Hello dearest readers! Please excuse the atrocious grammar in advance. I am equally appalled by how far my English abilities have fallen. Oh woe… D:
In the morning, Hibino-san (Shoshee’s and my host mother after the Oumis) invited Ed and Eric over for breakfast and for a spontaneous casual tea ceremony.
In the morning, Hibino-san (Shoshee’s and my host mother after the Oumis) invited Ed and Eric over for breakfast and for a spontaneous casual tea ceremony.
Before lunch, we had a chance to talk with a random OPU student who used to go to Joy Joy at HBC and learned English at the church. Takako heard that the team was at the church, and since she lives near Hamadera, she came to meet us. She is not a believer, but we will probably be able to see her again on Sunday, which is a great blessing.
What else would we do with Takako but play Boom-chicka-boom-boom?? And we wrangled in some church members to play as well. Very fun!
What else would we do with Takako but play Boom-chicka-boom-boom?? And we wrangled in some church members to play as well. Very fun!
Here are some pictures of our train station antics:
One really cool thing we did today was go to a Christian bookstore. That might not seem like a big deal because Christian bookstores seem to be everywhere in America, but to have a bookstore in Japan dedicated to Christian material and books about the gospel is amazing. With so few Christians in Japan, I was personally very encouraged that the store stays in business, and I was even more encouraged because the entire time we were in the store, we were not the only customers. Other men and women came in to look at and purchase things. Given, the bookstore also seemed a little hazy in its awareness of truth (it carried many DVDs about Mother Teresa), but praise God for this little spark of hope that Japan is not completely hardened and closed to the gospel! We picked up a bible for one of the OPU students who goes to bible study (still not a Christian), but only has a copy of John in a really bad/semi-heretical translation. The Gospel Shop was a very cool store. :]
Today was also our last official meeting with OPU, which is really sad for us. Over the course of our stay in Japan, it seems like it’s been easiest for us to talk with the students at OPU and have genuine gospel conversations with them. At night, we met the OPU students for yakiniku (lit. grilled meat), which is basically JBBQ. Kind of like we have KPop and then Jpop. Well, now I know we have KBBQ and JBBQ.
The room was kind of smoky, but the meat was good. The conversations we had during dinner were even better! It’s always so encouraging to be a creeper and eavesdrop on other team members sharing the gospel or asking deep, probing questions that cause the students to think about their lives.
The team was all pretty tired right before we met the students; there seemed to be too many students per team member, and the location made it hard to have conversations –but despite our human limitations, God is so mighty and able to provide. We know for sure that tonight, the strength we had to endure and the opportunities we had to share the gospel and really push the students were not of our own power, but of His. Praise Him so much! Even though none of the students is exactly to the point where they would want to accept Christ, many of them were open to listening and even asked questions. A few even expressed a desire to go to church. Please pray that these desires and questions would not be fleeting responses born of peer pressure and temporary emotion, but due to God using us to plant seeds in these students’ hearts that will eventually blossom into salvation!
Today was also our last official meeting with OPU, which is really sad for us. Over the course of our stay in Japan, it seems like it’s been easiest for us to talk with the students at OPU and have genuine gospel conversations with them. At night, we met the OPU students for yakiniku (lit. grilled meat), which is basically JBBQ. Kind of like we have KPop and then Jpop. Well, now I know we have KBBQ and JBBQ.
The room was kind of smoky, but the meat was good. The conversations we had during dinner were even better! It’s always so encouraging to be a creeper and eavesdrop on other team members sharing the gospel or asking deep, probing questions that cause the students to think about their lives.
The team was all pretty tired right before we met the students; there seemed to be too many students per team member, and the location made it hard to have conversations –but despite our human limitations, God is so mighty and able to provide. We know for sure that tonight, the strength we had to endure and the opportunities we had to share the gospel and really push the students were not of our own power, but of His. Praise Him so much! Even though none of the students is exactly to the point where they would want to accept Christ, many of them were open to listening and even asked questions. A few even expressed a desire to go to church. Please pray that these desires and questions would not be fleeting responses born of peer pressure and temporary emotion, but due to God using us to plant seeds in these students’ hearts that will eventually blossom into salvation!
The team has really come to treasure all of the students that we have talked to over the past two weeks, and I personally have learned so much through my interactions with them. God has opened up my eyes to what it really means to have a heart for the lost. For possibly the first time in my life, I actually understand what it means to share the gospel out of love, and not obligation, to declare it fearlessly and boldly because I genuinely love the people I am speaking to. I feel like crying because some of these students (if not all of them) I may never see again. However, I hope and I dearly and fervently pray that I may be able to see them in Heaven one day.
Please pray that:
1. Students would come out to our Friday, Saturday, and Sunday events! Especially Sunday! A lot of students are busy or are “maybes” –so please pray that God would somehow motivate them to come out!
2. We would continue to have intentional, good conversations and would be faithful to the end, not giving up but continuing to run.
3. We would humble ourselves before God and depend on His strength daily.
4. The church would make a cumulative effort to welcome the college students and form relationships that would tie these students more permanently to the church so that they would continue to learn about the gospel even when our team is gone.
5. God would display His glory by saving these students!!!
6. As always, please don’t forget Oumi-san! Pray for a quick and less painful recovery.
-Korinn
Please pray that:
1. Students would come out to our Friday, Saturday, and Sunday events! Especially Sunday! A lot of students are busy or are “maybes” –so please pray that God would somehow motivate them to come out!
2. We would continue to have intentional, good conversations and would be faithful to the end, not giving up but continuing to run.
3. We would humble ourselves before God and depend on His strength daily.
4. The church would make a cumulative effort to welcome the college students and form relationships that would tie these students more permanently to the church so that they would continue to learn about the gospel even when our team is gone.
5. God would display His glory by saving these students!!!
6. As always, please don’t forget Oumi-san! Pray for a quick and less painful recovery.
-Korinn