A Few Firsts...

so far this week has been full of "first's" - here are a few of them:

First Alien Registration Card:

monday we went and got our Alien Registration cards for Mitaka (our city within Tokyo Prefecture). this actually was kind of stressful because either we'd been sent the wrong address from our director or i'd written it down wrong- either way, when i tried to apply the lady said my building didn't exist, and it took a really long time to figure out that the address was wrong. i'd written down 9-17-18 when our address is really 9-18-17. needless to say, i'll never be forgetting those numbers now.

First Time Eating Natto:

if you don't know what natto is, it's extremely popular in Japan. i have no idea why, as it not only looks gross, it smells gross and tastes even grosser. it's fermented soybean paste. why anyone ever thought that was a good idea to market as edible is beyond my comprehension. but i told myself that i needed to try it at least once. once was enough. beyond enough. we all went for our first team dinner to a rotating sushi bar, and as it went past some of the boys on our team told me to grab it and told me it was natto. so i sucked up my courage and downed the whole slimy mass, and almost threw up in the process. i could barely keep myself from gagging- i was seriously one fermented soybean shy of spitting it all over the restaurant. but i finally got it down. and then was nauseous the rest of the night. but hey, now i can say i did it. was definitely filled with a distinct feeling of accomplishment afterward....or maybe it was just the unsettled natto.

First 6 Hour Prayer Marathon:

Tuesday was a Worldwide All-Campus Crusade Day of Prayer. so for 6 hours, we joined with the rest of the JCCC staff and prayed for different areas of the world and countries where staff of Campus Crusade are currently serving. it was really cool, but really draining, and at 3:30 pm it felt like 9 pm. that may have been jetlag though. after we finished praying all the STINTers went to a restaurant and got some good grub, and then to Mr. Donut for dessert. oh Mr. Donut, how i've missed you.

First Gospel Choir Experience:

gospel music is becoming a huge fad in Japan- which is really awesome. JCCC has a Gospel choir ministry, a fabulous way to share the gospel because students love the music but a lot of times don't even understand what they are singing, so then we can explain it. the choir meets on Tuesday nights from about 7-9:30 pm. lyndsey goes every week, so myself, michelle, and the two KCCC (Korean Campus Crusade for Christ) STINTers all joined her to try it out. it was SO COOL. i haven't done any choir since high school, and it was so awesome to hear all our voices join together praising God in a beautiful harmony. there were about 13 students that came, and they were all amazing singers and super nice. unfortunately i don't think i'll have time to do it, because i really really want to do the dance ministry and i won't have time for both :( it was a really fun experience though.

First Day on Campus:

yesterday was our first official day on campus. we went to International Christian University (ICU) High School. we used to go to ICU, but CCC keeps getting kicked off of that campus. which is ironic really, but the "Christian" in the name is really that- in name only. however, at the high school, all students are required to take a Christianity class which is really awesome and is a huge open door for us to do ministry through lunch time hangouts and after school activities. we had a picnic outside for lunch and got to meet about 8-9 students. after school a few more students stopped by as well to hang out for a bit. it was really awesome just to be on campus and getting to hang out and meet students.

First Time Playing Halo/Halo 2:

last night AJ and Henry taught me to play Halo. and by Halo, i mean Halo 2. and by "taught," i mean AJ taught me and Henry killed me. a lot. i did manage to kill both of them twice. it was probably b/c they were too busy killing each other that i was able to sneak up on them. oh well. it was a good first attempt, right?

First Day at Waseda University:

this morning we set out for our first excursion to Waseda University. the campus is about 30-40 minutes away from Mitaka. its a really pretty campus with a ton of trees and rocks with Japanese writing (i have no idea what the significance of these rocks is, but they are pretty). this university has a huge international student population, so it's a really good place for us to do ministry, partially because most students are good at english, partially because we are less conspicuous being on campus, and partially because most students are fairly interested in talking with Americans. we prayer walked all over the campus, then spent some time hanging out in a big grassy area w/ Cam and Ayumi, one of the JCCC staff who will be with us almost every week at Waseda. met one of the Christian students which was really encouraging. tomorrow we will be our first day of evangelism/meeting students- please pray that God leads us to the students He wants us to meet!

First Takoyaki:

takoyaki= fried octopus. basically its a ball of octopus w/ fried stuff around it. and it was actually really good. much better than natto. in fact, i highly recommend it. seriously.


PRAYER REQUESTS:
- wisdom and discernment in ministry
- open hearts of the students we meet
- spiritual protection from discouragement, weariness and division
- that the Lord would start revival at Waseda University


may your week also be full of firsts!