I have been continuing to learn lessons on prayer. This month, I was able to truly experience God’s faithfulness through prayer. During one of our team prayer times in November, I heard God ask me to try something bold for His gospel. After a week of praying and seeing God work in order to even allow me the opportunity, I went and shared the gospel many times. Sorry for the vague blog; I’m not comfortable posting it here, but I will definitely write about this experience during my monthly newsletter. =D
I’ve been really busy recently, which keeps me from doing the blog since it’s on my lowest priority. I only have Mondays free, and almost every day I come home late. I still needed to spend some time praying and resting, so I would sleep instead of using my mental energy for blogging. =(
Blog:
Monday 11/8/10 : Stinter meeting and then life stories later that night. =D
Tuesday 11/9/10 : I met Koichi and Keigo with Michelle in building 15 over lunch, and then we went out and met Kazuya and Takkeshi. =D Later, we were able to share with Yuuki, and then at night during Paddy, I was able to talk with Toshiyuki about God. I love Paddy!
Wednesday 11/10/10 : We met Jun and Naoki at building 4, and then I met some of the teammates in building 11 and we got to meet Atsushi and Ami. They are so interesting! Atsushi had a pet project that he would go around with a sketch pad and ask people their favorite color and why, and then ask them to draw it on the pad. He would take a picture of them with the pad, and then upload the picture onto a website. His goal is to have 1000 pictures from people all over the world. =)
Stint Bible study that night was good. We’re going over Acts, and it is really encouraging to see the early church and how God worked mightily to bring people into a knowledge of His saving love.
Thursday 11/11/10 : I went with Henry and AJ for sharing, and we meet Ryuuki, Gaki, and Natsumi in building 4. Then there was a student named Coke who wanted to talk with us, and then I went sharing with Jonghun. =D We were able to talk about God with Inaba and it was really good since he was so friendly and easy to talk to. It went in Japanese, so Jonghun led, but I was doing my best to track with them. =D After a day on campus, I went to Park’s home and we had Korean dinner. =D It was fun to be invited to a student’s home, since it’s really rare to be able to go.
Friday 11/12/10 : I met Toshi for lunch with Ayumi, and after lunch, I invited him to go sharing with me and he said he was interested. So I shared the gospel first to show him how, and then I asked him to share. He chose an old lady, and to my surprise, he motioned and said I would be sharing the gospel in Japanese! O_O I was shocked, but I tried my best and Toshi helped a lot. ^^;; But it was really cool to see how he was willing to share the gospel even though it was the first time for us to meet. =D Later that night, I went to Midtown Impact since I haven’t gone in a while, and it was good to go over Ephesians. =D
Saturday 11/13/10 : I went bungee jumping with some friends in Paddy, and Mike also went with us. It was fun to hang out with Aya, Chihiro, Aiki, Shun, Oguri, and Susumu. =D
Sunday 11/14/10 : After church and HS, we celebrated Kanako, Nana, and Kei’s birthday. =D The HS boys dressed as Disney characters and the STINTers sang the Whole New World song. =D It was so fun to be able to celebrate their birthdays!
Monday 11/15/10 : We had a stinter meeting and then joined the JCCC staff meeting. It was good to be able to share how God was working in our lives with the staff. =D
Tuesday 11/16/10 : I went with Henry and we had lunch with Atsushi at an Indian restaurant. We had a good conversation, and Afterwards we prayed tried to meet people, but no luck. I stayed and went to Paddy that night.
Wednesday 11/17/10 : We prayed as normally at 11, but during this prayer, I felt God telling me I should lead a discussion during the Paddy Fall camp. It was out of the blue, and I was struggling with the idea, so I asked Jonghun and Henry to pray for me. I prayer walked with Henry later, and then we dropped into a conversation with Takahiro, Takeshi, Ken, and Koichiro. I then got an email from Nonno that I couldn’t go to the camp since I wasn’t a student, so I was confused about what God was asking me to do, but I felt I should continue so I asked Nonno if there was any way I could go and he said he would check into it.
Thursday 11/18/10 : We met at the SC at 7am to leave for Kyoto. It was a long drive, and we arrived in the afternoon. We were able to check out the Gold temple for 20 minutes, and then went to Ritsumeikan University to prayer walk there. The Kyoto staff took us to the mission house and cooked curry for our dinner. =D Then he shared about the situation in Kyoto, with only him as staff and one stinter, and how we could be praying for him. It pulled my heartstrings hearing such the great need there in Kyoto, and I pray that God will sent workers there in the future.
Friday 11/19/10 : We woke up early and went to Arashiyama for pictures and omiyage. =D Then we drove to Osaka and met Philip. He took us to Kansai University and we had lunch with some of the students there. After lunch, I went sharing with Philip and we were able to share the gospel with Isaka, a new student we met.
Later that night, we went to the Osaka Student Impact’s meeting, ACTS, and it was fun to be able to worship and hang out with the students there. =DDD
Saturday 11/20/10 : We rushed to Osaka castle, took a few pictures, and then rushed and got to the Osaka Expo. There was a SUPER WEIRD statue there, but at the park, we hung out with the Osaka stinters and staff, playing ultimate and other games. =D Then we went to Doutonbori dori and had good ramen for dinner. I bought some omiyage, then found a Yogurtland!!! It made me SOOOOO happy. =D I love yogurtland!!! We then got home really late at night to our home.
Sunday 11/21/10 : We went to Suita Bible Church in the morning and after lunch and saying goodbyes, we started the long drive home. We left at 2pm and got home in Mitaka at 12:20am. =( The car ride home was fun though, as we were able to talk and bond more during the trip home. I really enjoyed the time in Osaka and Kyoto, and it grew my heart for the students here in Japan. It’s amazing to see how different I was compared to when I came in Jan 2008, and how last time I didn’t really care for the Japanese. Now God has continued to impress on me the hurts and needs of the Japanese, and I cannot imagine a life without serving them.
Monday 11/22/10 : We had a stint team meeting in the morning and then more life stories at night. =D Life stories are awesome!
Tuesday 11/23/10 : We had a holiday, so some of the stinters went out, but I cleaned the house and had a Korean dinner night. =D Jonghun, Park, Esther, Kat, and David came over for dinner, and I made kimchi chige for them. =D Apparently I cook better than Korean moms’ chiges. xD
Wednesday 11/24/10 : I shared my heart with the team during prayer time, and they prayed for me for two hours while I went to my lunch appointment. I had a great lunch with Nonno at Shakey’s Pizza, and we had an all you can eat for $14. xD I love Nonno! He’s super nice and he worked so hard to get me into the Paddy Fall Camp, so I wanted to really be of help to him as much as possible. We had a great conversation and lunch, and then I went home to the stint Bible study that night.
Thursday 11/25/10 : After the training in the morning, Ayumi and I had lunch with Tomi. She’s a friend from WESA and she’s super nice and enjoys talking with us about life. After the long conversation, Ayumi had to go to her appointment, and I went to building 11′s lounge and talked with Zume and his friend Shusato.
That night, we went over to the girls apartment and had a Thanksgiving dinner with some stinters and students. It was really cool to be able to celebrate with the team. =D
Friday 11/26/10 : We prayed in the morning and I asked people to pray for my discussion topic for the retreat the next day. After prayer, I spent 2 hours working on the discussion topics, and then went with Mike sharing and we met Shigenori. We had a good conversation with him and hopefully we can meet up again. =) We got back to Mitaka and the students were having their sleepover, and there was a Waseda alum who shared about how to follow the will of God. I couldn’t stay for too long since I had to work on my discussion topic though.
Saturday 11/27/10 : I went to Takadanobaba and prayed with Jean over lunch for the retreat. Then we met up with Paddy friends and I was in Nonno’s car to the place. We had Lisa, Nonno, Momi, Zane, and Yuri in our car, and it was really fun talking with them all the way to the place. I had a deep conversation with Lisa and I was able to apologize to her for all the hurt she felt from Christians in her past. I was able to be such a great help to them and we arrived to the Waseda Seminar House at 6. We got settled into our rooms, had dinner then a bath, and then we had our 1 hour discussion times. Jean helped colead my time, and my discussion topic was “Who is God? Spiritual Topics Forum” and it was really good being able to discuss our beliefs and share about our relationship with God. Then We played and hung out all night until 3am…
Sunday 11/28/10 : After breakfast, we cleaned up, had discussion and games. (I won a Christmas tree and was named the genius of the day) After the games, we had lunch and got ready to leave. I was able to talk with Yuri and Yumi and hear what they believed about life, and was able to share my thoughts with them too. Then we took the car back, took a break at Tokyo German Village (an awesome Christmas lighted park), talked with Jane in the car a lot about her background and told her God loves her, and then I got home to baba at 8 and went to Holy Supi at 9. =D Praise God for such a fun and blessed trip!
Monday 11/29/10 : After our team meeting in the morning, I went shopping for Christmas gifts for students. Cayla was coming that night so we didn’t have life stories.
Tuesday 11/30/10 : We had a meeting with Cayla at the SC for 2 hours, then I went to Koenji to check out the dinner place for Wednesday. After trying to meet students and getting rejected, I went home and prepared my home for dinner. The Holy Supi team (A-chan, E-chan, Kanako, Yukina, Ryou, and Yusuke) came over for my home for dinner and I really enjoyed being able to encourage them. =D
Wednesday 12/1/10 : I went to Mitaka’s Starbucks and had a meeting with Cayla for an hour for coaching and seeing how I was doing. Then I went for my half day with the Lord in Shinjuku. I went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Office and prayed for 30 minutes there, taking in the view and really seeing the immense sprawl of the city. Then I went down to the Chuo park and prayed and listened to worship music for 3 hours, and then went to Koenji to have Yakiniku buffet with the team + Cayla. =D After the dinner and coming home, I went to Ayumi’s place for dessert and had fun with the students and staff.
Thursday 12/2/10 : I shared my 3 minute testimony during training, and then we learned more about responses to the gospel. Then I had lunch with Henry and we we tried to meet some new students but they didn’t want to talk with us. So then we prayed, went to building 4, didn’t see anyone, and then went to the WESA clubroom and met Airai, Shuntaro, Kasumi, and Marino. It was fun meeting with them and seeing old faces again. Then Henry had to meet Cayla so I met Jonghun and we shared the gospel with Aoi. Then I debriefed and went to west impact.
Friday 12/3/10 : I had lunch with Jane at Tenya, and it was a good conversation. =) Then I went home early so I can open the doors for the Holy Supi retreat in the student center. We had practice for most of the night. During this time, I was very discouraged as I kept making mistakes and unable to learn the dances.
Saturday 12/4/10 : I woke up late so I went to the student center a bit late. 11:40 instead of 10am. ^^;;; Practiced “Rejoice,” “本当の愛、” and Merry Christmas. =) After practicing for 3 hours, I did some errands, then celebrated Michelle’s and Kat’s birthday in the student center + Korea town karaoke.
Sunday 12/5/10 : I went to church and then practiced our 3 dances into the night. Three days of dancing made me really tired, but I feel more comfortable with our upcoming performance.
Monday 12/6/10 : We met at 9:30 at the student center for worship, training, and preparations for our Christmas party. We finished at about 3, but when I tried to go home, I found out that I lost my house key so I backtracked through my whole day to try to find it. No luck. =( So I went back to the student center, asked Mike for his house key, and got back home for dinner. Then during lifestories, Kimiyo and Mike shared with us. =)
Tuesday 12/7/10 : Before the prayer time, my heart has been wrestling over the idea of the lack of movement in Japan. God has been teaching me recently about the importance of prayer in starting movements and revivals. I was reminded that no movement of God has started without desperate and faithful prayer that perseveres for months or years. So I was able to lead a time with my team to pray for a spirit of prayer. Then after lunch with the team, I had an hour catching up with AJ. Later, I prayed for an hour, since I realized that many times prayer because a “backup” or something to do when I have nothing to do. I wanted to make prayer a priority and I enjoyed the time in prayer. On the way to debrief, I saw and met Ken and Takashi and invited them to our Christmas concert and parties. =)
After debriefing, I decided not to go to Paddy so I can catch up with all the paperwork I had backlogged. =(
Wednesday 12/8/10 : Prayed together in the morning, then went to Toyama campus to try to meet students. We saw a table with students, but when Henry and I went to sit down with them, they left immediately. =( So we finished our meal, went to pray at the student activities building, and then went to the WESA clubroom to hang out with friends. We were able to talk with Dimos and Ayumi for most of the day, and then we went back to debrief at 3. We debriefed on the way home because we wanted to see the presentation by the Jesus Film team at the student center and also hear a presentation from a guy who memorized the book of John and other books. We got to see the anime version of the Jesus Film as it was in beta stage, and give our input on the presentations. Then I got home and we had STINT guys Bible study and some sign dance practice with David.
Thursday 12/9/10 : Esther was the last stinter to finish her 3 minute testimony, and then we had more training by Peggy. After eating a quick lunch, Henry dashed out to see the sumo outside in the garden, and I followed. I met Arata and his friend on the way, and invited them to the Christmas concert and party. Then at the garden, I found out it was mochi making ceremony with the sumo making the mochi. I ran into Claudine, Yoko, and Lisa, and got to meet Zume’s friend Yuya and met Lisa’s friend Tao. We had a really good conversation together and she said she wanted to join our Christmas party too. =D
Then Henry and I went to pray for a while, and after praying, we walked over to building 14 and explored. We ran into Yuuki, and it was so good to be able to catch up with him. After Yuuki had to leave for class, Henry and I continued praying and then went to building 15 and met Takahiro for about 30 minutes. Then we debriefed, came home, and went to west impact’s meeting and I planned our concert dinner plans with Saya.
Friday 12/10/10 : I met Yuta with AJ and we had lunch at this awesome katsudon place. =D We talked for 2 hours, and then AJ had to leave and I sent some emails, prayed for a while, and then went to the student center (since I couldn’t go home) and waited for Mike to go home.
