MEGA update!

¹⁴This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

1 John 5:14-15

[Last Week's Recap]

Monday, November 16th was a very eventful day. I got to go to the CCC staff meeting and I was sooo blessed. There was corporate praise, message, and fellowship. I got to meet 4 sisters from Korea CCC doing ministry in Japan. They were so cute and encouraging! :) Please keep praying for JCCC and all the STINTERS to continue their ministry here faithfully.

That same day, it was my friend's bday party! She's the same age and she just turned 23! It was amazing that we could all celebrate with her. :) I was happy that she even invited me! HAHA but now, we're all really close. In American tradition, the friends take the birthday girl out but in Korean tradition, the birthday girl buys/makes food for the guests! I love Korean tradition! HAHA. She's a really good cook so she made us some homemade Korean food... from scratch! IT WAS GOOOOOOD.

*my friends God has provided me with (left to right): Jihae, Sohyeon unni, Nayoung (birthday girl), Junhyung, Seungkyun oppa

MORE PICTURES FROM OUR FUN CELEBRATION ON FACEBOOK! :)

Fast forward to Wednesday... I got to meet up with a friend of a friend who's in Japan! My friend from GLDI, Eunmi, messaged me saying that her friend, Sophia, was studying in Japan and that we should meet up. We met up in Koreatown (Shin-Okubo) and we ate at a Korean buffet for 1,000yen ($10). There was so much ban-chan (Korean side dishes), kimchi jjigae, gom tang, mandoo, jun, and other yummy korean food I missed. -_-; We had a good lunch and an even better time of fellowship and sharing. It's so crazy how God has been giving me such divine appointments to continue encouraging me! We were both so amazed at how God's hand was in EVERY EVENT that led us to Japan. :) I'm so excited to see how God will use both of us in the remainder of our time here. We are planning to meet up at least once a week!!! :D Praise God for sisters in Christ and accountability!

*Japanese desserts are ALL good... you just can't go wrong. :) Not too sweet & not too heavy.

The weather has been pretty cold here. -_- So now in order to do laundry, I must first put it through the washer at home, put it all in a trash bag, ride my bike to the laundro-mat, leave it in two dryers for 30 minutes each, fold it there, and bring it home. It's been quite the experience... I love/hate winter.

Saturday was another early start but I was rewarded with a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji. WOW... I was so in awe at the sight of this! WE WILL CONQUER IT THIS SUMMER! It's HUGE! Kinda scared but mostly super excited. :)

*That's not a cloud in the sky... it's snow-covered Mt. Fuji.

This weekend was HOMESTAY at Fumie-san's house. I think I really enjoy homestay because I get to interact with the family and eat yummy and authentic Japanese food. I got to eat "roll-kebitsu" (cabbage stuffed with beef)! :D At night after dinner, I got to talk with Fumie-san and share prayer requests with her. It was such a precious moment because she spoke mostly in Japanese and I spoke mostly in English but we understood each other. I feel like I had breakthrough with her already! Her testimony is truly one that testifies of God's grace, love, and power and I'm so humbled by how dependent she is on God! She has so much joy in spite of all the trials and tribulations. Praise God for her and please pray for her non-believing children.

PRAISE REPORT #1!

When we pray, God listens. He doesn't just listen, He answers. I have been able to witness the fruit of our prayers in the short month that I've been here. God has been opening the doors of opportunity to witness to people around me. One of the most recent examples has been two friends from my language school. They were very closed off to hearing about Christianity and they just didn't see Christians in a good way because of the hypocrisy. However, we were studying on a Thursday afternoon and they both starting talking about God. They had many questions: "Why did God create us?" "How was the Bible written?" They couldn't grasp many concepts such as the miracle of the 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. I mean, I guess I can understand because from a non-believer's standpoint, it does sound pretty ridiculous. Regardless, we were able to answer most of their questions and it might not make sense to them right now, but as long as it gets them thinking, praise God! I'm praying the seed has been planted! The biggest reason they do not believe, however, is because of people. In Korea, they see "Christians" and how they go to church on Sundays but their lifestyle doesn't reflect Christ AT ALL. They were saying how they are so turned off by Korean Christians. -______- That got me really sad... but it's a reality. The oppa proceeded to answer with a very good point: "Let's say there are 1,000 Christians- 200 are bad, 800 are good. What you are doing right now is looking at the 200 and saying all 1,000 are bad. Is that fair? There are 800 people who are not perfect by any means but they are truly trying to live a life for Christ. Church is not for the perfect saints, it's for the people who need the most help and is willing to admit it."

WOW. This was the first time I heard him sharing. The whole time, I thought he was a Christian but one that thought religion was a private thing... but boy, was I wrong. God used both of us to witness to two of them that day. One even said she wanted to go to church and praise God, she did this past Sunday!!! The other girl said that she didn't want to go out but she was grateful that we got her thinking about life. HALLELUJAH! Evangelism isn't always directly asking them, "do you believe in Jesus?" These two girls were people who were hurt by the church and those who claimed they were Christian. However, by God's grace they were able to see through the Christians in our group that not everyone is like that- there are some people who are really trying to live for God. I was so humbled by this opportunity and so amazed at how fast God answered this specific prayer. Through this, a couple of us were able to share our testimony of how we came to faith and we are continuing to pray for our friends. HOW AMAZING!!! Even if I had to leave tomorrow, God forbid, I would know why I came- for these people. I know God is not finished with me yet... but I was so blown away by how God was even moving in my school! It is not by accident that I was placed in that school, particular class, with those specific people- God has a plan and He will use us to reach out to them! PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR US... that we would be BOLD and not ashamed of what we believe in. Pray for more opportunities to share more about Christ!

Praise Report #2!

Short and sweet: one year missionary visa has been granted! What does this mean? I don't have to go out to Korea!!! I came in with tourist visa and now I can just change my status without having to leave and come back in. Saves money & time! Praise GOD! I had so much peace about this and I'm so grateful for the outcome. THANK YOU FRIDAY PRAYER WARRIORS!!! I know that it is because of your prayers that this was even possible! :) (Friday missionary prayer meeting --> ask Joe Song for more info!)

Praise Report #3!

Long story short: I was trying to get to the Worship Generation Japan concert because my friend from church is the drummer. The problem was I was going alone and with no map in hand- all memory. It was my first time in this city and I was pretty much set up for disaster. However, I had my own personal navigator = God! The most I knew was to get off the Nishi-Kokubunji station and go out the South exit. I did that and started walking hoping to find a church on my right hand side. After walking like 4 blocks, there was nothing. -_- I asked people on the street if they knew where a church was and all of them said they didn't know. :( I was feeling kinda anxious but I prayed that God would give me peace. I really had FULL CONFIDENCE that He would lead me there. So finally, I got to the end of the road and there was only a major street in front of me with no church in sight and I was contemplating going into the Family Mart (convenient store) but there were so many people. I passed it and asked this lady who was very nice but didn't have any idea where the church was. She told me to ask the convenient store so I decided to just go in and ask. The older man there was very nice and he asked me if I was in the right city and right exit. Praise God that my listening isn't too bad and I was able to understand him. To my surprise, he said that if I am in the right place, there is one church that is close to this area. He told me go 4 stops down, cross the street, and it should be on my right hand side. So I said thank you and started walking in that direction. I walked for like 10 minutes and I was beginning to get kinda scared thinking, "I'm so far from the station. What if I get lost?" At that moment, some young guy was waving his arm in my direction. I knew he wasn't talking to me because he seemed to be on the phone but when I turned around and looked back, no one was there. -_- I was so confused but I thought, "This guy is young; this concert is for younger people; maybe this is a sign from God." So I waited at the crosswalk thinking I should make a right. However at that moment, his friend (the one he was waving to I'm assuming) came up right next to me. He crossed the street and they started walking straight. I decided to follow them and if they disappeared into a building then they were going to the same place but if they kept walking and I could see them until the next block, then they were going somewhere else. They were like 20 steps ahead of me and there was a curve in the road. As soon as I got out of the curve, they were gone! Right then, I saw posters for WGJ concert. THERE IT WAS! I smiled because I knew that everything that happened was because of God and He led me to that exact church- using those random people to guide me! God is so faithful even in the smallest of things as long as we're fully dependent on Him. I enjoyed the concert so much- so many young people were gathered and they were singing aloud and lifting their hands. I forgot I was in Japan for an hour. But praise God for leading me there to show me that there is HOPE for JAPAN! We even sang Hosanna (by Hillsong) in Japanese! :) God is working in Japan so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep praying! Without prayer, none of this would be happening! Prayer fuels ministry & revival!

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Yesterday was the first time I missed class since I got here. -_- I know, I need to be better next time. Please continue praying for me. I've just been so tired lately and I think it's finally catching up with my body. -_- I've been having some back/neck pains so please pray that it will be healed. I think I'm just not used to the beds here. Praise God that I have not gotten sick yet! He is really giving me good health but I need to take care of my body better in terms of sleeping. This weekend was very long but very rewarding. There is just so much to do sometimes; I don't feel like there's enough time to do all of God's work in a day's time!

Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts! Haein and Sarah Kim USC sent me these lovely handwritten letter & card. :) I was so happy when I saw it waiting for me in my room! Truly a DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE!