The Matthew 28:19-20 Experience

The End

2009-08-01T17:48:00.001-07:00

So, my 2.5 month journey in Tokyo is finally over. I got the chance to meet with all of my contacts and I'm all packed. Now the battle is how Lindsay and I are going to fare at getting on a flight back home. Please pray all goes smoothly with flights tomorrow. In situations like this, it is so easy to get stressed out.

I did meet with Tak yesterday and I do believe I did what the Lord asked of me in encouraging him to be more bold toward his native Japanese. Tak responded well, now let's see if it will progress into action. Pray for his witness here. It is extremely hard in this culture to be a Christian and to be different than what culture sets the standard to be. Obviously, Christianity is not the standard for these people, and Tak has to battle that everyday. These Japanese Christians are the ones we really need to keep in prayer because of that.

This will probably be my last post, since ministry is officially over here. Come to Haddon Heights Baptist Church on August 16th, 2009 for the morning service, as I will be a giving about a 15 minutes explanation of what God did in this nation and did through me. I look foward to sharing, and I pray that I can be an encouragement to you.

**Remember, what I am doing over here is not any different than what you back home are to be doing where you are. I hope to continue what I've been a part of over here back home in New Jersey and also back at Liberty University.

Matthew 28:19-20

2009-07-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

"Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you..."

The above two verses were fulfilled tonight, July 30th, 2009. Katrina, my teammate, has been working with a woman named Ai for about a month and a half now. About two weeks ago after meeting for several Bible Studies, Ai made a decision to accept the Gospel! Now tonight, I was able see Ai get baptized tonight! It was an awesome thing to see a Japanese woman follow through in believer's baptism and now will meet with one of the permanent missionaries, Kimberly Burns now for follow-up and discipleship. Praise the Lord that everything is working out with Ai this summer! Continue to pray for her and her growth in the Lord.

Other than that, we had Bible Study with Saori last night. That was another encouraging time in the Word with her. She along with her friends Hiroko is growing closer and closer to accepting the Gospel. Luckily, one of the journeyman, Sonya will be following both of them up when we leave, so that is a huge praise! Please continue to pray for Saori and Hiroko. Pray for their salvation. Pray for their growth. Pray that the walls around their hearts will be broken!

Remember, I will be meeting with Tak this coming Saturday. Please pray that this will be a time of encouragement as I pursue encouraging him to be more bold about his faith! Pray for him, as he is a light in this spiritually dark nation!

Monday I will be leaving. Please pray everything with flights works out. Lindsay and I are flying standby, and that can be very stressful. Please pray everything works out.

Texas Super Summer

2009-07-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

Today marks the last ministry day the Texas Super Summer Team has here. They've been here for about 10 days now and they leave tomorrow. Please pray they all have a safe flight back to the States.

Today was another long day. We had training with the Texas Team from 9-12, then Free Five Minute English out the East Exit of Shinjuku. That went REALLY well, as out of the 30 conversations we had, 19 of them, the Gospel was presented. Please pray for those that heard the Gospel, that those that heard will grow in their curiosity of the Creator.

Afterward, we had our closing Friendship Party at Higashikoganei and had three Japanese contacts come to Jonathan's, a restaurant at our station. Those three were Kotsu, Yoshi-yuki, and Mika. They were all so open to Dustin and I sharing with them. Please pray for these three as Dustin and I try to stay in contact with them in the States through e-mail. They need Christ more than they realize, so please pray for a softening of their hearts.

Continue to pray for Hironori and Tak, two my contacts here in the Tokyo area. Please pray especially for Saori, who I am meeting with tomorrow for Bible Study. Please pray that tomorrow that Saori and her friend Hiroko would be sensitive to the Spirit's calling to salvation. Pray for their salvation!

By the way, I am meeting with Tak on Saturday. Please pray that would be a time of encouragement for Tak, especially for more boldness in sharing with us people here in Japan.

6 days left...

Cultural boundaries...

2009-07-26T05:29:00.000-07:00

Today was another good day, but another long day. We spent the first half of our day in worship at Koganei Park with all interns, the three short-term teams here, which made about 200 people in the park today. A huge praise on one note; that elderly man, Ichiro that I met at the gioza restaurant; he actually came to the park today to listen to the worship music our team plays before Bible Study. This proved to be a great fellowship with just him and I. He seemed interested in how many Americans were Christians compared to the so few Japanese that are. He's definitely seeking, and I definitely believe if I hook him up with the right missionary, he has as good a chance as any in receiving Christ as his Savior. Please pray for Ichiro's salvation and his growing curiosity in the Gospel. This was an encouraging time in general, as one of the volunteers that I was completely unaware actually works at Liberty University's front office for Residential Studies. This was very encouraging considering I miss home quite a bit, and even though I don't know the guy all that well, it was nice to see a face from home:)

Afterward, I had Bible Study with Hironori and that went very well. I was actually hoping to meet with him atleast one more time before the summer ended after today, but at the end of our time together, he gave me a gift, which in these circumstances indicated, this was going to be the last time I could see him. The Bible Study as a whole was good. He is still under the impression I believe that he has to know more about the Bible as opposed to just having faith before he can become a Christian. This Bible Study was not quite as long as last time, but it was a good quality time Hironori and I had with each other. He actually told me as I was leaving that I was his best friend! That was so encouraging to hear! I think he was really sad about leaving me, just because he doesn't really have a whole lot of friends here in Tokyo:( Please pray for Hironori's salvation and that follow up with Andrew, one of the journeymen here, would be good. He is very stuck in the culture, and is afraid to leave his Japanese roots for the sake of the Gospel. Pray for his heart...

Thank you for your prayers....

Wow, I'll be home in a little over a week. I look foward to seeing my family and friends!

LONG DAY!!!!...but a GOOD day!

2009-07-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

So, we again did our training thing with the Texas Super Summer Team until about noon. Afterward we had some lunch, and then headed to Koganei Park with the team. This seemed to work out really well. It seems as though our team had a lot of good conversations with the people in the park and were actually very bold; praise God for their boldness and their determination to the ministry!

Afterward, we had Bible Study with Saori, and Saori brought her friend Hiroko! At first, Saori did not think Hiroko would be interested in the Bible, but it turns out that Hiroko was very interested in the Bible and wants to meet with us again Wednesday!!!! This is a huge praise and an answered prayer, since I was praying that Saori wouldn't be distracted by her friend being there. It actually turned into something awesome and I credit it all to God! I praise the Lord for what I saw tonight. Continue to pray for Saori and now her friend, Hiroko for their salvation and their continued interested in the Scriptures.

Please also pray for my Bible Study with Hirori tomorrow afternoon. As you remember last Sunday, Bible Study lasted 6 hours with this contact and it was awesome! Please pray for another quality time with him! He needs the Lord so much more than he realizes. Please pray for Hirori's heart! Pray that tomorrow will be the day of salvation.

THANK YOU DR. ALBAN FOR YOUR ADVICE ON THIS PARTICULAR CULTURAL SITUATION THAT I FIND MYSELF IN. I APPRECIATE AND RESPECT YOUR INSIGHT!

Another day in West Tokyo

2009-07-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

We started the day again with some more training with the Texas Super Summer Team of 103 teens. Afterward we had some lunch and then headed to Higashikoganei for HOPE track distribution. Please pray for those that received the HOPE track, that they would respond by sending in for the Free Bible Study DVD.

Afterward, we went back to the station to begin our Free Five Minute English Practice ministry, but shortly into our time of ministry, the Higashikoganei station police asked us to not minister on the property around the station. This of course was discouraging, because this is our only spot to do Free Five Minute English at Higashikoganei, so we are waiting for a plan on what to do next. Please pray that the leadership of the long term missionaries here will wisely choose the spot where we need to be in days to come.

After that incident, we finished our Free Five Minute English at Kichijoji Station. That seem to be a pretty good turn out, but we just learned that we've been kicked off that station as well for doing the same ministry, so we most likely will not go back there for ministry. Again, please pray for a place of peace where the police will not find our presence an annoyance.

The official count this morning was 60 new brothers and sisters in Christ since the beginning of the summer. I know I've heard more coming to know Christ today, but I am not sure of that number. Please pray for these new believers and the follow-up of them in discipleship and believer's baptism. Praise the Lord for one Japanese Christian getting baptized today; that makes 3!

Please also pray for our Bible Study tomorrow night with Saori. Saori is very close to accepting the Gospel and I covet your prayers for this time tomorrow night. It will be at 8:30 pm, so 7:30 am your time back home. She is also bringing a friend, so please also pray for her friend's salvation as well. Be also in prayer for Saori not to be distracted by her friend and Satan using her friend's presence to distract Saori into not making a genuine decision to accept Christ.

It rained, but it was okay...

2009-07-23T04:57:00.000-07:00

Today was another long day in the books. The 130 teens that are here from Texas had their training this morning from 9-12, so all interns and GoTokyo's had to be there. Afterward, we hit up some lunch, and then headed to Higashikoganei. For about an hour, we did our distribution of the HOPE track. We probably distributed close to 1,000 HOPE tracks. Please pray for those that receive these tracks all over our station.

Afterward, it was pouring rain pretty bad, so we headed to Kichijoji to do some Arcade Ministry. Out of the 25 people we talked to at the arcade, 3 of those individuals heard the Gospel. 1 of those 3 might have even gotten saved; we're not sure, but he seems to be seeking if not. Please pray for those that heard the Gospel today.

Afterward, we just had some dinner, and then headed for home. It was a long day, and I definitely expect the same for tomorrow.

Continue to pray for Hironomi, Saori, and Tak.

BAM!!!

2009-07-21T05:07:00.000-07:00

So, today was a pretty sweet day! We headed over to Higashikoganei and distributed over 400 Gospel of John's. Please pray that those that receive this pamphlet, will be affected in a way that will lead them to salvation or atleast closer to the Lord!

Afterward, we had lunch at our normal spot (gioza)--here's the crazy thing though. God placed in our team's path a divine appointment. At the end of lunch, we were all discouraged by the rain today. It had been raining the whole time we had been distributing, and it was discouraging us from wanting to do Free Five Minute English Practice. So, we waited in the restaurant a while, and all of a sudden, this older man, Ichiro (YES!, like the Seattle Mariner from Japan), taps me on the shoulder and asks why us (white people) are here. After sharing with him and presenting the Gospel crystal clear to him, all of a sudden this other white guy from the otherside of the restaurant taps Katrina on the shoulder and says that what we were doing was awesome! He says that we were representing our Savior in an amazing way! He must've been listening to our conversation with Ichiro the whole time. It turns out that he is a missions kid that has lived in Tokyo his whole life and leads a youth group around the corner at our station! This was first time we met this guy! He then while I was talking to Ichiro started talking to Ichiro in perfect Japanese! This was amazing to watch this youth pastor share the Gospel with Ichiro and Ichiro listening so intently. We exchanged contact information and if he is available, he wants to come to church on Sunday at Koganei Park. He is interested in Gospel singing and wants to hear the worship on Sunday. Please pray for his salvation. This guy is definitely seeking a purpose in his life, because he had told me that he had no purpose in life. Please pray for Ichiro!

Afterward, we headed to Musashi-sakai to do Free Five Minute English Practice. We probably talked to about 20+ people, many of which we were able to share the Gospel with. Please pray for those that heard, for their salvation.

Thanks for reading guys.

SO CLOSE!!!

2009-07-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

The past two days have been really fruitful, and I praise the Lord for His answered prayers. At this point in the summer 30+ Japanese have accepted the Gospel, 7 of those last week!

Saturday was another day at the park. I need you back home to pray for Steve. I've been playing basketball with Steve the last couple of weeks, and he really enjoys me and my friend's company Saturday mornings. Steve is a Malaysian man, who speaks Chinese, Japanese, and English. He's very smart and has many talents- one of them being deep sea fishing. He's only 24 years old! Please pray for Steve's salvation. I believe two weeks ago one my teammates has already made it clear what we are doing here in Japan, so I think he's aware of our purpose, but please pray for his heart to break for the Gospel!

After the park, we headed over to Higashikoganei to do Free Five Minute English practice for about 45 minutes. We met 3 Japanese people, one of which claims to be a Christian, and out of the other two, only one heard the Gospel. That 45 minutes was a very productive time evangelizing. The first person I met, her name is Eri. She lives in Higashikoganei and knows a little about Christianity, and I offered her Free Bible Study. She has my information, so please pray that'd she be interested to learn more, so she can have a personal relationship with the Lord. She was able to hear the full Gospel from me. Another lady I met was the Christian I alluded to, and her name is Yuka. She seemed very turned off by Mormons, and then was very encouraged to find out that we aren't Mormons, but just Christians. Her English was basically fluent from her time in America for about 16 years of her life. She was very encouraging to listen to. She was so surprised to hear why we were in Japan, especially after I explained the whole reason. She says she goes to a Pres. Church, and she is so thankful for us spending out summer here in Tokyo to minister to her native people. Again, this was very encouraging.

After Free Five Minute English Practice we headed over to Higashikurame to our BIG Friendship Party, where about 5-6 Japanese showed up. 1 of which accepted the Gospel! Praise the Lord for His work in that man's life! He even came to church the very next day with us! Praise the Lord!

Sunday was another long day, but an awesome day! After church, Andrew, one of the journeyman here this summer, and I went to Nishikokubunji to meet one my contacts for Bible Study. We met at 3, and we ended at 9!!!!!! AHHH!!! It was so good though! H-san knows the Gospel very well after last night, and there were about 3-4 instances where I thought H-san was going to accept the Gospel, but he says he needs more time to reflect. PLEASE PRAY! He is so close! I believe it is very likely that he'll become a Christian before my time is up here in Japan this summer! He understands the concept of repentance, faith, trust, etc. It's amazing! The Lord definitely used Andrew and I to convey the TRUTH to this man! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for H-san! He's so close!!! We are meeting with him next Sunday once again!

Afterward, I met up with S-san, for our weekly Bible Study. She too is so close!!!!! I can't even tell you how close she is. She believes that she is too wicked to accept the love of Christ. I showed her Paul's story, how he came from being a murderer of Christians to one of the most famous missionaries that has ever lived! She seemed pretty encouraged by that! The first few times we met with her, her progress into believing was so great, but it seems these last few weeks that she is on a plateau as far as progressing any further. Please pray for her salvation! She wants to believe and she knows the Gospel well by now! We are meeting this coming Saturday for Bible Study, so please pray for her salvation! SHE IS SO CLOSE!

NOW MORE THAN EVER THIS SUMMER- I COVET YOUR PRAYERS FOR THESE TWO PEOPLE (H-SAN AND S-SAN)--THEY ARE SO CLOSE TO ACCEPTING THE GOSPEL, BUT I BELIEVE IT IS SATAN PREVENTING THEM FROM LEAVING A CULTURE THAT HAS BRAINWASHED THESE INDIVIDUALS FROM CHILDHOOD TO CONFORM TO THE CULTURE. PLEASE PRAY PLEASE PRAY PLEASE PRAY!

Disciples must be made!

2009-07-17T02:56:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty good day. We started off our day doing some distribution of the Gospel of John and we got about 400 of those passed out around the Higashikoganei community. Please pray for those who receive it!

Afterward, we had lunch, and then met up with the Mitaka team in Mitaka and did some Free Five Minute English Practice. That was pretty successful. We had collectively 30 conversations and we were able to present the Gospel 10 out of those 30 times. Please pray for boldness on our part, to insert the Gospel into more conversations, as this is why we are here this summer! I was able to talk to 3 people myself. One man named Tamafumi and his girlfriend Nana stopped by and I was able to present the full Gospel to them. They were uninterested but please pray for a changed heart and their salvation! Hunter and I also spoke with a man named Okawa, an elderly man, who seemed very interested in the Gospel, and we hope to get in contact with him for Bible Study. Pray that he would be GENUINELY interested in a Bible Study and not just faking it in order to appease our embarrassment:) Pray also for Okawa's salvation.

Other than that, my time here is coming to an end quickly! Two weeks from today will be July 31st, and our last ministry day will be August 3rd, so it's coming really quick! Please pray that we'd make the most our time here!

Romans 15:20-21

2009-07-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know those verses off hand (I wouldn't either), here they are:

"It has always been my ambition to preach the Gospel where Christ was not know, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather as it is written: Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."

Something about Japan that ya'll should know is that there are Christians here, yet as the old Japanese proverb says, "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." It's so not the culture over here to be bold about your faith. On the other hand, though there are Christians in this nation, there aren't many (1 out of every 200 people). So, I do believe Paul's desire to preach the Gospel to the unreached does apply.

So, we did distribution today on the south side of Higashikoganei and we distributed 600 Gospel of John's!!! That's awesome. Please pray that these Gospel of John's will impact those who received it today! I believe we are really doing what Paul desired in reaching those who have not heard, so when they hear, they will respond in faith!

Afterward, Dustin and I met a contact at Hosei University. His name is Y-san. Please pray for Y-san. We presented the whole Gospel to him, and he says he is not interested in "religion" but would like to be our friend. Please pray that God would change his heart toward being interested at all!

Afterward, Sonya, Katrina, and myself met with S-san, and praise the Lord the pass off to Sonya went so well! Sonya and S-san hit if off! Thank you for your prayers in that! S-san wants to believe so bad and is so close, yet she believes what is prohibiting her from believing is "herself". Please pray that she would make a personal decision to accept the Gospel and become a Christian! I covet your prayers for this sweet lady! She needs your prayers! We need your prayers. We are meeting with her this coming Sunday at 8pm, so that will be 6am your time back home! PLEASE PRAY!

I along with one my GoTokyo guys, Josh are meeting with H-san at 3 in Nishikokubunji. Please pray for this meeting as he is interested in the Gospel. Pray for his salvation and an open heart for Sunday when we meet. Also, please pray against the language barrier the Satan will try to use to discourage us. He understands little english, but after trying different words, he eventually understands, so please pray for that to go smoothly, and that we wouldn't distort the presentation of the Gospel through that difficulty. Please also pray for the pass off to one of the journeymen here named Andrew. I hope for him be there at this meeting!

Please continue to pray for my Japanese Christian friend T-san and his job situation and for boldness in this spiritually dark nation!

We have another full day tomorrow, so please pray for strength and endurance!

Take care!

Numbers don't mean everything, but they are definitely encouraging!

2009-07-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

We started our day off doing some distribution. Again, we've been handing out Gospel of John's in Japanese to each mailbox in the Higashikoganei area. I really enjoy this particular ministry, because like Paul's goal was to reach everyone who hasn't heard the Gospel; this is one avenue. At first I was discouraged about handing these out instead of the HOPE tracks, because I felt the HOPE track gave an easy access scope of the whole Gospel. Yet, I've remembered hearing stories about individuals getting saved just off of reading the Gospel of John. I hope and pray that is the case for those that receive these Gospel of John's. Today we handed out a combined 400 Gospel of John's to those that live on south side of the train station. Afterward we had lunch and then headed over to Mitaka to do Free Five Minute English Practice with Mitaka and Musashi-Sakai's teams along with Musashi-Sakai's volunteer team from Missouri. During this 3 hour gap, we collectively met 33 people or had 33 different conversations. Out of that 33, 15 of them heard a presentation of the Gospel. That is definitely a positive!

Tomorrow is my day off, so no update tomorrow, however continue to pray for these things:

S-san: Katrina and I are meeting with her this Thursday for Bible Study. I saw S-san today and she was very excited about us meeting. Please pray for her salvation. Also pray for Sonya, a journeyman here this summer. A journeyman is a two year missionary (usually college age), here to help in passing off some of our relationships as interns. Sonya will be coming with us this Thursday to meet S-san and hopefully establish a relationship with her, so when we leave, Sonya will still be there to minister and disciple her. Please pray that all of this will pan out.
H-san: I sent H-san a text message today asking if I could bring a friend (Andrew, another journeyman), and he hadn't responded. Please pray that H-san would be receptive to another friend that can hopefully minister to him when we as interns leave. Also pray for his salvation.
T-san: Again, T-san is my Christian Japanese friend I met back in 2007 during my short term trip here with the Liberty team. Please pray for his job situation as he claims he is in a serious bind. I hope to meet with him atleast once before I leave. It's hard though because he lives so far away from Shibuya. It's about an hour and 15 minutes to where I am from. So, please pray for a time to meet and also for his job. Continue to also pray for boldness on his part amongst his Japanese natives. He needs to be a light in this nation, because there isn't much light amongst the Japanese.

Quick update

2009-07-13T03:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday proved to be a pretty good day. After church at Koganei Park, Josh (GoTokyo teammate) and I went back to the Higashikoganei train station to meet our contact (H-san), at the time we planned to (1 pm). I got a text from H-san at 12:55 saying he wouldn't be able to meet until 2:15, so Josh and I decided to go and get some lunch until he came. We came back to the station at 2:15 and he had texted me asking me to please wait, because he was going to be another 15 minutes late. He didn't show up until 2:40, but it was awesome that he was so insistent on waiting. Though I don't know the reason completely why he was late, it spoke volumes to me that he was so persistent in learning about the Bible. We ended up going out to this random station out by Chofu and had Bible Study at this university called Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. The three of us sat at a park bench and just talked about the concept of faith and how we first must believe before we can grow in the Lord. A common theme amongst witnessing to Japanese people is they feel as though they need to know the whole Bible before they can accept the Gospel. We explained that this wasn't the case. To become a Christian, all we are called to do is BELIEVE (or have faith). This intrigued H-san a lot, from what I could tell. We gave him the assignment to read over one of the tracks we gave him called the Steps to Peace With God. This track has English on the left side and Japanese on the right, allowing Japanese to easily follow along. I hope and pray that this will be a useful tool that will lead H-san to the Lord. Please pray for him. Josh and I are meeting with him this Saturday at Nishikokubunji at 12. Please pray for our time together.

Continue to pray for S-san (Katrina and I met with her last Thursday for Bible Study). We are meeting with her now at 2 pm on Thursday as opposed to 3. Please pray for our time together and for her salvation.

Please also pray for my Christian friend T-san. He has trouble being open about his faith in this culture. There is an old Japanese proverb that says, "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." Meaning that those who stick out in this culture will eventually conform once again to the original culture. This is an unfortunate thing for the Christians in this country, because it is so group oriented over here that being bold about their faith is sometimes out of the question for them. Pray for his boldness. Pray also for his job situation. He is in the midst of losing his job; something that he has found to be a joy to him. I can tell from the tone of his e-mail that he's having a hard time. Pray for a strengthened heart in T-san.

Prayer Requests

2009-07-11T04:19:00.001-07:00

Instead of updating on what we did the past two days, I'll just give out this list of prayer requests:

Miki-- Miki is a guy that Linds and I had met in the beginning of the summer, but now he seems to just be contacting me. I've tried getting in contact with him for a couple weeks now, but he hasn't been available. He is interested in the Bible, but like I said, getting in contact with him is difficult. Pray for his salvation and also for a time where we can meet before I come back home.
Saori-- Saori is a lady Katrina and I have been meeting for Bible Study twice now. She is so close to getting saved and I covet your prayers for her salvation. We are meeting with her this Thursday at 3, so please pray for that time together. That will be about 2 am your time back home.
Hiro-san-- Please pray for Hiro. Hiro is a guy one my teammates, Josh, and I met at Free Five Minute English Practice on Friday. He is very interested in religion and we are meeting with him this Sunday after church. Please pray for this time together with Hiro and please also pray for his salvation.
Mariko-- Mariko is a lady I met with in the park today (Koganei Park). What made me talked to her was her pet French Bulldog. I wanted to pet him, so I went over there and it turns out that she had spent an extended amount of time in Colorado earlier in her life and has had some exposure to Christianity. She says now that she is getting older, that she wants to learn more about religion, so I am hoping to meet with her sometime this week. Please pray for a time to meet and her salvation, as she claims that she is not a Christian.
Yui-- Linds is meeting Yui tomorrow. This is a long time friend of Lindsay's, and someone who is very close to her. Please pray for their time together and for Yui's salvation. I know Lindsay is really excited to meet with her again, so please pray for that meeting.

Spiritual Progression

2009-07-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

Today was a really good day. Part of our team (Higashikoganei) went ahead and did distribution around our ministry site. Afterward, the other half of us went ahead and met the other half at Mitaka and did some Free Five Minute English Practice. This proved to be a pretty productive time. Our team along with Mitaka's team talked to a combined 20+ people. We were able to present the Gospel to over half of them. Josh and I met a guy and he agreed to having Bible Study this Sunday. Please pray for H-san. He seems very interested in religion, especially the Bible, so please pray! We are meeting with him Sunday after worship at Higashikoganei Station. Please pray!

During Free Five Minute English, Katrina wasn't feeling too well and she went to Starbucks to pray and she ended up talking to this contact named N-san for about two hours or so. This was definitely a divine appointment and then part of Mitaka's team and our team met up with Katrina afterward to meet N-san and introduce ourselves. We then invited her to dinner and this was a really good time for me to share a part of my testimony with her when it comes to my experience with depression since this was once an issue in her own life. This was an awesome time in responding to this divine appointment. Please pray for her salvation. Katrina is planning to meet with her next Tuesday at Kichijoji to hang out. Please pray for their time together.

Please also pray for my other teammate Dustin's contact K-san. He's been meeting with K-san for about a month now, and things have been progressing slowly. Dustin got to hang out with him today, so please pray as they continue to hang out. Pray for K-san's salvation and Dustin's time in meeting with him.

After we had dinner with N-san, Katrina and I met with S-san. Praise God! This was such a good meeting! She really is close to believing. She is so curious about the Lord, so please pray for the Lord to convict her heart in need of a Savior. Also, please pray that next time we meet (next Thursday), that that will be the day of salvation for S-san! We asked her to meditate throughout the week until next time we see her on John 3:16 and the meaning of just simply having faith in what Jesus did for her.

It was definitely an awesome day. Please pray for Linds' contact that she is meeting tomorrow for lunch. Linds has been meeting with two contacts from her station at Kunitachi, and they have really been developing the friendship as well as the ministry relationship as well. Things have progressed nicely, so please pray for her meeting tomorrow with one of the girls, and also physical strength since she is a bit under the weather. Linds also has a friend that she's had since 2006 as an intern, named Y-san. They are planning to meet this Sunday after church, so please pray for their conversations on Sunday and that Y-san would accept the Gospel!

Led by the Spirit

2009-07-07T07:28:00.001-07:00

Today was a really good day for our team, and I am eager to share it with you. We did a bunch today; we started the day by doing distribution of the Gospel of John's. We passed out a little over 200 of these and that was such an awesome privilege. For me, I actually prefer distribution, because I am a big proponent of allowing every person in our community to hear the Gospel atleast ONCE! Please pray that those who receive those Gospel of Johns would be touched by the powerful message inside. Of course it is in Japanese so that will definitely help in them being receptive to something in their native language!

Afterward, Katrina needs to buy a gift for her contact, so we tried going to Shinjuku's "Gospel Store", yet we didn't find any there. We then went to two stations over in Harajuku and we found something there. Please pray for Katrina's friend A-san. Katrina has been meeting with A-san for about a month now for Bible Study and A-san is very close to accepting the Gospel. They plan to meet next week, but please pray A-san salvation in the meantime.

We then headed back to join Mitaka's team, Musashi-Sakai's team, and also a volunteer team from Missouri College. This time was spent in Free Five Minute English. Since our station is pretty slow, and it was just Katrina and I, we headed over to Mitaka where more people seem to be traveling through. This was probably the most productive time of a Free Five Minute English I had ever witnessed. I felt like each of us, interns and volunteers were talking to atleast one person constantly! I had talked with one guy named F-san. He was a bartender down the road in Mitaka and was very adimate about being my friend, but not pursuing Bible Study. Please pray for his heart to change. He has had experience in church before since he had spent an extended amount of time in California before he came back to Tokyo to being college. There he had many friends who were Christians and exposed him to the Bible. Please pray for a changed heart and that he would contact me for Bible Study or even just to hang out.

One neat story I'd like to share with you is a lady Katrina and I met on the train today. So, on our way back from Harajuku, we started talking to this girl named M-san. She was very learned in english and is currently studying it at a university. She seemed very intrigued by the HOPE track we gave her and I gave her my business card in hopes that she would be interested in Bible Study. Please pray for M-san. Pray for her salvation and also that she'd contact me for Bible Study. Please also pray for more divine appointments like these whether it'd be on the train or at a restaurant. Anywhere! PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!

Our meeting with S-San

2009-07-06T07:03:00.001-07:00

So, let me update you on S-san and the progress of our Bible Study! So, after church S-san came to Bible Study over at Mos Burger at the Higashikoganei South Exit. This was definitely a productive time talking and getting to know one another. S-san wants to believe the Bible is true and wants to be a Christian, and even has Christian friends. S-san first heard about Christianity through a friend from New Zealand, and S-san started to read the Bible alone without anyone instructing! S-san wants to meet more for Bible studying and our team is visiting S-san at work on the North side of the train station tomorrow! We are very excited to minister to S-san, so please pray for S-san's salvation. I'm sorry some of my typing may sound a bit awkward at times, but being over here, we're not supposed to reveal anyone's identity. That includes, their actual name, where they are from, specifics about their job, or even their gender at times. But, please pray for S-san and the next time we meet for Bible study. We are hoping soon and I will actually be e-mailing S-san after I get done this update!

Anyway, today was full of meetings, so we're back into the swing of things this week starting tomorrow! Please be praying for our ministry tomorrow. We will distributing instead of HOPE tracks, Gospel of Johns in Japanese! So, please be praying for that ministry. We will also be doing Free Five Minutes English Practice as well, so please pray for that! Thank you for all your prayers and definitely keep S-san in prayer as we see them tomorrow!

Feeling accomplished!

2009-07-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

So, the last two days were pretty busy. By the way, Happy Fourth of July! Anyway, I'll start with Friday. Dustin, Hunter, and myself literally passed out over 750 HOPE tracks throughout the city of Higashikoganei! It was awesome to know that 750 households have the chance to hear the Gospel and to receive the Gospel. Please pray for their reponse to this awesome mesage that we're trying to convey to these Japanese in our community. Afterward, we went to Hosei University and that was a bit of a disappointing visit. We found out that there is an English club, and we aren't allowed to join any clubs on campus, but we're allowed to be involved. So, we inquired more about it thinking it'd be a great opportunity, but instead we were directed to the lady in charge of it, and she asked us to leave kindly, and that we'd only be welcome to that club if we were invited. So, we weren't technically kicked off our campus, however next time we go on from now on, our focus needs to be on what it was before, which was meeting people at lunch in the cafeteria. So, we talked it over with our missionary at our station and he advised us to continue to go to Hosei, yet just keep a low profile- even more so than normal. So, please pray for divine appointments at Hosei University as the summer winds down. We closed the day with Free Five Minute English Practice, but no one came to talk with us. Saturday was our park evangelism day and we spent the first half of our day at Nogawa Park on the south side of town, but there wasn't a crowd at all to start conversations with. It was kind of disappointing, but Jeff Burns (our missionary), recommended other spots in the park to go to, so we can meet Japanese. So, please pray for that ministry as we attempt again next Saturday afternoon. An important prayer request that I am asking you to keep in mind, even more so than the other ones is tomorrow afternoon, after church, I will be meeting with S-san. Please pray that our Bible Study will go well tomorrow, and that through this meeting S-san will want to become a Christian. This is that potential new contact that I alluded to in my previous blog that I met at Free Five Minute English on Thursday. PRAY, PRAY PRAY! IT'S NEEDED FOR TOMORROW- SPECIFICALLY 3:00 TOMORROW AFTERNOON- FOR THOSE OF YOU AT HOME, THAT WILL BE 2 AM YOUR TIME (EAST COAST).

One other note. I don't know the details, but from word of mouth, 4 new brothers and sisters in Christ, have been added to our family as of yesterday! Praise the Lord for Him using us in this awesome opportunity this summer!

God's faithfulness is awesome!

2009-07-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

Today was another ministry day in the books. We spent about half our day passing out HOPE tracks in our time of Distribution. We covered a large portion of our territory, and I'd say we're about halfway done our distribution of the HOPE track in all residences' mailbox. That means that half of Higashikoganei has had the chance to receive the Gospel! That's awesome! Our second half of the day we spent doing Free Five Minute English Practice at the South Exit of Higashikoganei. This was a great time of reaching out to the Japanese! I found this time to be one of our best times as a team doing this ministry! Hunter and Josh (two new teammates-high school interns), Katrina, Dustin, and myself, I'd say talked to a combined 10-12 people. That was 10-12 people being engaged with the Gospel! Yet, check this out! God is so faithful in answering our prayers. I've been praying for about a week for a contact since I do not have one, and what do you think happened today? It was crazy how it happened! Katrina and I were standing in the same general area near the taxi cabs and I had been talking to Katrina, and out of the corner of my eye I see this cute little Japanese lady looking at my Free Five Minute English sign with a titled head and genuine interest in what we are doing. Her name is S-san, so please pray for her. She was in a hurry, so I gave her my business card hoping she'd e-mail me, and what do you know? She did! When we met earlier, I asked what she was interested in as far as meeting with us, and she said learning English, and she said she'd be willing to read the Bible with us to practice her English- I thought that was promising to some degree. Then after I received the e-mail from her, I asked her one more time what her goal in meeting with us is, and she responded by saying that she wants to learn about the Truth, and about why I accepted it as Truth. How awesome is that! I really see God at work in S-san, so please be praying for her. We will be having Bible Study on Sunday, so please keep her in prayer! The Lord was totally faithful in answering my prayers and answering your prayers back home!

"O Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You and praise Your Name,
for in perfect faithfulness,
You have done marvelous things,
things planned long ago." -- Isaiah 25:1

First day on the job...or something like that.

2009-06-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

Today was basically the interns first day back into the swing of things as far as ministry goes. Nothing extraordinary happened. We spent the morning doing prayer walking and then headed to Hosei University for campus outreach. Instead of taking time to start new relationships, our team felt it best that we didn't being this relationships without a prayerful heart. We spent the next hour taking time to pray for Hosei. We haven't spent as much time as we would've liked to this summer, and we want to make campus outreach more of a priority. So, definitely pray for that as we continue throughout the summer. We then headed to Free Five Minute English Practice for quite a while and we had a few people stop, but nothing serious as far as getting a chance to share our faith a whole lot. Other than that, it was a pretty decent day. My day off is tomorrow, and I'll be back out there with the team on Thursday, so please be praying for our team tomorrow as they minister through bold evangelism. Also, pray for me. I really don't have a solid contact right now that I am pouring into and I am really hungry for that at this point in the summer. Please pray that God will provide that person of peace that is genuinely wanting to become a disciple of Christ. That's all for now. Continue to hunger and thirst for righteousness. You will be filled, because the Scriptures say so (Matthew 5:6).

God desires our complete and utter obedience.

2009-06-27T03:11:00.000-07:00

This past week was farely slow in regards to ministry. Monday was a day for all 9 teams here to work with some of the career missionaries over here at our stations, so that was a shortened day. Tuesday was our training day, so we didn't leave home at all. Wednesday was my off day. And Thursday was the beginning of our retreat. Yes, thanks to Haddon Heights Baptist Church, a portion of the $900.00 raised for my mission over here this summer was spent to supply each intern a weekend retreat in the mountains right below thee famous, Mt. Fuji. Pictures will be posted on facebook following this post. I'm back here in central Tokyo after a full three days of relaxing and refocussing for our whole team. This proved to be a very beneficial time for us as many needed this time to regroup including myself. That's about all I have to share with you in relation to that, however I will say one thing. This morning I decided to do the whole "Read the Bible in a Year" marathon. I was a little skeptical about this at first considering I've tried it before and never finished, but I actually learned something this morning from my time in the Word as structured as my routine may sound. I read Psalm 1, Genesis 1-2, and Matthew 1-2. Like my title alludes to, obedience was something that was stressed in the main portions of Scripture that I read. Psalm 1:2 encourages the believer to delight in following the instruction of the Lord. Genesis 2 asks Adam to simply not eat of the fruit of the tree that gives man the knowledge of good and evil (a simple request). Matthew 1 and 2 subtlely notes Joseph's sensitivity to the Spirit's leading after Jesus' birth when Herod sought to kill the newborn King. That's what God taught me today, and I hope to obey Him completely daily as I live out my life.

In spite of us, God continues to show His grace in using us to reach this lost world.

2009-06-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

I have not written an update in about a week now; sorry about that. A lot has been happening as far as our team goes, and we're all very busy right now. There is some good news as far as ministry goes; we have 4 new brothers and sisters in Christ as of this past week. That brings this summer's total up to 24 Japanese accepting the Gospel. This is such a blessing to report. I believe God is using everyone here in really unique ways and it has surely been amazing to see what God can do through broken individuals like ourselves and still receive the glory. Now, I am not a huge advocate on focusing on numbers, however 24 Japanese accepting the Gospel is a really big deal. I say that because three summers ago, though there were fewer interns, only 4 accepted the Gospel. It has only been a month, and already 6 times that amount have accepted the Gospel. Something God has been trying to teach me in that, and I've been consistently resistant to, is the fact that though conflicts amongst the church and other various problems may arise, He will still continue to work. I think that is a big picture perspective in relation to each of our own lives. Think about whatever sin is currently in your life. Think about how awful it is to knowingly be in sin, and still God chooses to use you to change this lost world into accepting the Gospel message. That is a bit of a smaller perspective in comparison to what I am alluding to. In spite of the church, God still uses us, and that should always be an encouragement.