Update #2

Quick update on the last several days:

We were able to spend 3 days out of this week at Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), 1 day at Osaka University (OU), and an afternoon at Koyasan High School (which is a 2 hr car ride away).  It has been an interesting experience learning about Japan, her people, culture and religions.  Spending time with the OPU and OU students has been great.  It was somewhat difficult to communicate with the High School students as their conversational English is not as good, but it was still informative.  

On the whole I have had a wonderful time building relationships and strengthening with the students I’ve been able to spend extended time with.  It’s been both eye opening and a blessing.  I am thankful for my parents and the home I grew up it.  God is good.  Yet, my heart breaks for those who do not yet know Christ as Savior and Lord. 


Some highlights:


-Monday: Teriyaki McBurger - delish!

-Tuesday-Thursday: OPU

Dessert...taiyaki? I think...I'm really tired and can't remember exactly right now.

A dinner....

Thursday - Trip to Osaka Castle and America-mura (village)

Ryo (Mush) and I; he was our tour guide for the day :)

Shota and Shin

Osaka Castle

America-mura

cool lamppost

Olympus!

Friday - 1st visit ever to OU
Politicians....

OU

"Taco" and Beland - explaining how to play Mafia

Saturday @ Koyasan HS
The 2 hour long trip through the mountains was very green, but very very windy.  One of our team members even threw up from the stress of being tossed and turned left and right over and over again.

Prayer requests: 

For Lucy, one of my team members, she just caught a cold and has much to do in the next few days.  So please pray for health, strength and energy for her.

For Shin, he seems to be very open and interested in Christianity.  We were able to share the gospel with him and he plans on reading the Bible to see whether or not to fully believe in it.

For the other students that they will be open and interested as well. 

For “Taco” the OU ESS leader and Lisa.  The team was able to share the gospel with them.

For all the students we’ve been able to share the gospel with that the seeds will take root in good soil.

Praise:

For the students that we’ve been able to share the gospel with.

For good weather

For the generous, kind and loving hospitality of Takenaka-san

For mosquito bites – they’ve caused me to depend more on God and be thankful for general good health.  They’ve also given me a new perspective on the book of Job and they haven’t swollen up as much as they usually do.

For the grace and blessing of being here.

For leadership from the team and from the students guiding us around campus and Osaka. 


Well, I must be off.
Goodnight!

Update #1

- Praise the Lord!! We've definitely raised all our funds.   =D

- We arrived safely in Hamadera, Osaka, Japan around 8 pm on Friday.  ~ 13 hr plane ride with a layover

- Saturday - Orientation, music rehearsal, and we spent the day walking around Namba with students from Osaka Prefecture University. 

- Sunday - Hamadera Bible Church - fellowship with church members and dinner with OPU students.  Steve and Priscilla shared their testimonies in front of the church.  Cool stuff.  After dinner and after most everyone went home we tried onsen....

- Monday - prepping for the next week. shopping for supporters, etc...

Thoughts: So far I'm absolutely loving it here.  It kind of feels like a home coming after you spent a long time away and forgot all of the language except for a few sentences and words...the only difference is that I never knew the language in the first place.  

I have no complaints, although I do wish I could get more sleep, since I've only been getting ~ 6 hrs a night so far.  It's soo much cooler than I was expecting, so that's been a huge blessing, even though it is humid.
Sharing the gospel is more difficult than in the states, and it's not just the language barrier, the culture is different too.
As you can probably tell, my grammar skills are failing... sad times. ;)

Random pictures:


"Welcome to Kansai"

Us and the students we spent Saturday with in front of some sort of action figure shop

McD's ice cream

Fried mochi

Yes, those are Pringles, I don't know if they taste the same though.

Teriyaki burger - I ate one from McD's tonight...not sure if tastes the same as those pictured below since I didn't have those.

Of love and purpose

Quick update:

- I think as a team we've raised 100% of the funds we need.  I'll know for sure probably sometime tomorrow. So huge praise there!!
- We leave Thursday!  ...and I'm not totally ready yet! I plan to be before then though. ;)
- I had my own personal send off from my Grace Community Church neighborhood outreach friends.  It was awesome!!! I am so blessed to have such wonderful sisters and brothers in Christ praying for me.  I also had a sort of send off from Sojourners, my Sunday school group which I really didn't expect, but was neat. :D Verbal prayer like that is just a blessing. So thanks all!
- Oh, and what do you think of the new layout?

Anyways, on to the post.

Of all the attitudes, love, is the hardest, yet on the other hand it is the most enduring. 

Love is more than just a feeling of "like" toward a person or a people.  It is a volitional care and concern for others that is self-sacrificing.  It's a wanting what is best for that person or persons.  It's doing what's right even if it's hard, even if it costs you something.  It's sharing the gospel with them.  I know this is an incomplete definition of love, but it is the part that sticks out to me right now. And yes, even this small facet of what love is, is hard to do, but it matters. 

As my day of departure draws closer, I feel a deeper concern for those millions of lost souls in Japan.  I am very much an "American", but in a way the people of Japan feel like "my people".  I know I don't fully understand them, their language, or their culture, but I care about them.  And I kind of feel like I'm one of them.  Because of this, it is painful to remember that while they as a nation are rich in worldly things, they are like the beggars on the street with nothing to eat, barely any clothing and no roof over their head in regards to spiritual "wealth".  They don't know God.  They can see the evidences of His existence in Creation, but the overwhelming majority does not know or worship Him as God.  Instead they persist in superstition and the worship of materials like wood, metal, and stone.
They very much remind me of the people Paul spoke to in Athens who had so many gods, all but the real, true and living One.  I want to be humble, serve them, love them and remember my purpose among them.  And I know that my resolve to do so is strong right now, in this moment, but I also know that I will be tempted to give up, give in and be my regular sinful self when the opportunity to do so comes.  And I know there will be plenty of times that I'll be tempted to from exhaustion, impatience, frustration, etc.  It's a scary thing to know that while I have been saved from slavery to sin, there is still this evil sin loving flesh inside of me....

So, yeah, that's pretty much my prayer, (and I know I'm repeating myself, sorry I tend to do that sometimes) that when I am in those moments where I have the opportunity to complain, to not be joyful as I ought, to not be humble, to not serve, to not love, to not remember my purpose, to not glorify God, to sin, ...that I won't.  That I will instead keep my eyes on Jesus, remembering His abundant grace to me, that I do NOT deserve and do what I have purposed to do.
My purpose in Japan is not to seek my own glory, but to seek to continuously point others to Jesus Christ and what He did, to serve and to love.  I know I will mess up, at times so please pray that I will be humble and repentant when I do.  From observing the people I love and respect, being open, humble and repenting of your sins instead of trying to hide it, makes a lasting impact.  So, on that note, I guess it's time to confess that I felt like I had to be perfect because I am a representative of my friends and family, the people I know and love, but most of all of Christ.  But on the other hand I know I can't be perfect.  So, it was a blessing to be reminded that I am no more justified now than I was on the day I was saved.  There is grace, I don't have to be perfect, nor can I be.  I need simply to be humble and repentant.   There's always that balance and that's why I love Romans - grace covers sin and yet we are to continually strive toward sanctification.  And it is God who does the saving, we just sow the seed and water.  God gives the life and gets all the glory.  Praise Him all ye people!

It was so cool because we sang this hymn during evening service and while I like all the verses, the last one (6) pretty sums up how I feel about my STM, thusly I love the last verse of this hymn. :D

1. May the mind of Christ my Savior
   Live in me from day to day,
   By His love and pow'r controlling
     All I do and say.
2. May the Word of Christ dwell richly
   In my heart from hour to hour,
   So that all may see I triumph
     Only through His pow'r.
3. May the peace of Christ my Savior
   Rule my life in every thing,
   That I may be calm to comfort
     Sick and sorrowing.
4. May the love of Jesus fill me,
   As the waters fill the sea;
   Him exalting, self abasing,
     This is victory.
5. May I run the race before me,
   Strong and brave to face the foe,
   Looking only unto Jesus
     As I onward go.
6. May His beauty rest upon me
   As I seek the lost to win,
   And may they forget the channel,
     Seeing only Him.

Of attitudes and life

To begin, a quick note that I probably should've added at the beginning of this blog.   However, I didn't, so I'm adding it now, just in case you are new to this blog.  But, if not, I'm sure you've probably already seen that my posts aren't necessarily just updates on how the team is doing, what we're doing to prepare, etc.  I mainly started this blog because I wanted to be able to share with you, my dear readers, some of the things that God has been teaching me, reminding me of, and using to (sometimes painfully, but always for good) grow me on this amazing journey He has blessed me to be able to go on.  I also wanted to give you a peek on what it's like (in one person's experience) to be on one's first ever short term ministry trip.

And now back to the post, which is an interruption of sorts to my "series" on attitudes...

Inadequate.  If there was only one word I could choose to sum up my feelings as we draw closer and closer to the "D.o.D." or Day of Departure, that would be the one.  I feel so inadequate to be one of the eight people chosen to represent my beloved family, my beloved fellowship group, Sojourners, my beloved college group, LIFE, my beloved church, Grace Community, and the church as a whole, but most of all my beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  On the one hand, this scares me, because I know how inadequate I am.  I see the daily sin in my life and it scares me and I know that God sees all the sin in my life, even those I don't realize and that scares me even more.  On the other hand, I know in a sense that this is good for me.  Because, if I didn't feel inadequate I would be even more full of pride than I already am, and that would be  horrible.  I need all the help I can get in my pride killing, so in this sense I am thankful for this feeling of inadequacy.  As John Owen said, "Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you."  And pride is pretty much the root of sin, or at least the majority of sin, or so I've been told.  It was definitely at the root of the original sin.

I'm also realizing that inadequacy is not necessarily a bad feeling.  It has made me draw nearer to God and just pray, and pray hard.  It has also made me realize how unnecessary I am.  God is sovereign.  I am not.  He chose me for this ministry for a reason, I just don't know what it is yet.  He can use even the weakest of His vessels, I just pray it is in a manner where He receives all the glory and not me.  I am a weak clay pot, I have no right to anything and yet He has blessed me so abundantly.  I am still wondering why He is choosing to use me in this manner, but I am so thankful He is.  I just don't want to be useless.  That is something I fear, to be useless or rendered useless.
I may quite possibly be the only "Bible" these students read.  I just pray that I am a good "Bible".  I'm learning that attitude matters a lot.  People are watching, always watching to see if those who claim to be Christ's truly act like it.
My deepest fear is that I would live in a way that profanes and defames the name and reputation of the One who gave me everything.  And I know me. It is so easy for me to dishonor Christ in my sin. I sin everyday!  Sometimes I ask myself, have I done anything but sin today?  I don't want to, but I do.  I am often so impatient, easily frustrated, unkind, and unloving.  And I hate it.  I hate that the hearing of the gospel might be ruined because of my sin and my sinful attitudes.  At the same time I know that God can use even my sin for His glory, because He is so much greater.  He is totally and fully sovereign.  He's in control.  So, that's my prayer that I will learn humility, consider others more important than myself, be an energy giver rather than an energy taker in order to be a clean, useful vessel for my Lord Jesus Christ.  Pray that I will keep my eyes fully focussed on my Lord, and not worry about myself!  He is my Lord and I am His slave, and I want to live that out. May my hands, feet, words, actions, prayers be done in honor of Him.  The results are in His hands!  Praise the Lord!

Of life and thoughts on service

Well, a lot has happened in the past 2 weeks or so.
Firstly, we've gotten most of the care team stuff done, as far as omiyages go anyway.
Secondly, the team as a whole has raised about 88% of what we need in order to to go.  This is a praise since last time I updated we only had about 45%. 
Thirdly, during the latter part of the month of May I reached the age of nijuichi. At least I think that's how you say it.  I'm not certain, because in Japanese there seems to be a different way to count pretty much everything.  In any case, I have now reached the ripe old age of 21, whether that's good or bad is yet to be seen.  I am thankful for the time on earth God has given me, and I pray that it was for His glory and that whatever time I have left will be lived for Him and through Him.  What I do know for certain is that I do not want to be useless.
Fourth, an update on some of the stuff I've been learning in general.  I've been learning more about theology, or doctrine in the last few months.   And I am absolutely loving what I'm learning and I know I am growing from what I've been learning too.   But my prayer is that I will not be "puffed up" with knowledge, but that I will really and truly live it out.  I want to be humble, not just learn about it.  I want to know God, not just about Him.  (That's another neat thing about Christianity.  I have the amazing privilege of having a personal relationship with the holy, living and true God. Wow.  When I sit and think about the religions of the world...they don't really know God, or their "gods", they just know about God.  They don't have a personal relationship with God, and I get to?  It's amazingly humbling.  Why me? I don't know.  But, I am soo thankful that I do.)  I want to be able to share what I know in a gentle, loving manner, but I too often don't.  Prayerfully, I will eventually do so all of the time.

Anyway, moving on to some thoughts on the attitude of service.
Humility and service seemed to be tied to one another.  See, it's like this, if you are not humble it is extremely hard to even think of serving others.  A proud person simply does not think of, nor does he or she care, about the trouble they cause.  And it would hardly cross their mind to serve the other person in any way.  They instead want to be served.  I have to admit that this is a very easy attitude for me to have.  It is hard to continually have an attitude of service, yet on the other hand when one is humble, it becomes easy to serve others.  When I think of myself as lower than others, as the weak and broken person I am before God it is much easier to serve others.  None of us are better than any other person in God's eyes.  We are each and equally hopelessly sinful before God.  We deserve hell and yet God has saved us from that, (if having realized our sinfulness and repented of it, we truly believe and trust in Him) and that is amazing.  How can we not be thankful and thus serve others out of that gratefulness?
I guess I've said this before, but I need to be continually reminded of it.
We cannot take the gospel lightly.  Yet living in light of the gospel makes it easier to be humble, to serve others, to love others and to not forget our purpose as Christians.

It is always so convicting to remember that Jesus basically spent His whole life here on earth in service. And He out of all the people in the world did not have to, for He is God.  And yet in every other religion, the "god" is to be served, yet the one true living God did not come to be served, but to serve.  Out of the many things that are different between Christianity and any false religion, this one sticks out to me.  He is not a God made with hands, but is the Creator, the Maker of the world.
Jesus lived His life as an act of service, as an example to us, as it says in Philippians 2.  He made Himself nothing.  That is He lived His life in total and utter humility, serving the neglected, unwanted of the world.  He cared for them because He loved them.  I know that this is only a facet of who Jesus is, but it
is one I need to focus more on.
Yes, service is hard, but that is how Christ spent His entire life. How then can I not live my life in the humble service of Him?  The amazing thing is that when you serve, you receive joy, probably more than the one you are serving.

If you ever see me not serving when I should be, or serving without a humble, loving attitude, come up to me and tell me! I want to know, that I might grow and make Him ever more glorious.