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!

Touchdown in Tokyo!

well, we finally made it.

flew from Dallas to San Francisco at about 6:30 am, arrived in San Fran about 8:30 am PT, then had about a 3 1/2 hour layover. michelle was supposed to meet me but missed her flight out of San Diego- thankfully she was able to catch one out of LA that would arrive in Tokyo only about an hour after mine. henry's flight would arrive first. i slept for a good deal of the 12 hour flight, watched 2 movies, wrote in my journal, worked on some Japanese, and stared out the window for the remainder of the time.

when i made it out of customs, henry was waiting for me- it was really exciting to see him and be reunited, especially since thoughts of "what if i can't find henry and he can't find me and i'm lost in the Narita Airport???!" kept going through my head. while we waited for michelle to arrive, we exchanged our money for Japanese yen. the exchange rate between the yen and the dollar is about the worst it's ever been- about 82 yen to the dollar. we're going to have to be really careful with our money right now.

Cam, our JCCC director, met us at the airport and drove us all to the JCCC Student Center in Mitaka, where we were finally reunited with the other STINTers- it was SO GOOD to see them again. they had food waiting for us, and we got our new cell phones and bicycles, then we headed to our new homes for the next year. lyndsey, michelle and i all live in this cute little apartment about 20 minutes away (biking) from the JCCC center and 7 minutes from the guys. the living room is actually fairly spacious, and while my room is rather small, i've organized it pretty well and i think i'm really going to enjoy it.

this morning we made pancakes for breakfast, then went to the 2 pm service at New Hope Church in Ochanomizu- not gonna lie, i kind of love that they have afternoon church services. it was so good- i was just so filled with joy at the first notes of the worship music, and could just feel the Holy Spirit permeating the entire place. the message was exactly what i needed to hear, and even their the title of their bulletin said "NEVER, EVER FORGET YOUR MISSION IN LIFE." i thought it was rather appropriate. because even while i am an official Missionary in a foreign land, there are still so many distractions the devil has waiting, and it's easy to get caught up in things that may look good (and might even BE good) but they may not necessarily be what God wants me to be focusing on at that moment.

after church we met some students Lyndsey had made friends with the week before, and we all went to a Hawaiian hamburger place for a late lunch/early dinner. then we went to the 100 yen store and got some necessities for our rooms/ the apartment. then we went to the grocery store- rode my new bike for the first time, which was interesting since i've never used handbrakes. but finally got it figured out and i didn't even run into anything. my bicycle's name is Silver Bullet. i'll put up a picture soon.

spent the rest of the evening organizing my room. tomorrow we're going to get our Alien Registration cards.

in case anyone feels compelled to send me wonderful things from America, here's my new address:

Kimiyo Brown
Kamirenjaku 9-18-17, Gakutou Mitaka Apt. 401
Mitaka-shi, Tokyo-to 181-0012
Japan

sorry for the abrupt ending, but it's really late here and i'm sleepy. and i have to wake up before 8 am to take the trash out. apparently you can't take trash out the night before here...silly Japan.

3 VISAS IN ONE DAY

let me first start out by saying

WE GOT OUR VISAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE GOD FOR HIS PROVISION AND SOVEREIGNTY AND ANSWERED PRAYERS!!!!

let me next start out by saying i have had about 4 hours of sleep in the past 62 hours and am a little loopy by this point, but i wanted to go ahead and write this because i can still hardly believe it. i keep taking it out and staring at it to make sure it's real.

part of the reason i've gotten so little sleep is because i did not go to bed last night. this was because my mother and i set out for Houston at 5 am this morning, and i had enough to do that it took precedent over a couple hours of sleep. arrived at the Consulate-General of Japan right as it opened at 9:30. and this is what i discovered. big pathetic puppy eyes help you get your visa expedited. and prayer. prayer helps too. i told them my flight was at 6:30 am on friday so i really needed my visa by tomorrow. at first they said the fastest thing to do would be to pick it up tomorrow (which would have meant we either would have had to spend the night in Houston or drive back to Dallas, then back to Houston the next day, which would have been not fun). at that point i was just happy to hear they could even process it by the next day. then the lady paused, took a moment, then said "let me see if we can get it to you by this afternoon- wait a moment." and they said they could. and there was much rejoicing. they said to come back at 3:30 pm- on their website it says it takes a MINIMUM of 4 days, and they processed mine in 6 hours. michelle and henry were also able to get their visas today. so amazing. i love it when God allows me to experience a miracle.

my mom and i killed time by having a fabulous breakfast at the Four Seasons hotel which was right next to the Embassy, wandering around the shops, taking naps on the couches of the Four Seasons lobby (i felt like a high class vagabond...) and hanging out at Starbucks. then retrieved my visa and headed home to Dallas!

God provides, even when i'm not sure if my faith is strong enough to believe it. but He provides for me anyway, because He loves me that much. i called the whole experience a miracle, but in actuality, it's only a miracle in my mind because i thought it couldn't be done, because i did not believe enough. but "with God, all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26), and "all things are possible for those who believe" (Mark 9:23).

may we live every moment of our lives believing this is so.

one more day in Dallas, then i fly to San Francisco at 6:30 am Friday (which means i get to leave for the airport at 4 am....woo!) , then on to Tokyo!

Still Waiting...

WHEN WE LAST LEFT OUR HERO....me, that is

i was waiting for my Certificate of Eligibility to be sent from Japan. well, unfortunately, it's about 12:15 am on Tuesday morning, and i'm still waiting. about 12 hours after we got the exciting email that the JCCC had our CoEs, got another message from Cam saying he didn't have my address- considering we had sent them to our coordinator in the US twice, i had assumed she'd sent them on to Cam. apparently that never happened, so he didn't have my address to send it Saturday. he tried to send them Sunday, but i don't think any mail in the world sends things on Sundays, so he had to wait til Monday to send our CoEs- thus, the earliest they will arrive is tomorrow/Tuesday.

last night while talking to a friend and explaining the situation (this is when we were still expecting our CoEs to come today/Monday) and trying to plan out the possibilities of getting to Houston and back with my visa by Thursday, i realized, for the first time in my life, that i had absolutely no plans. my brain could physically think of no solid ways of making it all come together. it was one of those moments that makes you stop everything you're doing and your eyes get big and you realize that this is exactly what God wants you to feel and you say "wow....well played, God." so i gave up. i stopped trying to make plans and said "ok God, there's nothing more i can do- You've got to make it happen." then this morning i called a friend i knew who lives in Houston and basically made all these plans in case my CoE came today and i went to Houston Tuesday. as soon as i got off the phone, i checked my email- and there was an email waiting for me from Cam our Japan director saying the CoEs wouldn't get to us until Tuesday. i just looked up to God (why do we always look up? God's everywhere...) and said "OK OK I GET IT I'M SORRY!" i'm really trying not to make plans- it's just hard when that's what my brain naturally does every moment of every day. but at least God's preparing me now for what lies ahead in Japan. of course, this makes me a bit nervous as to WHAT exactly is lying ahead of me in Japan...

anyway, the "plan" for now is still the same, just with more urgency- hopefully i'll get my CoE tomorrow, i can drive to Houston early Wednesday morning, pray like crazy that the Consulate gives me my visa by the end of the day, and be on a plane Thursday for Japan. i don't know what will happen- i don't know when my flight is, i don't even know if i have a flight scheduled yet, but i'm trying not to focus on any of that- just reminding myself that its God's timing, that God's ways and thoughts are higher than mine, and i need to continue to trust him.

THE RETURN OF THE C.O.E.s!!!!

SO LAST NIGHT
i was in a kind of annoyed/grumpy mood about our still MIA Certificates of Eligibility. i was killing time on Facebook when i saw Cam, the International Campus Staff Director in Tokyo and our main contact, online. i thought about not saying anything but i was annoyed and grumpy so i said "any news yet?" of course, my brain was saying "RAWWRRR CAM WHERE ARE OUR CERTIFICATES???!" thankfully in online conversations one can sound more civil than one wants to be. he said not yet, and i asked if there was any way to check on them. he said he would call the JCCC office and see if maybe they'd come in but nobody had checked. apparently this was a good thing, because they had, in fact, arrived that day in the mail. this morning we had an email from Cam saying our Certificates of Eligibility were in his hand- here's an exerpt from his email:

"I was on Facebook and Kimi caught me and asked if there was any word on the CoEs. "Sorry, not yet. Keep praying, though. I'll call the office a little later to see if they came in the afternoon drop off." At the time when I was IMing with Kimi, they weren't in. But I called again at 5pm (office closing time), and Akita-san checked the mail that had come in, and there they were! All 3 had come in in the late afternoon, but Tanase-san left the office early, so it wouldn't have been discovered till Monday."

guess it was a good thing i decided to bug Cam about it. apparently God uses even our annoyed/grumpy times for His glory.

SO, NEW PLAN OF ACTION:

i should receive my Certificate of Eligibility in the mail by monday- i will then go to Houston to the Consulate and beg them to give me my visa ASAP. if all goes well, i could be on a plane for Tokyo on Thursday.

thank you so much for all your prayers- please continue to pray everything falls into place quickly and that i'm able to be on my way this Thursday September 30th!

WAITING...

so our original goal departure date was September 23.

which is tomorrow.

it's pretty safe to say that i don't think we're leaving tomorrow, as we still do not have our visas. or our Certificates of Eligibility, which we need to have in order to even GET our visas.

new goal: monday. or tuesday. or sometime next week. maybe?

basically, we (michelle, henry and i) are currently waiting for our Certificates of Eligibility to come from the Japanese Immigration office in Tokyo- those will be sent to the JCCC (Japanese Campus Crusade). they will then send them to us. we will then scurry over to our respective Japanese Consulates (mine is in Houston- why isn't there one in Dallas? i mean, seriously...) and beg with our biggest puppy eyes that they give us our visas asap.

DARK SIDE: i talked to the Honorary Consul-General of Japan in North Texas on the phone, who said they normally like 4-5 business days to process visas.

LIGHT (?) SIDE: i talked to the Honorary Consul-General of Japan. he called ME actually. and said that when i got my CoE, to give him a call and HE'D call the Consulate and see what he could do about expediting the process. which is kind of awesome. because, well, he's kind of legit. and doesn't even know me. he's actually a referral OF a referral. and yet he's willing to help me out. God's so awesome.

another plus- this whole situation is totally out of my control. it's completely in God's hands. so i really shouldn't worry about anything. His timing is perfect- we'll get our CoE's when we get them, and our visas when we get them, and we'll be on the plane to Tokyo when HE wants us to be, and not a moment sooner. the nice thing is that i have a few more days to pack, organize and gather everything together for Japan. and a few extra days to see friends one last time. i can't help being antsy to get over there though- 4 of my teammates are there, and i want to join them. i'm also anxious to just get on campus and start sharing the Gospel. i've spent the past 4 months raising support and waiting- the support is raised (praise God), yet i'm still waiting. i'm not really a fan of waiting. God knows that. which is probably why i'm still waiting. God's tricky like that. a couple days ago i said, "what's going on God why am i not in Japan" and He said, "hey remember how I've spent these past 4 months teaching you to rely on ME and trust ME? well, now's your chance! trust Me!" and i said, "...touché God." God always wins conversations like that.

"Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take heart, and wait for the Lord." ~Psalm 27:14

and so i'm waiting. patiently. kind of. i'm trying. but i know God's got it. His timing is perfect. mine isn't. i mean, i can't see 5 seconds ahead of me. who am i to question the timing of the Creator of Time Itself?

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- that we get our visas ASAP

- that AJ and Michelle receive their remaining support ASAP

- for my brothers and sisters sharing the gospel in Argentina, Prague, Croatia and East Asia

DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE!!!

ATTENTION, WORLD: i, kimiyo courtney brown, am now hereby DONE with raising support! (assuming my addition is correct....which is assuming a lot).

but, according to my calculations, as of today, God has blessed with $48,000, enough to spend a year in Tokyo as a missionary. thank you so so so much to everyone who has blessed me and my ministry with all your prayers and support!

(we are spelling out Tokyo- can you tell?)

UPDATE OF THINGS:

- 4 of my team members (lyndsey, ariel, aj and mike) left for Tokyo yesterday so they can renew their visas. aj is still raising support but they made an acception and let him go anyway.

- henry, michelle and i are still waiting on our visas- no real update there yet, but our goal is still to leave for Tokyo by September 23rd

- even though i have technically met my goal, i am going to continue raising support to help my other teammates and possibly other friends raising support

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- for aj, henry and michelle's support

- for our VISAS!!! that they would get here ASAP!

- for the other teams who have already left for other countries, especially Argentina and East Asia, and especially for Ben, Joel and Patrick who still have to finish raising support before they can join their teams in Argentina and East Asia

- for Japan, that the Lord would open people's hearts and they would be receptive to the Gospel!

if anyone is reading this and is not yet on my email list and would like to be, please email me at kimiyo.brown@gmail.com and i will put you on there!

if anyone is reading this and is not yet a financial ministry partner and would like to be, please either email me or you can go directly to https://give.ccci.org/give/View/0635409

God bless you all!

-kimi