God listens

Wanted to share a brief little story of ministry from this past week:
It was Thursday morning and I met up with Masayoshi, one of the Japanese staff, before we started ministry on Aichi Gakuin University (AGU). We were both a little discouraged by a few things that had happened recently. We'd been searching for a new place for our weekly student meeting on Thursday Nights (Immanuel Meeting) and we had one promising location we'd found, but we got word that morning that they were unable to help us out anymore. And something else Masayoshi and myself had been planning was starting to fall apart (more on that later). On top of that, someone I had become really good friends with over the last few weeks had just flown home to the US that morning. So we had both come to campus feeling a bit down.

We read a bit of the Word, and were encouraged by God's promise in Micah 4:3 - "He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore". Life is tough, its filled with war - whether real war between countries, or spiritual war, or war within ourselves. However, we know that God has promised this will not last forever - there will come a day when there will be no more war. So we prayed that God would continue to encourage us today even if we weren't feeling like doing ministry or anything like that.

So we headed out to meet some students, sat down next to some guys to eat lunch, only for them to get up after a few minutes and leave. Not the most encouraging start. Then two guys sat down next to us and Masayoshi said hello. After a few seconds we came to realise that these guys weren't actually Japanese, but rather Chinese exchange students. When Masayoshi was at Uni he majored in Chinese and Chinese history, so he burst into Chinese chatting to these guys. We found out their major was Global English, so they spoke English reasonably well too. It wasn't a huge thing, they didn't receive Christ or anything like that, but I could see in Masayoshi's eyes that this was encouraging to him. He doesn't get the chance to speak Chinese much and this was just what he needed at that time. God heard and He responded - just as was needed at that moment in time.

Lessons learned

It seems that being here on STINT is one big long lesson, or at least lots of little lessons building on top of each other.
I've learned a lot about myself - what I value, what I prioritise, my weaknesses and failings.
I've learned a lot about others - how their values and priorities differ, their weaknesses and failings.
I've learned a lot about God - His values, His priorities and His complete lack of weaknesses and failings.
I've learned that God is in the business of changing hearts. I've always known that and mentally adhered to it, but over the last 2 months, I've experienced it in amazing ways. God has been molding me to reflect His priorities and values. I've been faced with situations that just a year ago would have caused me to stumble, and God has blessed with the ability to fight through them. I'm nowhere near perfection and would never claim to be, but its been amazing to see and feel the change God has made so far and I can't wait to see what else He will do in the coming months.

I've learned that God is in control. There have been so many Divine appointments so far. God has brought people along at the right times and used it for His Glory. The future isn't always plain to see, but we don't need to know the future to follow faithfully after our Father. As a poster in a Church I visited once said: "I don't know what tomorrow brings, but I do know Who brings tomorrow". I will continue to strive to trust God's plan, no matter how strange or bizarre it may seem or how little sense it may make to me.

I've learned to be open, to be honest. I've learned to confess my sins, admit my failures and be honest about where I've failed. My life as a Christian started with admitting that I had failed, and my life as a Christian should continue with that attitude. I want to be the first to put my hand up and say that I've messed up, not so I can seem more holy or anything like that, but that I wouldn't deny the Holy Spirit one minute to work in my heart.

Most of all, I've learned that I am dearly loved, through nothing I've done or achieved, but solely through what He has done and achieved on my behalf. Saved. Chosen. Sanctified. Blessed.

"Where You Lead Me"

I've been listening to some music by MercyMe of late, particularly the album, Undone. I listened to it a lot on my first mission trip back in 2004 so it has sentimental value for me, but the lyrics are very mission focused anyway so its good to listen to. God has used it, and many other things, to challenge me over the last week. Having been here basically 2 months now has got me thinking a little more about the long term future beyond this year. I was mulling over whether I thought I could leave Sydney permanently and live in Japan long term, leaving behind everything I know, and all my friends I love dearly. I'm still not sure whether I could do it or not, but God challenged me to realise that its about following Him and His plan, not my own. In the words of MercyMe, "where You lead me, I will follow". Now, this doesn't mean I've decided I'm leaving Sydney forever, because I honestly don't know where God is leading me yet. But I have to be prepared to be wherever God wants me, whether that be Nagoya, Sydney, Madagascar or Florida.

Another song that has been getting some airplay by MercyMe is Caught Up In The Middle, one of my favourite songs. The chorus says "I believe your Spirit is alive and on the move, I want to be caught up in the middle of You. I want to be a part of what I know You're gonna do, I want to be caught up in the middle of You." God is working in Nagoya, He is impacting people's hearts and drawing them closer to Himself and we can see it. This past week has been really good in developing relationships with people we've met. I've got a friend coming to Church next weekend, I've got appointments with a few different people this coming week and people are interested in what we're doing. Its exciting to be a part of it!

A Most Bizarre Day

Today was shaping up to be a fairly standard day at AGU, but it wasn't to be. We had our normal devotion time before campus ministry started, then I went with Masa to meet up with my new friend, Taisuke, for lunch. After lunch, Taisuke invited me to come along to his next class - Australian Studies. I figured it couldn't hurt so I went along, and suddenly I was the resident expert in the class. There were two students giving presentations, and I was called upon to make the final comment on the topic after each presentation, which was interesting. Then they had a time just to ask me some general questions about Australia, finishing in asking my opinion of whaling in Japan - a controversial topic at the best of times, let alone in a Japanese classroom. The students asked me to come back to give my thoughts, experience and knowledge each week after the presentations. Still unsure of how often I'll go, but it could certainly be an interesting experience.

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!

Roller coasters

It's been an interesting week or so since my last update. I've had a few ups and downs, but that's all part of the roller coaster ride of life with God. Life isn't always rosy and run, but I know that when I've got God by my side it will be worth it. I got a little frustrated at my inability to communicate the other day at Aichi Gakuin University (AGU), where the English level is very low and I was with Takeshi, the staff guy who doesn't speak English. I've always had an inner frustration that I still can't hold conversations, and I still can't understand what people are saying, but it hadn't affected me this much before. I think I'd started to realise that this wasn't a short term thing that would end soon, but I had another 9 months or struggling with language. But I've been reminded time and time again that its not all about language, but its all about love - just as Christ loved us, so too we are called to love. So I can build relationships and serve students I meet without completely understanding or being able to communicate with them 100%.
And then there's the ups where we have amazing conversations with people we meet. We met a first year guy the other week at Gaidai and when George, my teammate, gave this first year guy his phone number and email, the guy commented with a big smile that this was the first gaijin (foreign) friend who's info he had. Then there was the guy at AGU who upon introducing us to his friends who'd just arrived, told them that we were his friends that he'd met today. Its times like these that make the struggles worthwhile - when we can see God slowly drawing people to Himself.

A Golden Week

I sit on the verge of three days of nothing, due to the wonders that are Japanese public holidays - three of them in a row! I've got a to-do list, but I suspect that I will still have plenty of time doing nothing. My roommate, George, has gone to Tokyo to visit his brother who has just had his first child this past Thursday. So I don't even have him to hang out with. Fortunately, God is always with me and so I plan to spend a bit of time with Him. Today the sermon in Church encouraged and challenged me to ensure God is Lord over ever aspect of my life. My life should not be a matter of priorities with God as the top, followed by family or friends or work of whatever, but rather God should be Lord intimately involved in my family, in my friendships, in my work, in whatever I do, rather than a separate thing. So my aim for the next couple of days will be to involve God in all I do: in my resting, in my watching a movie, in my cleaning, in my housework. I want to do it all with God by my side, not waiting in another room for me to come back to Him when I'm free.