Japan Update: April 2012
Hello again to all of my friends and family that are far away from me! I must start by saying that I am really sorry I did not update you last month!! There really is no excuse, though my reason is that I have been extremely busy this past month, especially around the time I write my newsletter. I hope you will forgive me. I hope you have been well and you are enjoying a good Spring-time! Here is a brief summary of what has happened over the past couple of months.
DTS
The YWAM Tokyo Discipleship Training School started at the beginning of this month after many months of preparation! This is what I have been spending the majority of my time doing this month. This year we have seven girls (Megan, Hannah, Rebecca, Rebecca, Kasey, Pam and Angela) and seven guys (Kenneth, Tyler, Chris, Eems, Daniel, Larry and Jonathan). Sadly there were non from the UK once again, with all being from North America! It has been really good to get to know the students and it's exciting to be a part of their journeys with God. The first week after they arrived was orientation week where we spent time getting to know them, and them to know us. We played games together, prayed together, worshipped together and explored the city together. Week two was the start of the lecture phase which was all about the Kingdom of God. Week three was the Identity of God. And week three is Intimacy with God. Really powerful teachings that have really challenged me as well as the new students! As well as the lectures, we also have small group discussions, Bible studies, worship times, prayer times and Bible meditation. We also involve the students in local ministries which are high school ministry, university ministry, homeless ministry and kid's English lessons. This year I am part of the university ministry at Tokyo University (or Todai for short). I am also part of the cooking team which means I get to prepare and cook meals for everyone a couple of times a week! It's been a learning experience for me. I am sure I'll be a professional chef once the DTS is over...
Accommodation
These past two months have been crazy. We all moved out of our houses at the end of March. We had one small house to put a couple of guys with the guy DTS students (who all arrived on the same day we moved) and no other places at the time. So we had to divide everyone else, including the DTS girls who arrived, into various YWAMer's family homes. After a couple of weeks, we acquired two small apartments, we we moved the majority of the girls into them. For the moves, I helped load and unload stuff and was also the navigator. So I have now navigated a van/truck across Tokyo many times and know the roads quite well! Right now, we are waiting to hear back from the agent about one more house! So we will then move the girls from the apartments into the house, and the guys and I will move into an apartment, and the remaining girl staff will move into the other apartment. This sounds really complicated, I know. But it'll be sorted soon enough! Hopefully by the next update, I'll be settled into a place I can make home! Thank God for the people willing to house us temporarily!
YWAM Japan Conference
During March we had the YWAM Japan conference which was really amazing!! We had it at a conference centre right near Mount Fuji. Was such a beautiful place. It was so encouraging to see all of the YWAM missionaries from all over Japan come together and worship God together and share testimonies of what God is doing! It was a great unifying time because most of the time we don't know what is going on at the different bases around Japan. By the end of the week, we all felt closer together and it was like a big family! Everyone was really encouraged!
Cornerstone
Again, Cornerstone church has been growing even more! This month, Naoko and I made the decision to make Cornerstone our church. I was divided between two churches, and Naoko only occasionally visited Cornerstone. So I couldn't really call either one my church home, though both were in a way. Naoko and I also felt that we would be best going to a bilingual church so that we could grow together and share what we learnt each week. This is something we struggled with at the Japanese church. We explained to Yurigaoka church how we felt and though it was very sad, everyone understood and they prayed for us and gave us their blessing. They also gave me an opportunity to share what I have been doing in Japan this past year and a half. We will keep in touch with the amazing people there and will also visit occasionally. From now on, we will both get stuck into Cornerstone church fully! Naoko has already started to translate regularly during the services and we're both part of the welcome team at the church. I'm excited to see how God will use us both there!
PRAYER POINTS
DTS
The YWAM Tokyo Discipleship Training School started at the beginning of this month after many months of preparation! This is what I have been spending the majority of my time doing this month. This year we have seven girls (Megan, Hannah, Rebecca, Rebecca, Kasey, Pam and Angela) and seven guys (Kenneth, Tyler, Chris, Eems, Daniel, Larry and Jonathan). Sadly there were non from the UK once again, with all being from North America! It has been really good to get to know the students and it's exciting to be a part of their journeys with God. The first week after they arrived was orientation week where we spent time getting to know them, and them to know us. We played games together, prayed together, worshipped together and explored the city together. Week two was the start of the lecture phase which was all about the Kingdom of God. Week three was the Identity of God. And week three is Intimacy with God. Really powerful teachings that have really challenged me as well as the new students! As well as the lectures, we also have small group discussions, Bible studies, worship times, prayer times and Bible meditation. We also involve the students in local ministries which are high school ministry, university ministry, homeless ministry and kid's English lessons. This year I am part of the university ministry at Tokyo University (or Todai for short). I am also part of the cooking team which means I get to prepare and cook meals for everyone a couple of times a week! It's been a learning experience for me. I am sure I'll be a professional chef once the DTS is over...
Accommodation
These past two months have been crazy. We all moved out of our houses at the end of March. We had one small house to put a couple of guys with the guy DTS students (who all arrived on the same day we moved) and no other places at the time. So we had to divide everyone else, including the DTS girls who arrived, into various YWAMer's family homes. After a couple of weeks, we acquired two small apartments, we we moved the majority of the girls into them. For the moves, I helped load and unload stuff and was also the navigator. So I have now navigated a van/truck across Tokyo many times and know the roads quite well! Right now, we are waiting to hear back from the agent about one more house! So we will then move the girls from the apartments into the house, and the guys and I will move into an apartment, and the remaining girl staff will move into the other apartment. This sounds really complicated, I know. But it'll be sorted soon enough! Hopefully by the next update, I'll be settled into a place I can make home! Thank God for the people willing to house us temporarily!
YWAM Japan Conference
During March we had the YWAM Japan conference which was really amazing!! We had it at a conference centre right near Mount Fuji. Was such a beautiful place. It was so encouraging to see all of the YWAM missionaries from all over Japan come together and worship God together and share testimonies of what God is doing! It was a great unifying time because most of the time we don't know what is going on at the different bases around Japan. By the end of the week, we all felt closer together and it was like a big family! Everyone was really encouraged!
Cornerstone
Again, Cornerstone church has been growing even more! This month, Naoko and I made the decision to make Cornerstone our church. I was divided between two churches, and Naoko only occasionally visited Cornerstone. So I couldn't really call either one my church home, though both were in a way. Naoko and I also felt that we would be best going to a bilingual church so that we could grow together and share what we learnt each week. This is something we struggled with at the Japanese church. We explained to Yurigaoka church how we felt and though it was very sad, everyone understood and they prayed for us and gave us their blessing. They also gave me an opportunity to share what I have been doing in Japan this past year and a half. We will keep in touch with the amazing people there and will also visit occasionally. From now on, we will both get stuck into Cornerstone church fully! Naoko has already started to translate regularly during the services and we're both part of the welcome team at the church. I'm excited to see how God will use us both there!
PRAYER POINTS
- Thank God for all of the DTS students
- That he will use this season to grow and guide each of the DTS students while they are here
- Thank God for all the accommodation he's provided up to now
- That he will provide one more house and will provide all of the finances to pay for all of the growing monthly rent costs
- Thank God for the YWAM Japan Conference last month
- Thank God for Yurigaoka Baptist church and the support they have been over the past year
- Thank God for guiding Naoko and I to become more fully a part of Cornerstone
- That God will speak to Naoko and I about the future!
- Thank God for all of the prayer and financial support that lets me be here!
Thank you as always for taking time to read this update! Please feel free to ask any questions via email, Google+ or Facebook, or just say hi! Take care and I will be in touch again soon!
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