Happy Monday!
We started off the day with a team meeting, in which Eric reminded us of why we are here in Japan. Romans 10:14 says, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?” We are here because in order for people to believe, they need to hear the gospel. It was good also to be reminded that we share the gospel, but cannot give people faith. That is a great work for God to do!
We then prayed for the students we met yesterday, that the Lord would provide more opportunities for us to share the gospel with them. We may see some of them on Tuesday. We also thanked the Lord for the church members here at HBC, who have so selflessly and joyfully taken care of us these past few days. They cooked us a large, yummy lunch and even gave us mochi for dessert!
After lunch, we took the train to Osaka University with Yumi, one of our unbelieving friends, to meet Hiro. Hiro is an old friend who has hung out with past STMs before. He even visited us at GOC UCLA last year! While we had some time waiting for Hiro, we met Takashi and hung out a bit. We had fun showing Takashi how to take “headless” pictures!
We started off the day with a team meeting, in which Eric reminded us of why we are here in Japan. Romans 10:14 says, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?” We are here because in order for people to believe, they need to hear the gospel. It was good also to be reminded that we share the gospel, but cannot give people faith. That is a great work for God to do!
We then prayed for the students we met yesterday, that the Lord would provide more opportunities for us to share the gospel with them. We may see some of them on Tuesday. We also thanked the Lord for the church members here at HBC, who have so selflessly and joyfully taken care of us these past few days. They cooked us a large, yummy lunch and even gave us mochi for dessert!
After lunch, we took the train to Osaka University with Yumi, one of our unbelieving friends, to meet Hiro. Hiro is an old friend who has hung out with past STMs before. He even visited us at GOC UCLA last year! While we had some time waiting for Hiro, we met Takashi and hung out a bit. We had fun showing Takashi how to take “headless” pictures!
Hiro brought us to sit in on his accounting class (equivalent of Management 1A at UCLA). It was a very cool experience to get to see what Japanese college is like! Actually, it’s very similar. Chalkboards, mics, powerpoints. The chalkboards were even the slide-up type that we have at UCLA! Afterwards, we met Hiro’s friend, Yuya, who is a Business Administration major who wants to work one day in South America. While we hung out at the school cafeteria, the Lord blessed us with good conversations. Eric, Will, Michael and Adrian were able to explain to Yuya that God is the supreme upholder of justice, not any other human power. Tomoko and I were also able to explain to Yumi what it means that sin is “choosing your own way”: that we have chosen the purpose of our lives to be pleasing ourselves rather than honoring our Creator God.
Hiro brought us to a restaurant popular with the Osaka University students, where we met Hiro’s friend, Wakki. Wakki is a Sociology major who wants to transfer and study at UCLA! We were able to have good conversations with Hiro and Wakki. Eric shared his testimony with him.
Like many Japanese students, Hiro grew up knowing nothing about Christianity, and only believing in science. But now that he has heard the gospel, he is not sure what to believe between evolution and faith. Debbie, Will, and Takashi shared the full gospel with him. Praise God that like we heard in Romans 10:14, Hiro was able to hear the gospel. The Lord is able to give the gift of faith and we are prayerfully trusting His plan for these things.
Hiro brought us to a restaurant popular with the Osaka University students, where we met Hiro’s friend, Wakki. Wakki is a Sociology major who wants to transfer and study at UCLA! We were able to have good conversations with Hiro and Wakki. Eric shared his testimony with him.
Like many Japanese students, Hiro grew up knowing nothing about Christianity, and only believing in science. But now that he has heard the gospel, he is not sure what to believe between evolution and faith. Debbie, Will, and Takashi shared the full gospel with him. Praise God that like we heard in Romans 10:14, Hiro was able to hear the gospel. The Lord is able to give the gift of faith and we are prayerfully trusting His plan for these things.
Praise God for all the opportunities He is smoothly laying out for us to share the gospel with students! Thank you so much for your prayers for us already. God hears!
Please continue to pray that we will be faithful to not only share the gospel with these students, but also to pour out ourselves to them as friends, counting them dear to our hearts.
Please continue to pray that we will be faithful to not only share the gospel with these students, but also to pour out ourselves to them as friends, counting them dear to our hearts.