What God has done in this last year!!!

A Good Day

This whole week, I've been preparing for speaking today at Fuse. I've felt this message coming on for a while, and I felt like I was supposed to speak on joy. One girl later told me that she did her devotion this morning, and it was on joy, and another girl's project in school right now is writing about happiness (which I made a lot of comparisons between joy and happiness), actually, I just got a text message from her a couple of minutes ago. (here giving the message with Yuiko translating for me... I used McDonald's "Happy Set" as an example)

Anyway, like I said, I think it went really well, and I did well on time too! We had plenty of time left over to talk in our supersmall groups, and two of the three new people this week seemed really to connect with some of the guys there. One of them, I think, speaks English.

This week, Kengo, my adopted little Japanese brother, did a type of language exchange thing with me this week also. At the end, he goes, so, do you have any problems?

It was so blunt, it made me laugh. I was like, living in Japan problems? (I knew what he meant). I was like, YES. So, Kengo took me to a cheap store to buy cockroach motels and mosquito plug in things to rescue me from the attack of mosquitoes. He was really nice to explain everything to me. It was fun, and so very helpful. But, what I most enjoyed was, So, do you have any problems?

OH and one other piece of information!! This week, FUSE received a large donation AND we found a new VENUE!! After dealing with a lot of inconviences of the current location, including a moldy atmosphere, we are going to be meeting in a great new location for a much cheaper price!!! How exciting!! More details to come later!

I will survive... the bugs.

This morning, on the way to school, I Will Survive came on my ipod as I walked down semi-crowded sidewalks next to towering buildings. There isn't a more appropriate song for a Monday morning commute, I thought.

So, I'm not entirely sure the last day that I wrote. But first, a rabbit trail to get out of the way before I continue: In the world of random creatures, did you know they have ravens the size of chihuahuas here? For real, they are gigantic, and pick through trash and sit on posts, etc., and look at you, screech at you, daring you to do anything about it. I've never seen any so big... I thought you'd like to know.

As I always talk about the weather, just know that right now, everyone is sweaty at all times of the day. EXCEPT: at school. 4 hours of air-conditioning. Anyway, last week, it was supposedly in Shinjuku up to 38C, which is like 100... before humidity was added. It's been in the 90s though, with heat index at 100+. I heard from another student that four people in Tokyo died from the heat last week. Here it's really expensive to run the air conditioning, so not so many use it.

Friday night we were at street band in Shinyuri and up and running, talking to people... having a great time doing outreach as usual. About an hour into it, we see the police in the background talking to some people selling some stuff, and we decide to take a momentary "break"... alas, they came also to talk to us to let us know that they are cracking down on rules about selling things outside of the station and doing musical stuff. And there is no permission for doing it. They said if we do it again, we will be arrested... and that means problems with or loss of visas, etc. So, we were kicked out, and it being too late to go to another stop on the line and set up and do it again before others had to leave, we called it a night.

It was disappointing... we've met so many people at that spot, and out of the different locations we've used, it's the best.

Some girls from FUSE came over for a craft day, a few of them who were available anyhow, and we made scrunchies. Granted, I don't ever wear them really, but the Japanese girls like them. Kaori, who is super quiet and shy, is a craft-genius and she took did an excellent job teaching and really seemed to gain confidence. She seemed to be in her element!

There were only Japanese girls there on Sunday, so it was an opportunity for me to really practice Japanese. For the most part, I was quiet, because obviously, it wasn't all about me. But I tried to be paying attention to what all was going on around me "language-ly" and the girls tried to include me and talk to me as well. I didn't do the best job, but I tried. I generally prefer one-on-one conversation while learning and make far more attempts at conversation in that setting than in a group.

It was a good time together, and I did life group afterward with some girls, and am now deciding: it's bed time!

Sagamiono Street Band!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 Street Band that we had! One of the songs we sang-- sorry there's quite a bit of background noise!!

夏 has arrived!

That's right, everyone. Summer has arrived, and it's HOT! :) Perputual stickiness is here. But, I am happy to see the sun, and to have blue blue skies. (left: Lizzie leads the band when suddenly called to at the spur of the moment... good job!)

Unfortunately coinciding with the arrival of natsu (summer), has been the arrival of bugs. I don't know what that's about, but I've been vacuuming up ants for a few days now, and I've seen the giant cockroach, twice. The first time I just stood there for a full minute afterward with a horrified look on my face as it ran into the corner of the window and then out of the house.

The second time I gave out a little yelp and then was like.... why do you exist?!?

And, I've heard that the flying rumors are true.

Last Friday I had a bit of a rough start to my day, which kinda was the story of the day and I don't want to waste your time here by complaining. But let's say that since I felt compelled to talk about joy when comes my time to speak in two weeks, my joy has been a bit challenged.

Finances have also been a bit challenged, which is one of the reasons why my early Friday morning got such a rude awakening. Anyway, I keep telling myself that God is aware of this, and that afterall, He sent me here, and He will provide.

Saturday was a good day. I had Stephanie spend the night at my house after Street Band on Friday night. Oh- and by the way, I ran into a girl as we were leaving street band on Friday that I had met about a month or so ago and made a good connection with. She had been on my mind recently, and she ran up to me and was like, oh my gosh! Do you remember me?!? I was so surprised!! So, I really feel God is connecting us again and that He wants to do something, so I'm planning on staying more in contact that we've already been.

Back to Saturday. Stephanie, who grew up in Japan, is helping us until August. We had a good prayer time on Saturday morning, preparing for the FUSE, and then we headed out. Once again, Yuiko suffered from sickness, so, please keep her in your prayers. She actually had to leave the stage after the first song. I saw her starting to gag during the song, so I ran back to get some water from the bar, but then she was trying to communicate with another girl who does singing or with one of the band members, but they weren't getting it... so she just left the stage at the start of the next song.

But, we have a great team. Stephanie, though she's never sung for FUSE before, jumped up on stage and took over. Since she speaks Japanese, she could do it, and after our ice breaker, Lizzie, who takes turns leading with Yuiko, got up and did the last 3 songs. So, it was once again a good example of team work from everyone.

Mark's message was god-- on Anpanman, a famous character here in Japan, and how Anpanman is helpful and goes around to people who aren't well, and gives them a piece of his head (he is a bread head), and his saying is that he is a hundred times full of life. Anyway, his way of getting refilled again is by going back to Uncle Jam who mkes him a new head. So, you can see the parallels. It was a good message about being filled with the life of Jesus, and what being filled is also not about (not based on study or on doing good works, etc.). (here is Mark giving the message)

Afterward, we went to the cafe where we fellowship afterward. We all started to head out around, and Mark, Joe and I had to go to a party at the Y, where we work teaching English. It was an international party, and so I met people from the Philippines, Ghana, Germany, fellow Americans, and of course, Japanese. It was a fun night, and I made it home around 10, a bit tired and with sore feet after a poor choice of flat sandals I decided to wear. (Here is Baki, really enjoying his noodles.)

Sunday morning I met for lifegroup with Yuiko and then from there I met a group of us who were planning on going to Jesus Lifehouse. It was a good visit there, and the message was good. It was based off of the story of the feeding of the 5000, but from the perspective of the little boy... who was called Bento-boy (bento being a lunch, usually bought from a convenient mart)... so it was amusing with Anpanman for Saturday and Bento-boy on Sunday.

Afterward, we took Mike out to see a little more of downtown and famous areas of Tokyo, since he hasn't had much of an opportunity to see Japan. We took him to a big shrine place, and down through Harajuku and Shibuya. I came back to do lifegroup with Saki, and came home super tired. (Here the guys pose before a statue of the dog in Shibuya)

Betta get them electrolytes!

So I have a lot to talk about! It's not a lack of subjects to talk about about that I've been suffering from (are you kidding? I like in a foreign country, there are always things to talk about...), but rather, a lack of time and energy. (Pictured here are Yuiko leading the band in worship on last Saturday)

I think it was Jessi (whose comment I just saw today) who asked if I got my camera. Yes! I did. A week ago last Saturday. I went with a group of friends from FUSE who wanted to go on the adventure with me after the Fuse service and hang out time at the cafe. That sounds like a complicated sentence.

Anyway, I ended up getting a Canon, that, when all was said and done and the memory card also was bought was a bit over $200. Not too bad, it was about what I was expecting.

Last week the thing of note was that I took a day off in the middle of the week, after my long Tuesday, and I dedicated that day to......... sleeping! Yes, that's right. I'd been sooo tired, and going for so long (like... 2 months or so) on short amounts of sleep that I knew, especially after the group left, my brain and body needed a chance to recover. I'd even heard from a few different people that I was looking tired. So, I took a day off of school and a day that FUSE wasn't going to be doing anything, and the only responsibility that I had was homework. And in the end, I was only awake for 9 hours of it, and that in parts... I got up for an hour, and went back to sleep. Got up for 2 hours, went back to sleep. And got back up and then went to bed for the night.

Apparently, my body really did need sleep.

Let's jump to Saturday. It was quite an adventure. From what I understand, it was the day of the worst technical problems we've ever had. The microphones kept popping really loud, and the sound would go off... Joe's bass drum peddle's spring kept coming undone, so in the middle of the worship, all of a sudden Joe would disappear below the drum set... Yuiko, who has been regularly been getting sick on Saturdays (please pray for her), especially during the time when she's leading worship, was having a hard time breathing on Saturday with the moldy smell that was going on. All of a sudden during the middle of a song, she looked like she was going to throw up (like, you saw the gag)... At the end of the worship time, she asked Joe if he could do the Japanese translation of the message and she went to the back and sat down. We were all a bit worried for her. And at the end of the service, Lizzie, who will be leading worship like every 2 or 3 weeks, jumped in and took over worship for her... I don't know if the band did the song they were originally intending to do, but-- everyone went with the flow and it went okay. (Here, Yuiko translating for Mike, giving his life story, before that whole incident)

There were other adventures too, but those were the big ones. Along those lines though, I saw two cool things happen. First, it was a great example of team work... everyone just kinda helped each other and when we saw a need was going to happen, we worked on it. That was really cool. Also, Mark's message was on Joy despite the circumstances, which was really ironic.

But one cool thing about that is that I was telling Yuiko last Friday that I had been praying for a while about what God wanted to speak about when it was my turn to give the message. I told her that I had been feeling like I should talk about joy. So when Mark announced at the pre-meeting (?) right before FUSE that his message that day was on the power of joy, Yuiko started to translate and then was like, WHAT? And I did that too from what I was sitting. So, it looks like it's a theme.

Also, speaking of team dynamics, I think in my blog last time it sounded like there were very few of us, and yes, to a degree there are. But, I should probably just let you know who all's here... Tim and Christine (who oversee all the PAZ things going on... the Brazilian churches, FUSE, the Noborito church, etc.)... but they are gone to America right now and will be back in a few weeks. Mark and Yuiko, who oversee the Fuse church, Joe (who does a few other things, but helps out a lot with Fuse, particularly in street performances and in playing the drums on Saturdays at the FUSE), Mike (20, who came to work with FUSE) specifically, Lizzie and Cynthea (who are the daughters of some of the other missionaries who are working in the Noborito church), and they are very musical so they help with the same things Joe helps with, and the Stephanie, who we just met last month and who grew up in Japan but is helping us at the FUSE with various things... she'll be here til the middle of August. (Pictured bere: Cynthea, Lizzie and Joe, playing during street outreach. I think at that location, that was the most people we've ever gotten was the first day that Cynthea and Lizzie joined us! They have amazing talent for being so young!).

So, those are our American people, but we also have other important Japanese people on our team like Kengo (Kengo's everywhere and a very dedicated worker!, and my little brother), Tatsu (he is a great help in translation), Saki (she's great with translation and on the street, she's a natural communicator), Yoshi (ridiculously talented guitar player, for real, he's awesome and chill about it), Baki (our technical guru, and he's awesome at street outreach too), [smiley] Yasu (who does a lot of follow-up with new people, it would seem, and always has a smile on his face), and a few other who help out with things like greeting people and running power point, etc. (here pictured is Mark, me, Baki and Yoshi at the cafe we all go to after FUSE... the guys were all comparing their phones and the picture taking abilities... this one was on Baki's new Iphone 4...)

So, that's our team, and I love 'em.

Sunday, I did some homework and then in the afternoon I had a date with Yuiko! She had gotten free tickets to this all-you-can-eat buffet (where we were told we could be there for 90 minutes), and now, that may not sound fun for you, but these tickets are normally $40 apiece. So, it was cool that she took me! We're only 3 years apart, and becoming better and better friends, which is what I wanted and expected in the beginning.

So, we went to Ikebukuro, a downtown area in Tokyo and went shopping around, mostly window shopping, talking and having fun along the way. It was very refreshing. At dinner, they did not have fried chicken and mashed potatoes like you'd find at a buffet in the states, but different noodles and fish things and sushi and Japanese curry rice and.... some type of beef. I don't know what it was, I've had it before in the states, but, my oh my, was it good. I haven't had red meat I don't think since I got here. It's expensive, and I was very pleased to get some at an all-you-can-eat place.

Tuesday we had another test... this time 2 hours long, and included things like kanji, spelling (in hiragana), grammar (the hardest part), and another listening part. I don't think I did toooo bad... maybe a B or a C by American standards. I don't know when we find out how we did.

So, we finished the test and then I went back and headed toward my English class for my final class before break. Only, this was the class that the parents got to sit in on, so my nerves were a little racked (wracked? I don't know)...

Hey there! I'm back (already!). I've been waiting for an install to go through, so I figured I'd put up a video that I'd been promising to. There was another one I wanted to put, but I couldn't figure out how to embed it because it wasn't on youtube. So. I send you the link.

http://www.vimeo.com/12893959

It's Mark's message from the One Year Anniversary. Also, below, be sure to check out a vid that we put up of Lead Me to the Cross from a couple of weeks ago. The song is mostly in English, but at the end there's some Japanese for ya. :)

Today was FUSE and a long day as usual. We had street band last night and quite a number of people, and then today we went out into the streets and handed out flyers for about an hour, I took the group of four from the Arizona group that's here to lunch and then we headed back to do FUSE service. It was pretty good and Mark brought a good message, based on Philippians 4:13. Afterward, we had cafe time, where we go after FUSE and hang out, eat together, and get to know one another more and talk. Tonight, afterward, a group went to karaoke with the "Americans", and then a group accompanied me (haha) to go buy a camera. One went because she was going to help me set up the point card, and well, just to help me ask any questions that I might have about different cameras. Two followed by default, because the girl who went with me was going to take them home afterward, and two more followed just because.

As it were, karaoke finished just as we were finishing (the went before the group of us even left the cafe), so we headed home.

Anyway, I kinda need to go-- I have a bit of a headache, and tomorrow, my day to sleep in, only lasts until 8am. And it's about 1 now. So I should probably go. :)

Check out the vid below!!
Peace and Happy Fourth!!

Lead Me to the Cross, FJC worship!!

Eavesdropping (and) Conversations

Ha-ha-ha-ha-hot! Actually, today's not too bad, but, yes, it's hot. I finally used my air conditioning for a couple hours at night and in the afternoon, after being drenched in sweat. It's the story of all us Westerners though.

So, this week has consisted of some very late nights. Tuesday night alone I didn't get home til after midnight. It was Sally's good bye party and a lot of people showed up, including these four people that we met at Shinyuri doing doing street outreach. We were excited to see them come, and they are ready for this weekend, to go back to Fuse. I'm excited to see what God's going to do with these ones!

Tuesday was sad to say goodbye to Sally. When I first came, there were 3 other missionaries. Four more have come to date, and 6 of them have left already. Which leaves 2 of us-- Mike, who is 20, and me. But there are some others who are helping out, and our Japanese people(!).

A group of 6 from Arizona have also been here this week, so that keeps us pretty busy as well.

Anyway, this week, I was told that my class was going to end, and that some of us students would be put with another class that was a couple of lessons ahead (and next week, we finish the beginner's Japanese book, which at this point, I don't think is beginner anymore), and as far as kanji, a good step ahead in the book that they are using (although I've already studied a lot of them). So, yesterday (Thursday), I changed classes. Yesterday, in my class, we numbered around 20 people, in the class, representing 13 countries. It was a bit difficult particularly today, I don't know if it's because it's been a long week and not too much sleep, or what, but I have some serious studying to do this weekend, and a lot of homework!

My Japanese is definitely improving, and I'm able to communicate a lot more with people. I talked to a girl at street performance for maybe 20 minutes, using only Japanese, because she couldn't speak English. We didn't talk about anything spiritual, you know, but still, she's a person that otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to talk to. Also, my eavesdropping is getting better, and twice yesterday, I told Mark what he was talking about to someone else. Of course, they weren't subjects of anything personal (I wouldn't eavesdrop on that), but just conversation.

Lately, I've also been able to have some good conversations about Jesus with a few people... and that's always exciting. Some of them were doubts and struggles, but I was praying for wisdom while talking to them, so I continue to pray for them that they will have experiences with Him and put the doubts away.

Well, we have prayer together in about an hour, and then we're going out to the street tonight to do street band, pass out flyers and meet new people to invite to the FUSE and to meet Jesus! So, I'll catch ya'll later! Need to run!