Cool Things God Has Done Lately!

1) an awesome Kids Day that was probably not planned for enough ahead of time
2) brought four new wonderful people to Japan to shake things up a bit, add some liveliness to the Center and get to know
3) brought people back to Bibles studies and church events that have been absent for a long time
4) brought a new student to a Wednesday evening bible study
5) a student has been borrowing my manga books, first about Jesus life and now Acts...and she has been asking lots of questions
6) brought joy and peace to my life lately amidst the busyness
7) brought new students to English classes
8) loves me every day the same
9) taught me new things in scripture
10) is working in ways that I have yet to see

Prayer of Tears

Anyone who has watched movies with me knows that I cry very easily. If a scene starts to get a little dramatic, out come the tears and they won't stop. This Monday I had a very similar experience, but it wasn't because of some made up movie plot where a character tragically dies or goes through some sort of trial, it was over a matter of real life and death. Eternal life to be more precise.

This Monday I gathered in the CC Lemon Club in Shibuya with 2,000 others for a Passion Conference. The Passion Conference is geared towards university students, to fill them with passion for sharing the gospel. This tour brought them to 17 cities around the world, and for the first time Tokyo was one of them!
Tears of Sorrow
The event started off with an animated video showing a flower grow up and then get choked by weeds and wither. So, from that point on I couldn't keep tears from coming out. It made me think of all the people I know here in Japan who have started to blossom in faith, only for Satan to attack them in various ways and his thorns to bring them down. It made me think of how many seeds have to be sown here for even one to grow. Matthew 13:3-23

Tears of Comfort
After that video Japanese sentences started flashing up on the screen. Through my tears I could read a few of them saying things like "God is here" . It's so comforting to know that God's spirit is alive and present. No matter how few Christians there are in Tokyo, God has promised that he is with us always, no matter where (Mt. 28:20, Duet. 31:6). He will never leave us nor forsake us (Duet. 31:8). At this point the whole concert hall was pitch black, as well as the screen, except for the white letters. It was so fitting. Though Japan is such a spiritually dark place, God's light still shines. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it. (John 1:5)


Tears of Joy
Throughout the evening it was so incredible to me that I was singing and praying and dancing with 2,000 others in Tokyo. My day was filled with the juxtaposition of two church events. First, I went to Center Church where they had a forum. All the pastors were there, some church members and other leaders gathered to discuss the mission. I could not understand most of what was said, but I could definitely sense that there was not much joy being shared. Most of the time people were talking about "mondai" or problems that need to be fixed such as a new toilet, a new building, low numbers of members and more. It broke my heart to see the lack of joy there. When I read the poster for the event, it mentioned the 60th anniversary of the church in Japan so I imagined there would be lots of celebration, but more than the hymns of praise that we sang in worship I don't think there was much. I spoke with a seminary student, who also went to both events, about these two polar opposites. He put it well and stated that "Japanese think too much". Prayerfully these faithful Japanese pastors will one day too be able to let go and let God do the work. That they will cry tears of joy. So many verses came to mind. I thought about trading our sorrows and letting the joy of the Lord be our strength (Neh. 8:10). Coming to God when we are tired and weary and He will give us rest for his burden is easy and his yoke is light. (Mt. 11:28-30) I also thought about the disciples who were trying so desperately to fish and were catching NOTHING until Jesus came, they listened to him and cast their nets on the other side and brought in more than they were able to lift! John 21:1-13

Pleading Tears
Sometimes all I can do is cry for the people of Japan. That one day they will know God. I thought of all the wonderful students, Japanese friends, and the millions of other Japanese people that I pray God's spirit will one day change their hearts that they would believe. It was a blessing to go to the event with a large group of about 17 others; many of the Tokyo missionaries and several church members, but I kept thinking of so many other people I wish could have been a part of it. Patiently, I and so many others are waiting for the day when the spirit will move like a fire through Japan. One song that was sung like a prayer stated, "Greater things are yet to come and greater things are yet to be done in this city".

Tears of Hope
Being in a group of that many people in Japan brought hope. From day to day you don't come into contact with many other Christians. You begin to doubt, is anything happening? But as we gathered together we were surrounded by a great company of believers to encourage one another that we can keep running the race with perseverance when we fix our eyes on God (Heb. 12:1-3). I saw two of the young Japanese Christians just in the group I went with become re-ignited in faith and wanting to reach out as God's servant.

So pretty much just when I thought the tears were done coming, more and more flowed out but it was a wonderful feeling to just lift all that emotion up to God and be wrapped in His embrace.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, Take it to the Lord in prayer
Do your friends despise forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In his arms he'll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

LW - What a Friend We Have in Jesus #516

If you are interested in reading more about the Passion Conference and seeing some more sweet pictures go to http://268generation.com/blog/

Who am I? 私はだれですか。

Lately I can't seem to get away from hearing how different I am after my visit to the US this summer. First it was a woman in my evening class saying "you look even more beautiful than before". Then it was another group of women saying again that I looked great and seemed so full of joy. They also said I looked like the actress Scarlett Johansson haha. Until today I just laughed these compliments off, attributing it to nothing more than a new haircut and some good face wash.

Others attributed this summer glow the chance I had to see my boyfriend whom they have heard a little about, and saw pictures of when I showed what I was up to this summer. This was also what Nozomi, a church member who I got to chat with quite a bit today (which was great since I hadn't seen her in awhile!), said while we were in Pastor Phil's office. He overheard and was like, "Oh come on". But she insisted and was like "no really I saw the pictures, I could tell they are truly in love!" He still was not convinced, but did share he thought I had changed since the summer. "I don't know whether it's that you got a good rest there, or that you are more settled in here, but you seem much more confident and assured."

I'm not sure exactly what the answer is for this new joy and confidence(maybe a bit of everything they said) I'm emoting without realizing, or exactly why I am sharing all of this with you, but I do know that I certainly hope and pray to continually change and grow more and more each day. I want my life to be aglow because of the wonderful love of Christ. I want people to look at me and say "something is different about her!" and recognize that it's because of the hope I have in God. I want to have more and more confidence every day to proclaim God's amazing grace.

I also thank God for using many of you to make a difference in my life. Thank you to all of you who have played a role in changing me. Thank you to those of you who have encouraged me, prayed for me, and studied scripture with me. Thank you for being a great cloud of witnesses who help focus me on Christ as we run the race.