G.R.I.T.: 05/01/2008

Weekly Evaluations

Sermon prep

Friday

Another day of cleaning in Aira. The girls are all on a homestay while the guys all sleep on the floor at church. It is as comfortable as it sounds!

New arrivals!

Pastor Lee was happy to see his wife and daughter walk off the plane safely last night. Violet and Larrisa were joined by Heidi who completes the GRIT team for the year.

Aira workday

The team spent the day cleaning in and around the church in Aira. Everyone pulled together as a team and really accomplished alot. We have 2 more days here before returning to camp.

A word from Pastor Lee

This is simply to join with the posting below to help identify it. My inexperience with blogging meant no title was given for your convenience. P. Lee

This is my first chance to blog since arriving in Japan. Norman does it on his phone and that keeps it pretty short. God has been so very good to us as a team. Each of the students here is very serious about pursuing God and wanting to grow by obeying Him. Their attitudes are so positive and teachable. Their energy is still pretty high, even after climbing a mountain all day yesterday. Yes, I made it to the top too, for those of you who might wonder if a cool dude my young age can handle mountain climbing. It helped that we got to soak afterwards for two hours in the Japanese hot tubs/onsen to relieve some soar muscles that we did not know existed that same AM!

There is just no way for words to communicate the power of a planned, deep process like GRIT. The students are learning that our expectation is for them to listen to God's Word and turn right around and apply it that very same day in multiple ways. Plus they are supposed to try to remember what they were learning yesterday and keep on applying that too. And on it goes. Rather quickly we have developed a good base of trust, a healthy way to handle conflict, and now we are adding the strong requirement of vulnerable accountability. Keep praying for all of us as we experience physical exercise on the outside and lots of biblical exercise on the inside and out.

Today we stopped on the way home from our mountain climbing to visit a museum that remembers the Kamikaze pilots of Japan. We saw very clearly that there was no such thing as a partially committed pilot. It was necessary that each pilot gave his all, his very life. In the same way, these students are connecting that God wants their entire life and future agenda. We went through our core study book this afternoon and each student was able to study the big picture of what God has done so far to build purpose and His plan into their lives. We realized how much God has given us and how far we still have to grow. But meanwhile, we are already very valueable to God's work here on earth. And so it goes...

Still growing myself, Pastor Lee

Labels: A word from Pastor Lee

We climbed a mountain today!

Kaimondake is 924meters tall. Everyone made it to the top, but not without a struggle. We will take a well deserved day off on Wed.

Morning devos

Monday prayer

We were joined by missionary Sue Hahn today. She was able to join us on a prayer walk as well as speak to us about her 25 years of ministry in Japan.

Gospel choir in Miyakonojo

May 25 team updates

Abby:

Wow! It`s only been a week and a half before we left for Japan! It seems like so long ago because we`ve been doing so much! Norman and Pastor Lee have been stretching us and helping us to grow more into the image of Christ! It has been an awesome experience so far! One of the highlights of this week was a "Friday Night Cafe" that we did with some students who are learning English. It was a lot of fun being able to
talk to some Japanese people and build friendships! We`ll be able to do it again a few more times in the future, so pray that we will be able to build good friendship and be great testimonies for the Lord! I think one of the hardest parts for me on this trip so far is the language barrier, but Keiko is helping me to learn the language better. There are so many people that I wish that I could talk to, but can`t.
I am being stretched in so many different ways and pushed out of my comfort zone, but I love it because in the end I know it will be for the best! Thanks so much for all of your prayers! I really appreciate it! Please pray that I glorify God in my actions, words, and attitude、and that change more into His image this summer! I hope you all are doing well! Praying for you and love you!!
Megan:

This last Friday we had a special night planned for visitors to come. We held a Cafe setting at the camp and had Robert bring some of his Japanese friends over to the camp. We got to meet some new friends, eat, and entertain with skits. It was a blast and it was nice to meet new people. We plan on doing this almost every Friday to get to know and build relationships with our new friends.
I have been pushed in ways that are`t comfortable however are great for me. So far my courage is being put to the test. I am not one to love to publicly speak however I know this will be great for the future. Speaking is an important quality in chargine your heart and the gospel うwith others. I love you all and thank you for your prayers. Please pray for us to
make good connections wtih some Japanese at The Cafe. Pray for Violette, Larissa, and Heidi to get here safely on Thursday and travel well on Wednesday. Love you guys!!

Cameron:

What do winding roads, smaller door frames, and chopsticks have in common? It is Japan. It's amazing to see the differences everywhere you look. I have already hit my head on dormframes at least a couple times (things are just smaller here). I have also had a poisonous centipede crawl on my foot without stinging me.

Even though I have been here just one week I am learning a lot! The different team-building excersizes have been very beneficial. It also warms my heart to interact with the Japanese people. They don't understand the meaning of a personal God. It's challenging bring new concepts from the Bible to them. We have been able to minister in some local churches which opens my eyes to the few believers in Japan.

There are so many adventures that have taken place but I have little time to convey them. Let's just say where we are is very condusive to growing in all areas (Mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and I can't forget physical growth with mountains in our backyard.) Also, it's very "interesting" to drive on the left side of the road and even more interesting when the roads are a lot smaller.

I would like to let everyone know that I am doing well. I hope everything is the same back there. I appreciate you prayers and I am praying for you as well. Love you all!

Jacob:

Whew, where to start. I do miss everyone back in the US, but our schedule has been packed. Mom and Dad you can call, just make sure the +13 hour time change is okay with both your and my time. Norman has said that Susan (his wife) will tell you when a good time to call back will be if we aren't here.

I'm journaling for myself each day, trying to keep up with my studies. It's an intense preparation for what life should be like. The physical exercise we're doing here is intense. 6 out of 7 days in the week we exercise at 7:30 in the morning after (usually) going to bed by 10:30.
Each day is filled with challenges that stretch me to my limits:
-physically (exercise)
-emotionally (self-control)
-mentally (diligent study
-spiritually (conforming to the image of Christ)

This is just a short synopsis of each of the things I've been doing. I'm keeping a journal so that I can tell the whole story after rereading through it myself.

Prayer Requests:
I preach in two weeks at our English service in Aira, so that's already beginning to be a prayer request. The life I'm living here is so different, yet much is the same. As I said before, I'm growing and being pushed daily in such good ways I cannot wait to share when I return. Pray I begin seeing where that transfer occurs.

To all of you in Refuge, I'm going to miss rafting down the Ocoee with everyone in the next week or two. I'm not sure if it's in 1 or two weeks, but it was always a highlight of my summer.

Caleb:
Japan cultural observation: a one-lane road in the states is always a two-lane road in Japan. All intersections have mirrors for seeing around corners. Driving on the left-hand side of the road takes some getting used to (especially on turns).
We are entering the rainy season. Already two of the ten days being here have been rain days (a blessing in disguise when you must run 5k). I preached last Sunday night and I was informed that at least one unsaved person was in attendance. I pray that God will work in lives.
I woke up on Thursday morning to my leg muscles screaming at me: "No! No more exercise. We've carried you for 22 years and this is the thanks you give us?" Yes, the exercise has been intense. We are running at least 5k or various running/calisthenics exercises 7 days a week (with the exception of Sunday). Norman has challenged that once we get in shape and see how we have been living at a mediocre level, not just physically but also spiritually, we will resolve to never settle for mediocracy again. Our journey is still in the accent stage. The battle for intentional disciple-making is yet to come.

Natalie:
Hello United States! Wow, Japan is wonderful. We are in the middle of a place that could only be found on a calender and we are learning alot of japanese phrases such as: Toire wa doko desu ka? Which means: Where is the toilet. :) I feel like i have learned so much and it has only been about one week. To skim a few:

Leadership: I usually find it hard to know what women can be leaders in and what they should be followers in. Right now i've realized, through various activities, that I have issues in general with following leadership.

God's Glory: Looking around at the various aspects of Gods glory that we can see through nature here, it's so hard to understand why someone could look around and say that it is all here by random and unguided chance. Going on a tangent for a second, It has been raining here all day and I was looking at the stream that runs behind our camp. A spider had built a web from one tree to the other which spanned a good 5-6 feet. It made me realize that God equipped that spider to do a pretty sweet thing despite its size. It also made me see that our human developments really arent that impressive compared to this simple spider. I'm reminded of that hymn that says To God be the Glory and how much I mainly sing To Natalie be the Glory, To Science be the Glory, ect.

Courage: Wow, courage is something that i've really been thinking about as i've looked back on this last school year. On one of the first days we were here, we read through the first 24 chapters of Acts. My goodness! Norm brought up a great point by saying that the God in the book of Acts hasnt changed! He is still as powerful and amazing then as He is now. Reading how couragous Paul was when he was before the council and how he testified that Christ is who He says He was even though they called him crazy was convicting to me because my council is in classes and I am afraid of being called crazy.

Those are a few that I want other peopel to know about :) But thank you for your prayers and thank you for reading what i've writting!!! Pray that I do not get bitten by the man-eating centipedes and pineapple sized spiders. Also pray that our excercise goes well. I was really looking forward to the physical demands that will be made this year. We have already run a 5k and this morning ran up a mountain :)

Bible Verse i've been thinking about:

Acts 20:24
But i do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only i may finish my course and the ministry that i received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.

Bible verse I plan to start thinking about:

Psalm 139:12
Even darkness is not dark to you, the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
More on this later...

rain rain rain

It has been a rainy day. We went out for a run this morning but spent the rest of the day inside busy with study. We had a good discussion in the afternoon. The first week is over!

Friday

We had a good day of study and work.We began work on a set of benches for the camp today as well as studied some characteristics of a leader. Tonight was really fun with 8 Japanese showing up
for a fellowship time.

Friday night fellowship

Calling camp

Some people have asked about callingcamp. Parents may call at any time. However, if we are in the middle of a lesson or working, you will be asked to try again later. The best time to call is Mon night or Tues morning USA time. Thanks!

Fitness Test

The group is in the middle of our first fitness test. It consists of a 5k, 2 min of pushups and 2 min of situps. This sets the baseline to mark our improvement over the summer.

Wednesday Lessons

We started our leadership training course today. God is teaching us how to respond to His call to servant leadership. The afternoon was spent cleaning the camp and getting it ready for summer ministry.

Morning Initiative

Rainy Monday

We took a prayer walk in the rain today. A little soggy when we returned but a good time of fellowship in prayer. Everyone is fasting today so we spent lunchtime taking a spiritual gifts inventory. This is a great group to work with!

Notes

Here are some quick notes from various people on the team--

Jacob
Mom and Dad I love and miss you. Things are going great so far. I can't wait to share what God has done so far. Andrew, thanks for all of your support and prayers. Tell the guys at Bible Study I miss them dearly too. Thanks for all of my friends' support. I will write more later, but feel free to call and I'll answer if we're at camp.

Caleb
The flights were long but by staying up almost the whole trip (I finally nodded off near the end of our flight from Tokeyo to Kagoshima) I nearly conquered jet-lag. I was able to share Christ with Phillip, a Korean young man on the flight from Chicago to Tokeyo. He had never considered what will happen to him after death nor the claims of Christ. He didn't seem too concerned about it. From what I hear that is the norm among Japanese youth under-30.
Saturday we engaged in spiritual warfare through prayer-walking the streets of Kiyushu where Norman and Susan Smith as well as Sue Hann, another single missionary with ABWE, are spreading the word, making disciples with hopes of beginning a church. The needs are great here in Japan. Christ must be proclaimed and disciples must be made in this spiritually dark land. Keep these missionaries in your prayers as they seek to do just this.
Tomorrow we begin fasting and continue exercising. My brain is already swimming with the lessons learned and knowledge to apply. It will be a good summer, I can already feel it.

Luke
It's still a new experience for me to be back in Japan, and it took me some time to settle... But I am excited to be here, and I am reminded of how much I love the people here. We were able to take a prayer walk with the ABWE team yesterday, and it was exciting to be in the town where I hope to someday settle and serve God. Pray for me this summer, that God would continue to guide me, and to prepare me for the work which I am completely insufficient to do, yet He certainly is completely sufficient. Matthew 28:20 and Psalm 121:1-2 are a comfort to me as I see the work ahead of me. And pray that I would draw nearer to Him and depend on Him more and more. Thanks for your prayers!

Megan
After the flight I felt delusional. However I ended up getting some sleep on the third and final flight. We had a chance to meet some missionaries who work with ABWE. After we met we got to go on a prayer walk and ended up speaking with a Japanese man who was tending to his garden. He was very sweet and growing sweet potatoes. So far things have been great and the food and wonderful as well. I look forward to our Bible study tonight! I love you all :)

Andy
Hello all! So far all is going great--jetlag is fun...waking up at 6 and getting tired around 7 pm is fun...Ill be glad when I get used to this timezone.

Starting tonight until tomorrow night we will be fasting. This is something new for me, and quite a few others on the team--it will be a great experience!

Now we are off to a Bible study in Kikuyo--will post more later!

Weekend ministry

Saturday we joinedABWE missionaries for a prayer walk in Kikuyo. Afterward we took a trip to a Japanese "dollar' store.Fun! Sunday we begin witha lesson on spiritual gifts, then a time of worship. In the afternoon, half of the group goes to Aira and the other half goes to Kikuyo for an english service anda bible study. Today GRIT begins!

Friday

Although everyone is tired, we accomplised a lot today. The camp is alotcleaner. we went through our first leadership lesson today,and noone fell asleep!

The team is here!

Everyone made it safe and sound. Most of them are asleep already, preparing for a big day tomorrow.

Hello from Norman

I am excited about the GRIT team coming to Japan this year! I think we have an outstanding group and I look forward to seeing how God will challenge and change them into the image of Christ through the trials of the summer.

Lee mentioned an email contact for me. If you are the parents of a participant you will have all the contact information possible, email, cell phone, camp phone, etc. If not, you should contact a parent if there is an EMERGENCY that requires you to get in touch with a student. Otherwise, you can get a full report when they return! You can write a letter and mail it to them however. The address is:

c/o Norman Smith
430-18 Oazatsukure, Kikuchi-gun, Kikuyo-machi
Kumamoto-ken 869-1101
JAPAN

Pray for physical, mental and spiritual strength for the students as well as Lee and I. May God be glorified in us!

Travel plans

Hey Friends,

You may be wondering about our travel plans. Early May 14, most of us are heading for an airport somewhere. Jacob gets on in Knoxville, TN. EA gets on in Kansas City. Abby, Caleb, Dan, Natalie, Edo, Lee, Luke & Megan get on in Des Moines. We all fly to Chicago. There we are joined by Andy and Cameron, and we all take the same flight to Tokyo, change planes, and arrive at our destination at about 9 PM Japan time. I think the entire process will take about 23 hours. Ouch!

Violette, Larissa and Heidi are going to be joining us two weeks later, after making the same trip. Then our team will be complete. Violette will be helping Susan with the cooking, laundry, and all kinds of other necessary jobs. Larissa is going to be helping anywhere she is needed, but not taking the actual GRIT training. Heidi will have the hard part of joining the GRIT team 2 weeks after they start. Thanks for praying a little extra for her.

I am thinking that some of you are going to want to contact us during the summer. That is going to be a rare thing. We are at a camp with no internet access. We are trying to avoid dealing with too much technology and have more time to really grapple with God, His Word, and our responses to Him. I am going to ask Norman if he wants to post his email address here in case of emergency contact. But if that is not a good idea, he won't. Remember the good old days when it took 6 weeks to get a letter sent by boat overseas. Low interaction is not always negative. Your prayers are instant and very effective. Plus they get to the right Person, who can actually do more than any of us. Our family and churches know how to contact us, so that may have to be good enough until we get back to the USA. Maybe we can post a mailing address so you can at least send an encouragement card.

Stay tuned, Lee

Taking off May 14

Greetings from Lee, one of the team leaders,

We have a team of 12 students and 3 "others" going to Japan this summer. We will be joining Norman and Susan and Keiko for 8 weeks of planned, serious discipleship and missions work. Of course God is in control of all that we end up doing, so what we planned might not look exactly like what happens.

We are expecting a lot of family and friends and supporters to visit this web site and read through the things we post. We are all trying to communicate concisely and to the glory of God. Each of our own personalities will leak into what we say and how we describe events. I am asking ahead of time that you just love us and enjoy God's working in us and leave your critical spirit at the door. We will make mistakes. When we know about them, we will ask forgiveness and set the record straight. Our intension is to provide updated information about the whole team, but from individual perspectives. You may not get the humor. You may not understand every detail. But get as much as you can out of what we write, and then do a lot of praying.

Being new at this, I am thinking it would be safe to work with only first names. That would prevent the odd visitor from doing too much research on any of us as individuals. Thanks everyone for complying with that intention.

All for this initial message, Lee

G.R.I.T.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Weekly Evaluations

Friday, May 30, 2008

Sermon prep

Friday

New arrivals!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Aira workday

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A word from Pastor Lee

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

We climbed a mountain today!

Morning devos

Monday prayer

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Gospel choir in Miyakonojo

May 25 team updates

Saturday, May 24, 2008

rain rain rain

Friday, May 23, 2008

Friday

Friday night fellowship

Calling camp

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Fitness Test

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Wednesday Lessons

Morning Initiative

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Rainy Monday

Monday, May 19, 2008

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Notes

Weekend ministry

Friday, May 16, 2008

Friday

Thursday, May 15, 2008

The team is here!

Friday, May 09, 2008

Hello from Norman

Travel plans

Taking off May 14

About Me

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