Two year intern, Karis!
THURSDAY: June 13
Arrival:
I arrived to the Chubu airport in Nagoya Japan at around 2:30 PM. I got picked up by Karis, who is a 2 year intern at CBI, and went straight to CBI and the apartment I was staying at to get my bike and drop off my luggage.
Mentoring:
The schedule on Thursdays is to have mentoring with the Rayls, one of the missionary families at CBI. We share our highs and lows during the week over dinner and any culturally shocking things we have experienced. Then we sing a couple songs of worship and then go over a lesson together in the book, The Gospel Centered Life. I was extremely exhausted and had trouble staying awake, but we talked about how we often minimize sin. When we minimize sin, we have a smaller view of God which prevents us from experiencing the goodness and greatness of His character. I enjoyed the lesson and had fun getting to know the other interns and the Rayl family.
Osu Kannon Temple 
Cafeoke Night
FRIDAY: June 14
Prayer Walk:
Pastor Brett Rayl took all the interns to a prayer walk around the area. I learned a ton about Japanese culture and prayed about the idols present in Japan and also about the idols in my own heart. PLEASE read more specifics of what I learned here: https://japanwithhannah.travel.blog/prayer-walk/
Heart & Soul Events:
Heart & Soul is the cafe that is connected to the CBI building. The cafe is not opened anymore, but there are events that happen every Friday event. This Friday was Cafeoke Night which is just a night of karaoke. This was fun to watch and I did get to talk to a few people, but I sadly still felt exhausted from the jet lag.
The three summer interns! Lauren on the left and Claire on the right.
SATURDAY: June 15
Day Off:
Saturdays are set aside for our days off. I did not use this Saturday super well – I went shopping and went out for dinner with the other interns. This included a TON of walking (around 10 miles) which I am really not used to and felt myself super exhausted and annoyed of all the walking we were doing. Since I was keeping myself busy during the day, I was doing good with jet lag and got used to the time quickly. However I got discouraged because of my exhaustion and like I needed a whole day of doing nothing to recharge.
Overview:
I was super excited to come to Japan and ready to do anything, but with the long traveling time and the packed events in the beginning, I felt a little burnt out. I was discouraged by my exhaustion and thought that I couldn’t see myself doing missions in Japan long term.
After reflecting, I believe I really needed more time with the Lord. I was being sinful of trying to take things into my own hands instead of giving everything to the Lord. My disappointment grew from unmet expectations and I minimized my sin thinking that I deserved the rest after the long trip. I am looking back now and am thankful for everything I did during this short week. I often stopped and said, “Wow, I’m in Japan”, and was amazed that God brought me here. I’m still super excited of what is to come and hope to let go of expectations and trust that God will do what is best.
Japan with Hannah 