- Priscilla's Followup Letter
Here's my follow up letter...I beleve we are supposed to post it on here (Priscilla)
Friday, July 8, 2005
Here's my follow up letter...I beleve we are supposed to post it on here (Priscilla)
Friday, July 8, 2005
To my prayerful friends,
Praise be to God for a safe return back from Japan and for His grace bestowed on our team while we were there. We returned back to the States on July 4 and finished up debriefing on July 6. The Lord was gracious and did many things in and through us during our short two weeks in Osaka. From pretty much the start of our trip, illness seemed to circulate throughout our team…I’m not sure if there was ever a period of time when all eight of us were healthy. But God used even minor sickness to give us thankful hearts and to allow us to learn to be dependent upon the rock of our salvation! Many unexpected events occurred during our time in Japan, but I truly believe God was glorified through our team in each one of them.
As some of you know, our team visited three different college campuses around Osaka, speaking English to the students in the campus English clubs. Our goal was to connect those Japanese students to Hamadera Bible Church. It was very fun getting to know these students, develop friendships with them, and share about our lives and our faith. For me, visiting campuses and going on outings this year, was much different from doing the same things last year. Having kept in contact with a handful of students throughout the past year, I was very excited to see these friends again. The desire to see them come to repentance was much stronger within my own heart. Existing relationships with some of these students allowed for more openness and a greater understanding between one another.
One girl in particular that God allowed me to get to know better is a girl named Haruka. I met her last year and discovered that we were of the same age. Haruka is a seemingly fragile, expressionless girl who is very interested in learning about world cultures. She wants to be a Japanese-English translator in the future so her English is at a rather high level…which God is sovereign over because I don’t speak any Japanese. Some girls and I were able to get to know her better this year and all praise goes to God that this year she came to one of the church events! She was also able to hear the gospel in Japanese this year, and she said she would think more about the truth. It is difficult to tell if she is truly convicted by the truth, but praise God for His mercy in allowing her to hear the gospel. Pray for her quick repentance and that she would continue relations with people at Hamadera Bible Church.
Other than that, our team worked around the church, doing painting and yard work. We also helped out with the adult and children’s English classes that they hold at the church, which is a great ministry that some Americans from Hamadera teach. Some of the unbelievers that attend the English classes have been going to the church for many years learning English and have been able to hear the gospel and study parts of the Bible in English. There are also many English classes for children that expose children to the gospel at a young age even though their parents are not Christians. It was really a blessing to see the efforts the church goes to for outreach, to reach the people in the neighborhood and allow them to hear the good news.
It was so great to be around brothers and sisters at Hamadera and see their love for Christ. It was very encouraging to witness strong Japanese believers living worshipful lives in a country that is less than 1% Christian. I had opportunity to be a part of the Kato family for two weeks. They were one of the kindest families that I’ve ever met and served me cheerfully each day. Our team ate very well and participated in fun events every day. God provided for our team is so many ways definitely beyond what I had prayed for.
Here’s how you can continue to pray for Japan:
with a heart of thanks,
Priscilla Chang
Praise be to God for a safe return back from Japan and for His grace bestowed on our team while we were there. We returned back to the States on July 4 and finished up debriefing on July 6. The Lord was gracious and did many things in and through us during our short two weeks in Osaka. From pretty much the start of our trip, illness seemed to circulate throughout our team…I’m not sure if there was ever a period of time when all eight of us were healthy. But God used even minor sickness to give us thankful hearts and to allow us to learn to be dependent upon the rock of our salvation! Many unexpected events occurred during our time in Japan, but I truly believe God was glorified through our team in each one of them.
As some of you know, our team visited three different college campuses around Osaka, speaking English to the students in the campus English clubs. Our goal was to connect those Japanese students to Hamadera Bible Church. It was very fun getting to know these students, develop friendships with them, and share about our lives and our faith. For me, visiting campuses and going on outings this year, was much different from doing the same things last year. Having kept in contact with a handful of students throughout the past year, I was very excited to see these friends again. The desire to see them come to repentance was much stronger within my own heart. Existing relationships with some of these students allowed for more openness and a greater understanding between one another.
One girl in particular that God allowed me to get to know better is a girl named Haruka. I met her last year and discovered that we were of the same age. Haruka is a seemingly fragile, expressionless girl who is very interested in learning about world cultures. She wants to be a Japanese-English translator in the future so her English is at a rather high level…which God is sovereign over because I don’t speak any Japanese. Some girls and I were able to get to know her better this year and all praise goes to God that this year she came to one of the church events! She was also able to hear the gospel in Japanese this year, and she said she would think more about the truth. It is difficult to tell if she is truly convicted by the truth, but praise God for His mercy in allowing her to hear the gospel. Pray for her quick repentance and that she would continue relations with people at Hamadera Bible Church.
Other than that, our team worked around the church, doing painting and yard work. We also helped out with the adult and children’s English classes that they hold at the church, which is a great ministry that some Americans from Hamadera teach. Some of the unbelievers that attend the English classes have been going to the church for many years learning English and have been able to hear the gospel and study parts of the Bible in English. There are also many English classes for children that expose children to the gospel at a young age even though their parents are not Christians. It was really a blessing to see the efforts the church goes to for outreach, to reach the people in the neighborhood and allow them to hear the good news.
It was so great to be around brothers and sisters at Hamadera and see their love for Christ. It was very encouraging to witness strong Japanese believers living worshipful lives in a country that is less than 1% Christian. I had opportunity to be a part of the Kato family for two weeks. They were one of the kindest families that I’ve ever met and served me cheerfully each day. Our team ate very well and participated in fun events every day. God provided for our team is so many ways definitely beyond what I had prayed for.
Here’s how you can continue to pray for Japan:
- Hamadera Bible Church: Pray that God would continue to grow the believers there to be faithful to Him. You can praise God for the faithful preaching of the Word through Pastor Kondo, Pastor Okada, and Pastor Doi. Pray that the Christians would be strong in the Word and cling to what is good!
- Japanese students from the universities we visited: Pray that those that were able to hear the gospel would really think about the gospel. Pray that they would not be afraid to think differently than how their friends and family think for the sake of knowing the one, true God. Pray specifically for Haruka, the girl that I mentioned before. Also, pray for continued relations between the universities and Hamadera Bible Church for the future.
- English classes at HBC: Pray that God would use the Americans serving in Japan as well as the church members to show the adults and children the love of God.
- Our team: Pray for our continued humility and that we would be faithful to pray and follow up on our friends in Japan!
with a heart of thanks,
Priscilla Chang