The Amazing Race

Today we had the Amaaing Race. And it was ALOT of fun!! My team got first place!! So we win a free meal from Jeff sometime :] After that we went and ate TGIF. Everyone was all sweaty and disgusting. And we smelled sooo bad. I felt really bad for all of the Japanese that we were ever close to today.

Tomorrow we leave for the retreat and everyone is soo excited :] It's going to be a really good week!!

Talk to yall later!

God rocks.

Hello guys!

Today was a really good day. First we had a great morning worship time in Higashi Koganei park. We had beautiful weather! It wasn't very hot, and it was like sprinkling barely. Then we went and got lunch and then had park evangelism until 4. So I decided I would go rent a bike and ride on the bike trail around the park. And I haven't ridden a bike in like years so that was my first mistake. Plus, Japanese bikes are different and the wheels are like smaller so it's harder to keep your balance. So we start going and I'm riding and then like two mintues into it we hit this big windy hill. And I was like off-roading on accident and I couldn't get control of the dang bike. I knew I was about to fall and finally I did. Brooke saw it all and she was laughing so hard. I guess when I fell I like fell completely off my bike and then slid accross the road. So I stand up and my shirt is covered in mud and my pants are ripped. And theres mud all over my arms and face. haha and then I lift up my pants and my knee is totally all ripped up and blood is running down my leg. Then I go to the bathroom to clean it all off and they don't use paper towels so bottom line is I am a total mess. And we're going straight from the park to the Japanese Baptist church. Church was great though!! We started with a worship song sang first in English and then in Japanese. And it was soo cool to hear the Japanese sing the song in their language. Then I got to go share my testimony with the church. And I was translated through a missionary. I am sooo glad that I got the opportunity to share that with them, it was soo cool. Please pray that God will use the words that he spoke through me to stick with the Japanese and encourage them to spread the Gospel. Because here the Japanese are taught that only the "professional christians" are allowed to share the Gospel with the poeple of the city. So that's why so many Japanese haven't heard of Jesus Christ. Anyways, I gave my testimony and then a Japanese man gave his and then Kelsea gave hers too. It was just really cool to be there. Then we sang some more worship song. Then we had the message, which was awesome. I think it really encouraged the Japanes to go out and preach the story of Jesus and give everyone the chance to at least here the name of the Christ. After that we got split up into little prayer groups. There we all shared our testimony and then prayed together. That was super cool, the people in the group were soo sweet and so loving and genuine. Then we had fellowship with yummy Japanese snacks and bitter coffee. Yum :] It was just really cool to see two groups of people come together, putting aside the language barrier. God rocks!

Good day :]

Today we woke up and had our last orientation until noon. Then we went with our teams to lunch and to Yoyogi park. There we got to throw the frisbee and play volleyball with some Japanese students. Then I got to pet a lady's ferret. And i got to make HUGE soap bubbles with a Japanese man. It was alot of fun.

Then i found out that my Jingu team gets the privilege to go to a Japanese church tomorrow night they want to members of our team to give their testimony about why we were in Tokyo. So I'm going to give my testimony tomorrow night. Please pray that God will use me and speak through me during that time. And please pray that God will lift my nerves and worries about it.

Monday we have the amazing race!!!! I'm soo excited! Please pray that my team wins!! :]

Then tuesday through thursday we have the Intern retreat at a different house with a pool. So that's gonna be good.

God is amazing!!! love you guys!

Day #3

Today was very good! We had orientation until noon and then we went to lunch and I got a three cheese beef bowl at sakiya. DELICIOUS! Then we got to go to the Buddhist temples. That was my second time and it was very oppressing. It turns out that they're doing alot of construction on the temples so that it will be even more attractive and alluring. It was shocking to see all of the people worshipping and praying to buddha. It was even more shocking to see American tourists participating in it. It was soo hard to watch the Japanese pray to a god that will never answer them or ever love them. And they even pay money to pray! It was so sad to see how oblivous they were, you know? Like they feel the void in their hearts and they look in all different places to fill the void, but they're looking in all the wrong places. It's so sad.

Please pray for the Japanese! Pray that God is working in their hearts and making them uneasy so that somehow they can find him instead of material things or perfection.

I uploaded pictures on facebook, go check em out if you want :]

Missing you all!!!

Great day!

Today was REALLY good!!!! First we had orientation until noon and then we went to lunch and I god beef in a bowl! :] then we went to the government towers so we could look out over all of the city and pray over it. That view is incredible, it's 45 floors up and you still can't see the end of tokyo. After the towers we went to do 5-minute english. So half of us did lessons first and the rest PRed and within minutes we had people to talk to. When I got to my spot I just simply asked to God to bring me some divine appointments and within seconds a japanese guy walked up to me. His english was pretty good, sometimes he couldn't understand me but it was all good. Anyways, we talked for about 30 minutes and it turns out that he has some christian friends and he also goes to a christian university! God's ancient work is so evident! He was sooo interested in christianity and he said he thinks that christian beliefs and very right and very true. The only thing holding him back is his family. His family has no religion and they would probably disown him if he chose to be a christian. That's what is so sad here: they are so obsessed with conformity and it's very hard to be unique in Japan. This quote is sooo true here: The nail that sticks up will get hammered down. Anyway, I was able to share the story of Jesus with him along with my testimony and I gave him a gospel of John and a tract that he can read. And he said he would read it and think about it. I got his contack info and so hopefully we will be able to meet up again and discuss more about it! Please pray for my new friend! Pray that God will work in his heart so that he desires to be a christian.

I also met three other girls about my age. And during the lesson I asked them what their favorite book is and one girl said "the Bible!". That was awesome!! Unfortunately they left and I didn't get to talk to them much but I know that God is working in their lives.

Today was really good, but im soooooo tired. Please pray that i can get some rest tonight so I will have energy tomorrow!!!

Love you!

First day!

Hey guys,

Sorry I couldn't update sooner; we had no service at base camp. But we're all alive and well, and we're getting situated and comfortable in the cave. It's been a loooong day on the plane and then the bus but when we drove around the corner and saw alot of the interns it just made our day. They made us feel sooo welcome and that made us even more excited for this summer even though we were and still are really out of it because of jet lag. Please pray that we can all get some well needed rest tonight so we'll be able to function tomorrow.

Well, base camp went really well actually. I don't think it was as intimidating since it was my second time and they had changed alot of things and it just made everything run alot smoother. We learned ALOT and i'm still trying to process it all.

God has already showed up and showed off. He's given all of our team a great unity and connection. We're all brought together by something we all have in common: alot of love for Christ and alot of love for Tokyo. These past few days we've learned some hard lessons that we all needed to hear. And I just feel so blessed and privileged to be apart of this team. I know God has amazing plans.

Please pray for our team as well as the missionary. Pray that we can all live patiently with each other and just serve one another while we're here.

Pray for the Japanese we will be coming into contact with this summer. Pray that God will stir in their hearts and work in their minds so that they can start to understand the Gospel.

I'm sorry if none of this made sense! I'm a little out of it and I'm soo ready for bed!

hello again ;]

Wow! Only 6 more days until base camp! And i thought that this day would NEVER come. The days are really flying by and I feel like I have sooo much to do before I leave.

This past week I got to spend alot of time with my family in the mountains in my grandparent's cabin that my dad helped build. It's our all-time favorite place to go. It is soooo beautiful up there, everything is green and flowers are everwhere. It's just a great place to admire God's beautiful creation. There is also this huge meadow right behind the cabin where we would lay out at night and just stare at the millions of stars. It was crazy to see all of those numerous stars and just think that God knows exactly how much there are, justl like he knows how many tiny little hairs on every one of our heads. How crazy is that?

I just started reading Crazy Love for the first time and it's already biting my in the butt. In the introduction it talks about our lives as a christian. It makes you evaluate yourself by asking if we live a lifestyle where people around us that we might even know us just know without a doubt that you're a christian. They can just tell by your actions and your words if you are a christian or not. Am I living that kind of lifestyle? Are you? That's a very humbling question.

Here's another question from the book: "To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid 'big sins'- is this passionate, wholehearted love for god?" Ouch. How many times do you catch yourself just going through the motions? I sure do, too many times to count.

With my trip so closely approaching I would just love to ask you to just pray that I won't stress out about everything I need to get done. 6 days. That just seems unreal.

Please keep praying for the college interns already on-site. God is already using them to bring him glory and I can't wait to get there with them.

Please pray for all the teams that we're going to be leading, that they'll just be completely humbled and ready to do God's work in Tokyo, Japan.

And also can you please pray for the youth from my church this week. They're on a mission trip to help church planting in Missouri. Just pray that it would be a great week for them as they selflessly serve.

I love you guys and thank you for all of your support.