With A Joyful Heart

It’s been one long and hot week, but it has had its good times too!

One thing I did learn about myself is that my heart (many times) is doing it out of obligation not out of joyful heart. I know that the things I do is not only for my own benefit, but also for J-House as well as people around me. Just exposing people to J-House or what I am here to do in Japan is a pretty big step. I know so many things here and there what I “should” be like or act like, but for sure I need to do things without only thinking what I can get out of it, instead how can God be honored through what I do, think and say. It is hard. I guess I am a pretty nice guy in general, but when I am exhausted or stressed I feel this pressure or obligation to do everything on my own, which then leads to me being feeling forced to do something.

(Sorry I am really tired right now, I don’t think this even makes sense to me, but I want to finish this before I go up to my room and sleep.)

Habakkuk 3:17-18 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

This week has been unusual, but it has been good! God is good and is doing good things here regardless of what statistics may say. This past week and this upcoming week is actually finals time for the students, so the actual Funky Clubs aren’t really going as planned, but God blessed us regardless by bringing new people or people that we haven’t seen in a while to come and talk with us! On Thursday, a couple of KCM members actually lead someone to Christ that they met on that day! HALLELUJAH!!~ We don’t know how genuine she is, but we really hope to meet her this upcoming week or to come to J-House this next Sunday!!!

This past Friday there was a concert by Asiah! (Japanese Gospel singer who currently lives in North Hollywood!) She is very good at English and has an awesome gift of singing! We were blessed to have her come out to our Big Wave event!! :D KCM hosted a J-House party/Café Night and it was really awesome! So many new people came out! Praise God! I say about 80-85% of the people that came out to J-House that night was their first time coming! We hope that they will keep coming out even when KCM leaves (which is soon).

I pray that good things will continue to happen and God can reveal Himself more and more to us! And also for me to have more of a joyful heart when I do anything that will bring people closer to God, whether it is teaching English or sharing the Gospel, I want it to be an overflow of joy and thankfulness for opportunities that God has given me. God is good, all the time! Amen.

(We went to Kyoto with KCM today)

Refuge

This week has been pretty good and I want to start off by saying that God has been the one to make this week good. Why? Well, he has been my refuge all throughout this week.

In the Webster’s dictionary the word refuge means:

Refuge | ˈrefˌyoōj; -ˌyoō zh | noun

A condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble

So you might be wondering, am I in danger or trouble, but I would like to just say that I feel safe and sheltered when I depend to God. When things seem to not make any sense, when things seem a bit stressful, or when I feel discouraged or ashamed, I seek after God and his protection that he offers me. In Psalms 71:1 it says:

“In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.”

Lately, the word refuge has been popping out to me, whether it was in the Bible, songs, people sharing with me, or even when I pray. Maybe I need protection from something or someone… nevertheless, I want to run into the arms of a loving God. Does it sound cowardly? Maybe to some, but I guess that’s one of the many reasons why I am a Christian, I can’t do things by my own power. To have a God that can supernaturally protect me from attacks that are unseen or even just from myself reassures me and gives me strength.

I guess I’ll update what’s going on with the KCM team now! They have truly been good sports and really working hard; however, at the same time, I can see that it is not just work or evangelism to them, but they have a sense of urgency with a good mix of excitement to what they are doing and it is very refreshing to see! Praise God that they have come to J-House to help us out! I think they have adjusted quite well, and are really trying to reaching out to people not only on campus but people within J-House. The events that they do, though we don't really know what to expect and who we expect to come, but it always turns out to be a good time! Also, when I see them having their small group/group meeting times, I am very encouraged. Even after they are done with their meetings and all, they still are praising God and talking about the good things they have experienced on that day! What an awesome team. :D 

(Even without their leader, they still can function and pray together as a team! What a blessing!)

I pray that they keep up the great work they are doing for God and for J-House!!! I’ll be sad when they leave, but I am grateful for even meeting them! Good thing we all live in SoCal :D

Here are some pictures!

(Game Night)

(Gaidai)

(Kangaku)

(Happy Birthday Kohei!)

Rejuvenate Me!

First of all, I would like to congratulate my parents for their…. XXth Anniversary!  (I forgot which year they are on D: haha) You are both such a blessing in my life! Thank you for loving and raising me to the man I am now! I love you and I hope that your love for each other will just continue as well!

So this past week, it felt so long, but it was good! The new mission team came (KCM) and they are a bunch of very 元気 people! It is just really nice to see people from So Cal and talk in English in normal speed. Haha… Most of them have mutual friends with me and it just made my world smaller and smaller. One of them actually went to the same Flood LA retreat with me! It has only been a couple of days so far, but they seem like a good bunch of people! I am looking forward to working with them for the rest of this month! I think they are also kind of getting the feel of how J-House does things.

Watching them at Kangaku and during Big Wave, I can see that they are really trying their best to reach out to people and sometimes even very intentional about sharing the Gospel with people. I just pray that this group will bring many people to J-House during their stay! However, it's kind of a strange time for the students though, because they are in finals time very soon. I don’t know if it was like this for last year’s KCM team, but this year might be a bit harder, but I hope that they still bring in people!

I don't know but it seems as if I was kind of placed to watch over and take care of them during their stay here, which is fine with me, but I wish more Jesus Soldiers could interact with them. I feel like God is rejuvenating me by bringing people here who are from the same area as me and just being able to spread out the work amongst them too lifts the burden off of my shoulders a bit. Thank you God for that!

“A heart at peace gives life to the body…” Proverbs 14:30

I pray for peace not only for me, but also for people from this KCM team, my family back in America, the Cambodia Team, friends in many different places in the world, etc.  I wish to have a peace that transcends all understanding, which is Christ. May we remember Christ and fix our eyes on him to give us strength and to mold our character to become more like him! 

(Shotaro so happy after giving him a birthday cake! haha)

That Was This Week?

This week has been good overall; however, sometimes when I think back on the week, I say to myself: “That was this week??” Monday seems so long ago, but this is the reason why I need to blog weekly in the first place. To reflect upon what happened throughout the week and to see how God has been using me, challenging me, humbling me, or blessing me (the list could go on and on).  I am grateful for being able to see the good and the bad in my life during my time here in Japan.

This week when we went to the campuses, for me, it was different. I go to 3 different campuses: Tuesday-> Kandai, Wednesday-> Kansai Gaidai, and Thursday-> Kangaku. On all of these days, it was a bit different than usual, I felt more comfortable (?) reaching out to random students and talking to people. At Kangaku, I was given the role to lead the team 20 minutes before we left all of a sudden because the Kangaku leader was sick and couldn't go. It was definitely an experience that was good and encouraging, even though I didn’t really know what I was doing. I didn’t have a chance to take any pictures during that time, since I was leading it, but maybe next time :P

 

On Wednesday, KCM team will be coming to J-House! I am excited to see more of my fellow SoCal-ers here in Japan! I pray that there won’t be any complications and things will just go smoothly as they are here for a month! They will certainly be a great help to us on the campuses!

And in a few hours, the CUMC Youth Cambodia Team will be leaving! I pray for their safety and that they will witness God’s crazy love, power, and compassion. I know it might be tough, but be strong and have fun!! We will be in the same hemisphere :P

Just did a bunch of errands and stuff, now I am just going to relax the rest of the day. Have a great week! For those in America, have a great 4^th of July!

(From the Sky Building in Osaka!)

(only in Japan...)