First full month!

Konnichiwa mina! (Hello Everyone!)


I'm back with another update! Its been my first full month since I've been here and I'm quite surprised how fast it went by! But since I've been here, I've learned and experienced so much that it makes me excited and a bit anxious to know whats in store for the next 2 years plus!

This month and a bit of September marked the beginning of the second college semester. As I've explained in my last post, The main bulk of the ministry that I do here is go out into the local university campuses (well not sooo local, each university takes at least 30-40mins to get to) and reach out to the students using various means depending on the university. I go to 2 out of 3 of the universities a week. The first university that I go to is called Kwansei Gakuen, "Kangaku" for short. The second university is called Kansai Gaidai. Both are international schools so its normal to see a lot of foreigners walking around and just hanging out. Both also have different policies. Kangaku being built on Christian values, is a little more relaxed on the activities that we do while we're there. Gaidai on the other hand being a Buddhist school, prohibits our activities to the point of kicking us off campus and warning students on bulletin boards about J-house activity. I have not yet experienced getting kicked off of Gaidai campus, but some of my missionary buddies have told me that it has happened to them. so we need to be a little more careful when entering the campus. It has been a big joy of mine to go on both campuses to reach out, and even with the language barrier, i'm able to do just that, thanks to the fact that a lot of the students can understand english and even like it. That still doesn't stop me from learning and trying to use Japanese from time to time.

With other activities in the church, We had a welcome party for the new J-soldiers, that would be me and 2 others from Korea. We also marked the start of Street evangelism, and it is what the names says folks! Every Saturday, unless it's raining, we pick a spot in the city and we set up shop with a guitar, mic and a speaker, play songs and evangelize to random people walking about doing their daily business. It was sort of weird for me at first, I mean just going outside and playing guitar and singing worship songs, i've never done it before, but after a time I just didn't care anymore. It was great fun just going out and proclaiming the gospel without shame. We've actually only done it once though since we started, it rained the last couple of Saturdays, but we're all raring to do it again every next Saturday that comes up.
J-house also had its first Open Worship session, held on a Friday. It's kind of a smaller version of worship service, in the J-house Chapel area instead of their sanctuary and it had more of an acoustic feel, Acoustic guitar, keyboard and Bongos. I was asked to lead the worship set and it was the very first bilingual set that I had led. I was nervous because J-house does worship a little differently from what I do, but God blessed the set with a very creative and motivated team, ready to worship, so I in turn was very blessed and humbled by the experience at the same time. and I look forward to working with them again!

I've also started a few "extra-curricular" activities on my spare time. Some of the members of my team and another church member have started a little english/bible study session on tuesdays that I teach, I've also been taking Some Japanese lessons every Saturday....little by little, i've given myself at least 8 months to a year before I start conversing in Japanese, I'm determined, yet taking my time still and re-saturating myself in the country, culture and language. I'm also still exercising! Though I have stopped doing heavy weights at the gym, I've still resorted to doing a lot of cardio workouts through cycling, running, and jump rope, plus I have my own make shift weights since weights in Japan are super expensive (50-60 bucks for a 30lbs dumb bell, crazy!). I want to be physically ready just encase anything physically demanding comes up. I've also started playing my guitar more frequently, delving back in to songs that I already know and learning more music as a I go. I realize that I need a new repertoire just encase I'm asked to present something. I'm usually used to playing in the background and adding back up vocals for someone, but now that things have changed, I'm back to soloing, so getting myself back into the groove and learning new grooves will be necessary for me.

Well that was my first month in a nutshell, I will continue to update as I go along, I realized that maybe a months update is too far apart, so I may start updating more frequently when I have the time. Again, I'm eternally grateful for everything up till now and it's only the beginning. So please continue to pray for the following:

1. That God continues to open up hearts and minds to Jesus in Japan, as The rest of the Jesus Soldiers and I continue to reach out to the lost in Japan, pray that God gives us Wisdom and leads us with his Will, and pray that those we converse with and make relationships with start see the truth about their world and how they are living. As easy as it is to make friendship and talk to people, sharing the gospel in Japan is a long process. Many here are like the Seeds planted in the weeds. There's so many worldly pleasures to offer that have the ability to choke the Word out of them. Still less then 0.5% of the population know Jesus, it's high time that Japan experienced a revolution.

2. Energy and Health. I'm busy almost everyday and again being still human, I get really tired. So pray that God continues to give my friends and I the energy to keep going. Also, the weather is starting to change where I am, its getting colder (though I'm pretty sure its a lot colder in Canada, its still in the +20s here) and some of us are getting health issues because of the change. Pray that we stay healthy and ready to continue serving, and if we do get sick, the wisdom to rest and recover.

3. Innovation, wisdom and flexibility. Pray that Jesus will continue to show us new and innovative ways to reach out to the lost. Also pray for flexibility, though my journey here so far sounds fun and exciting, it isn't without its frustrations. pray that we stay patient during those times. I know that during the years that I am here, there will be times when I just don't understand whats going on, but pray that God continues to give patience and peace that transcends all understanding.

4. Again, Continued financial support. I cannot do this without you. I need at least $400/month to sustain myself here so please continue to support. Thank you for the contributions that you have made so far, and I hope you continue to help me out here for the next couple of years. If you have any donations to give, please give it care of Mississauga Family Baptist Church (MFBC)

SOOOOO until next time! Matta ne!

Chris