Week 3

Highlights

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Moe is a seminary student at CBS (the seminary at CBI) and I met her at Family Chapel (once a week service for the CBS students). We got lunch together and she took me to a restaurant with the famous specialty foods of Nagoya. I loved chatting with her and getting to know her testimony of how the Lord brought her to Himself.

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Baby English is a ministry for Japanese moms to practice their English with their baby. The children are mostly around 3 – 18 months old. We read a couple children’s books to the group and then sang a song with them. After that time, we talk with the moms, and they try to practice their English with us. I got a question of why I was in Japan and I explained about how I’m helping out at CBI doing an internship. I realized after the event that there were many opportunities to ask the moms if they went to church, and I wanted to try to ask them next time.

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Brooks Cain is one of the elders at ANF, and he invited the three interns for dinner at his place. We had an awesome time of fellowship together. Shori shared his testimony of how God pulled him out of the cult that he grew up in. He ended up at an International School where God revealed himself to Shori through theological books that he was able to read only because his parents could not read English. He left his home and now lives by himself, working at a Japanese restaurant.

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A large high school team from Parks City Presbyterian Church from Texas is coming next week, and Claire and I are helping lead part of that team to a church in Hamamatsu. Hamamatsu is a city a couple hours away from Nagoya by train. So to prepare for that time, Kuni (staff at CBI and also a CBS student) led us through the trip. We got to meet Kambe sensei, the pastor of Kasai Gospel Church and also a graduate of CBS. We went over specifics of the plan with Kambe sensei and got to hear a little of his testimony. His grandma came to faith and had a huge influence on his family. He has 5 siblings and all of them are either pastors or married to pastors! So rare and amazing of how his whole family got saved and now are devoted to the Lord.

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Heart and Soul Event: Open Mic

Open Mic Event is basically a talent show! I got to watch many talented people sing and play instruments. I enjoyed this event but had a large headache from the long day and went home right after the event.

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Jamie came to visit me from Mie, Japan. We had a full day of lots of eating and roaming around Nagoya!

Overview:

I have been really loving hearing the testimonies of Japanese Christians. They are all SO encouraging and point to how amazing and sovereign God is. I have been still very exhausted despite it feeling like I’m not doing much. I learned that many missionaries feel this way in Japan because of many reasons, one reason being cultural stress. I learned that part of their calling is to accept that they may always be at a 50 or 75 percent of their energy for the time they are in Japan. This is why many missionaries who go to Japan burnout quickly and go back to the States. I am loving each event I am able to be a part of, but I feel so tired afterwards. I pray that I can focus on the positives and not complain about the exhaustion I feel at times.