recapitulate

After 1.5 sleepless nights back in the USA, my body is slowly readjusting.
But my mind is still in Osaka. I thank God for the amazing time spent in J-House. One month flew through my fingers as we waved goodbye to friends, new relationships developed in Japan. God showed us a thriving Christian community with passionate followers of Christ, living as lights among darkness. Everyday was such an unexpected blessing and testimony of how God moves in Japan.
3 days out of the week consisted of Church gatherings: Sunday Worship, Wednesday Prayer meeting, and Friday Big Wave Worship. Tuesday-Thursday our team traveled to Kansai, Kansai-Gaidai, Handai, Kangaku for Campus Evangelism in the form of "Funky Club"- MELT (My English Lunch Time), RUSH, ENT (Eat N Talk), etc. Meeting up with each new student was a unique experience and blessing. After getting to know them and develop a friendship, our role was to invite them to events; God brought them in. In each of the events we hosted, we experienced God's grace and providence in who came out and how the night went.
Each night after the event-filled day, we had "team-time". Richard used this time to share a devotional from a Bible passage. These were gold. Afterward we'd take the time to pray and ask God for the things of the day or at hand, to thank Him for his unwavering faithfulness, and to confess our sins before God and each other. I truly believe these times molded our team in our heads and hearts; it brought back the focus on the only thing that mattered: Are we loving God and His people?
Before we slept, small-group met in each respective room. It started well in the beginning, but only grew deeper as we were able to open up and share our thoughts and feelings- matters of the heart. We acknowledged the struggle, identified the sin, and confessed it. Proverbs 28:13, James 5:16.
I can say that after this trip, our team has grown deeper in the Word and has become more conscious of the words we speak- are they edifying and building up? or is it merely crude joking which serves no good purpose. The Bible says we will be judged for every careless word we say, and that the tongue of the righteous is choice silver (Proverbs 10:20). Therefore, being aware that words can either bring life or death, we should guard our tongues. In this I see tremendous change in our team, and I thank God that He allowed us to grow in this way.
One thing we all developed and would love to take home: the discipline of Morning Prayer. To start the day off with immersing yourself in the Word, what can beat that? Every morning at J-House, everyone gathers at 7 (6:55am), reads/devo for 30 minutes, then we sings songs of praise, pray together, then someone shares a devotional of the day. What an amazing thing! And a great challenge/conviction to apply.
God has taught me so many things. But most of all, to cherish His word, and to love Him by loving people, with the loving grace that He has shown us and loved us with.
Praise God. Give thanks always, in all circumstances, be an excellent worker, for you work unto God and not man. Let's continue to strive whether it be in Japan, India, Nicaragua, Uganda, or even in the US of A. May God's word dwell in our hearts and mold us daily!

Crunch Time

June 21 - 25 Preparation Week

June 27-July 2 Intensive Retreat

July 4 Commissioning Service

July 6 DEPARTURE @ 12:15am


Praise God for providing sufficient funds for the trip!
Thank you to all the supporters. Seriously.
However we still need a bit more for our team total. God will provide.
As the day we leave draws nearer, I feel more excited, but at the same time there is much to be done for preparation! Especially need more prayer.

Next week we'll be assigned our team roles and we'll be learning all our skits & body worship! We're bursting with ideas on how to present the gospel!
We're also going over a tool called "Lifebook" created by a Japanese Missionary to help share the gospel with the people. It talks about the Bible, who Jesus is, and addresses SIN. Hopefully we'll learn some useful Japanese phrases too!

Please be in prayer for our team unity and hearts as we prepare these upcoming weeks!
Thank you! =)

God may our hearts stay focused on you and your glory.

the CLIMB

honestly, it was very challenging.
hiking in the heat of the day, carrying gallons of water.

also, for food challenge/training,
we faced the RETURN OF BBEUN DAE-GI!!!
& the gasoline i mean Durian wafers.

I feel like these things are meant to remind me of how weak I am.
I especially hate the crunchy part. & the flakiness of the wafers..

But the good points we reaped from today:
1. Suffering together = Team bonding, Learning how to love each other.
2. Be prepared at all times to share the gospel to any stranger/friend.
3. Know your Bible. finally, Roll up your sleeves to avoid farmer's tan.


God is good & His creation testifies of His wonder & glory. Peace!

Destination; JAPAN! :)

This was a wall-decoration at our Cafe Night Saturday.
Keep trusting in God. He is Faithful! :)

Parallel Parking & Discipline

Living in LA has taught me to never take parking spots for granted.
It's not unusual to cruise around, sometimes even 20-30 minutes.
As soon as we see one spot open, we pounce on it like it's prey.
Of course, even the vacancies aren't always an easy fit.
Before college, I've never had to Parallel Park.
Living at the apartments, I only Parallel Park.

Usually it takes me an average of about 5-7 tries (reverse, drive, reverse, drive..)
And that's WITH assistance. When I attempt solo, it's around 7-10.
Maybe that's a little exaggerated, but reality is, I sucked!

That is why today was an unusual and happy day.
After coming back from a dorm dinner, I was in search mode for an open spot.
I've noticed when I pray and ask God for a spot, I find one right away.
I did, but I didn't specify the size; it was barely big enough for my Civic.
I drove up, reversed into it like I'd been instructed to do/done before.
TO my surprise, It only took me like 3 tries!!! hALLELUJAh!! :)

Of course, I'm not perfect at it (yet). But my passengers do notice a more pruned, confident, experienced parallel-parker in me than before.
This little episode not only left me really shocked and slightly proud of this achievement, I realized something. I do believe every aspect of life can reflect and serve as metaphors for a greater truth. Even something like Parallel Parking.

1) I really sucked at it.
2) I kept doing it.
3) I got better!

Simple, but true. Why not apply this to other aspects of life, like discipline?
I realize I'm not the only one who struggles with doing daily devotionals.
Our spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Maybe the spirit needs a boost too.
Anyways, although now we may be undisciplined, we (out of necessity) must keep at it.
And eventually, VOILA! It'll come naturally and flow out of habit/refined expertise.
Experience is the teacher. Even if it means lots of failed attempts.

LET'S STRIVE ON BROTHERS&SISTERS! :)

So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:26-27

"Super Saturday"

On top of the normal weekly Sunday night mission trainings, once every couple Saturdays we meet from 9am - 5pm. Today was one of those days.

It was surprisingly beautiful and enjoyable.
Location: a nearby park with friendly green grass and a lovely lake (with ducks).
Training: Open-air body worship, praising & dancing like no other.
Challenge: Culture Shock foods. 3 plates of- Durian wafers, Silkworm, Jackfruit, Some sort of chunky anchovy in a maroon sauce, some sort of mystery meat that looked like cat-food/tasted like spam, & lychee(that saved us- we ended up stuffing the Silkworm aka "Bbeun-dae gi" inside and then using the jackfruit to wash it down).
Lunch: Delicious Hot dogs- praise God for "normal" food.
Group: Here was the beautiful moment- we gathered for team time- found a nice patch of grass near the water, it was slightly inclined, slightly breeze-prone, warmly sunny on our shoulders/faces. Our teammate led us into "How Great is our God" and then "Heart of Worship". Eyes closed, I experienced peace just worshipping God and soaking His presence with my team..
Surprise: They had us fooled- we thought we were done with the funky foods. They saved the best for last- "BALUT!" A balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell.
We definitely experienced involuntary gag-reflexes and questioned the strength of our stomachs when we saw the size of those eggs. The worst part was the smell (reminded me of a chicken coup in a farm - the smell stayed on your fingers even after soapage).

It was tough. Literally, they overcooked the egg so the yolk esp was very dry going down. x)

It's amazing how much closer you can feel with someone else when you both have to eat weird stuff together. I understand now why they made us go through that~

All in all, our leader was pointing us back to God, in hopes that we may grasp a little more of how Great and HOly and AWESOME He is. Right now, we don't see it.
1 Corinthians 13:12- Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Tomorrow at Chapel, our Japan team will be selling Rice-Balls, Ramen & Tea as a fundraiser! All proceeds go to God's glory! :)

Still in awe,
Shalom

Thank You

Being a carpenter, He understood it well beyond others.
Each time he hammered a nail through a piece of wood.

He knew since the beginning that He was going to die.
He knew since the beginning How He was going to die.

Yet he lived his whole life as a sacrifice for us.
He ate with us, taught us, served us, all the while
knowing that we would crucify Him.

He didn't have to say a word
yet He did to show us how

we should live, overcome, fight

if anyone is worthy to be praised
anyone worthy to be glorified, elevated

it's Him.

why do we not understand?
Why do I forget?

Thank you for your life, death, and resurrection.
Invisible, you are still there, always.
BECAUSE you live, I can face tomorrow.
Because you LIVE, All Fear is Gone.
Because I know YOU hold the future
and life is worth the living
JUST because you live.