Tears and Hope

It's been a hard couple days for me. I've felt sick with a cough/cold/allergies. Also, yesterday, we prayed for God to reveal His heart for the city to us as we toured around. For me, it was saddening.

I saw thousands of people but few smiles. People seemed very kept to themselves as they texted on the train and expressed very little emotion in public. Women crowded makeup counters of countless multi-story shopping malls; their faces were already picture-perfect--fair, clear, expensive skin.

In fact, most things here seem to be "complete" on the outside. Not much poverty. Low crime rates. But things are not complete. Huffington Post attributes last year's 31,690 suicides in Japan to low job prospects (HP article), but I know it goes deeper than that. It's not high job prospects that this nation needs...it's God.

Last night, I skipped out on dinner and thought through what I had seen. I felt very sick. I held back tears as I thought about the solemn tone of the day.

But today, the Lord gave me just what I needed. Today, our team attended a church called New Hope Tokyo (church plant of New Hope Oahu) and I was reminded that there is hope for Japan (that's why I'm here!!). As we entered the church, we were caught off guard by hands lifted high, pulsing to the rhythm of loud praise songs.

I felt an overwhelming sense of hopefulness as I listened to the Japanese congregation proclaim the Lord's faithfulness in their own language! I looked at my teammate, Whitney, and we cried tears of joy together for pretty much the rest of the service :)

Here's a clip from the beginning of worship that started in English...

I fell head over heels in love with Jesus again and again today. Please join me in praising Him from across the ocean! btw, I'm also feeling much healthier...thank you for your prayers :)

“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep...” Psalm 36: 5-6a

Koenji Apartment

Just arrived in Koenji, Tokyo last night! We were welcomed warmly by Campus Crusade staff, STINTers, other students, a quaint apartment, beef bowls, and taiyaki (fish-shaped pancakes with azuki bean inside). Here's a clip from today.

We have a team of 13 students and 2 staff. Our team went to a briefing at Vanguard University the weekend before we left. It was a great time of sharing, singing 4-part harmonies together (we all love music!), praying, laughing, crying, and praising the Lord for graciously providing for our whole team financially!

Please pray that even as we start off this trip, we would be focused on our vision of seeing lives transformed so that every person in Japan has an opportunity to really understand the Gospel and to know God intimately.

I'm incredibly jet-lagged, so I am going to sleep now :) Thanks for reading!

I haven't always loved Japan.

During a high school exchange program in Hiroshima, I got very close to some people in Japan, but for the most part, I felt very distant from the culture. I felt alienated and I felt excluded and even looked down upon by some of my classmates and teachers for being different. I had my ears pierced and they saw that as rebellious. I liked to be unique but they commonly believed that different was wrong. I had a great experience there, but went away from Japan thinking that I didn't want to go back and especially not for missions.

About two months ago, I was set on going to East Asia. Then, the earthquake hit Japan and God rocked my world too. He convicted me of my selfishness and transformed my heart into one that longed to see the Japanese people come to know Him during this hard time. I am now very excited to join the great things I know that God is doing over there. I am still a little cautious because I know that I may not be accepted or respected in Japan, but I know that that isn't my goal. My life is but a vapor and my goal in going is to partner with God, the one who is strong and whose influence is the substance of all eternity. Now, I am excited and happy to say that, "Kathleen Loves Japan".