G.R.I.T.

June 1 Team Update

Jacob:

Things have been hectic to say the least. I wish I'd have been able to read and communicate with everyone back home, but things have just not worked out that way. I'm trying to invest and stay afloat, but it's difficult. Our schedule is so packed that even we don't have time to breathe.

We climbed Kaimon Dake on Tuesday. Wow, what a hike. 3000 feet high. It was exhilirating. I'll have pics from hopefully just about everything that we do.

Terra, thank you for your letter and pictures. I received it on Monday (05/26). It meant a lot to me.

For all of you who want to write me, please do. I feel like I'm in the Army with no outside contact with the world outside and so a letter is just such an encouragement and joy to receive. Also, if you want to call, remember that where we are is 13 hours AHEAD of Eastern Time in the US. Most mornings we are here from 7-9 AM if we aren't in another city. This next week (if Norman hasn't already put the stuff on the blog) we will be in Nagashima from early Wednesday morning (June 4th) until Sunday (June 8th).

Keep praying. I really need it right now.


Caleb:
Only in Japan can you take taxi without touching the doors (the driver opens and closes them automatically from the front seat). Only in Japan are buffets timed (you can be there for 45, 60, or 90 minutes depending on how much you pay).

Highlights from this week: Tuesday morning we climbed a 924 meter-high mountain. Our physical conditioning does pay off when we do activities such as that. On Wednesday morning we went to a musuem dedicated to the Kamakazi pilots. Over 1000 gave their lives for Japan. Almost all these pilots were between 17 and 22 years old. They trained and took off knowing that they were flying to their deaths. My impression is that most American guys in my generation would not be willing to give their lives for anything. I have to question myself: Would I be willing to do the same thing for the cause of Christ? Would I be willing to be like Jim Elliot and go to an unreached people group or an hostile Muslim country where I would likely be martyred within 5 years?
Thursday night through Saturday morning I saw my first real leadership responsibilities as part of GRIT. During that time I was in charge of organizing our team as part of cleaning/working at a church. I was also able to teach two lessons to the group from our leadership books. I have much to learn regarding the nuts and bolts of our leadership. I look forward to similar leadership responsibilities later in the summer. Please keep me and the rest of the team in prayer.

Natalie:

On Tuesday we climbed up Mount Kaimon. It was the first time i've ever hiked up something like that. My main goal was to keep moving without resting and megan and I ended up making it to the top in two hours. What a beautiful scene! One thing that I will be giving my devotion on in a couple days has to do with the view from that mountain. I really hate using ideas that are fairly overplayed but since we've actually been up this mountain and seen what it looks like at the top and the trouble it took to getting there, it made the idea much more useful. As people, I think we are made for the valley. God didnt intend for us to be on the mountain top for very long. Oswald Chambers said something to the effect that God did not intend us to be safe within the harbor on calm waters. Likewise, I know I dont really learn things unless I have to go through the trouble of getting to the top of that mountain. I would describe being in Japan as a mountain top experience. One thing that makes the trip worth while is remembering what you see when you're in the valley again ie. school.

Yesterday I stayed with a japanese family that barely spoke any english. It was quite the experience! We mainly communicated through dictionary when it came to any nouns or verbs that couldnt be explained through "sign language" :) I was so humbled by how welcoming they were. You could tell that they had planned in advance for me. They had a notebook of already prepaired english sentances to ask. They also had their neighbors over to show me what a Japanese Tea Ceremony was like!

Other than that, we have been working very hard with "local" (meaning within a 2 hour radius) churches. One thing that is very sad to me is that getting to a local church means driving that far. I dont neccesarliy have a burden for Japan at this time but its so hard to imagine that someone has never even heard the name Jesus Christ.

Japanese Sentance:
Kame wa ai desu. (God is Love)

Quotes I have been thinking about:

"You've chosen the steepest path but it leads straight to the hilltop"
and
"You haven't learned something untill you are obedient to it"
and
"Our job is to give people a clear presentation of the gospel."


Edo:

So... how to start? I really don't know, I haven't written anything on this blog and there are too many stories to tell about. Well, let's start with unecessary but interesting stuff. I learned someone missing hot dogs after a week with little American food. I kind of understand that, sometimes I miss Indonesia too (I haven't back for two years). I climbed Mount Kaimon... That is interesting too, I can't believe it how I am physicallly able to reach at the top by Megan and Natalie keep motivating me by saying "good job guys" every 2 minutes. That really makes me think about life though, how life is similar with hiking/climbing (if you see the trail, you will understand why I word it that way). It is hard, it requires endurance, and knowing that you will get the reward on top of the mountain is the source of power that keep you enduring in the process. When you are on the top, you will realize how the process is as important as the result.

This is also true in our spiritual walk. Sometimes we feel kind a tired with the trail that our Father has for us. It is not fun and it seems endless. However, when we believe that our Father in Heaven taking care of us and always give the perfect gift for us - it encourages my heart to endure. And when you reach on the top to get the prizes, you will understand why our Father allows those obstacles in front of us.

Now speaking of that idea, lately I spend my devotion and free time (there is no free time in GRIT, so when I mention free time, it means waiting in the van for hours until you arrived at your destination) in Job. Job is an interesting book and character in the Old Testament. If you don't know anything about it, you should read it. Job is one of the books that helps me through my struggles and one of my close friends' favorite books. I am done skimming Job right now and half way on doing deep reading + meditating the book of Job.

The story is basically this: someone who is righteous and blessed in every aspect of his life. Then whoala! Lord takes all the things that he had. Job was being faithful in the beginning and believes in one of the core truths about who is our Father, He is the Lord that gives and takes away. Meditate on it for a minute and realize that how it is true in our lives.

However, as you go reading the story, Job becomes 'tired' of his suffering and start saying "God, what's up with this?". His three friends try to 'encourage' him by saying that Lord is just and He does these things because of sin Job or his relatives had. This is the idea that what usually people believe - that if you do bad things, God will punish you and taking away his blessing. Still not familiar with this idea? I am talking about Karma.

The reason why I brought up Karma in my blog is how I noticed in life -we as human- try to make sense our God and came up with the idea that works save you. God takes away bless and gives suffering to the people because of the sin that they had. This wrong conception clearly stated in Job's book and this book successfully explains one of the most difficult questions that Christians have to address, "why do good people suffer?"

Although there are a lot of answers for that, when I read Job, there is one thing that I know. Even the one that righteous suffers. The reason why the Lord doing this? To be honest I still can't figure it out in Job's context but in my life -and this is back to my analogy of climbing Kaimon- He wants us to grow and the process is important than getting to the objectives. And sometimes, although we hate it, suffering is the one thing that makes us closer to and grow with the Lord. In the end of the story, God gives everything back to Job, no He even doubled everything. The Lord's argument is trust me and that is what Job's doing. That is what we have to do as Christian - and I am still struggling with that sometimes. But remember that if our earthly father that evil knows how to give good gifts, what about our heavenly Father that will and always give perfect gifts for His children?

All right, I am writing too much right now, hope I can write blog more often and can share more 'useful' information with you! Matane (it means Good bye in Japanese, don't take it as Indonesian language because it has different meaning).

Ea (EUNICEARTETA)
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE WRITTEN IN THIS BLOG, FINALLY. WELL I HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING GREAT! WE HAVE BEEN GOING TO DIFFERENT CHURCHES AND BIBLE STUDIES. THIS WEEK I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF STAY IN A HOMESTAY WITH AN UNSAVED FAMILY, IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THEY LIVE AND WHAT THEY BELIVED, OH AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MUCH ENGLISH. I HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH OF JAPAN AND HOW THE OUTREACH WORKS HERE, IT IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN PERSON LIVING IN AMERICA. THIS IS VERY CHALLENGING, IT IS TEACHING ME A LOT TO WORK TOGETHER IN A GROUP AND BE MORE THAN JUST A LEADER BUT ALSO LEARN HOW TO BE A GOOD FOLLOWER. I KNOW THERE IS STILL MORE GROWTH TO DO BUT I FEEL OVERWELMED.
WELL I HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING GREAT
SAYONARA

posted by Norman @ 4:53 PM