G.R.I.T.

A week in the life of GRIT

Hello All!

A few of you have asked for more information about GRIT, what to expect,
what will we do, etc... To avoid answering the same question 14 times, I
will send most replies to questions to everyone from now on.

***Before I give you the week in the life of GRIT rundown, I still need
t-shirt sizes AND a list of hobbies, interests, and/or skills from
several of you.***

GRIT - God's Recruits In Training
GRIT is a summer program that is being designed to challenge you in as
many ways and areas of your life as possible. The principle is similar
to that of weightlifting. For a muscle to grow, it must first be
"stressed" beyond what it experiences in everyday life. Our goal with
GRIT is to "stress" you physically, mentally, and spiritually so that
you will grow in your Faith and personal walk with Christ. Our goal is
to do this through ministry; to each other, to missionaries, and to
Japanese.

To give you an idea of what GRIT will be like, I am going to give you a
sample week and the activities you might have in it. *understand - there
will probably not be a week exactly like this, but it should give you
and idea.

SUNDAY
AM - participate in worship service of national church or a church
plant. be ready for testimonies, singing, whatever is asked for..
PM - English worship service at Nagashima Grace Baptist Church. This is
just for the summer for you guys. It is an opportunity to worship
together and to serve one another. You will be handling all the details
of this service as well as the preaching most of the time. It is
On-The-Job leadership training in a church setting. We will also be
inviting any Japanese with an interest in English to attend. I would
expect 5-10 each service.

MONDAY
A Day of Prayer - We will have 3 mini corporate prayer meetings
throughout the day lead by different people each time. We will talk
about prayer as well as fasting. You are encouraged to fast on Monday
but it is obviously not required. The rest of the day will be divided in
to individual prayer time and groups of 2-3. Roughly 7am- 7pm there is
no other plan, just prayer.

TUESDAY - THURSDAY
Our main training and activity days. Pastor Dean Graber will be here in
June and will be teaching about individual Bible study and devotional
preparation as well as sharing the rock climbing ministtry of his
church. During this time I will be doing some seperate leadership
training as well as random torture sessions ...builds character ; ) .
Pastor Lee Abuhl will be here most of July taking the major teaching and
torture sessions as my wife is expecting a baby in July. Pastor Abuhl
will be focusing on leadership and dischipleship training as well as
various ancient forms of Chinese water torture (or did you just decide
to go with the always effective bamboo shoots under teh toenails? I
can't remember...)
*During this time we will be doing various activites - rock climbing,
hiking, possibly slingshot paintball, lessons in culture from Pastor
Kishimoto, Japanese calligraphy, fukiya-blowgun, origami, etc...
You will also have assigned reading and homework, woohoo!!
There will be choir practice, puppet team practice, drama team practice,
etc as we have need. Oh, you guys will be leading each one of these as
well as others.
We anticipate making a CD and a short movie or two during the summer. As
always, you guys will be in charge of this!

WEDNESDAY
10:30 AM and 7:30 PM prayer meeting with Nagashima Grace Bapist Church.
Afternoon training sessions, activities, homework time, etc.

FRIDAY - SATURDAY
We will be going to different churches and church plants to help in any
and every way possible. Handing out tracts, cleaning, English classes,
etc... We will show up as servants ready to do our master's bidding with
a joyful heart and willing hands. This, along with the Sunday ministry
is meant to be a time of encouragement and help to those serving here in
Japan. It is also a good time to be an example of Christ's love for the
Japanese.

This is just a sample and any of the days could be switched around
depending on the best time to help out in the churches. Our primary goal
is ministry, everything else will flow in and around these times of service.

This should answer some of your questions. I hope to have a GRIT webpage
up in the next two weeks to answer others and keep you updated on what
to bring, and what to expect. This will also be the place to direct
people to to see what you are doing over the summer. Most important -
bring a sense of humor and a desire to see God glorified in all you do.

Have a great day!
Norman Smith
Nagashima, Japan

posted by Norman @ 7:10 PM