G.R.I.T.: 06/01/2008

Castle

Kumamoto Castle

It has been a busy week! We spent yesterday afternoon in Hayato putting on a kids program.

In the evening we went to Miyakonojo for a English outreach. Today we are in Kumamoto conneating with a few of our university contacts. Tonight is the Bible study in Kikuyo and Eng service in Aira. Rest soon!

Day of prayer

We have had a good day of prayer and fasting today. We spent time in God's Word and in group as well as individual prayer. It is hard to believe there are only 3 weeks left in the summer!

Week 5 Blog Notes

Caleb:
More Japan facts: Only in Japan do watermelons cost $35 (fruit in general is very expensive here). Only in Japan are the chances of finding a napkin on the table less than finding water in the desert. Only in Japan is mountain hiking a common activity for 70 year-olds.

We are entering week six as part of the GRIT commune ("commune" due to the gobs of time spent together, shared cleaning, cooking,chores, and exercise). This coming Thursday we will see our second exercise test consisting of a timed 5k run, and the maximum number of sit-ups and push-ups in 2 minute intervals. We are in high spirits that the hours of toil spent in exercise will pay off when put to the test.

The last half-week saw a change of pace for the whole team. The 9 guys (including Pastor Lee and Norman) split off from the girls for our own mini 3-day retreat. We hiked and climbed the Japanese mountainside. One highlight for our "Fellowship of the Ring" was hiking a 1700-meter inactive volcano (knowing we began our accent at 1200 meters lessens the impressiveness of this feat). The cloudy weather prevented an otherwise spectacular view of the surrounding landscape. Our mission: climb around the summit crater, descend the far side, and ascend a more distant peak. As we began our descent from the summit peak, the rain began. At first we determined to go on, but the reality of tiny mudslides and fast-forming streams drove us back. The return ascent and descent included lunch eaten in haste, repeated slips in the mud, getting soaked to the bone (our rain ponchos only did so much), joyous splashing through puddles once our shoes had surpassed the saturation point, observing one of Japan's poisonous worms from a distance, and feeding four wild deer. In the future we will remember to leave all paper products behind, wrap our cameras in plastic, and bring more chips in case of further deer sightings.

Pastor Lee and Norman brought several teaching times relating to guys topics such as purity, relationships, women, and family life. Shared experiences forged a common bond that allowed more fertile learning. Lessons were absorbed while lying on a hardwood floor before a fitful night's sleep (for some reason I was put in the snorers cabin :-), over supper in a Japanese restuarant, waiting for shoes to dry at the laundrymat, and relaxing in a Japanese hot tub after conquering the mountain. I imagine that the Twelve learned many things from Jesus in similiar circumstances: sitting in a boat, walking along the road, eating at a guest house. Our current leadership materials have begun to speak of mentoring. A good mentoring relationship will include initiative, proximity, friendship, example, commitment, responsibility, knowledge, trust, evaluation, goals, and empowering. This is what Jesus practiced and what I want to pattern in my life. Many of these elements realisticlly will never occur in a Bible college setting. It will take individual students and Christians to answer the call fo Christ to take up the mantle of mentoring and pour their lives into others. It's about developing people, not programs. It's about creating a movement, not more administrations.

Edo:
Think about it... In the Bible, most of the handsome males and beautiful females have an issue with God. Either the handsome males are disobedient (Saul, Adonijah, Absalom, etc..) to the Lord or beautiful females make God's children forget God (Delilah with Samson, Solomon's many many wives) or commit sin (Bathsheba with David, Tamar with Ammon, etc...). Therefore I propose: We must not be good looking... LOL!
WARNING: this is not to be taken seriously and for fun. In the Bible that description was mention only to show that the Lord judges the heart of the people while humans judge the outward appearance of people. This is not really new, but at the same time this is something that really hard to learn and do - to have wisdom to discern and judge people's heart-. Oh well, this is really nothing to do with GRIT Japan but I write it anyway (since Caleb beautifully summarize our trip!).

Jacob:
Thank you for the letter Brittany. I got it last week but haven't been able to blog since then. I really appreciate it and hope you have a great time in Costa Rica.

So things have been busy around here. Imagine that. It's difficult to say what's going to happen next. We've been working so very hard and just all over the place. We had a men's and ladies' retreat this week. It was good to focus on things that Jesus wanted. Not that the opposite sex is bad, but with just guys (or, for the women, just girls) you can be 100% open and nothing is really taken differently than you mean it. I think that we all need that sometime. The guys climbed Kirishima and the girls went shopping.

I preach (again) in two Sundays in Miyakonojou in the morning so pray for me there. Personally, I'm growing a lot and managing my time better. I can't wait for this next year of my life. However, there's still so much more that we can accomplish together. It's kind of sad to think that things are halfway over, but I really think there are several members of the group with whom I'll keep interacting once things are over.

The primary goal, as has probably been discussed before, is discipleship. It's the primary goal of Jesus Himself. This needs to be applied more closely to our lives, starting with those closest to us and using that as investing deep in the lives of a few, not shallow in the lives of many. This is our calling. Pray that we (GRIT) and none of the people over here in Japan as they are learning don't lose sight of this.

"For greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city..."
Jesus, You are our God. May we do as You did and want us to do.-jct

Retreat

We finished a great guys and girls retreat. The guys spent three days hiking through the mountains while the girls were able to spend some time with a few of the ABWE missionaries at camp. We have been able to continue our leadership studies. Some of the guys are having opportunities to lead the lessons now.Only 3 weeks to go!

The girls are watching a movie!

Earthquake...

For those who were wondering, we are far away from the earthquake earlier this week. No problems here. This week we split the group and have a mens and ladies retreat. The guys will be away from camp Wed to Fri.

Hello Hello from Luke

Hi everybody!

I am having a great time in Japan, still learning much, and being challenged, and growing! I miss everyone in Ames, I miss church and LIFE and CBF and Diane. I am counting down the days until I will see you all again (55!) Until then, I`m pressing on, and preparing for all that God has for me in my life. He has great plans, and a great purpose for me now, and I want to be used by Him! Caleb and I are being challenged this weekend, Friday through Monday, having been thrust into the head leaders for GRIT. We just returned from a great trip to Kumamoto University, where we had many opportunities to speak with college students and get to know them. I definitely am growing a love for young Japanese men and wanting to have an influence in their lives. After GRIT, I`m hoping to return to the college 2 or 3 times a week with Norman and get to spend more time with students. I have several contacts that I want to follow up on.
This morning, I had a neat but challenging opportunity to speak in the morning service in Aira, with Keiko translating. I gave a message about God`s grace in Romans 5:1-11... the hardest part was the translation, because Keiko and I only had a short time to work together to prepare and understand the message, and translation is NOT easy! But it was a good challenge and learning experience for both of us. I am thankful for the GRIT team... everybody has done some hard work this last week and for this weekend. They are great!
GRIT is now halfway done, and it seems like I`ve learned too much already. I hope to take this training home and make it a big part of my life. God is good, and I am excited for all that`s happening. Thank you for your prayers! Bye for now...
~Luke

Megan- Hello everyone! This last week was great. We went to Kumamoto University and got to attend 2 English classes and talk with the Japanese students. We also had a chance to go out with some of the students we made friends with. We went Karaoking with them! It was a blast! The professor allowed Norman to share that we are Christians and promote his Challenge camp that he is having after we leave Japan. This camp spends time in the Bible and takes time to teach who　God and Jesus are! God has opened doors for us! It has rained a ton! The food has been Great! I also had a chance for a homestay, and to visit various churchs! God has been teaching me a lot and showing me areas that I really need to focus on! It comes down to trust:) I love you!

Busy week!

We have had a full week at Kumamoto University and are finishing the week with a kids outreach in Aira. We have spent most of the week reaching out to Japanese and everyone is finding the pace tiring. We are praying for 4 students who said they will be at the Bible study Sun night.

Kids outreach

Kumamoto University

We are guests on campus until Fri afternoon. We will be joining an English class this afternoon and Fri. We have already met a lot of students in the dining hall.We are planning tn get together with some students tonight.

Leadership Thoughts

This is Jacob writing. Here is a combination of two posts- one about this past weekend and another about this coming week for our team:

(written Sunday night, June 8th)
My sermon went about as well as I could have hoped. God taught me a lot through it. I was faithful in studying what I felt God was leading me to study, that is, courage, and He was faithful in doing the rest. Indeed, it was a growing experience like no other. I don't know if/when I'll have internet access next, but just know we are growing individually and as a group more than I ever have in my life. This is just before the halfway point for our group, and I await the return to the states with both eager expectation for what the next year holds for me and also with sadness too- knowing that the time I have spent with this group here will probably come to an end. Iowa is a long way from Tennessee, but who knows?

It's all in God's hands anyway. That's the main thing I've been learning here is that He can, will and wants to provide richly for us who are in His Will. Very few times in my life have I been able to say that I believe I am 100% in God's Will. Well, right now is one of those times. The life I am living isn't anywhere near perfect, but I'm able to follow passionately after Him in this setting. I want to transfer that back to Tennessee and wherever Jesus leads me from there.

I hope that although this (my writing on the GRIT blog) isn't how I've normally blogged in the past, it will still share my heart with you and what I am experiencing as much as I can in the little time I have to write. We are busy, but it is all for the name of Jesus and His Name and Renown. Hang in there tough. All of you. We're doing the same here-

physically (with exercise 6 days a week),
mentally (learning and using what we know about God's will to grow to become more like Him),
emotionally (learning to keep self-control in all situations- especially when someone is intentioally pushing you to pop),
and spiritually (using the spiritual disciplines to train ourselves and be prepared for the battle- both the ones we'll face this summer and the ones for the rest of our lives)

(written Tuesday, June 10th)

So as I sit here and think about what's going on with what we do in life wherever we are in this world, I was thinking of the challenge we have over the next few days as a team. Norman has challenged us to really be intentional on making a great impression at Kumamoto University so that His (not Norman's) future ministry there will be able to succeed and flourish there in the future. Really, it's a challenge in our lives to us all.

When we think about making "good first impressions," do we really understand in detail what that means or do we just pass it by? Are we constantly looking for a place of "security and safety" when we should be preparing for the spiritual battles that lie ahead? Every day, subtle habits, patterns, and passions will fill our lives- but do we take all of them and make them all slaves to Christ as God's Word says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 ? Are we so consumed with our own lives, thoughts and dreams that we cannot do anything better than look for a place to prop our feet up and relax?

That's the challenge our group is going through right now. We are at a point to where we're becoming comfortable with each other, but we aren't quite yet where God wants us to be. He wants to use that comfortability to grow us and use us in even more incredible ways than we can imagine. "Ministry" has always been done in such a way that nobody gets hurt, no one has their emotions stretched and their motives questioned all for the sake of "peace." Conflict in and of itself isn't a good or bad thing. We mistake it for bad so often, yet we cannot get a good grip on why things blow up and one point or another later on in our lives.

This is first and foremost a challenge to myself and then the GRIT group. Please pray for us to have the wisdom, courage and strength to do what God has called us to do. This is a very important opportunity for all of us to gain great position for Jesus and what He is doing in Japan.

On behalf of the entire team, we thank you again and again for all of your thoughts and prayers as we are here over this long time intensely training for what God has for us in each of our lives. I look forward to (which Norman will probably post) sharing even what this week God works in our lives.

-jct

Culture Festival

Today most of the group is going to a culture festival at a high school. There will be speaches, plays, and music, all provided by the students.

Day of Prayer

We began the day with concentrated prayer in small groups. At 9am we took a break for exercise. This was the first truly hard day of exercise and most of the group really felt it. We followed exercise with a 1.5 hour prayer walk. These are always good times of extended prayer. We are anticipating a good discussion over some of our reading this afternoon.

Praise 2008

The group is taking care of the children for a joint praise service for churches in the south Kyushu area. There are about 150 adults and 25 children present. This is a good warmup for the 2 outreach prmgrams we will be doing later this summer.

Planning!

Thurs ministry

We passed out flyers for the church in Nagashima today. It required a long walk in the sun but we covered a lot of ground. We were able to cool off with a trip to the beach afterward. Tonight the group is planning for a 2 hour kids program on Sunday. Busy but fun!

GRIT fun

We are in Nagashima for the rest of the week. We should have a good time of fellowship andministry.

We will be passing out flyers on Thursday and working around the church on Friday. In between all the ministry, we will be preparing for our first childrens program on Sunday.

Wednesday Leadership Training

Day of Prayer

We are in the middle of our day of prayer. We read and prayed through the first 20 Psalms and are now praying in our teams.When everyone returns to the big group, we will be spending time Remembering what God has done in our lives to this point,Reflecting on His grace, Learning from the past, and Worshipping Him who is able.

Yay Japan! ~~from Luke

Luke here... I`m learning much about Japan, and discipleship, and leadership, and teamwork... I`m here looking at what I know to be my future home, and battling different fears. Yet, I`m falling in love with the people all over again. I think God is giving me a passion to work with young men, high school and college age. I have met a few here, and would love to see God use them for great things, and to be a part of their lives. God is amazing, and I`m excited to serve Him with my life.

I love our ministry opportunities, and spending time with the people. We`ve had many neat opportunities, with English classes and Bible studies and our "Friday Night Cafes" and the American BBQ outreach we had. The people are really neat, and they really need Christ.

We are spending some of this week in Nagashima. We were there for church this morning, and it was awesome to see old friends. Nagashima is home to me! Having stayed there last time in Japan, it was really exciting to go back.

I`m missing my ministries, and family, and friends, and my church, and of course, Diane. But God has an an awesome plan for me this summer, for how he will use me and what I will learn. This is great preparation for my future. Please pray for me... that God would give me joy, and strengthen me when I`m weary... that He would lead me for all that He has for me, and ultimately teach me to depend on Him.

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

G.R.I.T.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Castle

Kumamoto Castle

It has been a busy week! We spent yesterday afternoon in Hayato putting on a kids program.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Day of prayer

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Week 5 Blog Notes

Retreat

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The girls are watching a movie!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Earthquake...

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Hello Hello from Luke

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Busy week!

Kids outreach

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Kumamoto University

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Leadership Thoughts

Culture Festival

Monday, June 09, 2008

Day of Prayer

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Praise 2008

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Planning!

Thurs ministry

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

GRIT fun

We are in Nagashima for the rest of the week. We should have a good time of fellowship andministry.

Wednesday Leadership Training

Monday, June 02, 2008

Day of Prayer

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Yay Japan! ~~from Luke

June 1 Team Update

Lunch in Nagashima

Saturday Night Haircut

About Me

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