churches I've given my testimony at & b-day gifts

ABOVE
The 3rd church I shared my testimony at in Japanese was Okubo church in Shinjuku. Here's the pastor, Shin Kawano, and his family (his elder daughter is hidden behind him). Pray for unity of the Spirit!

21st b-day gifts: flowers from Daiju, origami and other hand-made gifts from little girls at church, stationary & stickers, letters, and a traditional handbag from Kazumi.
The first church I shared my testimony at was Elevate Church in Osaka. It just got started recently. Pray for its growth!!!

This is J-Wave, a monthly Friday night youth event. (those on stage are dressed special because it's a holiday, namely, Tanabata) Pray for souls to be saved through this event, and that the Christians there are encouraged and stay strong.

A Japanese Gospel Choir

Today I got to hang out with Shigeko, whom I met last year on my first trip to Tokyo. She hasn't been a Christian for too long, and it was great to be able to encourage her in her faith.
She showed me a great time. Shigeko herself is a riot, and her friends are all very unique people. After going to my first Japanese yard sale, we went to see a church's Gospel choir perform (I'll try uploading a video later...it isn't working now). I could tell they practiced really hard. English is soooo different from Japanese, especially in pronuncian. Props to the gospel choir!
Afterward, Shigeko, Rita (a missionary from Brazil), Midori, Megu (the latter two nonChristian ladies) and I went out to eat for dinner. The restaurant was Jonathan's (no, it doesn't belong to my elder brother...). Quite fun. I hope I can hang out with them again. Megu and I exchanged e-mails and phone numbers.
Tomorrow I'll give my testimony in Japanese...this is my third time to do it. Daiju translated it, and I'm just reading (not quoting) it, but it's still hard for me. At least I can get others to read the Scripture verses. That makes it easier for me...but it's still hard.
May God be glorified!!!

yo-sh

Okay, so I'm sure I've been told this before, but I was reminded today: it's funny to hear a girly girl say 'yosh'. It's more of a guy thing to say. It means something like 'oka---y' when you're moving into a different room or something. Kinda hard to explain in writing...
Oh, and sorry that I had the comment setting wrong. I had told people that they could comment, but I had it set to where only Blogger members could comment! Oops! Sorry y'all!
I'm soooo busy...More update later!!!!

It's all about 愛 (love)

People have been wondering why I came all the way to Japan alone just to help churches (not sight-see) and why I like Japan and its people so much. That's when I get to tell them I want to share God's love with the people. The love I have for Japan comes from Him. I am here to give the approximately 98% who don't know Christ (most haven't even heard of Him) the opportunity to do so. "You are the Lord, the Famous One/Great is Your name in all the earth..."
I've started a little get together at church on Monday afternoons called Meet Amanda. I hope it will be a good outreach program. I am trying to get Jr. High and Highschoolers to come. I invited a few I saw on the train today. Everyone tells me the kids come to church until around sixth grade, and then they disappear until college/work-age. But this gap must be bridged. Just look at Japan's news: the younger generation is degrading to a level as low as or lower than many American youth. Sure, Japan's crime rate is still lower than the US, but that doesn't mean nothing's wrong. A recent static trend has been children burning down their homes with their parents inside. Adults are messed up too--just like you see in the US. But God has called me to Japan. So, to those of you in the US, がんばれ！ Persevere!
My pastor (not Dr. Mathews, but Takarada-sensei) came to the church here with two representatives from a group of Americans trying to use Billy Grahams' evangelism method to reach the world for Christ. They told us that, basically, you pray fervently for like 10 nonbelievers you are in consistent contact with. You pray for them for 6 months, all the while sharing the Gospel with them. At the end of the six months, you invite them to a big revival/rally thingy, at which most if not all accept Christ as Lord and Savior. One of the members said something profound: he said he's sick of making excuses. Japanese hearts are hard, seemingly impenetrable. The Japanese are a hard group to reach, even for their own. Many methods of outreach have been implemented, but with few positive results. He said he feels it's time to PRAY.
みなさん、　祈りましょう！　Everybody, let's pray!

the church as a family

I know Scripture talks about the church being a family--esp. like a marriage. But I never thought of being involved in more than one church at a time as trying to be a member of two families at once. That's something I was just told today. I'm to remember the roles of the pastor and others, as well as mine, recognize them, respect them, and keep them. It can be detrimental for me to try to serve in two churches at one time. The church I serve in should be the one whose pastor I am accountable to and who is responsible for my spiritual welfare.
This is a really new concept for me, so it will take some time for me to really grasp and believe it.
Above are some pictures (maybe just one, I don't know how many loaded) from when Makito (my previous roommate[Satoko]'s bf) came to the church here.
busy busy busy busy.........................

I don't wanna miss a thing

No, I'm not singing a country song...I'm talking about the Bible.
Tonight at Akebono Baptist Church's prayer meeting, we read from 2 Chronicles (sp?) 19. How could I miss such a cool chapter?? I know I've read the whole book, but I guess not carefully enough. I now re-resolve to read the Bible more carefully! We should discern and judge via our God!!!
Please pray for the new Christians in Japan. They face a very difficult decision--how to serve God and not idols without ostracizing themselves from their families and society.
Today I talked with several elementary school age girls about my experience as a church kid. After I told them my experiences and what I have learned (that going to church should be something I want to do, not just an obligation to my parents), we had a Q&A time. They asked me all kinds of questions (I understood less than half of them--thankfully Shindo-sensei was there to translate for me).
"How old were you when you first went to church?"
"In church in America, do you sing songs and play games and hand-bells?"
"How many Bibles do you have? Were they all given to you?"
"Have you read the entire Bible?"
"Was there ever a time you didn't want to go to church? Why?"
"When you were a kid, was there something about church you didn't like?"
"How fast can you read one page of the Bible? How long does it take to read one book in the Bible?"
I got several questions like that last one. It was then that I explained the important thing is to listen to what God says as you read the Bible, not to finish it quickly. I said:
Imagine both of your parents went on a trip without you and left you here. You get a really long letter from them. It is a very special letter. Do you look at it and say, 'Okay, how fast can I read this letter?' or do you read it carefully and thoughtfully, thinking of them as you read? That's how it is with us and God. The Bible contains His words.

Mitsu-chan ate my donuts

I really like my host family. They are so kind and patient and understanding--just wonderful people all around. But their dog, Mitsu, has a lot of growing up to do.
Mitsu barks loud and often. She jumps onto the table and eats a whole plate of food in seconds. She seems to take a long time to warm up to people. She took my shoes. She stuck her face into a guest's bag and tried to pull out some goodies. She barked many times over during the prayer at our Bible study.
The donuts weren't actually mine. On Saturday, I went shopping with Yuko and her daughter, Erika (Shindo-sensei's family). We went to Mr. Donut (a popular donut shop who's name I am sure I misspelled somehow). I just got a shake, but Erika got a little box of donuts. She couldn't eat them all in one sitting, and her mother's arms were already occupied by Erika, so I volunteered to keep them in my backpack.
Yuko had to rush to get a train back to her place (that's a WHOLE 'nother story!), and I forgot to hand off the donuts to her. She called me later and told me to eat them for breakfast on Sunday. Mitsu had other plans...
I set the donuts on the table. They were in a bag. I just left them for a minute. When I returned, the entire bag was empty and paper was hanging out of Mitsu's mouth. I looked up the word 'vomit' in my bilingual dictionary so I could warn my host mother. She was shocked, as always, by Mitsu's behavior, but said Mitsu wouldn't vomit.
Since then we have been taking extra precautions to protect our food from Mitsu.

Yesterday I stayed at a friend's house overnight. We had dinner at midnight. I was the only one there who thought that was strange. When I told them that I and many other Americans often have dinner around 7pm, they thought that was quite early. When I mentioned my family prefers 5pm, their jaws dropped. [note: another Japanese family I stayed with is accustomed to eating at 6pm, so I think it just depends on the family and the age of the kids]

Today I drank kelp tea. It looked like a ball of moss in light green water, smelled like the ocean, and tasted salty. All around, not that bad. I actually kind of liked it (not that I'm requesting it or anything--I just don't mind it).

This past weekend was really busy and kind of hard, but it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot.
When I gave my testimony in Japanese on Friday night (I just read Daiju's translation of it...), I was so scared. I hated how hard it was just for me to read a piece of paper. I don't know how my international friends can memorize whole presentations for college in the US. Several times, I seriously considered stepping down. I genuinely wanted to give up. I wanted someone to walk up their and take the paper from me, to put me out of my misery. But each time I was tempted to step down, I took a deep breath, swallowed my frustration, and remembered one very important thing: THIS is the whole reason I am in Japan! I came here to share the good news with Japanese people--the good news of His grace, what God has done in my life.
Jesus Himself said, 'What should I say? Should I ask to let this hour pass from me? No, it was for this very reason I have come.' (see John 12:27-30)

In case any random viewers are wondering, this is my bf. ぐんまけんのしゅしん。　はい、　それでわ。。。

sha-shim

So, these are the pictures from Monday, when I (Barbie blue dress) hung out with Katie (yellow Snow-White style dress) and Liz (velvet red dress). Both of these ladies are 2-year missionaries to Osaka. Katie will finish her term this year, which Liz just got started at the beginning of this year.
When we saw these crazy costume dresses, we couldn't resist playing dress-up. Notice I got to be the bridesmaid twice. Looking at my dress, I think Liz's wedding's theme was Hanshin Tigers (Osaka baseball team).

Chiba

Now I am in Chiba (near Tokyo). After several hours on a shinkansen (bullet train), the ofuro (personal hot tub) felt REALLY good. I am staying at a friend's house now. Tomorrow I will go with her to take her son, Rui, to school. Then we will go shopping. It's very relaxing at her house.
Though I love Osaka and the people I left there, I have a stong assurance within me that I left at the right time. I know I should be here now and not there. It's weird--I love Osaka so much, but now I am becoming more and more confident that I should be in the countryside, probably in the Kanto area.
On Friday I'll meet a bunch of the people I will be serving with for the next month or so. That's also when I move in with my long-term host family. Finally, I will have my checked bags!!! I don't have to wash clothes every 2-3 days any more!! I will have my junk!! Hoo-hah.
Japan's prime minister (Junichiro Koizumi) visited Pres. G. W. Bush in the USA the other day. My mom watched it there in English, and I here in Japanese, and we both got this much of the story: the prime minister likes Elvis. Neither of us knows why he visited our country. Nice...actually, pretty darn sad...but anyway.............
I have talked on the phone twice with my mom since I've been here and once with Daiju (last night). I'm not really homesick yet though. Just trying to get over jet-lag and missing my bf. The phone call helped with the latter, staying active with the former.
Now I am considering applying for the JET program. We'll see what God says and does...

Quick Note and Mini-Sermon

Notice--
Today I gave my testimony in Japanese at Elevate Church. I don't think I did well, but at least I did it. I surrendered it to Christ before going up there, and I know I did my best, so I am tryin not be down about it.
I have this weird tendency to put myself down for not having gone further instead of praising myself for improving as much as I have. I have noticed this with my learning of Japanese. People tell me じょうず　じょうず、but I rarely agree with them. I am so far from where I want to be in communicating. Yet I know the ability I have is from God, so who am I to argue with His pace?
It's hard to go from knowing to believing, isn't it?
This morning I read from Acts 10:9-something. It was right after the centurian Cornelius sent his guys to find Peter so he could know Jesus, but before Peter truly believed God wants every nation to come to Him. When, in the trance/vision, God offered various cermonially 'unclean' kinds of meat to Peter, he refused them. He didn't refuse them saying 'no, God! How could I dishoner You and displease You by eating that??' No. He, in effect, said 'No way jose! That'd break my perfect record of self-righteousness!!!!' Don't we often think that way? We prefer to follow the rule over the Ruler.
Today a fairly new Christian asked me about two controversial topics in the Christian circle: baptism and alcohol.
She said, "In Japan, we have two kinds--the sprinkle and the immersion. Do you have two kinds in America, too?" I told her yes, but explained the controversy. Though I am partial to the baptists, having been raised as one, I told her the important thing was the meaning. When a person is baptized, it is because they want to show everyone that they truly have dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ and have gained a new life. So, technically, a sprinkle could serve this purpose. Heck, drinking orange juice could serve the pupose if everyone agreed it symbolized that. But the preference the Baptists cling to, immersion, is on account of the meaning of the word 'baptism' as it is used in the Bible. The original word means 'to submerge', so to follow the Bible that literally would mean to be immersed into the water after conversion to Christianity.
Then she asked about if it was okay for a Christian to drink alcohol. Again, being raised in the environment I was, I would prefer to tell her not to drink. But the Bible says Christians can drink alcohol---just don't get drunk. The theory traditional and logical 'dry' folk have is that one does not always know the strength of the beverage and thus could not know one's own limit. Therefore, it is safer not to drink at all than to risk being drunk.
This is one of those eating-meat-sacrificed-to-idols debates. If you feel it is a sin for you OR if by doing it you could cause someone else to sin (like, someone sees you drinking and says "Oh, he's drinking! I'm gonna go get drunk! Woopy!), then DON'T do it. But if you have NO conviction from the Holy Spirit, God's Word, or otherwise against it, then go ahead and don't be ashamed.