to go tubing and even wakeboarding at Crystal pond so that has been fun. We also had a small Trepal reunion party at the lake so that was nice.
I hope to on the next post put some pictures up of some of the things I've talked about.
Pretty soon Naomi and I will be hedding back to Japan with a cousin and three friends from church to go as a Mission trip to our place in Japan for 3 weeks, so please pray for the 6 of us who will be traveling from NY JFK airport to Narita airport and then from Haneda airport to Aomori airport.
Ever since Spring Folly in Sualt St. Marie, Northern Ontario where I saw Manic Drive at a concert, we dorve down to Toronto again and spent some time there. While we were in Toronto we went to go see the sight where the JGCT was going to start building their new church. Thankfully they got permits to start building so they should be building right now. Micah will be working there this summer, so I should ask him how things are going there. Other than that Kevin Ueta from the JGCT took Naomi, Bethany and I to downtown Toronto one day. That was pretty cool. We saw the cool looking city office and stopped by the world's biggest bookstore and went into this huge mall building, so there was a lot to see . One thing I realised in Toronto was that they have so many squerrels living in the city. It was quite similar to Chicago, Illinois. I always seem to see them running across telephone wires and climbing around trees. It was quite interesting. While in Canada we celebrated my Grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. All the relatives on my Dad's side got together and celebrated it. We had a big party in the gym of Faith Baptist Church in Mount forest. A lot of people came. My Aunts family in Missouri came and we even had some relatives come from Sctland. We all had a great time seeing each other as family and hanging out together. Oh yeah, the first time going to a skatepark was in canada. The park ws actually in Mount Forest. Since it's such a small town I didn't think that they would have a skatepark, but they did!!! They had some ramps, poles and a concrete bowl. I always wanted to skate at a skateprk so it was one of my great accomplishments of all the things I wanted to do. I also got a chance to skateboard on a homemade half pipe in Massachusetts, so that was really cool. I didn't start off too good, but as a kept trying I managed to go back and forth so that was great.
We left canada around the end of May and spent time in the U.S. We had two people from our church in Japan come and travel with us in America so that they could cook Japanese meals for us when we had Japanese nights. So Yoriko and Nobuko Sasaki flew from Japan and brought some Japanese ingredients with them. We were able to have a Japanese meal at Eastford Baptist Church and at Sommers Church in Connecticut. we also had another one in virginia. It was great being able to eat Japanese food after being away from Japan for 3 months and talking Japanese with them. At these Japanese nights it was encouraging to see how many people would come to hear about Japan and try Japanese food, but it was very moving for me to hear my Dad talk about Japan and the needs we have there. It reminded me how in need and desperate Japanese people are for the Gospel, for the salvation Jesus gives. The change Japanese people need from worshiping creation(created things) to instead worshiping the Creator and nothing else. To worship the one true God who created everything. It just reminded me how much the One and only true loving God and the hope Jesus gives needs to be heard all around the world.
My parents and older sister, Bethany left America to fly back to Japan on June 10th and left Naomi and I behind to stay in the U.S. for another month. During that time we mainly stayed at Uncle James and Jeans place in Eastford, Connecticut. We studied whenever we could and when all our cousins came back from school we would hang out and do things together. I've helped with haying and bailing on fields for uncle Glen and stacking bails in the barn. It was actually quite fun. Naomi and I were able to help with Eastford Elementary Schools' sports day. We were incharge of the sack race, so our job was to explain the rules and say "Go" and to watch and see who came in 1st 2nd and 3rd. All the kids listened to us so it wasn't too bad. It was actually nice seeing how they do sports days in the U.S. We were also able to attend Johnny's graduation party, so that was nice to see. While in Connecticut we went to the Purgatory Chasm and climbed overand around rocks. There was a place called fatmans misery where there was a slight gap in a big rock a little less than the width of your shoulder where you could walk through, so Nathan, Joe, Johnny Naomi and I all walked through it. It was kind of tight, but we managed to get our way through. Naomi was able to do it walking straight, because her shoulder was narrow enough. It was a short hike, but it was fun. The next day after going to Purgatory Chasm, Uncle Dennis, Michelle, Naomi and I climbed Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire. Aparently it is known as the 2nd most climed mountain in the world and the height was 3166feet(965m) It was a very nice hike with a total of 4 hours going up and then coming down. I think it's worth hiking up whenever you can if you get the chance.
While in North America I've visited a total of 5 schools. Uncle James asked me if I wanted to know more about UCONN(University of Connecticut) and Eastern(Eastern Connecticut State University), so we had a tour of both of the schools. I was amazed at the size of UCONN. The university had so many buildings and so much campus land and also so many options of things you could study. It seemed like a really nice University. Naomi and I also had a chance to see Woodstock Academy where all or a lot of the Barlows went to High School or are still going to. It was nice to see where our cousins go to school and to see an American High School. I've also visited 2 Bible Schools. NBBI(New Brunswick Bible Institute)in Canada, Where my parents went and MBI(Moody Bible Institute)in Chicago. We actually ate the school's food and attended some lectures. Both places I thought were very nice. They had good food, nice Professors. I'll be going to a Bible school somewhere after I finish my last year of High school, so please pray for me to know which one I should go to. There are so many around I don't know which one is the best for me.
One thing I will remember for a while is going to a christian music festival called Creation in Pensylvania with Barrie, Tony, Kyle, Uncle Herm, Kristine, Marisa, Tiffany and Naomi. We took such a long time driving there from Eastford,CT and even after getting there we had to stay in a 6 hour long talegate line in order to get to our campsite. We ended up not getting to the camp sight untill 3:18 AM, but it was still worth the great cancerts we were able to see. I saw a lot of bands and artists I really wanted to see like, Switchfoot, Relient k, KJ-52, Grits, Family force 5, Hawk Nelson, Skillet, TFK, Third Day, TobyMac, Casting Crowns, David Crowder Band, The Voice etc... so I really liked it. We were quite hot in a sever condition in the middle of a farm field without any showers, no toilets except Portapottties, but it was all part of the experience. We had fun together with each others company, talking, playing and singing worship songs together. There was something like 120,000 people there all together which sounds like a lot, but it actually wasn't that bad. If I have another chance to go again sometime I would definetly go, either Creation or Soulfest.
For the past week we have been at Word Of Life Camp in New York. If you look at the camp photo gallery of their website you might be able to see me, but I doubt it. We were on the island in the middle of scroon lake from June 30th to July 7th. It was a good week. I stayed in a cabin where all the boys from Eastford Baptist Church stayed in, so I knew mostly everyone. During the camp I was able to meet 4 Japanese counselors so that was cool. I was able to do a high ropes coarse, wall climbing, volleyball, dodgeball, Basketball, tubing and also just meet new people and have fun. Every morning we had a Bible hour and then we had quiet time. The afternoon was basicly free to do any activities and at night there were speaker sessions and group activities and such to do.
The two main speakers, Ron Bishop and Joe Jordan really challenged me and spoke to me. The devotions where each of our counselors in our cabin shared were very nice, too. I remember one of my counselors devotion time where he read 1 Corinthians 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." and I was reminded that whatever I do or say I need to do it for God's glory. Bible passages like Revalation3:15, 16 and 2 Timothy3:16 have really stuck to me after camp. The theme of camp was Matthew 6:21. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Ron Bishop talked a lot about the treasures we can have in Jesus. It was really good. He encouraged us to live for Jesus.
I've had a really good time in Canada and in the U.S., but I really miss not being able to do GT this year in Japan. There was a person who kept up a GT blog, so I sort of read it whenever I could. Hopefully if possible I would like do it next year, but I'll have to see how things go with school work and starting Bible school works out.
After coming back from camp we've been able to go tubing and even wakeboarding at Crystal pond so that has been fun. We also had a small Trepal reunion party at the lake so that was nice.
I hope to on the next post put some pictures up of some of the things I've talked about.
Pretty soon Naomi and I will be hedding back to Japan with a cousin and three friends from church to go as a Mission trip to our place in Japan for 3 weeks, so please pray for the 6 of us who will be traveling from NY JFK airport to Narita airport and then from Haneda airport to Aomori airport.
# posted by Aaron @ 10:47 PM 
