Hokkaido

The super typhoon changed directions and we are now able to take a 3-day trip to Hokkaido!! There will be 14 of us. Please pray that we get to have good conversations with the students!

Last Bible Discussion

Tomoe thinks that reading the Bible this past year has broadened her horizons. She wants to get to know Jesus "little by little".

Samika used to think that the Bible was a collection of stories. Now she thinks it is historical and true. She thinks that Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.

Mami says that she now believes in invisible things because those are the things that do not change. She was afraid of losing herself or someone stealing her soul if she believed in a religion. She said that her point of view is changing and that she wants to read the Bible with us every day.

Anna says that she now believes that things she cannot see might be real, including God.

The following girls have attended our Bible discussions:
Anna
Nana
Mami
Nami
Minami
Tomoe
Samika
Rie
Honoko
Miku
Chihiro
Naoko
Akari
Naomi
Riho

PLEASE pray for these girls! It is amazing that there have been so many girls who have been interested in coming twice a week to talk about Jesus with us. We have seen God work so much in softening their hearts.

Cow tongue

Tried it!!

Shirts

For your entertainment, here are some more shirts that make no sense:











Also, a health update:
Thank you for your prayers! I am feeling so much better and am no longer in danger of having to go to the hospital. Wooooo! All the medication and rest has helped and I'm back to being active and enjoying time with the team. :)

Onsen

We went to the public bath. The infamous "onsen". Naked people everywhere. What an experience.


Some of the students went with us. There are several baths, saunas, and hot rooms with rocks. One room was 200 degrees! It was super fun to be a part of something that is so uniquely Japanese.

'Merica

We celebrated the 4th of July with a cookout. We made mini burgers and hot dogs with watermelon. We even had fireworks! There were about 40 students that joined us:




We had a day of shopping with the older girls! We stopped for a lunch at a tea shop:




We did the classic purikura:




We are always on the lookout for shirts that don't make sense in English:




We road-tripped and hiked with some students to a beautiful waterfall in Akiu:

We got to share the Gospel!

We had by far the best girls' Bible discussion so far this summer! Ikuko (the Nav staff woman) was not there to translate, so we talked with Mami, Tomoe, Nana, Rie, Samika, and Anna without an interpreter. God really broke down the walls in communication. It was amazing to see how easy it was to understand one another because usually there is a pretty high level of difficulty. We talked about Matthew 18 and the parable of the unforgiving servant. We asked them some questions about forgiveness: Is forgiving easy? Why do we forgive? Have you ever had to ask for forgiveness?

Samika asked us what happens if we do not forgive someone. She said that if you sin in her religion (Buddhism), you go to hell. She asked us if the same thing happens in Christianity. We had the opportunity to share the Gospel with all of the girls while answering her question! When we told her that in Christ we are forgiven of all our sins, she said that she was jealous that we can believe in a God who is so generous. We explained that God is available to anyone and that he came into the world as Jesus and lived a perfect life. When Mami found out that Jesus is God, she freaked out. She had never heard that before. A lot of them take a Bible class in college, but they didn't understand these basic things about the Christian doctrine.

They asked a lot of questions about Heaven and we got to share with them a passage in Revelation that talks about people from every nation gathered around the throne of God. When we are in Heaven, we will hear people speaking Japanese! They loved hearing that. We asked them some questions about their belief in life after death, and a lot of them had truly never thought about it before. They are also afraid of punishment, so I asked them who they think will punish them for their sins. They were unsure. It is so interesting to hear about their fear, but they have no idea who to be afraid of.

At the end, they thanked us for sharing with them and agreed to meet again on Monday. Tomoe said that when she thinks about religion, she thinks about fear. But when she thinks about the Gospel, she is not afraid. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?

Here is Mandy sharing an illustration of the Gospel to the girls!

Living that pneumonia life

Hi everyone. :) I have been in the apartment for the past several days. I got much better but am now starting to get worse again. I'm pretty worried and am scared that the doctor will keep his promise to put me in the hospital. Thank you for your prayers! I am interested to see what God is going to do through this situation. I am learning that my role of staying home and praying is just as important as if I went to all of the events. God is definitely teaching me the importance of prayer.

Here are some things I got to do in the past few days that I probably shouldn't have done because I was supposed to he in bed. Oops!:

-We practiced English and learned some Origami from several Japanese kids:




-We made pancakes for our Bible discussion and talked with some girls about their worries. (Matthew Ch 6) We got to talk about what we worry about and why. The girls said it was the first time they've ever thought about why they worry. The staff woman here got to share her testimony with them and they asked us some questions about our beliefs. They wanted to know if we would marry a man that is not a Christian and why it's important to us that our spouse believes the same thing we do. Please be praying for these girls and also for the men who are doing a Bible study on leadership tomorrow. We will have another Bible discussion with the girls on Wednesday as well.

-Our apartment bought matching slippers because we are super Japanese!

Pneumonia

Please pray -- I just got diagnosed with pneumonia today and I am not allowed to leave the house. I am so bummed because we have so many fun things planned with the students and it makes me cry just thinking about missing out on them.

Gyoza and Cherries

Here is an update from the past few days:

-We had a gyoza party! We made the filling for it with meat, garlic, and cabbage. We put it in pastry shell-type things and cooked them. Yum!!!








-We went cherry picking with some of the students. It was a 2-hour road trip into the mountains. So fun!

-I ate KFC and it was a glorious reminder of home.

Karaoke

We went on a street walk in Sendai with the Guys Club. I was in a group with a few Japanese students and we explored the downtown area. We ate tayaki, which is anko (red bean paste) in a croissant in the shape of a fish. Then we walked to a store with photo booths for purikura (Japanese photos where they enlarge the eyes and smooth out the skin and hair....it's a little eerie). When the pictures are done, you get to decorate them on the computer and print them out. Afterward we went to the park where they were having some sort of kimono ceremony. There was a little art festival and the students bought me beautiful chopsticks. I entered a raffle and won yakisoba (grilled noodles)!


Afterward we all went to a karaoke place and rented a room. There were about 30 of us who spent several hours in a little room doing karaoke together. It was insane. The Japanese culture is so quiet and reserved, but a whole different side comes out at karaoke. My favorite song to perform was "Bohemain Raphsody." We got to hear a lot of Japaense pop songs, which was glorious.

Inspiration Machines

I've been really sick and finally got to the point that I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I was going to die. Luckily I'm not dramatic. Went to the doctor today. He thought that my cough was just adjusting to the Japanese climate but I protested until he said I have bronchitis. He then pulled out a picture of a bunch of types of inhalers and asked me which one I wanted. What??? I think he's supposed to decide that. He called them "inspiration machines" and it took me a while to realize that he meant "respirator". I also have a slew of medications to take. Let's hope I got the correct translation of how to use them! I have been miserable and unable to interact well with the students the past few days. Please pray!

Check out my prescriptions:

God is working!!!

We celebrated Tomoe's birthday at a coffee shop and then had a girls' Bible discussion. This by far is the coolest thing that I've  experienced so far in Japan. Tomoe, Mami, Riho, and Minami are all really seeking God. We talked about Jeremiah 29:11and God's plan for us. The girls wondered who "I" was when it says "I have plans for you". We told them it is God who is speaking about having a hopeful future for us, and Mami said, "Maybe God created me and had a plan for me before I was born." We turned to Psalm 139 and talked about God knitting her in her mother's womb. She said that maybe the Japanese culture is wrong in thinking there is no heaven. She is starting to think that she has a soul. Minami said that on her own she's been reading the Bible and that she's not sure if God exists, but when she is fellowshipping with us she knows that he is real. She heard our stories and our opinions on the Bible and is growing in her confidence that what we are saying is true. They expressed a real desire to understand the Bible, and we even got to pray for them and tell them that we are confident that the Lord has a calling on their life and that he desires them. We talked from 4-10pm sharing our stories and dreams and opinions on the Christian culture in America. Tomoe spent her entire birthday talking to us about Jesus. I never expected God to do this much all at one time. I am PUMPED for what he has in store for these girls. Please pray for them. When we prayed for them, they cried and I could see a vulnerability and longing for the Lord that makes me think they are so close to knowing Jesus.

Our week

The internet has been super sketchy, so here is an update of everything from the past week or so:

-Our team went on a prayer retreat for the day at the beach and were so encouraged by what the Lord said to us during our time. God spoke to most of us through Isaiah, and to me specifically through Isaiah 45:14 -- They will plead with you saying: "Surely God is in you and there is no other, no god besides him."

-We started our Bible study on Paul's missionary journies in Acts. I'm super excited for the 6 of us to study the Word together. 

-We had a BBQ at the park, which didn't consist of hot dogs or hamburgers. We had vegetables, noodles, beef, and chicken cooking on 6 little grills. Tons of Guys Club members came to hang out for the day and we met lots of new people. I had an awesome conversation with Mami and Minami. They both said that the Bible has changed the way they think and they feel that they have more depth than their Japanese friends. 

-We celebrated Alex's birthday for several days. At one of the parties they dressed her in a kimono for a special 20th birthday celebration (tuning 20 is a big deal here). 

-We took a day off by the ocean to recharge and it was glorious. We all got to have a lot of time with the Lord that was much needed. I also saw the biggest spider that has ever existed. 

Please pray

Our internet has been horrible lately so I haven't been able to update my blog. I do have a quick prayer request -- I will be looking for a doctor in the next few days because I have some sort of infection or virus and have been getting progressively sicker since I got here. Maybe bronchitis?  Another member of the team, Trey, is battling something similar. Thank you for your prayers!

Be still, my heart.

あー。いますごく切ない気持ちで地下鉄のってます。（笑）最近毎日が充実していて、毎日楽しい仲間に会えて、ハグして、（笑）でも彼らもあと1ヶ月かと思うと胸が潰れそうです。サマーフレンズ大好きです。

Our friend Mami wrote this on Facebook. It basically means that she got sad on the subway and almost started to cry thinking that in a month we will leave. It says, "I love the Summer Friends." We've only known her for about two weeks! 


Also, Shuta introduced us to his family and they gave each of us gifts. They came all the way to the baseball stadium just to meet us for a few minutes. There is seriously so much love here from these students.

So...

I just drove in Japan. No big deal.

Shunoske

I am SO ENCOURAGED. One of the freshmen, Shunoske, met some people from a Hillsong church here in Sendai about a year ago while he was at an arcade. They invited him to their English class and also encouraged him to attend church. Against all odds, he became a believer and is now attending Guy's Club meetings and our Bible discussions. He lives with the pastor of the church and is growing in his walk with the Lord! His family does not know that he is a Christian. They practice a new Japanese religion that has many gods (apparently including Jesus) and is vehemently opposed to Christianity. He will almost certainly be cut off from his family if he tells them that he is a Christian. In fact, when he goes home he has to pretend to be part of their religion. He hopes to tell them soon about his conversion. I promised to pray for his family, so please join me in doing so. He told me that although his family would not approve, he wanted to follow Jesus "of his own free will." It was unbelievable to hear him talk about how he wants to share Jesus with the students at TGU and then one day become a pastor. When we leave here in July, he will stay behind and labor for the kingdom! We have been praying for students to love Jesus and labor here, and God has shown us that it is possible. Trey showed Shunoske his Bible verses that he is memorizing and got to practice Scripture memory with him. Shunoske hadn't really known about Scripture memory until Trey showed him! It was so exciting to see God at work using Trey to equip Shunoske. I sneakily took a picture:

Prodigal Son

Our team performed a skit today at the Guy's Club meeting about the Prodigal Son. If you're not familiar with it, you should check it out in Luke 15:11-32.  We tried to make it more modern by having the son leave home and squander his inheritance in Vegas. We also made it into a musical, but that's a whole different story. The students watched it and then got to discuss it with us and ask questions. A lot of them are very reluctant to speak English, so it was difficult to communicate. However, when we later split into smaller groups we were able to talk about the forgiveness of the father and the jealousy of the older brother. The students expressed that they wanted the type of father who would love them regardless of their mistakes. We also talked about how difficult it is to understand mercy and how in order to show others mercy and forgiveness, we need someone to show it to us first. These students are thinking and sharing on a deep level and it is really exciting. The staff couple here shared with us that they have a feeling that this summer is very special, which is so encouraging for us. We feel like God is doing something HUGE in Japan -- in addition to several students attending our larger Bible discussion, there are at least four girls who want to join our women's Bible discussion!

Also......afterward we taught them the Wobble. That's all I need to say about that.

Rakuten Eagles

We went to a Tohoku Rakuten Eagles baseball game. Baseball is super popular in Japan, so the students invited us to a game. We learned a bunch of fantastic chants and ate baseball stadium food (no, there are no hot dogs...only rice and noodles). During the game everyone gets a huge balloon and we all release them at the same time. It's a really cool tradition -- the video is posted below. We got to hang out with the students for several hours and have fun conversations with them. After the game it was unusually loud in the street (I'm still shocked by the silence in Japan), so we got to sing and have a dance party while we walked home.

FYI

So...I don't want to brag or anything, but we just survived two earthquakes here in the past day.

Church

Today we went to church at a ramen shop. It was AMAZING. We took some students with us, and for most of them it was their first time ever going to church. We sang worship songs in both English and Japanese, and I was reminded of this verse:

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Rev 7:9-10)

One day we will be singing together in our own languages! It was awesome to get a taste of that today at church. 

We talked about Matthew 7:7-12 and people's prayers and how God answers them even if it's not in the way that we want or expect. Unfortunately not much of the conversation was translated for me, but it was cool just sit and experience the church body in another country. Afterward we had delicious ramen together with BAMBOO in it. I felt so cultured.

Please pray for these students that went to church for the first time!: Keita, Minami, Chihiro, Shuta, and Mami!

Cornerstone Shout-out

Here's a shout-out from a ramen shop to the Cornerstone families from your two favorite sensei.

Girls' Talk

We had Girls' Talk at a girl's apartment in downtown Sendai. Most students live in a tiny (but adorable) one-room apartment by themselves. It's a country full of introverts!

We made takoyaki (octopus balls) and talked about marriage and relationships. They had questions about our opinions on the type of husband we want, what the perfect date would be like, and how we could balance work and home life well. One of the women translated for us, which was a huge blessing. This was by far my favorite thing we've done so far. It was amazing to see the differences in how we think. Japanese girls don't think as often about marriage, but they do all want to have a boyfriend. When they do date, they will date for several years until they have enough money to afford a wedding.

Takoyaki is made with flour, eggs, water, and cabbage as a batter. The batter is put into what looks like a cake ball maker and then you can put in octopus, ham and cheese, etc. It was delicious!

Please pray for these girls! Tomoe, Riho, Chihiro, Nana, Yuka, and Minami. There are 3rd and 4th year university students.

New things

I tried natto, which is this:

FERMENTED SOYBEANS. Literally the worst. Japanese people love it but Americans hate it. They mix in soy sauce and mustard. It makes a really revolting combination.




I stick to eating this:

Karaage - Japanese fried chicken!





The students made anko for us:

Anko is red bean paste. They used two pancakes and put red bean paste in the middle and topped it off with vanilla ice cream.

They also made mochi:

Red bean mochi is one of the worst things I've ever eaten. I gagged the entire time. It's rice powder and red bean paste mixed together and heated. I could've died. I couldn't handle it. Oh my word.

Girls!!

These are some of the girls that we've been hanging out with! They are SO WONDERFUL. (Anna, Nana, Rieko, and Yuka)

Welcome Party!

It's my 3rd full day in Sendai and I am slowly getting used to Japan. There are a couple things I've noticed about Japan: it is very quiet everywhere you go (no one even talks when they're walking down the street), they don't have any food I've ever eaten (or even seen) before, and the Japanese people think we're really cool just because we're American.

The Guy's Club (the club that will be practicing English with us) threw us a welcome party last night and we played "Wasabi Roulette". They put wasabi into a cream puff and then passed out cream puffs to everyone. One lucky winner stuffs it in their mouth and realizes to their horror that there is wasabi inside. I have the worst luck in the world, so the Japanese students got to laugh at me spitting wasabi out of my mouth and running out of the room. They quickly found out how loud I am and I was so delighted to know that they don't mind.

It's really cool to see how excited the students are to spend time with us. Every Thursday we will meet with the Guy's Club to practice English. Afterward there will be a Bible discussion at the guys' apartment. Last night we had our first one and we discussed our dreams for the future. They got to practice English as we asked them some deeper questions about what they want to do with their lives. All of the Japanese students that I talked to said that they want to travel the world and meet people. We looked at Jeremiah 29:11, which talks about the Lord having plans for us. Some of the students seemed happy to hear that God has plans for us and others expressed that they'd rather make their own plans for themselves. Afterward I was praying for them and thinking about the fact that there is a good chance that no one has ever prayed for these students before. They will probably never have the chance to interact with another Christian. The relationships that we are building here are really important and I'm trusting God to use us to impact these students. I'm excited to see what He has in store for us.

P.S. For those of you reading this from Cornerstone, I want you to know that Kevin is picking up Japanese annoyingly fast.

Epic fail.

Well, I tried to go to Japan today. That didn't work out too well. My flight got delayed for several hours and then eventually cancelled. They sent me to a hotel for the night without my luggage. When I started weeping about not having a change of clothes, the lady looked super uncomfortable and gave me an extra set of travel shampoos. Super helpful. I will probably laugh about that later. I logged onto Facebook to see pictures of the rest of the team at a BBQ in Sendai. Naturally, I wallowed in self-pity. Now here I am in my hotel and I'm reading this:

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4

God is bigger than these ridiculous tactics that Satan is using to delay, discourage, and distract me. I think today was a little nudge from God asking if this summer I'll crumble if things don't go according to my plan or if I'll trust him to care about the little details - and the big ones. He's asking me if I'll go to him in prayer or be paralyzed by my fear and lack of control.

In their hearts humans plan their course, but The Lord establishes their steps.
Proverbs 16:9

On their way

The team is on their way to Japan! I just wish I was with them. Booooo

Get excited...

These are some things I am PUMPED for!!!

Sendai

Tohoku-Gakuin University

Matsushima

Akiu Great Falls

The "City of Trees"

Sendai's famous cow tongue....

The Tanabata Festival on July 7th

2014 World Cup Team!

THE ZOO!

Michinoku Park