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In July of 2000, Troy Cooper, a teacher at Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis, and his wife Rachel, who as a "missionary kid" grew up in Japan speaking both English and Japanese, led a team of 13 of Troy's high school students to Japan for three weeks of evangelistic outreaches. We were privileged to host this fun group here in Hiroshima for one week of that time.
Activities included on-the-street singing and skits, passing out literature in public areas, door-to-door distribution in our own neighborhood in pairs with Japanese workers from our church, being the special guests and sharing testimonies at two youth meetings, and a big "Church Open House, Barbecue, and Music" party. It was a lot of fun and we know that the trip had a big impact on the hearts of the team members and on all of the people they met and shared with.
For going door-to-door to give our neighbors The Story of Jesus cassette tapes and invite them to the party, we paired a team member with a Japanese Christian, so each pair had both the visual appeal of a foreign young person and the necessary language skills. I'm sure the pairs got some second looks as they went around the neighborhood!
The Party
It wasn't the first time that we had a "Church Open House, Barbecue, and Music" party and invited the whole neighborhood, but it was the first time that we put up tents. The tents were delivered the day before and partially set up, but the final setup had to be done that morning. So at 8 am we raised the tents, spread out blue tarps under them, and set up chairs. Next, we set up the music equipment and were ready for the morning service. 
Yes, we did the Sunday service in the park (after all, we wouldn't all fit in the church!), and Pastor invited Karen to use the opportunity to lead a contemporary-style praise service in place of the usual traditional one, which was a first for Karen (to lead a whole praise service in Japanese!), the congregation, and the visitors.
After the church service, we lit up two barbecues and started putting out the food. Some new people had come to the church service, but lots more began to appear as the time to eat drew near. A big supply of hot dogs, barbecued ham sandwiches, corn on the cob, chips, etc. was soon ready and we all ate until we were stuffed. 
Neighborhood teenagers and kids who were passing by joined in, and we had about 25 people participate who had never come to a church event before. At the right time, the Risen Son Ministries team took the "stage" and led us in fun singing interspersed with skits and testimonies. It was great, and several new people said they wanted to come to the church again soon.
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