Hello from Japan!
First off, thank you all so much for helping me get to be a
part of this trip, and just covering my team and I with your prayers!
So a brief recap of what has happened so far:
1.
Arrived to Hope International University in
California on the 21st, where we had 3 days of solid training. Spent
a lot of time listening to great speakers, interacting with and getting to know
my team, and spending time in prayer and worship of God.
2.
We flew to California on May 24th,
arriving in Japan at around 7 pm on the 25th. Unfortunately, our
staff leaders on the Japan side messed up our arrival date, so no one was there
to pick us up and take us to the apartments. However, we got a hold of one of
the staff members and he was able to meet us at the station where are
apartments are located. Also, luckily, I knew how to navigate the trains a
little bit in Japan, so I was able to lead our team to the correct station.
Praise God they already had our apartments ready for the 25th, or we
would have been staying who knows where that night!
3.
As of now, we just finished our 3rd
day of training here in Japan, learning about what we will be doing and getting
a short testimony ready for sharing.
What will we be doing? I don’t know all the details yet, but
I know that we will be spending a lot of time at Waseda University, and ICU
(International Christian University) high school.
For the high school, there are already several events planned, so praise God for that! We will be getting to go into several different classroom settings and share our testimonies and have opportunities to befriend some students. Now, even though it’s called a Christian school, apparently, there are actually very, very few Christian students, so most of the students we meet will not know anything about Jesus Christ. They have also planned a concert event featuring a Christian rap artist called Young Kirk who is apparently fairly famous in Japan. Also, they are hoping to have us help them throw a barbeque for the students we befriend while we are there.
As far as the college goes, we still don’t really know much of what we will be doing, but I assume we will simply be going to the cafeteria to try to meet some students and start meaningful conversations with them.
For the high school, there are already several events planned, so praise God for that! We will be getting to go into several different classroom settings and share our testimonies and have opportunities to befriend some students. Now, even though it’s called a Christian school, apparently, there are actually very, very few Christian students, so most of the students we meet will not know anything about Jesus Christ. They have also planned a concert event featuring a Christian rap artist called Young Kirk who is apparently fairly famous in Japan. Also, they are hoping to have us help them throw a barbeque for the students we befriend while we are there.
As far as the college goes, we still don’t really know much of what we will be doing, but I assume we will simply be going to the cafeteria to try to meet some students and start meaningful conversations with them.
Me time:
I’ve already seen God drawing me closer to Himself through
this time. Between getting to know new people, working on my testimony, and
being forced to spend time in the word and in prayer has just brought me to a
place of dependence on His grace. Working on my testimony has been a really
good experience for me, as it has forced me to look back on my life and I’ve
been able to see and remember the numerous ways that God has blessed me and
guided my path to lead me to where I am today. As we go through life, we also
think that things just happen randomly, but I think that really, God has
preordained every step, and that each part of our lives has purpose and
meaning. We definitely don’t see it in the moment, but when we look back, we
can see how every choice and every moment has changed our lives and caused us
to end up on the path that we are on now. This actually gives me great joy and
peace, because it means that there is really nothing to fear or worry about
even when times seem hard. Yes, the pain is real, and yes the hurt is deep, but
God hasn’t abandoned you or put you in that place just for spite. He uses hard
times to teach and to mold us into people that can do great things. The me of 3
or 4 years ago would never have come on a mission trip to Japan. Yet since I
went though so many ups and downs, tests and trials, I’ve been changed to the
point where I am happy and excited to be here. I am praying fervently, that God
would continue to give me a love for the Japanese people, and that He would use
our team to bring Japanese students into His kingdom.
Praise God for His mercy and faithfulness. I praise God for
each of you who have been a part of my life, even if the only interaction we
had was that you read a letter of mine and felt compelled to support me on my
journey. Thank you so much!
Please continue to pray for our time here, that we would be
salt and light, and that we would be able to love the students we meet as
Christ loved us. Pray that He would fill us with his Spirit, and that our words
would speak to the hearts of the Japanese in ways that our usual empty words
never would. Praise for divine appointments and awesome friendships, and for
real fruit from this 5 weeks trip here in Tokyo.
Your brother in Christ,
Ben
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