Christmas and Crashing

Well, same as the last time... not much time to post this evening... but I thought I would because I don't know the next time that I'll get the chance to post... because...

My computer crashed.  Yup.  On Christmas morning as I was turning my computer on to talk to my family.

But, bless my roommate-- she let me use her computer to talk to my family as I was panickly trying to find out a way to fix my computer.  As I was chatting with my fam, I sent a rather pathetic post to Ty, our short-termer-maybe-longer-termer who knows a lot about computers...

"Ty... my computer is crashing! ... :X"

And I got back... "Bring it over this afternoon..."

It's still there.

Anyway... so, it's been busy with Christmas festivities, last days of school... 125 vocabulary words in one lesson at school...  and preparing for the message tomorrow at FUSE...

...which is why I don't have much time tonight to post.  So, off I go to finish preparing and get to bed.  Merry Christmas to everyone and safe surfing!!

And Still... Many Have Yet to Hear....

Ha!  Not much time to post tonight... lately, it's been late nights and lots of FUSE stuff and studying, as we are getting farther and farther ahead in Japanese class... and as one of my classmates said and I completely agree: the more I study Japanese, the more confusing I think it is.

Um, so this Sunday we had 4 new people, which is always awesome!  Two were younger Christians, visiting from a church in Yokohama.  Two weren't.  One of them, Katsuya, was met by the group on Friday at street outreach.  I didn't go that night because I have had a lingering cold and ridiculous throat for the last week and didn't think standing out in cold air was going to be helpful to that cause. (Katsuya is the guy on the right)

Anyway, he came on Sunday.  He's a University Student, which really surprised me, because I thought he was way older than that (for once- I always think they are younger).  We all enjoyed meeting him, and he went on to lifegroup in the evening-- which is awesome!  The guys said he was really open and clearly communicated when he didn't understand something.

But he told Mark about FUSE-- You know, I'm not a Christian or anything, but seeing people like you make me want to believe.

Isn't that awesome!  We're praying for him and so many others that God is speaking to during FUSE and when we meet them in other places or lifegroups.  Please pray for them too!

One last word: tomorrow, Mike leaves to go back to the States.  SAD times!  He's been here for 6 months, and has been a great guy, super dependable and our consistent and excellent bass player.  Solid guy.  Anyway, he's going back to get himself married... this coming weekend!  I know, crazy, right!  But, though we will really miss him, we're excited for his future. (Mike is the guy in red, leading us in a game he's famous for...)

Please pray for more workers for the Japanese harvest field!!!!

And a Cool Story...

Last week.  Wow. 

So much happened.  I took off 2 days of school to do a lot of work that mostly involved thank you cards for all those supporting me financially.  Of course, I'm incredibly grateful for all the prayers and encouragement that people send me too.  Anyway, that took quite a bit of time.  So, even though technically those were days off school, they weren't days off. (Kaori and I, last Sunday!  I love Kaori-chan!!)

But last week, I did manage to get in a few "girl time" hours with Yuiko.  It was so good to hang out, joke, tell stories and shop together.  I really, really enjoyed myself. 

Saturday, I did get a day off!!!! Imagine that!!! (there is a reason for all those exclamation points!)  I did do a little bass practice, since I'll be joining the worship team once or twice a month after Mike leaves next week.  But apart from that, I went to Shimokitazawa, just to walk around and check it out. It's a super cool little area, lots and all kinds of shops, narrow streets, etc.  I loved it, and it reminded me of my visit last year when I did so much exploring by myself. (Manami and I~ still praying for her to meet Jesus!! I believe it's going to be soon...)

For a cool story though, Sunday, after we had finished setting up for FUSE, I felt like I needed to reply to a couple of messages from some girls, one in particular, a girl named Airi.  She came for the first time about a month ago and joined my lifegroup that night and we hadn't seen her since.  She had been part of another church, the Noborito Church, but has been gone for a long time.  Mark and Yuiko know her.  Anyway, she came on Sunday, and I was excited to see her!  She also joined Lifegroup with Lizzie and Saki and I... which was again a bilingual lifegroup, and I got plenty of Japanese practice! 

After Lifegroup, she told me that she got up that morning and was thinking, hmm, should I go to FUSE today?  She was going back and forth on it, and was kinda unsure about going.  But then she received my message and decided, "ok, I'm going to FUSE today."  How cool is that?  God prompted me to send a message, and it brought her to FUSE!!!!  Anyway, we talked about Zaccheus and about the way to not be lost or feel lost is to meet Jesus everyday, and that if we search for Him, He promises that we will find Him.  It was a superb evening!~~  Praying that she'll be finding Him everyday and that she becomes a very strong Christian, discipling others!

Well, 'tis all for the moment.  Are you excited for Christmas?  I am!  I don't even know what I'm doing on Christmas Day, but I'm excited!