Weekly Update

Hi, guys. It is coming down to the last week of my stay here, please pray for my health and focus to finish well in my last week here.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet up with some students at a park near one of the universities that I minister at. I ended up playing soccer with them at 6:30 am! Wow! It was my first real time playing soccer in my whole life, but, it went really well. The guy who allowed me to play told me that some of the people there were not saved, so that I should probably not talk about Jesus which was understandable. But, after the soccer game, God opened up a door with one of the guys, and I was able to give him my testimony and to preach about Jesus! Awesome! One side note about the soccer game that would put Americans including myself to shame was how friendly everyone was during the game. There were unsaved people playing but instead of yelling at each other, cursing, or doing other things, everyone was so polite, warm, and encouraging. I was so convicted because in America, when guys play sometimes, it gets so fleshly and it just seems so normal. I felt so included the whole game. Even though I messed up a lot, the members of my team still kept trying to find ways to get the ball to me so I could get a chance to learn the game well. It was such an uplifting experience! After the game, each team shares what their motto or theme for the game was, and they all say something positive about how they played today. You also shake hands and bow.

This week, I went out to lunch with a friend of mine that I met while evangelizing on campus. A few weeks ago I was able to preach the gospel to him. The surprising part, was that he was so open to listening to the gospel from me, and he seemed so intrigued. He was reluctant though to turn his back on his parents' beliefs. Please pray for him.

My friend Shawn that I've been ministering to.
Please continue to pray for him.

Susan, Kohei, Amanda and I going somewhere!

This is me playing to The Lord.

I love Japanese food!

I love Japanese food again!

My friends here in Japan. We eat at Coco's a lot!

Amanda and I with the rest of our friends at a pizza place

My church family at GAP!

Me teaching the children in Sunday School

Time is flying!

Hi, everyone. I am here pondering the past week or so of ministry in Japan and I am really in awe of what God is doing in and through me here in Japan. God has opened up doors to preach the gospel in ways that i would never have imagined! Please continue to pray for me in these last 2 weeks of my trip. Please pray for grace, strength and spiritual wisdom, also pray for health!

This week, was awesome, I had a going away party at my church and all I can say was that I am going to miss my church so much when I have to leave here. On Sunday, I taught the children in the morning. I led worship for the second service, and despite some glitches, things went pretty awesome, and God did some awesome things in the worship after the service. I will update some more with pictures and details of some other evangelism testimonies shortly. Sorry!

Oh sweet conviction....

Hi, everyone, I wanted to share some recent conviction that The Lord has given me and a story that happened recently. First, for the story. I was running last week and I went running through this park that I normally run through. While I was running I noticed a boy standing in the middle of the park by himself. He looked to be a teenager, and so even though it seemed odd for him to be doing nothing in the middle of the park, I ran past him. I felt that slight nudge of The Holy Spirit and I felt Him clearly tell me to go and talk to him, but, I began to make excuses. "That would be weird" or, "I don't have time, I am on a run," All of these things ran through my mind. But, I paused and started to walk towards the boy. Then I halted and started running back home. But, then I stopped again and finally managed to muster the courage to go talk to him. Well, long story short, between the boys bad english and my bad japanese, I found out that he was training for sasuke, which I found out later is a tv show here in Japan. He let me watch him train and asked me to videorecord his training. After that though, he had to go to school. After he left, I wondered why God? Why did I have to go talk to him? He didn't get saved and nothing major happened. But, The Lord showed me that all I need to do is be obedient to His Spirit. I think that one reason The Lord had me go talk to him was to give me the opportunity to sow towards The Spirit and overcome my fear of man. We have to respond to the little movements of God's Spirit, no matter how dumb they may seem.

Please, please, please continue praying for me. I am in the last two weeks of my trip here in Japan and I want the fullness of why God brought me here.

Rob

Focus...focus...focus...

Ahh...time for my update again. I am doing well here in Japan. I was getting really worn out and tired, but, The Lord has refreshed me today. Not only is God using me in some very cool ways, but, He is going to the core of my heart about so many things. He is teaching me step by step how to trust Him with my heart.

One of the most exciting things that I get to do is work with children at church on Sunday. Here in this picture are my two friends. Their mother is saved but their father is not saved yet. Please pray for not only his salvation but theirs as well. I believe that God can reveal Himself to children in incredible ways. Please join me in prayer. In addition to helping out with the children I am currently playing piano on the worship team for both services. I am truly enjoying playing on the team although I get nervous at times!

God has given me some cool opportunities to witness on both Todai's and Wadesa's campuses about who Jesus is. This week, Amanda and I went to Todai and we sat in the middle of the campus and worshipped The Lord. I played guitar and just led us in a time of ministering to The Lord. I couldn't help feeling how significant it was that we were sitting there in the middle of campus declaring who Jesus was and how Todai belonged to Him. Many people slowed down as they walked passed us and seemed curious as to what we were doing, and I saw some that seemed to enjoy it. Also, on Tuesday, I taught bible study at Todai and I taught about living life with a vision. It was so awesome, because my heart came alive as I began to talk about living life with a purpose. Jesus, please don't let my life be in vain. This is the cry of my heart...

I could share many more stories of cool connections and divine appointments, but, I will just share some pictures. My heart is overflowing with both love for the Japanese people and heartbreak over how far this nation is from Jesus...

Praying for people at the student center.

I met these two at Sekei. Please continue to
pray for them.

I met Yoshi one of the first weeks on campus.
God has given me some cool talks with him.

Meet Takeshi, God has given me and Amanda
such a divine appointment with him.

Here I am worshipping Jesus with Takeshi and two girls that
Amanda and I invited over for dinner. All three are not saved.
We had a good time talking, playing games, and eating tacos.

Ok, so there is more than one way to do evangelism.
If it must be, I will stuff my face full of marshmallows...

Time to be a kid!!!!!!!!!

On Friday, I went back to being ten years old and I went to Disney Sea! It is part of Disney Land and I loved it! I went with Amanda, Yuri, and my new friend Kohei. Also, Geoff came much later and joined us for the last part of the day. We ended up spending 13 hours walking around the park and getting on rides. I must say that I truly needed this little time to just get away from all of the ministry things that I've been doing and just enjoy a good laugh. The weather was perfect; not too sunny, and not too cold. It was like The Father was shining down on me and giving me His approval for attempting to be faithful with what He has given me to do here in Japan.

I must say that I didn't ride some of the bigger rides that my friends insisted that I must go on in order to be cool. Peer pressure does not work on me!!!!!! One serious thing struck me though as I walked around and enjoyed myself at the park. I would look around and see so many Japanese enjoying themselves and looking so happy. I couldn't help but, be a bit heartbroken knowing that without Jesus, there can be no true happiness for the nation of Japan....

Be ready in season and out of season

I have one highlight that I did not share from a week ago. Well, when I was with the Carbondale team doing ministry in Machida we ended up having a very packed weekend. Saturday I led worship for a 2 hour worship set and then on Sunday I preached in the morning service. After the service I was exhausted and thought that everything was over, but, I was wrong, after some hours, the pastor of the church came to me and said since the girls were having a bible study he wanted something for the men in the church, so could I go and get my bible and teach on sex, dating, and what the Bible has to say about relationships? Whoa...talk about be ready in season and out of season eh?! I was thinking..."What???!!!"So, I went to get my Bible and was praying in tongues and asking for wisdom.

When I got back downstairs there was a group waiting for me. It was amazing because there were so many different age groups there, older men, young teenage boys, and ages in between. I was nervous, but, I committed the time to The Lord and we began. The Lord really opened me up and I tried to be as transparent on the topic of sex and relationships as possible. God gave me much grace. When I got done sharing, I nervously opened things up for questions or comments. I thought because so many seemed shy that nobody would say anything, but, I was wrong. Many shared struggles and/or their thoughts. It was such a refreshing time! Thank You Jesus.

A very cool teenager I met that came to the bible study.

Here is one of the boys I connected with during the day on Sunday.

After a long weekend of ministry. Here we are...happy!

A blur of a week!

Hi, everyone. I am sorry about the delay in updating my blog. This past week has been very busy. A team from my home church in Illinois came this past week and it was truly awesome. I was very glad to see them, and was so privileged to be able to minister alongside them. I could talk forever about all of the things that happened but, I will share some highlights now and some more over the next few entries. During the week we went to Seikei University to teach English in some of the classes. While we were there to teach English we were also able to share the gospel! It was awesome and we got the chance to minister to students in some really cool ways. God truly opened up some cool doors for us.

Wednesday we were at Waseda and we were able to make some cool contacts with students. During the evening we had bible study at Waseda and a visitor came who Sandy Payne met earlier that day while at Starbucks. The girl was not saved but had a good time at bible study it seems. Please pray for her. After bible study...eating!

The weekend was jampacked as half of the team went to Kashiwa and half of us went to minister in Machida. We got to the church and had some food. Right after some brief downtime it was off to prepare for the night. The church had us scheduled to do a 2 hour worship set. The theme of the night was basically resting in The Lord. I was scheduled to lead worship and Christa, Dominique, April, and Anna sang with me. I was so nervous because the night was such a big deal and I'm so new to worship leading. But, God was sooooooo awesome and He helped us so much. Around 8pm when we started playing after a few minutes people began crying in the room and it seemed like something just broke open in The Spirit. Ayumi, Sensei, and Sayaka began to move around and pray for people as we worshipped Jesus. There was a sweet presence in the room! People were being touched and delivered! I could feel The Holy Spirit so tangibly! As we worshipped, someone got prayed for and received the baptism of The Holy Spirit!

My friends have arrived!

Sorry for not updating for some days. I have been very busy because a team of my friends from Illinois have arrived for a short term mission trip. It has been awesome to help my friends around Tokyo and minister together. It is a little weird being here and soon they will leave and return to the States.

This week has been awesome but tiring so far. Monday we all went to a university to teach English and share the gospel in some English classes. It was so awesome to get to meet all of the students and get to know them. Tuesday some of us went to Todai and some went back to the other university. Todai was pretty cool because we had a bible study where I led worship and Pastor Bruce spoke a very interesting message on what our lives should be founded on. After the bible study we had lunch and then we were off to try and meet people around the campus. I met a really cool guy and my friend David got to meet and share the gospel with some people. I also had the opportunity to race David and Daniel in some street races. I whooped them of course! haha.

Yesterday we were at Waseda and we first had lunch in the cafeteria and then went to the lounge to try to reach out to students. We met ended up meeting with and talking to three girls and they came to hang out with us and wanted to play cards with us. It was awesome. I also ended up getting to talk to one guy. Later on campus we tried to go and talk to people. My friend Daniel and I ended up getting to talk to one guy who was just sitting on a bench outside. We had a really good conversation and ended up exchanging contact information. Please pray for me and the rest of the team this week.

Tonight...

I led worship for today's prayer meeting and I really enjoyed it. Leading worship usually scares me and gives me the creeps, but, I really enjoyed leading the devotional set. It was close to a two hour set, and I felt so alive and free in The Lord. I was able to not focus on all of the external things around me and really press into The Lord. As I was singing to The Lord I was meditating on Psalm 71 and I was thinking how kind The Lord has been to me. Also, there is a cry in my heart that Jesus would let His glory shine in Tokyo. Please Lord. Send Your glory here...

Let Your Word Run Abba...

I'm so sorry for not updating my blog recently! Every time that I would get ready to update, I would get lazy and think about all of the things I needed to put in the blog and decided to "do it later". Arrgh.

I have been having an awesome time here in Tokyo. Monday-Thursday tends to be busy with trying to reach out to students on both Waseda and Todai's campus. I also help to lead the House of Prayer that my friend April started here in Tokyo. I usually end up helping to lead worship and help April with ideas and strategies to help build the House of Prayer. My heart for Japan has been growing as I have seen how hard the spiritual climate is here in Japan. Even in spite of the hard climate though, I would like to share some cool divine appointments that The Lord has given me.

I was praying last week on Wed morning in my devotional time that I would have a divine appointment, one that would be so evidently The Lord basically. I said; "Would You give me that divine appointment that I wouldn't otherwise have unless I asked." I also felt that it was going to be with a guy. So...later that day I was walking around Waseda's campus and I stopped in a campus convenience store. Long story short, I end up talking to the cashier who was a foreign exchange student from China and we ended up having a very long conversation and even talked about me being a Christian. I ended up giving him my email and he asked if we could be friends, even after I left Japan. I said sure! It was crazy. Then, as I was walking around the campus, later, I was coming down some stairs outside and two Japanese guys were rapidly approaching me. They signaled to me and then they asked me why i was there and what I was doing. They had so many questions and after they found out that I was a Christian they were even more interested. They seemed pleased to hear that I was a Christian. They went on asking questions and then one of them called a friend on the phone and he came to listen also. They asked questions about why I was not an atheist anymore, what was my favorite scripture, etc. It was going so well, that I decided now is as good a time as any to preach the gospel, so I did and even included Jesus' second coming which interested them more. They asked questions about how I knew that He was coming, etc. By the end of the conversation, 2 more of their friends showed up. It was awesome! The Holy Spirit gave me such wisdom, and then, one of the guys was so desperate to meet with me, He wanted my contact info and we met the very next day and will again this week.

The next morning that I woke up after having those cool divine appointments, I asked God why was that so easy? And He spoke so clearly and said..."You have not because you ask not." I realized how foolish it is for me to not ask for these type of divine appointments daily. The Lord is good and He truly is Lord of the harvest.

(The above picture is of two guys that Amanda and I met at Todai one day as we were sitting outside. Please pray for them.)

Wow, Lord...

Hi, everyone again. I had an awesome day today. I was a little nervous because I led worship in English and Japanese today at a bible study that we had at University of Tokyo (Todai). Everything went well though and it was actually enjoyable. I hope I didn't say anything ridiculous in Japanese. lol. Susan ended up giving a message that was really good and hit home in a lot of different ways. I left the message with some things to think about to say the least.

During the message I noticed that the guy Shawn that I witnessed to last week didn't come. I was sad because we had been in contact and he said that he was very busy with his studies, but, that he would try to come when he could. He said in emails that he was glad that I was able to explain things carefully to him. He didn't show up the whole bible study, even though I prayed that he would silently to The Lord. Well, as we were sitting at lunch, halfway through our meal, Shawn hurries to the table! He had just woken up from a nap and came to the cafeteria. Him, Amanda, Susan, and I ended up having a very good conversation and had fun together.

Oh and last week on Thursday Amanda and I went to Todai and tried to get to meet people to build relationships with. We wanted to just find people who were sitting alone and try to talk to them. Well, we met this one really cool guy named Yuta and had a very good conversation with him. He agreed to take us sight seeing and we are hopefully going to meet up with him on the 20th.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I'm not sure what's going on here, but, i am probably making some joke.

This is baby Zuvi. She is so cute. I got a chance to play with her.

Me showing pictures to Reiki and Zeeki

Reiki and Zeeki

So, this Sunday was pretty awesome. I have been very interested in working with children and so I asked around and started helping in the morning service with the children's church. I was a little nervous because I didn't know how it was going to be, but, it ended up going really well. Two boys were mainly there and that was Reiki and Zeeki (spelling?) I truly enjoy playing with and investing in children. I am a little kid at heart, and so being with kids really invigorates me. Funny thing...Zeeki asked me later in the day if I was married and he was curious as to why I believe. haha. Weird to explain to a seven year old. Please pray for Reiki though. He has a history of acting up during children's church I've heard, and he can be very impatient and will just wander off from the lesson. The Lord has given me a lot of compassion for him and I really want to pour into him. He really enjoyed playing with me though. Oh and we bobbed for apples which is why the kids are eating in the pictures.

After helping in children's church I ate, and went to a park to read The Bible and relax. I felt so peaceful with The Lord and I felt like I could've stayed there forever. After I left the park I went to McDonalds for an apple pie an while I was sitting down a lady walked slowly up to my table with another guy who had a baby strapped to him and long story short they said that they were Christians! We had a good talk and I got their contact info. What a divine appointment!

After McDonald's I went to the evening service and afterwards I went out with some people from the church and had some awesome fellowship. I will post some pictures from that soon. I had Thai food for the first time! It was hot! And...the portions were so small it was ridiculous! haha. But, I had fun, and one of my friends who I met last year in Japan, Hikari came out and it was so good to see him again. After Thai, we went out for dessert and I got some parfait thing that was way too full of strawberry on top and raspberry at the bottom. Needless to say, I didn't eat those parts.

Well, that's all for Sunday I believe. It was such an encouraging day!

Ahh Tonight

Tonight We had Xhop. (Chi Alpha and house of prayer mixed together) We had a worship set from 7-9 which was awesome. Susan led the first half which was amazing and I had the privilege to nervously and shakily lead the second half. Although I felt confused and shaky, my heart has been provoked tonight. As we were singing about The Lord's kindness, and His love for us, my heart has been pricked. Right now I am thinking about how weak human love is and how every person that has ever tried to love me has come short. (I don't mean this in any negative sort of way.) But, I am thinking about how Jesus' love is unending and it never fails me. Even when I was caught in my own sin, He was there chasing me down. I can't imagine what He finds lovely in me, but, time and time again He still comdes running after me...

I love campus ministry!

Wow the past few days have been amazing. Susan, Amanda and I went to Waseda University on Wednesday and did some prayer walking and then had a bible study at night time which Amanda and I led. It was really fun and afterwards we ate at a really good Ramen Noodle Shop.

On Thursday, Amanda and I went to Todai and did some prayer walking and then just tried to go out and meet people. We had a really good conversation with a guy named Yuta and he even agreed to take us sightseeing. We talked to some more college students and got some quality conversations. In the picture on the right are two guys we met named Hide and Yusuke. They were really cool guys and seemed interested in talking to us.

Quick update...

So, last night Amanda and I had a meeting with the XA staff and we got a little bit more clarity of what we will be doing exactly this summer. Primarily Amanda and myself will be assigned to University of Tokyo and Waseda University. We will help with the bible studies and help with outreaches to the campuses. I will also be helping with the house of prayer that my friend April is starting here in the XA student center. Amanda will be helping also I believe. The meeting was awesome and we had the chance to get prayed over and we ate tacos!

Today was our first day at University of Tokyo or Todai as it is known here in Tokyo mostly. I first went to the bible study at noon which was pretty awesome. We studied out of Rick Warren's book Purpose Driven Life and one of the students taught for his first time in Japanese. After the bible study we went out to lunch with some of the bible study members. While at lunch Amanda and I had the opportunity to witness to a guy named Shawn. The whole interaction is quite lengthy so please email me if you would like to know the specifics. It was pretty awesome even though he didn't want to accept Christ at that point. Please continue to pray for me here in Japan as tomorrow I will be at Waseda University.

in Him,
Robert

Getting settled

So, Friday I moved into the XA Student Center which is such an awesome building that was just recently built. Attached to the student center are little apartments and I am really starting to like it here. Yesterday (Saturday) I watched EGS in the morning and in the afternoon I went to a church where a former IHOPer is starting a house of prayer. The Prayer meeting was really cool and I enjoyed it a lot. We did a worship with the Word set based out of Psalm 63.

After the prayer meeting, April and I went to Ikebukuro and had some good Coldstone Ice Cream and then I ate Wendy's! It was delicious, but, I wanted more! I really enjoyed everything and by the way we saw a man in the mall who was doing a trick with a monkey. It actually ended up being kind of sad that the man was using a monkey like that to do tricks. :(

So far the past two days have been low key which will change starting Monday. I'm glad that I have had a chance to rest and relax and spend some good quality time with The Lord before everything starts to get busy. I've been playing piano a lot more and ministering to The Lord in the sanctuary of the student center. It has been awesome!

Oh and side note

Ok side note. I have truly enjoyed hanging out with my friend Eric from Purdue for the last couple of days. It is kind of sad that I have to leave today to move into my new place. He is an awesome man of God and we have had good conversations as well as tons of laughs. Tons of laughs. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to laugh a lot. Some of the funniest moments have been Eric speaking his version of Japanese to people here. It has truly been hilarious!

Oh and if you have facebook you can watch me armwrestle this buff Japanese guy. I think everyone thought I was going to get taken down pretty simply, but, I held it down. haha. Also, he ended up cheating by getting out of his chair a little and put all of his weight on my arm. So, technically I won. Oh yeah, and I beat Eric in basketball yesterday too, even in spite of his jealous comments! hahaha....

AAAAAAAAArggh!

Yes, it is true as you may have already heard or viewed on facebook; I ate a bannana and a strawberry yesterday. I cannot believe it. I came in for dinner so excited thinking...yum. Little did I know that I was in for trauma. Joy comes in with this covered plate, and I am thinking ooh that must have some goodies inside. She uncovered it and told me that it was from the team. What could I do? Run? Throw the plate on the floor? All of the possibilities were there for the taking. I ended up eating it! yuck. Then, the pastor of the church pulls out this bananna and tells me to eat it. Now, I couldnt refuse him even though I have unashamedly shut down everyone who has tried to give me either fruit my entire life. I was a prisoner and let me tell you something. My original hypothesis was correct. Both fruits are whack. case closed!

Getting Adjusted

Well everyone I guess I will tell you a little bit more about where I am at and what I am doing. I am staying at Evergreen Chapel with the other 6 MAPS workers; Sarah, Anna, Eric, Kieren, Amanda, and Liz. I have been enjoying my time here as we go through orientation. The purpose of orientation is to ease all of us into Japan and help us get acclimated to the time zone, the culture, etc. It is massively helpful

Basically we go through sessions of teaching for most of the day. We have learned things about the Japanese culture, basic language skills, and about what each of us will be doing in the different cities that we have been assigned to. Also, we have had the privilege of working with Joy Tani in her English classes. Joy is an excellent teacher and she teaches many classes with a variety of age groups. It has been so fun to play games with the kids and to help teach them English.　One kid in particular was really cool named Ryunoske.

Over the past couple of days, my heart has been stirired with a renewed love for Jesus and for Japan. My heart is so burdened with love for this nation and its people. The past few days my friend Eric and I have hung out with some neighborhood boys, played basketball with them, etc. It has been so awesome and enjoyable. My heart is that I do not want to push Jesus onto people. I really love the Japanese people and my end geoal is not to be some Christian terminator. I just want to love them and if they ask about the hope that I have found in Jesus, great. I am really asking The Lord for wisdom from on high.

I`m finally here!

Ａｆｔｅｒ　ｍｕｃｈ　ｗａｒｆａｒｅ　ａｎｄ　ｄｅｌａｙ　Ｉ　ａｍ　ｆｉｎａｌｌｙ　ｈｅｒｅ　ｉｎ　Ｊａｐａｎ！　Ｍｙ　ｆｌｉｇｈｔ　ｆｒｏｍ　Ｓｔ．　Ｌｏｕｉｓ　ｔｏ　Ｃｈｉｃａｇｏ　ｗａｓ　ｓｏ　ｄｅｌａｙｅｄ　ｔｈａｔ　Ｉ　ｗａｓ　ｓｕｒｅ　ｔｈａｔ　Ｉ　ｗａｓ　ｎｏｔ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ａｂｌｅ　ｔｏ　ｇｏ　ｔｏ　Ｊａｐａｎ　ｆｏｒ　ａｔ　ｌｅａｓｔ　ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ　ｄａｙ．　Ｍｙ　ｔｉｍｅ　ｂｅｔｗｅｅｎ　ｆｌｉｇｈｔｓ　ｗａｓ　ｏｎｌｙ　ｏｎｅ　ｈｏｕｒ　ａｎｄ　ａｔ　ｆｉｒｓｔ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｗａｓ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｄｅｌａｙ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｌｉｇｈｔｓ．Ｔｈｅｎ　ｗｅ　ｔｏｏｋ　ａ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｌｏｎｇ　ｔｉｍｅ　ｔｏ　ａｃｔｕａｌｌｙ　ｂｏａｒｄ　ｔｈｅ　ａｉｒｐｌａｎｅ．　Ａｆｔｅｒ　ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ　ｗａｓ　ｆｉｎａｌｌｙ　ｏｎ　ａｎｄ　ｗｅ　ｐｕｌｌｅｄ　ｏｆｆ，　ｔｈｅｎ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｔｏｌｄ　ｕｓ　ｔｈａｔ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｗａｓ　ａ　ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅ　ａｉｒｐｌａｎｅ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｗｅ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｈａｖｅ　ｔｏ　ｐｕｌｌ　ｂａｃｋ　ｉｎｔｏ　ｔｈｅ ａｉｒｐｏｒｔ．　Ａｆｔｅｒ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ　ｈｏｕｒ　ｏｆ　ｄｅｌａｙ　ｗｅ　ｆｉｎａｌｌｙ　ｐｕｌｌｅｄ　ｏｆｆ，　ｇｏｔ　ｔｏ　ｃｈｉｃａｇｏ　ａｎｄ　ｉ　ｊｕｓｔ　ｍａｄｅ　ｍｙ ｆｌｉｇｈｔ！　Ｔｈｅ　ｅｎｔｉｒｅ　ｔｉｍｅ，　Ｉ　ｆｅｌｔ　ｓｕｃｈ　ｗａｒｆａｒｅ　ａｎｄ　Ｉｐｒａｙｅｄ　ｉｎ　ｔｏｎｇｕｅｓ　ａｎｄ　ｋｎｅｗ　ｔｈａｔ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｗａｓ　ａ　ｂａｔｔｌｅ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｏｎ　ｔｏ　ｄｉｓｃｏｕｒａｇｅ　ｍｅ　ａｎｄ　ｔｒｙ　ａｎｄ　ｈｉｎｄｅｒ　ｍｅ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｇｅｔｔｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　Ｊａｐａｎ　ｏｎ　ｔｉｍｅ．

Ｗｈｉｌｅ　Ｉ　ｗａｓ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｌａｎｅ　ｔｏ　Ｔｏｋｙｏ　Ｉ　ｈａｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｐｐｏｒｔｕｎｉｔｙ　ｔｏ　ｗｉｔｎｅｓｓ　ｔｏ　ａｎ　ａｔｈｅｉｓｔ　ｙｏｕｎｇ　ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎ　ｌａｄｙ．　Ｉｔ　ｗａｓ　ｓｏ　ａｗｅｓｏｍｅ　ｈｏｗ　Ｔｈｅ　Ｌｏｒｄ　ｄｉｒｅｃｔｅｄ　ｍｅ　ｔｏ　ｔａｌｋ　ｔｏ　ｈｅｒ　ａｎｄ　ｓｈｅ　ｗａｓ　ａｄａｍａｎｔ　ａｔ　ｆｉｒｓｔ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｈｏｗ　ｉｎｆａｌｌｉｂｌｅ　ｅｖｏｌｕｔｉｏｎ　ｗａｓ．　Ｓｈｅ　ｗａｓ　ａｆｒａｉｄ　ｏｆ　ｏｆｆｅｎｄｉｎｇ　ｍｅ，　ｂｕｔ，　ｓｈｅ　ｗａｓ　ｓｕｒｐｒｉｓｅｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｉ　ｕｓｅｄ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ａｎ　ａｔｈｅｉｓｔ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｉ　ｗａｓ　ａｃｔｕａｌｌｙ　ｉｎｔｅｌｌｉｇｅｎｔ．　Ｓｈｅ　ａｄｍｉｔｔｅｄ　ａｆｔｅｒ　ａｗｈｉｌｅ　ｏｆ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｅａｓｙ　ｃｏｎｖｅｒｓａｔｉｏｎ　ｔｈａｔ　ａｎｙｔｈｉｎｇ　ｗａｓ　ｐｏｓｓｉｂｌｅ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈａｔ　ｓｈｅ　ｃｏｕｌｄ　ｓｅｅ　ｂｕｄｄｈｉｓｍ　ｏｕｔ　ｏｆ　ａｌｌ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｒｅｌｉｇｉｏｎｓ．　Ｉ　ｗａｓ　ａｌｓｏ　ａｂｌｅ　ｔｏ　ｔａｌｋ　ｔｏ　ａ　Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ　ｌａｄｙ　ｎａｍｅｄ　Ｙａｋａｒｉ．

Ｓｉｎｃｅ　ｂｅｉｎｇ　ｉｎ　　Ｊａｐａｎ　ｍｅ　ａｎｄ　６　ｏｔｈｅｒｓ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｏｔｈｅｒ　ｐａｒｔｓ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　Ｕｎｉｔｅｄ　Ｓｔａｔｅｓ　ｔｏ　ｗｏｒｋ　ｗｉｔｈ　Ａｓｓｅｍｂｌｉｅｓ　ｏｆ　Ｇｏｄ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｕｍｍｅｒ．　Ｉ　ｒｅａｌｌｙ　ｌｉｋｅ　ａｌｌ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅｍ　ａｎｄ　ａｍ　ｌｏｏｋｉｎｇ　ｆｏｒｗａｒｄ　ｔｏ　ｓｐｅｎｄｉｎｇ　ｔｉｍｅ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｆｏｒ　ａｔ　ｌｅａｓｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｎｅｘｔ　ｗｅｅｋ　ｗｈｉｌｅ　ｗｅ　ａｌｌ　ｇｏ　ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ　ｏｒｉｅｎｔａｔｉｏｎ　ｔｏｇｅｔｈｅｒ　ｉｎ　Ｍａｃｈｉｄａ．　Ｉ　ａｍ　ｅｎｊｏｙｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅｍ　ａｎｄ　ｍｙ　ｔｉｍｅ　ｈｅｒｅ．　

Japan is fast approaching

With my semester in school ending a few weeks ago, I can now devote my full attention to prayer, fasting, and getting ready for Japan. I can't say how excited I am to be actually going to Japan! It blows my mind that I will be there soon.

I wish that I could share all of the cool things God has done in providing for me to go to Japan, but, they are too numerous. Someone prophesied over me about 2 months ago that I should go and get a journal to record all of the miracles God was going to do in providing for me and boy that person was right. In the span of about a week $3,000 came in.

God has been so good to me even in spite of my weak faith. I wish that I could say that I have had crazy strong faith as I have been waiting for God to provide for me, but, that would be a lie. I would wait day after day for the money to come in to at the very least buy my ticket, but, everyday I would go from faith to faithless it seemed and then back to faith. There would be days that I would be so full of faith that I knew that God was going to provide for me. Then there were other days that I would be so down that I doubted if I had heard God correctly about going to Japan. In spite of all of this, I held on to Psalm 37 and I knew that if I committed my way to The Lord He would do the rest. Well, he certainly did, and all of my money is in. Now I am just in the waiting. I am leaning into God...

Dreams, Dreams, Dreams

Sorry that I have not been writing in my blog lately, but, here I am! I have many updates, but, I will do them one at a time instead of unloading them all in one entry. A few weeks ago, I went to bed like ordinary, and I had a dream that was awesome. In the dream, I was standing in my kitchen and I was talking with someone, he was a guy that I didn't recognize at that time, and I was speaking with him in Japanese. The room was kind of dim, and I don't know if I asked him where he was from, or if I just thought it, but, he said to me that he lived right next door. I remember thinking of the particular house next door, but, I later thought that he wasn't literally meaning next door, but, that he was someone close to me. When I woke up from the dream, The Lord gave me a name, and that week, I ended up meeting that guy! That dream was encouraging to me because someone prayed weeks ago that I would start dreaming in Japanese.

Welcome to my new blog!

Hi everyone! I am a horrible blogger, but, by God's grace, I will be excellent this time around. I started this blog as a way for people to join with me as I share my heart for the nation of Japan. I have been on a journey for about a year now as God has begun to prick my heart with love for Japan and for the Japanese people. So much so, that I will be moving there for 2 and a half months this summer to work with Assemblies of God as a short term missionary. As I am preparing to go, I want all of my friends and family to be able to connect with what God is doing in me and through me. I plan on keeping this blog updated as I prepare to go to Japan, while I am in the country, and after I leave. At the end of the day, I pray that all reading this blog will fall in love with this nation that is on God's heart. God bless, and I pray that my blog blesses you! Please leave comments and messages!

in Him,

Rob