Transitioning

2010 has gone by so quickly it almost feels like I didn’t even have time to breathe, but at the same time, I really really enjoyed and learned so much this past year. As we all are making the transition to the new year, I have a lot of things that will be changing for me. I have less than two weeks before I go back and I honestly don’t know how I feel. I am excited to go back home, but at the same time, I really love it here. There are so many good things going on that I want to be apart of, but as for now, I think going home is the right choice instead of prolonging my stay here.

The transition from leaving California to coming here wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be because I have been here so often, but I know that going back home will be a lot tougher. I won’t be with people that I can just talk/share with or even fellowship with at anytime. I won’t have a mandatory morning prayer to go to… a lot of things will be hard to do back at home, but I pray and hope that I can keep the good habits I have gained here and take it back to America.

It has been pretty busy around here, but Jesus Soldiers are officially on break!! Since it was New Years, I really wanted to eat 떡국 (dduk gook “Rice Dumpling Soup” I have no idea how to say it in English…) so one of the 누나’s made it and Justin and Tomoko-san made some really good chicken. So the four of us had a New Years dinner together :D

Oh, and one of the other Jesus Soldiers (Sarah) she Skyped us from Korea and told us that she misses J-House and the Jesus Soldiers. What really stuck out about this conversation though was when she said that she realized how much of a family we’ve become here within not only Jesus Soldiers, but the J-House members as well. I really thought about this and I would have to agree. I feel very comfortable here and I really enjoy spending time with the people here also. It makes me feel even sadder that I have to go…but I do know that there is people back home that is waiting for my arrival. They are also very important people to me too so it hurts to know that I have to choose one.

This next Sunday will be my last Sunday here at J-House…so crazy! I will be doing 2 messages on that day (2 different ones…) and I really would appreciate some prayer! I will be speaking about how to have the peace of God and peace with God (based off of Philippians 4:4-9) and the second one will be about how we need each other (based off of Paul’s letter to the Romans: Romans 1:8-15)

Time truly flies…I am so thankful for 2010. God, thank you! 神様ありがとうございます！感謝します！

Hallelujah!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! God has been pouring his blessings over here and to me so much I can't even begin to thank him! I will start with this though...

It has been a crazy week but hallelujah for what God has done!! I guess the two main events of this week was the Premium Christmas we had on the 23^rd and the 25^th! It was a lot of work, tiring, but all for the glory of God, right? I’m not here to serve myself, but God and for those who don’t know Him. Once I changed my attitude towards doing all these things, God rewarded me with so many blessings.

I saw so many beautiful things happening within J-House and to the people that came to J-House. Things such as people helping out with cooking, decorating, performances, etc., to people bringing their family members or friends to the events.  It was really cool to see some of the church members families come and join our Premium Christmas! Most people seemed to have enjoyed their time during the whole thing, so praise God! It was a lot~ of work, but everyone did their best and with such a serving heart that it went pretty smoothly. The true meaning of Christmas has been revealed, seeds planted, and hopefully their curiosity increases and they would want to know more about Jesus and about Christianity.

I would have taken more photos, but my camera has this annoying black dot on the top right corner… plus, other people took many nice pictures so I will take it from them sooner or later :P

I am looking forward to this new week and hope that I can just do what I can before I leave Japan. This will be the last post of 2010! I can’t believe how fast a year has gone already….

A World Of Difference

This past week has been really good! It felt so long, but I guess that just shows how much stuff we had to do. Though we did a lot, I honestly felt like God had lightened to load and made it a bit easier for us to do. Also, I think that doing things with a joyful heart makes a world of a difference.

It started off on Tuesday when we were worried that not many people will come to our RUSH club at Kandai, but ended up being the most we ever had this semester! They just kept coming in one by one, and we were all so surprised to see them but very very happy! Campus ministry in general has been really good lately, and we even had 2 of them come to Sunday service!! Hallelujah! Gaidai also has been awesome, but I am really sad that most of the foreign exchange students are leaving this week, so we shared our last moments with them this past Saturday and Sunday. I pray that they will continue to grow in the LORD and learn more and more about his unfailing love! They really made our time at Gaidai so much easier! I will miss them, but I know that they will do well wherever they go! Eiji, Joyce, Abby, Jo, Eve, Tim, if you are reading this we miss you already!!~ T__T

During Big Wave, we had about 10 students from a different university (Kinki University…yeah, what a name, huh? Let’s call it Kindai for short) brought by a former J-House member! Not too many people were there because a lot of them are on vacation and went abroad or somewhere. We had a good time talking with them and I believe that their image of Church in general has changed a bit too. It’s not some quiet place with a bunch of old people and in a huge cathedral, but it can be fun, exciting and have lots of fun things to do too :D

Saturday, I went to the dentist with Cana-san, her cousin is a dentist and she took me there to see him. I don’t have insurance here either so I was a little worried about the cost, but he ended up doing it for free! I felt so bad…and I want to give him something at the end of my treatment, but I seriously have nothing…just so grateful for a lot of things happening to me recently. Later this day, we went to see more Christmas lights near Osaka this time! Not as flashy as the Kobe one, but a lot more stuff to see and a LOT less people. We got to spend our last time together with the whole Gaidai gang and some other church members as well as some Kangaku students. I love just hanging out with the students and church members; they really are a fun group to be around with. Another blessing on this day was after the night was pretty much over, Sarah, Kyle, and I went to the sanctuary and just worshipped together! Oh, how I missed doing that with people just because.

Sunday was also a blessing. We had 5 people baptized!!! Praise God! People don’t understand that despite what the statistics say, God is still very much alive in this country. The harvest is indeed plentiful…we just need more workers! Another praise report is that two students from Kandai came to J-House!! First time this semester! Things are moving; I can’t be lagging behind just because my year is almost up. Keep praying!! It makes a world of difference!

Blessings!

This week has been a week filled with many good things. Campuses were really good because of the many new opportunities God has opened up for us to really go and create not only a friendship but a deeper relationship with not only us, but with God. Pretty recently, we met two people from Kandai (Ayaka and Yuichi) from an English Speaking club that has no foreigners in their club to teach them or even talk with, so when they met us, they were really excited. What surprised me was that they kept meeting with us after and keep texting me about how they are looking forward to meeting us. They actually came to J-House for a Thanksgiving event we had, and before that, we only met them once. They didn’t know J-House was a church, but they still came and enjoyed themselves. As much of a blessing that is, here is what I am so blown away by: they tell their friends from their club to come and meet us every week at Kandai. They brought 2 friends, but one of their friends (Toku) brought a total of 7 friends to meet us the past two weeks or so. It’s been such a blessing! I am really praying that before I go, they will come to know Christ!!!

This past week, J-House had around 5-6 birthdays, and this past Saturday, we went to Outback Steakhouse (yes, there is one in Japan too) celebrating Justin (the Jesus Soldier leader), Hee-sung (Korean foreign exchange student that has been here for a couple years now), and Tadashi-san (J-House member and part of the Gospel choir). It was so good, it really made me miss American food back home, but I noticed that all that greasiness and fatty goodness really is so bad. Haha… you might be thinking, “well, yeah Kevin,” but for me who has lots of “problems” physically, I realize after coming here how unhealthy I was and how important it is to take care of my body. (I guess I should listen to my own advice, huh?)

Things with the Jesus Soldiers have been really good for me; I really enjoy hanging out with them. Just having good company makes things so nice. I’m trying to enjoy the rest of my time I have left here. I’m already sad that I have to go…I have received so many blessings, thank you God!

Kobe Luminarie

神戸のルミナリエ