Catching Up: Last Week in Tokyo

first off, i apologize for getting behind on blogging. we're back in the country now at debriefing in Costa Mesa (Orange County area), CA. we arrived in the States yesterday about 11 am, safe and sound. now we're all currently chilling in the boys' suite common area waiting for emily, matt and joe to bring us In N' Out. but more about that later.

the last monday of project (june 22) was our last day at Gakugei. we had one last Joyful Cafe lunch, and then afterward Jess and i hung out with Heidi and Ran in the JCCC club room, ate koala cookies and just talked about random things, in which i tried to insert something about God/the gospel of Jesus whenever possible. didn't see Ran come to Christ, but i know she is close. we are going to keep in touch on facebook. monday after we got back from campus a lot of the team went to Harajuku for last minute souvenier shopping at the Oriental Bazaar and Kiddie Land, in which i spent way too much money but that's ok. then jess, kyle and i got amazing crepes, then headed home for a last date night with Jesus.

tuesday was our last day at Tsuda. we had one last English Lunch, which was fun but was mostly just friendly conversation so i felt kind of "unproductive." but after lunch, Shi Wen (JCCC staff) and i went sharing and she told me to pick who i wanted to sit with and i saw a girl in a yellow shirt immediately but decided to go to the other side of the cafeteria first, then didn't see anyone that looked like they'd want to talk, so i went back to the girl with the yellow shirt and turned out she knew english really well and wanted to talk so that was awesome, and one thing led to another and we were able to share the entire gospel with her and gave her a new testament because she seemed interested- she said she wanted to keep studying and learn more :) her name is Aya, so please pray that the the Lord opens her heart and mind to understanding and faith. tuesday night was our last girls' night, so we all went to Kichijyoji for gelato and Bible study, in which we read through all of Song of Solomon and talked about how beautiful God sees us, and what it means to be a godly woman.

wednesday morning we had breakfast at Room 201 and it was amazing. then after breakfast we (the girls) gave the boys little katanas and notes that said "To a Strong Warrior of God...." and then we performed "I Say a Little Prayer for You" but changed the words a bit to fit. i think they liked it. then we went to our last English Lunch at Hitotsubashi. it was a bit disappointing b/c like no one was showing up so jess and i left to go find people to talk to (turns out Ngoc came late and we missed her but it's ok b/c we got to see her thursday). we found a really sweet girl who was pretty interested in spiritual things so we shared the gospel with her but unfortunately she thought that Jesus was first a man who became a god instead of Jesus being both man and God, so it was hard to explain but then Fumi (JCCC staff) found us and began sharing with her so it was awesome. wednesday night was our American Theme/ Goodbye Party at the JCCC Mitaka Center, so as soon as we got back from campus we changed, grabbed all of the food and decorations and headed to Mitaka to set up. i was on Outreach Team and the party was our responsibility so i was kind of stressed/ on edge for awhile, but eventually got to relax and really enjoyed the party- i think the japanese students did too. i was a bit disappointed that a couple girls didn't come but that's ok. we had a whipped cream eating contest, a costume contest, and a dance contest, and at the very end we (the americans) performed a shortened version of Thriller for them. they thought it was hilarious. so that's good. then after everything was all cleaned up we went back to Koenji and did "Secret Santa" presents for each other as a last Family Night activity.

thursday was our last day on campus and we were only at Hitotsubashi from 12-2 pm, but jess and i were still able to meet up with Noriko (the first girl we met on the very first day) and introduce her to Yukiko and Anita (JCCC Staff) and then Ngoc came and found us and we got to share the gospel with her in Vietnamese (her native language) b/c Yukiko had found it online and printed it out- it was so cool to see her understanding and questioning, and she is going to continue to meet with Yukiko. i cannot wait to see how God uses her. we all reconvened at 2 pm and watched Kylan (our campus team leader) swim across the disgusting murky waters of a fountain/pool thing in the middle of campus (apparently it's tradition for exchange students to do it on their last day of classes and he didn't last year...) after campus we came back to the apartments and made lists of all our contacts for the JCCC staff, then ate dinner and got ready for a surprise outing Gen and Heather had planned. we took taxis to the Hyatt Hotel and went to the top floor's restaurant and had amazingly ridiculous dessert (and $12 coffee for me....wish i'd known that before i ordered...oh well, how often do you get to go to a ritzy restaurant in one of the fanciest hotels in Tokyo?). thursday night was packing night, because friday we left for a mysterious retreat location that turned out to be Hakone, just outside Tokyo and famous for its hot springs :) this has been a long post so i'll finish later. and it's 1:45 am and i need sleep. goodnight!