God of This City

i woke up Tuesday morning feeling like there was a gigantic boulder sitting on me (ironic, as i was sitting on a gigantic boulder last week...) i lay in bed and said "God you have to get me up i can't get out of bed..." and He did. He had to shove a bit b/c i was pretty snuggled in my bed. eventually i got up though. Tuesday mornings our team starts the day about 1 1/2 hours of prayer and worship at the Student Center. all of us looked pretty tired and out of it at first, but after some quiet time, some awesome prayer time and even more awesome worship, we were so pumped up to go to campus and share the Gospel. the power of prayer and worship never fails to amaze me- in just a short time i went from braindead zombie to energized warrior. i can always count on Ephesians 3: 14-20 (Paul's Prayer for Spiritual Strength) and these two songs to get me pumped up:

OUR GOD IS GREATER (CHRIS TOMLIN):

Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You, None like You
Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You, None like You
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?

YOUR LOVE NEVER FAILS (JESUS CULTURE):

Nothing can separate, Even if I ran away
Your love never fails
I know I still make mistakes, But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails
You stay the same through the ages, Your love never changes
There maybe pain in the night but joy comes in the morning
And when the oceans rage, I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails
The wind is strong and the water's deep, But I'm not alone in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails
The chasm is far too wide, I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails
You make all things work together for my good
You make all things work together for my good...

i've come to discover that 3 of the main ways Satan attacks us in this country are discouragement/timidity, exhaustion, and disunity. but these songs always chase away those feelings. so Tuesday we walked onto campus confident and filled with God's strength; lyndsey and i paired up and went to the cafeteria. we sat down with 2 girls who were nice but didn't speak a ton of english, and they left for class after about 20 minutes or so. still, perhaps we'll see them again. after they left, 2 other girls sat down next to us, and we asked if they spoke english. they said yes- turns out they were exchange students from the Philippines- oh, and they're Christian. and one of them actually was at the church service i went to last Sunday. small world, huh? needless to say, it was really encouraging, and i'm hoping they'll want to become involved in Student Impact this year. after that we went to the international lounge and asked 3 girls if we could talk with them. we sat down and ended up having a really long conversation- 2 of them didn't speak english too well but one did and wants to meet up with us again. she even works at Starbucks and is friends with a few Shockers, aka, my new best friend. one sobering point- they told us we were the first Christians they'd ever met. it was kind of heartbreaking, but at the same time, i suppose it's good they don't already have horrible preconceived notions of Christians. but it was a good reminder of why we're in this country. Tuesday night Kat, Mike, Ariel and i all went to the English club, which was a lot of fun. met a girl named Claudine who is also from the Philippines and actually knows the two girls we met earlier that day, Grace and Dann. she was so fun and i can't wait to hang out with her more. needless to say, it was a good day.

Wednesday we began the day with about 45 minutes of prayer as a team, then we split up and Ariel and i met up with Yumi, a girl we'd met at English club last week and wanted to meet up with us. she brought her friend Risa to meet us, and we all had lunch. then Risa went to class, but we ended up talking with Yumi for almost 3 1/2 hours, and were able to share some of our testimonies and how God called us to Japan. i'm really excited to meet up with her again. Thursday we had a break from campus- classes had been cancelled so we had some evangelism training time with Cam and a couple of the other staff, and then went Shinjuku to the tallest building and prayed over Tokyo.


looking out over the city, my heart hurt knowing that while 12,000,000 people live here, less than 1% know who Jesus is.

i saw the money-driven businessmen, the depression-filled students, the homeless, the prostitutes, the broken-hearted. and i realized- i could look out onto the city and be discouraged by the lack of hope and faith, or i could see it as my motivation to change that 1% to 100%. and i saw that, while most of the view was dominated by buildings and concrete, there were sections of green, of trees and beauty.

and i realized that even though so often i feel that this city is just a dark stronghold, the trees reminded me that God's beauty still exists here and shine's His glory, and He is, above all, the God of this city, and greater things are yet to come. and it instilled within me the passion to destroy Satan's power here. i know i can't do it alone, but i can pray for revival, i can pray for more workers to come to this country, and i can pray for the Christians already here, for boldness in sharing the Gospel with every person they meet. i find it a bit ironic that i had to come halfway around the world to realize that this is simply every Christian's calling, to share the Gospel and God's love...

PRAYER REQUESTS:
- please pray for Sakiko, Aya and Misa, the 3 girls who had never met a Christian before
- for Claudine, Grace and Dann, that they will grow in their faith here and have boldness to share it with their peers
- for Yumi and Risa, that God will open their hearts to the Gospel and they would be receptive
- for energy, grace, love and unity among our team and the JCCC staff
- please pray against the spirits of apathy, discouragement and depression that cover this city

May you be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." ~Ephesians 3:16-20