God of Wonders

ATTENTION, ALL: I OFFICIALLY HAVE WORKING INTERNET!!!! yesterday henry came over and spent way too much time speaking in japanese to the phone company and reconfiguring our router, but his hard work paid off and i am now writing this from the comfort of my own wonderful computer. i cannot even express what a wonderful feeling it is to no longer have to ask to borrow computers....ahhh praise God for internet, and teammates who are engineers and amazing at Japanese.

first things first: here are a few pictures from the past couple weeks i've been wanting to put up but hadn't had the ability to do so:

saw this immediately after landing in Tokyo and figured it was a good sign- i felt very loved at least.



this is a sunset from outside our apartment- who says God's presence is weak in Japan?



after an intense game of Ultimate Football with some Japanese high school students at ICU High School:



FROM OKUTAMA WITH LOVE:

last thursday and friday we took a team training/bonding retreat with a few of the JCCC to Okutama, a place near the mountains about 1 1/2 hours from Tokyo by train. it was so nice to just get away from the city and be with the whole team- the 7 of us from the Pacific Southwest region (PSW) plus the 3 STINTers from KCCC New York and the 2 from Korea (Yuni and Uma- they aren't technically a part of our team but they came with us). once we'd all arrived, the first thing we did was walk down to the river and have a little praise and worship time- here's a picture of the combined teams plus 3 of the Staff:

(from left to right) back row: david, mike, aj, henry, cam (staff), ariel, simon (staff)
middle row: me, kat, yuni, uma,
front row: lyndsey, esther, man wai (staff), michelle



we then had some "getting to know you" time and some training, dinner, more bonding time and then worship around a campfire.

the next morning i woke up at 6 am to have quiet time by the river. i had seen a huge rock the day before i really wanted to try climbing. after forging a path to it, and some very ungracefully scrambling ( as i was carrying my Bible, journal and cell phone and could only climb with one hand) i finally made it to the top. i felt very proud that i hadn't fallen into the river in the attempt. here is a picture lyndsey took from the riverbank- can you find me?



here is an excerpt from my journal i wrote during my quiet time on the rock:

"sitting by a beautiful rushing river, surrounded by gigantic trees and misty mountains, i can't help but be in awe of the Lord's majesty. as soon as i looked around, the words of the song "God of Wonders" sprang from my lips- "God of wonders beyond our galaxy, You are holy, holy/ the Universe declares your majesty, You are holy, holy..." even as i sit atop this ridiculously huge boulder, a small mountain itself to my eyes, i cannot also help marveling at how tiny i really am. i could climb the highest mountain and still never reach the Lord by my own power. "for You, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods..." (Psalm 97:9). surveying the boulder at first, i was unsure of my abilities to climb it. how many times do i shy away from attempting things because i do not have the confidence in my own strength and power? praise the Lord that all things are possible with Him! even the things man sees as impossible, for all things are possible for those who believe (Mark 9:23). i'm currently listening to "Blessed Be Your Name" and it's unreal how true those words are. He has brought me out of darkness, sin and despair, and given me abundant and eternal life. He has blessed me with things i don't deserve and could never earn on my own. i am serving Him in a beautiful beautiful country- a broken country, but still beautiful- and i have the best job in the world. when the road becomes rocky, and darkness seems to take hold, may i always remember how awesome is the Lord, how great is His power, and how wonderful is His love. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall i fear? the Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall i be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1). the Lord promises Christ the nations- "ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession," (Psalm 2:8). and He promises us: "it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob...I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6). light will always penetrate darkness, no matter how small. sitting here surrounded by the Lord's majesty, He reminds me that He made this country, and while we may not see it all the time, He still reigns sovereign, not matter how many times Satan tries to tell us otherwise. and every time i feel like ministry here is impossible, i just need to remember that "with man, things are impossible, but with God, all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).

may the Lord remind you daily of his awesome power, and that He truly is a God of Wonders. may we always remember to turn to Him in times of trouble and rely on Him for everything, and may we never stop praising His Name.