Happy Father's Day to all you dads!!! I hope and pray your Sunday is fun-filled and refreshing spiritually, relationally and physically! To you dads, thank you for exemplifying the Great Love of our Heavenly Father to your family and to the people around you, I'm sure they are proud to call you dad!
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Well, I want to take just a few minutes to update you on what's been happening here in Tokyo, because this is probably my last e-mail while on project!!! Monday was my 22nd birthday, and my hardest day on campus so far. My partner Kimi and I had lunch with some students who have been interested in learning more about Jesus but are very hesitant which is totally draining and then we flat out got rejected to sit down and talk with every group of girls at all three cafeterias on campus. That was harsh, so we sat down and prayed for a while. By the time we had to leave God had thoroughly reminded us to "Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted in all the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth" with or without us, (psalm 46:10) and that He is pursuing people even if He doesn't choose to use us for it. We left knowing God loves people more than we do and that He never tires or grows weary, even if we do (Is. 40).
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Anyways, we got back and my teamate Emily had gotten me a birthday present with some bath stuff in it which was titled "Happy Bath Day" , hehe, which I thought was hilarious and corny, so for Date night with Jesus I chilled in the bathtub with some worship music and a book. When date night was over Em asked me to come with her grocery shopping and when we got back to the room all the lights were off... and the whole team jumps out at me!!! They threw me a surprise party with chocolate and strawberry cake and some games, then some of us went and danced in the rain. It was perfect.
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The next day I met with 2 girls who came to the discover friends party and we talked about God over lunch for a couple of hours. Its so crazy, one of the girls had gone to a christian high school and had heard some of the gospel, but the other girl, Nozomi was hearing it all for the very first time. She said it was a very beautiful story and it all seems logical, but its so strange because she's used to thinking of all these spirits that you have to please and worship. I hope I can meet with her again before we leave. Wednesday was a great easy relaxing day on campus for me, just building relationships with new Japanese friends and as a team we all went out for "Shabu Shabu" or Japanese hot pot, a treat where you cook beef and pork and veggies in sauce on your table and eat it with noodles and raw egg, it was delish! Afterwards the whole team bonded over Karaoke!
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Thursday was also great because Em and I had dinner with Arisa, the girl I had met at the bakery and talked with for 4 hours last week. She taught us how to make omanomi yaki, a seafood, cabbage, egg, and sauce "pancake" which is baked on the tabletop. We got to talk a little bit more about God, but she said she still has a lot of questions. This girl is getting so close to committing her life to God and I am feeling totally privaleged to watch it happening!! I'm very sure that we can "be confident of this, that He who began a good work in [her] will follow it to completion" (Philippians 1:6).
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Friday was also amazing! Wow, so wednesday the girls arrived home to flowers, chocolate and an invite on the table for dinner on Friday night from all the men on project, indicating we should dress expectant for a night of fine dining. So, they picked us up with a white rose for each of us and a smile and escorted us to our dinner location where they prayed over us, read an original poem they had written and fine dined us while being complete gentlemen then entertained us with an original skit about how project would be if there were no girls! It was awesome :) Saturday we all went to Tokyo Disney and had a blast being little kids again and resting from ministry! Sunday was spent recovering and going to meetings.
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Wow, sorry, that was such a long paragraph. Please pray for us this week as we're getting pretty tired and a lot of us caught colds from Disney, but we're trusting the Lord can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine and that it is his power within us that is at work (Ephesians 3:14-21). This wednesday is our last full day on campus and then an American themed goodbye party which will be crucial for some closure with our friends and a smooth transition for passing contacts to someone who can pour into them here, like student impact staff or student leaders. Thursday will be a busy night of a surprise activity the project directors have for us and then packing and cleaning the apartments. Friday we head on out in the morning to end of project retreat which is also a surprise location. We fly back to LA on the 29th for 2 days of intense defriefing and us Michiganders will be back in Detroit late on July 2nd. Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer for me and my team and for the Japanese. Please continue to pray for Japan! The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few!!!
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with sincerity and eager expectation of the Lord's unfolding work and also excitement to tell you more about what God did to multiply your financial, emotional, and prayer support!!!!
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Jess
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Praise Report!!!
It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Tokyo, sunny for once and getting more humid by the day as the rainy season is closing out. This week was beautiful as well, certainly a challenge for all of the team. We had set individual ministry goals, personal goals, and exceedingly more goals (something only God could do) and it was amazing to see what God did!
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Praise report!!!
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*Several of our friends came to the Discover Friends party, many of them hearing the full gospel for the first time and many of them feeling warmly welcomed and intrigued about the gospel. A couple of them we are sure are saved now!!!! It all goes to show that it is God who saves and we are just his tools, his clay pots containing treasure inside! God is the one who is faithful, even if our faith is small and weak.
*On Monday my teamate Kimi and I got to talk with a Chinese exchange student for a couple of hours who has been involved with Student Impact and had become a believer just the day before! It was incredibly encouraging for us to see her enthusiasm and zillions of questions and fascination at God, praise God that when she goes back, she has one friend who is a christian in Shanghai that she can connect with!
*Thursday night I met for coffee with a student I met at a bakery when she waited on me, (I think she is totally a divine appointment especially given the circumstances!). Anyways, we met and she was one of those very rare students you come accross that I feel I have been friends with for years already and that is open to conversation about deep things and sharing what she really thinks about them. We talked about everything from Japanese and American culture to politics, our lives, and then about trusting Jesus as the only way to God. It was so crazy because she was telling me about so many opportunities in her life to learn more about God, but in each case there was something blocking her from it, one time it was not knowing English very well, another was not having a bible, and another was not knowing anyone who could share with her and then she said, "and now I am sitting here talking with you, and I think I need to learn about God!" She told me her parents don't care about religion at all, but they always go to the temple and pray on New Years Day. She told me, "its strange, when I prayed, I never thought of the God I was praying to as the one Japanese think of, those ones are small, I always thought of God the way you think about him". We were talking about so much, including the trinity, Jesus' sacrifice and all of it she genuinely was soaking up like a sponge and seeming to understand what I was saying even with a little language barrier! We were deeply immersed in the gospel when the coffee shop waitress came over and said something in Japanese. I asked Arisa what she said, and she told me the girl was telling us the shop was closing in 10 minutes. We looked at the clock and realized we had been talking for over 4 hours and didn't even notice the time! I saw her the next morning at the bakery and she told me she read some of the bible I gave her AFTER we had already talked about God for 4 hours! It's so crazy! We are trying to find a time that we can both meet again this week and I am so amazed at God right now for this!
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Prayer requests!
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*Please pray for our Japanese friends who are openly and publicaly christians, they are so very rare in Japan and it is hard for them socially, especially at home, however I am learning from them how God uses our hardships to strengthen us and draw us near to him and develop passion! They are teaching me to look beyond my circumstances and know that there is One who loves and gives grace and everything that we need, so that we can have joy in any trial, knowing that we have eternal life with Him! Please pray that God would increase their Joy in Him and give them boldness to live a lifestyle of evangelism.
*Please pray for my team, we are getting physically and emotionally and spiritually drained after doing weeks of full time ministry in slow simple English and being stretched in surrendering this project to God's control and plans. We all love it and are learning so much from each other, but we need some refreshment, and so do the JCCC staff and student leaders! Please pray for endurance and that we learn how to rest in God when we need it!
*Please pray for our Japanese contacts that in this last week and a half that we are on campuses that God would continue to soften their hearts to Him and that He would move in them to understand the Gospel and that the transition in giving our contacts over to JCCC staff and students would go smoothly and that God would just in general loose His abundant blessings on Japan CCC, increasing the harvest and the laborers for it!
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Thanks for your faithfulness! I'm totally grateful for your prayers and for allowing the Lord to work through you in your part of this mission!
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With so much Joy in Him,
.
Jess
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Praise report!!!
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*Several of our friends came to the Discover Friends party, many of them hearing the full gospel for the first time and many of them feeling warmly welcomed and intrigued about the gospel. A couple of them we are sure are saved now!!!! It all goes to show that it is God who saves and we are just his tools, his clay pots containing treasure inside! God is the one who is faithful, even if our faith is small and weak.
*On Monday my teamate Kimi and I got to talk with a Chinese exchange student for a couple of hours who has been involved with Student Impact and had become a believer just the day before! It was incredibly encouraging for us to see her enthusiasm and zillions of questions and fascination at God, praise God that when she goes back, she has one friend who is a christian in Shanghai that she can connect with!
*Thursday night I met for coffee with a student I met at a bakery when she waited on me, (I think she is totally a divine appointment especially given the circumstances!). Anyways, we met and she was one of those very rare students you come accross that I feel I have been friends with for years already and that is open to conversation about deep things and sharing what she really thinks about them. We talked about everything from Japanese and American culture to politics, our lives, and then about trusting Jesus as the only way to God. It was so crazy because she was telling me about so many opportunities in her life to learn more about God, but in each case there was something blocking her from it, one time it was not knowing English very well, another was not having a bible, and another was not knowing anyone who could share with her and then she said, "and now I am sitting here talking with you, and I think I need to learn about God!" She told me her parents don't care about religion at all, but they always go to the temple and pray on New Years Day. She told me, "its strange, when I prayed, I never thought of the God I was praying to as the one Japanese think of, those ones are small, I always thought of God the way you think about him". We were talking about so much, including the trinity, Jesus' sacrifice and all of it she genuinely was soaking up like a sponge and seeming to understand what I was saying even with a little language barrier! We were deeply immersed in the gospel when the coffee shop waitress came over and said something in Japanese. I asked Arisa what she said, and she told me the girl was telling us the shop was closing in 10 minutes. We looked at the clock and realized we had been talking for over 4 hours and didn't even notice the time! I saw her the next morning at the bakery and she told me she read some of the bible I gave her AFTER we had already talked about God for 4 hours! It's so crazy! We are trying to find a time that we can both meet again this week and I am so amazed at God right now for this!
.
Prayer requests!
.
*Please pray for our Japanese friends who are openly and publicaly christians, they are so very rare in Japan and it is hard for them socially, especially at home, however I am learning from them how God uses our hardships to strengthen us and draw us near to him and develop passion! They are teaching me to look beyond my circumstances and know that there is One who loves and gives grace and everything that we need, so that we can have joy in any trial, knowing that we have eternal life with Him! Please pray that God would increase their Joy in Him and give them boldness to live a lifestyle of evangelism.
*Please pray for my team, we are getting physically and emotionally and spiritually drained after doing weeks of full time ministry in slow simple English and being stretched in surrendering this project to God's control and plans. We all love it and are learning so much from each other, but we need some refreshment, and so do the JCCC staff and student leaders! Please pray for endurance and that we learn how to rest in God when we need it!
*Please pray for our Japanese contacts that in this last week and a half that we are on campuses that God would continue to soften their hearts to Him and that He would move in them to understand the Gospel and that the transition in giving our contacts over to JCCC staff and students would go smoothly and that God would just in general loose His abundant blessings on Japan CCC, increasing the harvest and the laborers for it!
.
Thanks for your faithfulness! I'm totally grateful for your prayers and for allowing the Lord to work through you in your part of this mission!
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With so much Joy in Him,
.
Jess
Saturday, June 6, 2009
It's a good thing I like adventures!
So, I suppose it's time to update you on the great adventures of my life in the past few days! As I wrote to some of my supporters, I got sick on last wednesday night and had a fever until saturday and had to stay home from campus by myself at the apartment to get some rest. It was humbling and I'm still determining what it was God is teaching me through that (As written about in my previous blog "he makes me lie down in green pastures"). It's funny, I think a lot of scripture is having some new meaning for me after these past couple of weeks, especially psalm 23 and 1 Peter!
So here is my big adventure! This Monday and Tuesday I went to campus feeling better but totally drained. I loved being at Tsudo girls campus though, and am looking forward to being there every Tuesday! I still had a nasty lingering sinus infection and phlem and in addition to all that I have what is called a pilonidal cyst on my tailbone (basically an infection due to being born with a small opening near the end of the tailbone) which I've had for years and it flared up the day before we got on the plane to Tokyo. Normally it goes away, but after being in Tokyo 10 days or so, it was getting more and more painful and swollen. So, I asked to be able to go to the doctor and stayed home Wednesday tired and frustrated. I checked facebook and unexpectedly got into a spiritual conversation online with one of my nonchristian friends from CMU which I really enjoyed and it made my morning! As that 2 hour long conversation was closing, my project director knocked on the door and told me the Tokyo staff had connections with an English speaking doctor and I had an appointment that afternoon!!!! I wasn't expecting to be able to go that soon, so it was good news! The only thing was, I'd have to navigate the train systems all by myself, traveling for about an hour on 4 different trains. Yikes! I know hardly any Japanese and I am horrible at directions!!! But nevertheless I sent up some quick prayers as I got ready and headed to the train station with some directions of stops and train lines to take to get there. As I went from train to train, I asked help from so many Japanese people who are always polite and friendly even though they are always quietly keeping to themselves! Japanese are so quiet! Anyways, getting onto the last train, I asked 3 conductors which train I needed and they all told me a different one. Confused and in despair at that point, I started praying, and one girl approaches me and sweetly asks, "excuse me, can I help you??" I was like, "yes, please!" She directed me no problem and I got on the right train. But once I got on, all the stops were written in Japanese and I didn't know which one was mine and no one around me knew either, until the train stopped and I asked one of the newly arriving passengers, who conferred with an older man who offered her to let me know when my stop was! What a blessing! So, I got off, met one of the staff guys who led me to the doctor in between a busy day of meetings, another blessing.
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Once at the office, the doctor was very nice and proficient in English! He told me we'd have to drain my cyst and give me some antibiotics. They started looking at it, and he asked, "How did you ever survive?! This is so deep!" I shrugged and said, "God?" haha, and they pricked me with needles to give me some local anesthetic, made a couple of incisions, pushed all the drainage out, prodded a ribbon containing antibiotics into the wound and packed me up with lots and lots of gauze (all of which I still felt to some degree). They sent me home with prescription pain meds, antibiotics, and some gauze and told me they'd see me again tomorrow! Haha, so then began the hour long journey back home, again 4 trains but backwards. I wanted so badly to burst into tears right on the train! I finally got home, starving and beat, waddled to McDonald's and ran into some of my project mates on the way to the apartment. I never was so happy to be there and to see my friends as at that moment! I never did cry that night, only rejoiced! God had done what I'd consider a total miracle, because I have no idea how I made it to the doctor and back and He had provided a way out of the suffering I wasn't able to stand much longer! I went back to the doctor the next day with my friend Emily and had some more adventures finding our way there and enjoying some Japanese cake on the way back! This time they cleaned the wound, and threaded another ribbon into it, yay, haha! And they told me to come back saturday where they did the same thing and told me it was getting much much better and to come back Monday. Pretty much as soon as I got back home at the apartment the first time after the doctor's visit, my vitality was coming back!
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Right now I am feeling very well rested and not hurting really, just a little itchy as my wound is pleasantly healing and should be healed by the end of this upcoming week :) I'm totally grateful! It might seem like awful timing to have this happen here while I have limited time in Japan, and its one of the hardest things I've ever experienced, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! God is good! His timing is perfect, it would have costed a fortune to have that procedure done in the States, where it has costed me $11.00 each follow up doctor visit and $97.00 for the initial visit, procedure, and prescriptions total! That is insanely cheap! Plus, God was doing something big in all of that, and I'm forever grateful!
(I'll write a separate post for the other adventures I had this weekend!)
Well, about project...its going pretty well. I'm learning from being sick and staying home that God doesn't need us, but we sure need him! Even if I haven't been able to experience being on campus much, God still used me in prayer and encouraging my team and in letting me rest and learn to rely totally on Him before I launch myself into the rest of project, not to mention, I'm totally humbled rigtht now. We're also experiencing a lot of spiritual warefare here. As ministry leaders especially, it's one thing or another, the enemy knows which buttons to push. For me it was being sick, for others its temptation of being distracted, another one of us discouragement and other things, but! the enemy wouldn't be worried unless God was doing something big! In Genesis 50:20-22 Joseph's brothers were apologizing for selling him into slavery and such, and Joseph says, you meant it to harm me (so does the enemy), but God meant it for good and the saving of many! And guess what? One Japanese student accepted Jesus on Wednesday!!!!! That is like Whoa! Huge! Even if that's all the fruit we see here the entire time we're here! Progress in Japan is super slow and we've already been kicked off one campus because Japanese are very very fearful of cults and even threatening the students involved with cru at that university to withhold graduation from them. But praise God, because this is making the name of Jesus even more famous! I think I am learning that God works out all things for the good of those who love Him, even in the mundane or painful (Romans 8). God's perspective on suffering is he identifies, sees it a precious offering, and that it is only temporary! God will come as surely as the dawn, so I will press on to know Him more and more! (Hosea 6:3)
So here is my big adventure! This Monday and Tuesday I went to campus feeling better but totally drained. I loved being at Tsudo girls campus though, and am looking forward to being there every Tuesday! I still had a nasty lingering sinus infection and phlem and in addition to all that I have what is called a pilonidal cyst on my tailbone (basically an infection due to being born with a small opening near the end of the tailbone) which I've had for years and it flared up the day before we got on the plane to Tokyo. Normally it goes away, but after being in Tokyo 10 days or so, it was getting more and more painful and swollen. So, I asked to be able to go to the doctor and stayed home Wednesday tired and frustrated. I checked facebook and unexpectedly got into a spiritual conversation online with one of my nonchristian friends from CMU which I really enjoyed and it made my morning! As that 2 hour long conversation was closing, my project director knocked on the door and told me the Tokyo staff had connections with an English speaking doctor and I had an appointment that afternoon!!!! I wasn't expecting to be able to go that soon, so it was good news! The only thing was, I'd have to navigate the train systems all by myself, traveling for about an hour on 4 different trains. Yikes! I know hardly any Japanese and I am horrible at directions!!! But nevertheless I sent up some quick prayers as I got ready and headed to the train station with some directions of stops and train lines to take to get there. As I went from train to train, I asked help from so many Japanese people who are always polite and friendly even though they are always quietly keeping to themselves! Japanese are so quiet! Anyways, getting onto the last train, I asked 3 conductors which train I needed and they all told me a different one. Confused and in despair at that point, I started praying, and one girl approaches me and sweetly asks, "excuse me, can I help you??" I was like, "yes, please!" She directed me no problem and I got on the right train. But once I got on, all the stops were written in Japanese and I didn't know which one was mine and no one around me knew either, until the train stopped and I asked one of the newly arriving passengers, who conferred with an older man who offered her to let me know when my stop was! What a blessing! So, I got off, met one of the staff guys who led me to the doctor in between a busy day of meetings, another blessing.
.
Once at the office, the doctor was very nice and proficient in English! He told me we'd have to drain my cyst and give me some antibiotics. They started looking at it, and he asked, "How did you ever survive?! This is so deep!" I shrugged and said, "God?" haha, and they pricked me with needles to give me some local anesthetic, made a couple of incisions, pushed all the drainage out, prodded a ribbon containing antibiotics into the wound and packed me up with lots and lots of gauze (all of which I still felt to some degree). They sent me home with prescription pain meds, antibiotics, and some gauze and told me they'd see me again tomorrow! Haha, so then began the hour long journey back home, again 4 trains but backwards. I wanted so badly to burst into tears right on the train! I finally got home, starving and beat, waddled to McDonald's and ran into some of my project mates on the way to the apartment. I never was so happy to be there and to see my friends as at that moment! I never did cry that night, only rejoiced! God had done what I'd consider a total miracle, because I have no idea how I made it to the doctor and back and He had provided a way out of the suffering I wasn't able to stand much longer! I went back to the doctor the next day with my friend Emily and had some more adventures finding our way there and enjoying some Japanese cake on the way back! This time they cleaned the wound, and threaded another ribbon into it, yay, haha! And they told me to come back saturday where they did the same thing and told me it was getting much much better and to come back Monday. Pretty much as soon as I got back home at the apartment the first time after the doctor's visit, my vitality was coming back!
.
Right now I am feeling very well rested and not hurting really, just a little itchy as my wound is pleasantly healing and should be healed by the end of this upcoming week :) I'm totally grateful! It might seem like awful timing to have this happen here while I have limited time in Japan, and its one of the hardest things I've ever experienced, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! God is good! His timing is perfect, it would have costed a fortune to have that procedure done in the States, where it has costed me $11.00 each follow up doctor visit and $97.00 for the initial visit, procedure, and prescriptions total! That is insanely cheap! Plus, God was doing something big in all of that, and I'm forever grateful!
(I'll write a separate post for the other adventures I had this weekend!)
Well, about project...its going pretty well. I'm learning from being sick and staying home that God doesn't need us, but we sure need him! Even if I haven't been able to experience being on campus much, God still used me in prayer and encouraging my team and in letting me rest and learn to rely totally on Him before I launch myself into the rest of project, not to mention, I'm totally humbled rigtht now. We're also experiencing a lot of spiritual warefare here. As ministry leaders especially, it's one thing or another, the enemy knows which buttons to push. For me it was being sick, for others its temptation of being distracted, another one of us discouragement and other things, but! the enemy wouldn't be worried unless God was doing something big! In Genesis 50:20-22 Joseph's brothers were apologizing for selling him into slavery and such, and Joseph says, you meant it to harm me (so does the enemy), but God meant it for good and the saving of many! And guess what? One Japanese student accepted Jesus on Wednesday!!!!! That is like Whoa! Huge! Even if that's all the fruit we see here the entire time we're here! Progress in Japan is super slow and we've already been kicked off one campus because Japanese are very very fearful of cults and even threatening the students involved with cru at that university to withhold graduation from them. But praise God, because this is making the name of Jesus even more famous! I think I am learning that God works out all things for the good of those who love Him, even in the mundane or painful (Romans 8). God's perspective on suffering is he identifies, sees it a precious offering, and that it is only temporary! God will come as surely as the dawn, so I will press on to know Him more and more! (Hosea 6:3)
Pictures!!!!!
Tokyo PSW A 2009 Team!!!
Jack's passport which got to him literally 2 hours before we left on the plane to Tokyo! Totally another miracle besides the fact that God provided $19,000 for our team in 2 days for all of us to be able to go!!
Some prayer just before we board the plane!!!
Kimiyo! One of my most frequent campus ministry partners, perseverer, and best hugger around!!!
The team playing signs on team family night!
Our friends at Gakugei campus where we spend our time Mondays and Fridays enjoying what the christians call "joyful lunch" and invite all their friends to!
The girls at Tsudo all girls campus! I loved eating lunch with them and sharing thoughts about God. These girls have been studying the bible just in bits and pieces with the cru staff almost weekly and now we get to join them and help them bring in new friends to lunches!
It's Sunday!! (May 30)
Good Morning!
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I hope that your week has been much more vibrant than mine! Thank you for all your messages. Last time I wrote I was sick and pretty frustrated with that. I think I actually had a slight fever for a couple of days which broke at some point last night. I felt like Lazarus in the tomb for three days! All my energy was sucked out of me. My teamates were praying a lot and I had no choice but to trust that the Lord "works out everything for the good of those who love Him" (Romans 8). However this morning is new and I feel new! The master healer has given me rest and caretakers; He is good! I'm sorry that I don't have any first hand stories to tell about Tokyo missions from this week, but my teammates have been encouraged by coming accross some christian students and some very interested nonchristian students on the campuses. One of our guys has made friends fast with the entire Lacrosse team at Hitosubashi campus and some at ICU campus have made friends with ballroom dancers. Japanese are highly influenced by relationships, however often the only basis for that relationship is what group they are associated with, or club, which they call a circle here. Please pray for these blessings and for our attempts to start up an English lunch to meet and serve Japanese friends at a couple of campuses! I can't wait to be back on campus tomorrow!
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Thank you for all your prayers and hope you bring to the Japanese by sending me and my team!
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Jess
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I hope that your week has been much more vibrant than mine! Thank you for all your messages. Last time I wrote I was sick and pretty frustrated with that. I think I actually had a slight fever for a couple of days which broke at some point last night. I felt like Lazarus in the tomb for three days! All my energy was sucked out of me. My teamates were praying a lot and I had no choice but to trust that the Lord "works out everything for the good of those who love Him" (Romans 8). However this morning is new and I feel new! The master healer has given me rest and caretakers; He is good! I'm sorry that I don't have any first hand stories to tell about Tokyo missions from this week, but my teammates have been encouraged by coming accross some christian students and some very interested nonchristian students on the campuses. One of our guys has made friends fast with the entire Lacrosse team at Hitosubashi campus and some at ICU campus have made friends with ballroom dancers. Japanese are highly influenced by relationships, however often the only basis for that relationship is what group they are associated with, or club, which they call a circle here. Please pray for these blessings and for our attempts to start up an English lunch to meet and serve Japanese friends at a couple of campuses! I can't wait to be back on campus tomorrow!
.
Thank you for all your prayers and hope you bring to the Japanese by sending me and my team!
.
Jess
He makes me lie down in green pastures (May 28)
Dear support team!
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Know that I and my team are keeping you in our prayers as well! We are so grateful to be here in Tokyo!
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It has been an interesting couple of days. Please pray for me as I'm sick today. I think its just a bad cold and all the stuff going on. Last night I "passed out" in bed at 10pm and woke up at 8 thinking I felt better, but as we prayed and worshiped as a team, I was feeling worse. As soon as I could I crawled into bed and slept for another couple of hours. My friends took such good care of me, especially my teammate Emily. She got me hot tea and medicine and other things and left me a note telling me not to fret about resting, to enjoy it! She wrote me to read psalms 23:
The Lord is my shepherd;I shall not want.
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He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presenceof my enemies;
You annoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
.
As a team leader this is totally humbling for me. I wanted so badly to be on campus today. I asked God to make me feel better so I could go, but I just felt worse. I had no choice but to surrender. He was making me rest. This made me frustrated beyond all things and when I read psalm 23, the line, "he makes me lie down in green pastures" hit me like a rock. As I let God's words wash over me I was overwhelmed with the knowledge of how much God cares for His sheep. Here is what my bible footnotes say about this psalm: "The imagery of shepherd and sheep in this poem reflects our total dependance on God. A shepherd's chief concern is to do everything to insure the well-being of his flock. The emphasis of this psalm is to trust in God to meet our needs. As the Good Shepherd, God provides for our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. He provides refreshment in the difficult experiences of life. His rod and staff lovingly guide, protect, and discipline His sheep. God's mercy describes His steadfast love." Today I am at the beginning of being broken of my independence, being broken of taking on too much at once, and being broken of my own stubborn self-will. I had to learn the lesson the hard way that I need God and I need other people and that I am not alone, that God is taking care of everything. Needless to say, I am in need of you! I hope that you know that your role in this mission in Tokyo is so vital! Not any more or less vital than my part. We are all experiencing the privalege, the heartaches, and the joys of being God's colaborers. I rejoice in that and I thank God for you!
.
This past week has presented some challenges and encouragements! For the rest of project, my normal week will look like this: Sundays, sleep in, team meeting, church, rest, team meeting. Mondays quiet time, Gakaugei campus, dinner, date with Jesus. Tuesdays team prayer, quiet time, Suido all girls campus, dinner, project women's time. Wednesdays, quiet time, Hitosubashi campus, dinner, team family time. Thursdays, team prayer/praise, quiet time, Hitosubashi campus, Japan CCC student impact meeting. Fridays, quiet time, Gakaugei campus, free night. Saturdays free days (next weekend is a big festival on Hitosubashi campus we hope to join friends at!).
.
It is discouraging that on Hitosubashi campus there are only a handful of christians and there are signs in the cafeteria with strong language about outsiders approaching you to talk with them. There has been a history of strange and dangerous cults in Japan in the past decade or so. But it is very encouraging that on Gakaugei campus there is a momentum of movement with the christians who hold what they call "joyful cafe" on fridays that they invite their non christian friends to to hang out. Also at Hitosubashi we know of one girl, Oku who became a christian 1 year ago. She is student leader of the combined girls Hitosubashi and Suido track team. As she was running a 5k with her friend from Suido, she told her testimony. By the time they were done running, this girl had prayed to recieve Christ. That girl in turn shared christ with her friend from Suido and she became a christian! Oku has been discipling/mentoring them both. God has really laid Oku on my heart. Please pray for her and her ministry and that God would raise up Japanese laborers for her campus. She is leaving Hitosubashi in just a few months and as one of the very few christians with heavy social pressure, God is strong in her. I pray that he would surround her with encouragement!
.
Thank you again for everything! I'll keep you updated as much as I can!
.
with love,
Jess
.
Know that I and my team are keeping you in our prayers as well! We are so grateful to be here in Tokyo!
.
It has been an interesting couple of days. Please pray for me as I'm sick today. I think its just a bad cold and all the stuff going on. Last night I "passed out" in bed at 10pm and woke up at 8 thinking I felt better, but as we prayed and worshiped as a team, I was feeling worse. As soon as I could I crawled into bed and slept for another couple of hours. My friends took such good care of me, especially my teammate Emily. She got me hot tea and medicine and other things and left me a note telling me not to fret about resting, to enjoy it! She wrote me to read psalms 23:
The Lord is my shepherd;I shall not want.
.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presenceof my enemies;
You annoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
.
As a team leader this is totally humbling for me. I wanted so badly to be on campus today. I asked God to make me feel better so I could go, but I just felt worse. I had no choice but to surrender. He was making me rest. This made me frustrated beyond all things and when I read psalm 23, the line, "he makes me lie down in green pastures" hit me like a rock. As I let God's words wash over me I was overwhelmed with the knowledge of how much God cares for His sheep. Here is what my bible footnotes say about this psalm: "The imagery of shepherd and sheep in this poem reflects our total dependance on God. A shepherd's chief concern is to do everything to insure the well-being of his flock. The emphasis of this psalm is to trust in God to meet our needs. As the Good Shepherd, God provides for our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. He provides refreshment in the difficult experiences of life. His rod and staff lovingly guide, protect, and discipline His sheep. God's mercy describes His steadfast love." Today I am at the beginning of being broken of my independence, being broken of taking on too much at once, and being broken of my own stubborn self-will. I had to learn the lesson the hard way that I need God and I need other people and that I am not alone, that God is taking care of everything. Needless to say, I am in need of you! I hope that you know that your role in this mission in Tokyo is so vital! Not any more or less vital than my part. We are all experiencing the privalege, the heartaches, and the joys of being God's colaborers. I rejoice in that and I thank God for you!
.
This past week has presented some challenges and encouragements! For the rest of project, my normal week will look like this: Sundays, sleep in, team meeting, church, rest, team meeting. Mondays quiet time, Gakaugei campus, dinner, date with Jesus. Tuesdays team prayer, quiet time, Suido all girls campus, dinner, project women's time. Wednesdays, quiet time, Hitosubashi campus, dinner, team family time. Thursdays, team prayer/praise, quiet time, Hitosubashi campus, Japan CCC student impact meeting. Fridays, quiet time, Gakaugei campus, free night. Saturdays free days (next weekend is a big festival on Hitosubashi campus we hope to join friends at!).
.
It is discouraging that on Hitosubashi campus there are only a handful of christians and there are signs in the cafeteria with strong language about outsiders approaching you to talk with them. There has been a history of strange and dangerous cults in Japan in the past decade or so. But it is very encouraging that on Gakaugei campus there is a momentum of movement with the christians who hold what they call "joyful cafe" on fridays that they invite their non christian friends to to hang out. Also at Hitosubashi we know of one girl, Oku who became a christian 1 year ago. She is student leader of the combined girls Hitosubashi and Suido track team. As she was running a 5k with her friend from Suido, she told her testimony. By the time they were done running, this girl had prayed to recieve Christ. That girl in turn shared christ with her friend from Suido and she became a christian! Oku has been discipling/mentoring them both. God has really laid Oku on my heart. Please pray for her and her ministry and that God would raise up Japanese laborers for her campus. She is leaving Hitosubashi in just a few months and as one of the very few christians with heavy social pressure, God is strong in her. I pray that he would surround her with encouragement!
.
Thank you again for everything! I'll keep you updated as much as I can!
.
with love,
Jess
Tokyo Update (May 24)
Konnichiwa!
.
We arrived safely and on schedule to Tokyo! Today we rested and got familiar with our neighborhood. One of the hardest things to get used to is how quiet it is here. We are trying so hard to respect the culture by keeping our voices down and not attracting more attention than Americans already do. We've had some great food today. Lots of rice and yummy stuff! It's rainy season right now, so its humid and warm.
.
Tomorrow is Orientation with the Japan Campus Crusade for Christ staff and interns starting at 9am. We're getting ready for what is going to be a very challenging but fun summer! Each of us on the team has a role on project and I found out today that I'll be coleading one of the two campus ministry teams for our times on campus 11 to 5pm, 5 days a week. This is pretty exciting for me, I think its going to be a very humbling and stretching 5 weeks, and I am so so stoked to make some Japanese friends! Please pray for my team as we are preparing and getting used to everything. The rest of project is going to be on the go constantly. And please pray for humility and that we would learn to Trust the Lord in all things.
Thank you so much for being a part of the Lord's work in Japan!!! There will be more updates later, but for now, its time to hit the hay which I'm very excited for!
with love,
Jess
.
We arrived safely and on schedule to Tokyo! Today we rested and got familiar with our neighborhood. One of the hardest things to get used to is how quiet it is here. We are trying so hard to respect the culture by keeping our voices down and not attracting more attention than Americans already do. We've had some great food today. Lots of rice and yummy stuff! It's rainy season right now, so its humid and warm.
.
Tomorrow is Orientation with the Japan Campus Crusade for Christ staff and interns starting at 9am. We're getting ready for what is going to be a very challenging but fun summer! Each of us on the team has a role on project and I found out today that I'll be coleading one of the two campus ministry teams for our times on campus 11 to 5pm, 5 days a week. This is pretty exciting for me, I think its going to be a very humbling and stretching 5 weeks, and I am so so stoked to make some Japanese friends! Please pray for my team as we are preparing and getting used to everything. The rest of project is going to be on the go constantly. And please pray for humility and that we would learn to Trust the Lord in all things.
Thank you so much for being a part of the Lord's work in Japan!!! There will be more updates later, but for now, its time to hit the hay which I'm very excited for!
with love,
Jess
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