Roller coasters - Part 2

Well, I didn't expect to be writing this post so soon after the previous post sharing my struggles, but then again, looking back, it shouldn't surprise me that God is working and encouraging me in the midst of frustration. In a mere 3 days, since that post, God has encouraged my heart no end!

Thursday I went to AGU, unsure of what to expect, but as I met with Masa (the Japanese staff I'd be with that day) I felt challenged to pray a prayer of boldness. I prayed that we would look back on that day and be able to say "That was a day God worked" - and sure enough, He did. I didn't see 5 people choose to follow Jesus, or anything amazing like that, but I did see Him work and I did see Him encourage me as well. Masa and I decided to buy some lunch from the convenience store and find some people to sit with outside. The wind had picked up a bit, and I think people had opted to sit inside for the most part. We kept wandering, and eventually found ourselves as the soccer field. Masa spotted a guy he recognised in a group of guys who looked like they'd just finished a game of soccer, so we decided to go over and talk to them first before eating. They were all studying international culture, and a few of them studied English. I got talking to one in particularly and learnt that his seminar elective was on Australian Education and he really wanted to visit Australia. He then said he was planning to be an English teacher, but had no-one to practice English on, so we exchanged numbers and we're going to meet up again. He also lives quite close to me which is helpful too. This is the first time that I've felt confident that a relationship has been established with someone at AGU. There's been good conversations, but this one I know for sure will continue.

Then Friday came around and while ministry on campus was nothing special, it was still a good day. Saw a few old friends which was good and had some good hanging out time. Then Friday night was our monthly Friday Night Live event, where invite students to perform, whether singing, magic, demonstration, whatever. Japanese often feel that their culture doesn't allow them this kind of outlet, so its helpful when they get a chance to do things like that. And its a fantastic relationship building event as well as we talk, hang out, and discuss some of the performances with Christian content. Last night I got talking to a group of 5 friends of one our students at Gaidai, and we bonded really well. They are all studying English so enjoyed the English practice, and we're going to meet up again this week. One of them in particular, Miki, was quite. He had been to Australia and New Zealand before and went to Church a number of times while he was there. And then to cap off an already brilliant night and week, I noticed that my housemate, George, was in a deep conversation with Jody (my supervisor), Mai (on of our Christian students) and one of Mai's friends, Aya. That conversation lead to Mai and Jody sharing the Good News of Jesus with Aya, and Aya decided that she wanted to follow Jesus. Praise God for a new sister in the family of Jesus!