December was all about Christmas. We prepared for weeks beforehand planning for the December 11th Holy Spirit/FREE gospel choir concert, and for the stint Christmas party on the 18th. I have been sleeping earlier than my normal time because I come home so tired. Sigh, last year I would stay up to 2am and write my blog posts, but this year I don’t seem to be able to stay up late anymore. ^^;;
I have been mentioning that God has been impressing on my heart the need for more prayer. So in December, I acted on those promptings and invited people to pray with me every Wednesday night for an hour of prayer. =) We come together and simply pray; there isn’t much scheduling, much pomp, but just a humble group falling on our face asking for God’s face to be shown on us. I am no expert in prayer, nor do I necessarily know how a revival prayer meeting should look like, but one thing I do know: God calls us to pray, fast, and cry out to Him if we desire revival.
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Blog
Saturday 12-11-10 : I woke up early to go to the student center to help Saya cook for the HS/FREE concert. I made salad for 40 people and then we started practicing from 11am. We practiced and worked hard until we performed at 6, and God really blessed the concert we had. About 65 people were at the concert, and so many people were blessed by the concert. Kohei shared his testimony, and Jiko and 4 students performed a really powerful skit about Jesus’s forgiveness of our sins. Many students commented on the skit/message and asked if some of the things mentioned were true. I loved observing the concert and seeing so many small little groups forming and students experiencing God’s love through the dance and choir students. A student commented and said “I can notice that you all have true joy, and I have never seen this before in any other clubs.” =)
Sunday 12-12-10 : Quiet Sunday, since there wasn’t HS that night. So that night we celebrated Michelle’s birthday by a surprise party at her home. =D
Monday 12-13-10 : LONG LONG meeting day, STINT meeting in the morning and then Christmas party planning all afternoon.
Long meetings are part of STINT life
Tuesday 12-14-10 : AJ and I had lunch with Yuta, and it was fun. =) Yuta keeps showing us good places to eat, and we have good conversations with them. AJ had a meeting afterwards, so I went with Lyndsey, but I got rejected 8 times (apparently a new record). I stayed later and hung out with Paddy afterwards too. =)
Wednesday 12-15-10 : That night, all the stinter guys went and bought a McDonald’s iCon Christmas chicken box. O_O It was 2 shaka shaka chickens, 10 chicken nuggets, 4 chicken selects, and a mega size fries. =d We really wanted the Shaka Shaka food strap, but it was only sold in the set, so the 4 of us bought one set each and ate it. ^^;;;
After Bible study, we had our first revival prayer meeting. This is the meeting that God has put on my heart to start. We just meet and pray together for an hour. It is a time to desperately call on the Lord. =)
Thursday 12-16-10 : Mike and I had lunch with Nonno at Ore no Sola in Takadanobaba. It’s consistently rated one of the top 3 ramen places, and it was truly an awesome bowl of ramen. =)
That night, the west impact had their Christmas party, and a student came to Christ! =)
West Imapct's Christmas Party
Friday 12-17-10 : There was no campus as we wanted to prepare for the Christmas party the next day. So we worked in the student center and decorated and got our skits ready. =)
Midtown Impact also had a Christmas night, but it was for Christian students to pray and reflect on the Lord’s gift. It was a good time of worship, and then I went out for dinner with the students. =)
Saturday 12-18-10 : Woke up early to go to the student center and practice our skit/dances. We prepared and rehearsed until 5, and then the students started coming. My friends from Paddy, Keisuke, Yutaka, Genta, and Koichiro came, as also Tao and Jane. =D It was such a good party, and many people also enjoyed the skit and dance we performed. Henry also had a good performance explaining the meaning of Christmas, and Haruka shared her testimony for us. =) I cooked salad for 50 people, and the students loved the food the stinters cooked. xD I loved the night, I could see so many of my friends loving the guests and sharing God’s love with them. =) And my best memory of the night was seeing Jiko lead some worship songs with students; even though they didn’t know the songs, they learned and we also helped out. =)
My friends from Waseda University (Jane, the girl on the left came to Christ in Jan9th)
Having fun praising God at the Christmas party =)
Sunday 12-19-10 : After New Hope, we were invited to the Low’s home for dinner. They bought us Dominoes pizza!!! It was a long time since we had pizza, and they really blessed us by having us over for dinner. =)
Monday 12-20-10 : We had a staff meeting, and it was the last one of the year until March. Yuni and Una and some other staff said their goodbyes, since they won’t be here in March. =( We prayed together, and it was sort of sad seeing friends and teammates leave. =(
Tuesday 12-21-10 : AJ and I had lunch with Yuta, and then we went to meet new students. We were able to talk with these 2 students in building 11, and gave them Christmas CDs as presents after a good conversation. =D Then I met up with the Yale students and led them on a prayer walk around Waseda. =)
That night, we went to the girls apartment and celebrated Christmas as a team before the NYKCCC stinters went home. We had secret Santas, and it was so fun seeing the gifts we bought each other. =)
Wednesday 12-22-10 : Last day of campus, the Yale students were there, but as I went with Mike, we saw the Man club in girls school uniforms dancing to AKB48….hahahaha… We weren’t able to do anything with the Yale students though. =( Later that day, we had Bible study and prayer meeting. =)
Thursday 12-23-10 : There was no campus today, so after resting, I went to New Hope’s Christmas service in the afternoon. =D They were really good! I wish my friends that told me they would come had come. =( But it was a refreshing time to enjoy a service without worrying what other people were thinking. =) I actually went to both services, because I wanted to hang out with the Yale team and students, so after the second service, we went out for dinner as a group.
Friday 12-24-10 : I went out for dinner with Jonghun. We were supposed to eat all you can eat yakiniku in koenji, but we weren’t hungry so we just had tendonya (one of my favorite restaurants). Then we wandered around, got home, watched Nausica, and then slept early so we can go to the homeless church the next day.
Saturday 12-25-10 : We woke up at 530 so we could walk to the station (the bus doesn’t come until 6). Jonghun and I met the other stinters at 6 at the station, and we took the train to Harajuku and met Saya, Arisa, Jean, and Una. We went to the homeless church in the morning, and served them by packing food, sharing testimonies, and talking/praying with them. After the church, we went to Jonathans for breakfast, then Omotesando hills for ice skating. The ice wasn’t real; it was plastic so we were disappointed. =( We then went back to Mitaka, got lunch, and stayed at the student center the whole day. We made a 1000 piece Totoro puzzle, played games, and I cooked beef stew for them. =D Saya also gave us a gift by buying us cakes so we can decorate them. We split to two teams : one team made a normal looking decoration cake, but my team made a gladiator koala deathmatch cake. xD Overall, I really enjoyed this Christmas, as it was spent with my best friends and just in a relaxed way. =D
Sunday 12-26-10 : New Hope Church, then rested at night.
Monday 12-27-10 : After our stint meeting, AJ, Mike, and I went to Kichijoji and had awesome omurice. =D Then I went home, worked on the stint shirt, and then later in the night, the other stinters came by to watch a movie at my home.
Tuesday 12-28-10 : Worked on the stint video script and the stint t shirt. Hung out with the guys, and went to the Mitaka onsen later that night. =D
Wednesday 12-29-10 : I went to the student center early to work with AJ and Lyndsey to work on our STINT recruiting video. It went quickly, and then I joined the HS team in Koenji for Karaoke. =D The room was so fun! It was my first time going Karaoke with the team, but I really enjoyed the time with them . They were crazy good singers. =D After singing, we wandered around Koenji, and then I went back to Mitaka for Bible study. We had a good Bible study, prayer, and then waited for the Yale students to come back. We wanted to hang out with them before they left, so it was fun just sharing and encouraging each other. We stayed with them until 1am. ^^;;;
Thursday 12-30-10 : The Kurihara’s invited us for dinner at their home. =D Kazu used to be the Japan director of JCCC, and now he is finding where God wants him to be. The family was so wonderful! They cooked so many awesome dishes, and they really went out of their way to make us feel loved. They also gave us some money as “Yokohama fun budget money.” O_O We were so blessed by their hospitality!
With the Kurihara Family
Friday 12-31-10 : We went to Kichijoji for dinner, and then to Yokohama for ice skating, enjoying the night view, and celebrating the New Year with fireworks near Cosmoworld’s amusement park. =) This time, we were able to get a rapid train back to Tokyo, so we took 2 hours to get back home instead of 3. ^^;;
New Years with the team
Saturday 1-1-11 : Slept in until 2pm, since we came home so late the previous night. All the guys went for Gustos for lunch, and then I spent the day working on the STINT t-shirts.
Sunday 1-2-11 : I went to church, and I was able to get some ozoni (Japanese traditional new years food) XD Then I went and had dinner with some of the students (Kay, Yukina, Chihiro, Miwako, Aya, and Seiko).
Monday 1-3-11 : STINT meeting, and planning on what to do during our break. We knew the students would be sort of free, so we prayed and went over our materials. That night, we watched Fellowship of the Ring, since Michelle hasn’t watched it before.
Tuesday 1-4-11 : We met up for another day of prayer in the student center. We wrote a board with all the things that happened in December and it was such a blessing to see how many ways God has answered prayers and gave us so many opportunities to share His love. =D
Wednesday 1-5-11 : We had Bible study and prayer that night. It was good and I really enjoyed setting these times for praying wholeheartedly to the Lord. =D
Thursday 1-6-11 : First day of campus! I had lunch with Tao and Lyndsey, and it was really good to talk with Tao. =D After our lunch, Lyndsey and I went out to try to meet new people, but everyone was busy. After campus, I met up with Jonghun and we shared and encouraged each other.
Friday 1-7-11 :Lyndsey and I went out for campus again, but it was hard. =( After some rejections, I talked with this guy, and he was part of the manga club. We couldn’t speak much English with him, but he was friendly and wanted to introduce us to the other club members. =)
Saturday 1-8-11: I prepped the home for dinner, as I invited Jane, Tao, Kimiyo, Lyndsey, and Emma over for a Chinese dinner night. I cooked some Lee family style food (realizing the fact that I haven’t cooked in a while so I was a bit rusty). Emma couldn’t come, but we added Mike to our mix so the food wasn’t wasted. =D
Sunday 1-9-11 : Church was good, and I got to meet Chihiro’s friends Saori and Tomoyo. But the praise of the day was getting an email from Jane saying that she accepted Christ that day. =D Wow, Praise God! =D
Monday 1-10-11 : Even though it was a holiday (Coming of Age Day), we had worship and STINT meeting at the student center. I had lunch with AJ at a new restaurant north of the station, and then we went home to watch Liar Game’s movie. After the movie, I went for dinner with Jonghun at Ootoya’s. We met two sisters who were eating at the table next to us and we found out they were Christian. =) We invited them to the CHANGE conference and then walked home and watched Inception with the stinters + Suguru. =)
Tuesday 1-11-11 : I took the bus + train because I lent my bike to Jonghun, so I was early to the campus. It’s sooo cold. =( I led the prayer time on Isaiah 58, which is about true fasting and the blessings that God has in store for His people who come to Him with a right heart. The YWAM people joined us for prayer, and it was so good to be partnering with other likeminded individuals in prayer. After praying, I had lunch with Yumi and AJ at Mama Kimchi, and then met Jonghun’s friend Sungjin at building 11. Then I went with Henry to meet new students in Toyama campus and we met Kato in the Media and Arts lounge. After debriefing, we ate at Indra’s and I came home to work on the blog posts.
Wednesday 1-12-11: Went to campus, went sharing with AJ and Henry, but everyone was gone, so it was difficult to meet people since everyone was busy or gone. =(We had our Bible study at night then Yukiko joined us for our prayer time. =D
Thursday 1-13-11: I woke up and went to campus too early since I thought it was at 10 (not 11) oops! I spent some time praying, and then we had all the team come and pray before going to campus. I went again with Henry and AJ, but there weren’t many free people again. So we started talking about Shinkan, and then decided to visit the KGK people. =) We found their clubroom, and then introduced ourselves with them. =D
After campus, Lyndsey and I hung out before having dinner with Yuri-chan from Sophia. =D It was soo good to see her again and hear how she has grown in her walk with the Lord. We met up with her last year in Sophia, and during the summer while I was in the states, she came to Christ. =D She has such a pure and beautiful heart, and her observations of the Lord in nature are so astute. I hope she can continue growing with God this coming year. =D
Also, we got to Kichijoji and celebrated Mike’s finishing of his GREs. =D
Friday 1-14-11 : After praying together, I went alone and prayed for a while. I needed time to focus back on God and my reason for being in Japan, and then after resting in the presence of Him, I went out to the clubrooms to find WESA people. They weren’t there, but I ran into the manga club and I was able to talk with them for a few hours…in Japanese. ^^;; It was hard, but it was also humbling realizing I really wanted to share God’s love with them but I was limited by my language. =(
That night, we had our last mitsuyori with the students. =) It was fun hanging out with East and West side students, and I stayed around til 330am. ^^;;;
Saturday 1-15-11 : Slept in since the previous night was so long, and then spent the day reading and cleaning the home. ^^;; Made fried rice for the first time ever. =D
Sunday 1-16-11 : Lyndsey and I had a skype appointment with Epic conferences in California and Texas! It was so fun, and even though there were some initial connection problems, we were able to be interviewed and share about Japan with them. =D I pray that people would grow to have a heart for the lost here. =D
I went to church but all of my friends who were coming didn’t come. =( Later that night, I went to HS and we planned what we wanted our vision for this new year to be. Again, it was mostly in Japanese, but I love this dance team and they translated some of the important parts for me. =D
Monday 1-17-11 : STINT meeting with the NY KCCC teammates! YAY! It was awesome finally seeing them again, so we caught up during the meeting to hear how they spent the break and how Vision conference was. We went to Ippudo for lunch, and then I prepped the home for dinner. Yuni, Una, Jonghun, and David came over for Korean food, and we hung out at my home, making Mii’s and just having fun. =D
Tuesday 1-18-11 : I led the prayer time on Joshua 1:1-9, and then went out. I didn’t have any appointments, but I prayed that God would allow me to meet some people. So then I was able to talk with Suzu for 20 minutes, then Arata and Genta, then had lunch with Minami, talked with Jean in building 11, and then as I couldn’t find anyone free to talk to, I prayed for a while there. Then I met AJ and Henry and Ryohei dropped by. So I wasn’t able to meet any new students, but met many old friends. After debrief, AJ and I went to the cafeteria to meet Tao and go to the ICC tea ceremony. I met Rapee there, and hopefully we can meet up before she goes back to Thailand. After the tea ceremony/lesson, we went to Koenji and had all-you-can-eat yakiniku with Jonghun, Mike, and David. =D It was so good! We probably ate over a pound of meat each, along with other food. =D Oh, and on the way home, the guys got on the wrong train and I was the only one who noticed it was wrong so I got off….haha
Wednesday 1-19-11 : I had lunch with Henry, AJ, Koich, Takahiro, Wataru, and Kei. After lunch, Henry and AJ went to Sweets Pearls with Koich, so I went back to campus and prayed. I couldn’t meet anyone to talk with, and then Henry and AJ and Koich came back, so I talked with them for a while. Then we went to the roof to pray for the campus.
After debriefing, I went to the post office to figure out how to pay for CHANGE conference registration so I can teach the other stinters. Then I went back to Mitaka for Bible study and prayer.
Thursday 1-20-11 : We shared and prayed for friends, and then I was asking God to give me someone to talk with, and Susumu came up right at that moment. So I ate with him, Lily, Jimmy, and Amy. It was good, since I normally don’t get to spend time with them, and they asked me questions on what I do in Japan, why I care for students, how I talk with students, etc. I was even able to share my testimony with them on how God called me to Japan. =) After walking them to their class, I prayed around Waseda and then joined up with Mike. We got rejected a few times, but then we were able to talk with this guy named Jae. =)
We went to the post office as a team to pay for our conference (good thing I did it before so I could teach them). Then I went back home to Mitaka and got a haircut again from AshMake. I was just thinking of getting one, but the price wasn’t cheap. But as I was walking home, I ran into the hair stylist and we recognized each other, and she gave me a coupon for a cheaper haircut. o_O So once again, I tried a Japanese haircut (I feel it’s too short again. ^^;;) After the haircut, I went to West Impact’s last meeting.
