My First Couple of Weeks in Japan

 

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This is a great quote from C.S. Lewis and it is one that I should probably read over and over again. I feel like this is a really hard concept to grasp. Shine so that God's glory can be revealed? Sounds simple and yet it is hard in application. I am reminded of this as I work with people in Tokyo. We are having good success with our 50 minute English conversations at the cafe. We have already had several sessions in the past two weeks where one of my summer team (John Jerald and me) will sit down with a customer and speak in English with them for 50 minutes. The cost is about ten dollars which is really cheap in Japan but it gives extra revenue to the cafe. (A girl that I met with this week was suppose to be coming back today for another session but she did not show up. Please pray she will come back sometime.)  My hope is that it will give opportunities for the gospel to be shared. Please pray I will be sensitive to the spirit and brave when the opportunity comes. Japan is all about having relationships so it is difficult.. I don't want to come on too strong and turn away the very people I want to serve. They really don't have a concept of Jesus at all. 

"A savior who can take away my sins? But I thought I was a good person. Why do I need Christ? Wait... He is God?"

These are very hard concepts which are not readily accepted in America, much less Japan.

It all comes down that we would rather do things ourselves. We think that by being "good" we can earn our way into Heaven. The truth is that it just does not work that way. It is impossible to be perfect so it is impossible to really be good. Our standards are not God's standards and so we fall short and therefor cannot enter Heaven on our own effort.

If Heaven is perfect then should we not also be perfect to enter it? If God is righteous and holy how can He be close to those who are not?

Well, that 's why we need Jesus. Jesus laid down His life so that we could be declared righteous and perfect before God. He payed for our pass into Heaven. No good deeds or kind acts could justified our sinful natures. But God's gift on the cross could and does if we believe and Trust Him as our savior.

Ephesians 2  8-9 NIV : For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

From what I have been hearing Japanese people respond to the gospel as you live life with them. An example of this would be my friend Mrs. E. Her husband had a stroke a few years ago and because she cared for him and did not divorce him some Japanese women were very impressed. Most women in Japan would not do this. This gave an opportunity to show how her hope was in Christ through this difficult time in her life. God used Mrs. E. and as a result a Japanese women and her family (including her mother!) eventually became Christians!

The important part is to give the credit to Christ. When you get through a difficult time explain how God brought you through that struggle. When you have been given a good job, home or ect. be willing to say that God has blessed you. Acknowledging Him and giving Him the glory will show the Japanese people that God is real and he cares. They might just want to get to know this Christ that loves them enough to die for them.

Colossians 3:17 NIV : "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. "

 I have been working with students a Rikkyo University. We go to an English Club at the school and talk with a small group of students. We are hoping that we can make longer term friendships! I think we will be having another game night coming up at the cafe where we hope they will come.  I would like to show you Rikkyo University. It is a very old school and absolutely beautiful. I don't have pictures of the students yet. Sorry!

And then this is the not as pretty side where I have English club. =D

And now I would like to share a few pictures when I had my tour around Tokyo. We went to Yoyogi park, and the areas of Shibuya and Harijuku. After the tour we saw a Gospel Concert. It was so beautiful and amazing. I found out that many of the singers are not Christian. What an amazing opportunity for them to learn about the gospel through great music and the people around them that do know Christ! Also, I got to purchase a shirt from Crash Japan! They had a table at the concert and I got to talk with one of the workers that is also a missionary with TEAM. The shirts are normally only for the workers but they let me take one.

(This is the back of David and Gerald - Fellow TEAM missionaries - I think this is one of the most famous streets in Tokyo? )

Gerald - The front of him this time. =-)

John (to my left) David (in the back and our tour guide) Gerald (to the far right) and Ken (in the front) with Hachi! (the famous dog of Japan) in Shibuya

Oh Japan... This poster kind of scares me. XD

                                                       
                                                         What does this remind you of?

                                           
                                             buildings that we were about to go up to the top...

From the top - This is Tokyo. Tons of buildings and so many people... Please pray for Tokyo!

Made It to Japan. =D

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 NASB
 
So TEAM orientation was really amazing. I did not post again because it was incredibly busy and we only had one either-net cable for three girls in the dorm. We got to experience a lot in such a short amount of time. On Thursday we went to an area of Chicago that is called Little India and participated in a contextualized worship service. This means that we went into a church that was made specifically to cater to people that are from India. The music was in Hindi and the pastor taught using a story format rather then a five point sermon. It was really interesting and I loved seeing a different way to approach teaching.

 
I have a bunch of pictures of orientation on Facebook but will also post some in the blog.

After the service we ate at an India restaurant and I have decided that I do like curry, I am just picky on which kind of curry I will eat. No spicy curry please! XD We went around the area shopping and working on greeting the locals in their language. I ended up buying a salwar kameez for $12.00! =D After we hung around Little India we had a lesson in travel and had to make our way to the Pier. This was not really hard because we ended up going as a group and one of us lives in Chicago. Ah well for practice! I have been been to the Pier before but it was still fun to ride the Ferris wheel! The guy to my right is John who is working with me at SonRise cafe. The other picture has Elia and I. She is working in another area of Japan. As you can see we are very high up with the skyscraper in the background!

 

There was a lot more stuff that happened during orientation. To make it short, I believe God gave me this time with these people to remind me that I am not alone on the field. That I have friends who are going to different parts of the world who understand what I am/will be going through. TEAM really did a great job with their orientation and I hope that I get to see these amazing people again! Ganbatte!

 

Now about my time getting to Japan... So God always knows what He is doing even when I do not. I got dropped off at the airport about two hours before my flight. I received my boarding pass, checked at the gate to make sure I was at the right place (thought that I was already checked in because of my boarding pass), grabbed something to eat and sat down at my gate. I had not realized at this point that I needed a seat number on my boarding pass to be considered checked in.  A few minutes to boarding we hear the intercom stating that the flight is overbooked and would anyone mind getting off this flight for some compensation money? It made me realize that I had no seat number on my boarding pass! So I go up to the counter and ask if I need one and it ends up that I am not checked in and will have to wait until someone gives up his or her seat for me to board the flight! A nice woman in front of me tells me not to worry and gives me her spot on the plane. If she had not been willing I don’t know if I would have gotten to go to my first destination which would have meant I would have missed my second flight. Who knows? I was just thankful to that woman and irritated with airlines for overbooking their planes.

On to phase two. I get to New York LaGuardia airport and have to switch to JFK. I ended up getting a very kind taxi driver (a rare thing in NY probably) and he did not charge me as much as we were estimating so that's good. =) I get to the airport and had another missionary group going to India sit down next to me at my gate! We got to talk awhile and one of the ladies prayed for me. So God really took care of me during the whole process!  When I boarded the plane, ANA's airplane had like a hundred seats left so we got to spread out on the long ride which was wonderful! =D Believe me that the small things really help when you have to be on an airplane for several hours. So I have made it to Japan safe and sound! Praise the Lord cuz I really needed Him during all of this process!

I will continue this story later but I think I should really get something posted so I am just going to stop here for now. Things are happening faster then I can write about them! Talk to you later then! Oh, and here is more pictures.

The one on the bottom is the group of us going to Japan! ^-^ That's why we are showing the peace signs. 


Thank you for the prayers!

Team Training Day 1!

I arrived safely in Chicago yesterday and got to meet two other girls that are going to Japan in different areas. TEAM put us together in an apartment/dorm and we get along really well. =) 


In just one day I feel like we (19 of us going to different countries 6 others to Japan) are connecting and enjoying each others company. I am excited for the days ahead. I just wish we could all go together to the same place!


Today was about a lot of different subjects but one lesson that was really noteworthy was our culture dinner experience. I am not quite sure which culture has no elbows but apparently one does because that was how we were required to eat. We put cardboard tubes on our arms and thus had no way to get a fork of food into our own mouths. Believe me, we did try. The only person who was able to was Elia and she only managed to drop a chip in her mouth. Everyone ended up having to feed one another. It was interesting to say the least. One group had a really great method of feeding the person next to you so they went around in a circle. I guess this was more efficient? Basically it was a humbling experience with a lot of laughs. At the end we were asked would you rather be fed by someone (be the person in need) or would you rather feed someone else? We were reminded that sometimes in another culture it is just as important to accept ones help/care/compassion as it is for us to give it. It's humbling because it takes away our independence. The point is to be flexible and not try to do everything by yourself. That's why we have Christ and each other.