i've been slacking on updates. i definitely need more discipline. but i work best under pressure i suppose. tomorrow we leave for a roadtrip to Kyoto and Osaka to visit other Student Impact ministries for a few days, so i figured i should probably finish this post before then. which means i probably won't sleep much tonight. not sure if i could anyway- it suddenly decided to become winter here, and i'm definitely not prepared for the cold. i still have yet to buy a thick comforter, thick curtains and gasoline for our space heater. as cold as it is, i know i need to stop being a wimp because it's only going to get worse from here. somehow i lost both a winter hat and 1 glove today though, which made for a very unfortunate, cold bike ride home. but enough weather woes. on to the update!
these past couple weeks have been pretty awesome in terms of ministry. every day at least 1-2 people are hearing the Gospel, and many of them have never met a Christian or heard of Jesus, so we're getting to sow a lot of seeds. i've gotten to really start establishing relationships/friendships with the people i met in October, and everyone on our team has already grown noticeably in terms of boldness and confidence in sharing the Gospel with students and jumping on every opportunity we can to share. a lot of us have been sick lately though. i was sick for about a week, which was a bit frustrating. but it's a chance to just rely on God even more for strength, energy and focus. and it made me realize that even if i'm not physically well, God can still use me. Thursday Lyndsey and i met with Yuki and Kaori again- we had been praying we'd be able to share the Gospel but we ended up not having much time with them, so that was a bit frustrating but the encouraging thing is that every time we meet with them, they are always the ones to ask to meet up again. so hopefully next week we can share the Gospel with them.
Friday. ohhh Friday was such a glorious day. Lyndsey and i met with Yui and Kanae, whom we'd met the very first day at Waseda. we had not been able to meet with them since, so it had been a month since we'd last seen them and we weren't really expecting much- we had prayed we'd be able to share the Gospel if it was God's will, but we weren't counting on it. but God had other ideas. we ended up being able to share a good deal of our testimonies, our vision of God, and the full Gospel with both girls. they were both really interested and it was the smoothest, easiest Gospel presentation we've ever done. in our Japanese booklets there is a drawing of 2 circles- the left circle shows you as the center and Christ outside the circle, and the right circle shows Christ as the center of your life and you underneath. both girls said their lives looked like the left circle but they wanted to be in the right one. then Yui had to go to work, but we kept talking to Kanae. we made sure to go over everything really carefully and told her if she wanted, she could receive Christ right then and asked if that was what she wanted-- and she said yes! she prayed to receive Christ! i cannot even express how wonderful it was. statistically it takes a Japanese person about 5-7 years to accept the Gospel from the first time they've heard it, so this is SUCH a miracle! second, she's the first student to accept Christ in the 6 weeks i've been here (even though God's blessed us with many opportunities to share the Gospel so far, it's mostly been planting seeds) and thirdly, she's the first student i've ever personally seen accept the Gospel- that is, whom i've shared with and they've accepted it! please pray for Kanae- for protection from the enemy and that God would reveal himself to her in very real ways this week. also please pray for Yui- she is very interested in learning more about the Bible (once again, a huge rarity in Japan) so please pray for the Bible study Lyndsey and i are starting with the 2 girls and that Yui would also accept Christ into her life soon.
Saturday was also pretty legit. i woke up at 5 am to go to a huge park called Yoyogi Park with Mike and AJ. you might be asking yourself, what on earth is worth waking up that early? i shall tell you. a homeless church. every Saturday at 7 am a pastor from Tokyo Baptist Church preaches a sermon in the park for the homeless who live around there. we heard about it from some YWAM people who help out, and we decided to check it out. it was so wonderful. we stuff about 120 food bags for the homeless and distributed them. we sang hymns with them and prayed with them, and 7 people raised their hands to say they wanted to receive Christ. and we broke into small groups and i had the opportunity of meeting 3 of the most lovely, gentle women i've ever met. i was able to speak with the oldest for awhile (through a translator). she was so sweet and adorable- i just wanted to give her a hug. one of the most heart-wrenching moments had to do with yennies. let me explain yennies. yennies are 1 yen coins (yen + penny = yenny). Japanese coins have different weights- the heaviest are the most valuable. yennies weigh almost nothing, and they feel and look like fake money. they're rather worthless. but after all the rest of the homeless had left, this tiny, adorable old Japanese woman slipped a yennie into the pastor's hand and quietly went her own way. it pierced my heart that i thought of these things as so worthless, and yet to this woman, it was everything she had, and she gave it to the church. let's just say it was really convicting.
the gorgeous trees in Yoyogi Park- you can see a couple of the homeless in the background
Sunday morning i went to Roppongi and watched the USC vs. Arizona game at Legends Sports Bar with the Tokyo USC Alumni Club- it was amazing to be able to watch a game with USC fans/alums on a real tv for the first time since i've been here. it's been so lame to have to watch the games on my computer attempting in vain to hold in my squeals and cheers so as not to wake up my roommates. i got totally lost trying to find the bar though- thankfully a nice American guy saw me struggling to understand the directions of a Japanese police officer, came up and said "sweetie are you looking for Legends?" (i guess my ridiculous USC attire gave it away) and pointed me in the right direction. ironically he turned out to be a Bruin. guess they aren't so bad sometimes. finally made it and had a blast- USC won, so that helped make the experience enjoyable.
Tuesday was our first day at Hitotsubashi University, having finally been given the green light to do ministry there with one of the JCCC staff. it was so wonderful to be back on that campus. we had English lunch, met some new students, and prayer walked for awhile. i'm so excited to see what God does at that university. today Lyndsey and i were able to give Kanae a Japanese Bible and Yui a "Manga Messiah" - the life of Jesus told in the style of a Japanese comic book. we were also able to share the Gospel with 2 girls we met randomly, which was encouraging. now i really should try and sleep a couple hours before we leave for Kyoto!
Prayer walking at Hitotsubashi University...
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- energy/strength
- full health recovery
- for Kanae, Yui, Yuki, Kaori and all the other students we've met so far
- safety as we travel to and from Kyoto and Osaka this weekend
"All things are possible for those who believe." ~ Mark 9:23
No comments:
Post a Comment