"Though the world moves like mad... You alone are faithful..."

Walking from Tsukuba Center to TICA....
the gorgeous Japanese countryside!

Wow! So much has been going on the past few days, it’s almost overwhelming just to think of writing it all down. I’m ending each day feeling both super productive and exhausted, as well as energized. We have been doing a lot of work in and around the church that has been “dirty work”. It’s a lot of organizing and cleaning, de-junking random closets and storage rooms and cupboards, and many hours in the heat, humidity, and/or crawling on our hands and knees. This week became the “renovate the church” week. Basically, there are 3 or 4 major projects on the to-do list for this summer and it seems that we are trying to do all of them in the same 72 hour period. Not that it’s a bad thing – get all of the mess cleaned up and put away ASAP. It just makes for some very long days. Father’s Day was on Sunday, so everything we are doing needed to be finished by then. Our painting projects were thrown off schedule as we had to buy more paint (the store was closed one day), and then the next day, return the paint twice because the wrong color had been purchased. Until we finish painting, we couldn't move the furniture back or organize all of the miscellaneous supplies, books, etc. So everything was on hold until that was finished.

 Despite the exhaustion, we have also had a lot of opportunities to meet more people. Between all of the Bible study groups and meals on campus, there are many new connections to be made. I am constantly counting down the hours until our next trip to the university. And what I want to do the most is just go meet new people!

Some of the ladies from the
JICA Bible study

Me and Qiuxia, one of the XA
students from China

It’s a little tricky now though, since we have a larger group. I am learning that I need to communicate a little better. And also to have grace and patience with people who don’t or can’t operate on my time schedule. That’s one of the biggest things I am needing to continue realizing day by day. My vision for this city and community is pretty much limited to 9 weeks. But there are people here who see a much more long-term vision. If what is most important long term is me renovating the church building, then that’s what is most important! If fellowship with the university students is the priority, then it needs to become my priority. If me stepping back and not trying to take over the agenda is difficult, that probably means I need to work on that area more.

Still attending Japanese language class
to gain new vocabulary!

We’re having a great time as a team, though! No matter what project we did, there’s been a crazy story or hilarious moment. All of our crazy days sweating for hours working and moving things have resulted in lots of laughs and good quotes. We’re experimenting with new recipes and trying fun things at the grocery store, and have recently even begun adventuring out into the city unaccompanied! Gasp! ;) Okay, I’d done that before the rest of the team got here, but it’s fun to keep testing the limits. Alletha’s friend Hiroyuki came to Tsukuba yesterday and we went out to dinner. Two of us had to take a bus there since his car is too small, and so I got to ask the lady at the bus station how to get to the mall that we wanted. [Basically, it was “ Sumimasen… nihon go chotto dekimasu. Busu wa LaLa Gardens ni dore desu ka?” And the nice lady wrote everything down in romanji for me! But I understood the explanation!] It was actually really fun! I’m getting this sense of fearlessness about getting around – which may be bad, but so far it is just empowering! The dinner at a conveyor belt sushi place was really awesome. I spent just over $10 and got a really wonderful meal of 5 different types of sushi, edemame, pineapple, and a matcha cake for dessert. Afterwards, we thought it would be possible to take the bus back…so we sent Hiroyuki in his car alone. What we realized later was that the buses stopped about 45 minutes before we wanted to leave. So, it was a late night walk home (approx. 90 minutes) with all of us a little perplexed at the craziness of the situation, and poor Justin nearly dying as he hopped on crutches all the 3.5 miles back.

Sayaka

China

On Thursday I get to go into Tokyo for the first time! I’ll be meeting up with China and Sayaka from one of the WSU-KSGD groups! Haven’t seen either of them in over a year and I am so excited! It’s gonna be really great to catch up with them. China works there now, so Sayaka and I are staying the night at her apartment. Please be praying that this could open doors for some good re-connection and conversation with these sweet girls who I absolutely love! I'm looking forward to seeing the country through their eyes. It’s beginning to already seem like I leave much too soon. I’ve got 5 more weeks in Tsukuba, and another week after that in Osaka. But really, there is so much to see and do! So many people on campus I want to meet! And I’m finally catching on to a little bit of Japanese. Leaving is gonna be sad. Luckily, it’s far enough off that I can stop writing about it now. Hahah! 

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity of living here. Really, I’m learning so much about Japan, God’s work here, other people’s stories and experiences, and just missions work in general! Some things are confusing to me, and some systems are a little bit frustrating and inefficient. But other parts of life here are really eye opening and spark new ideas and thoughts about what might work in the US world of international student outreach. It’s making me really excited for next semester because there are so many things I want to try! God hasn’t really given me a big “Ah-ha!” moment yet. But I’m having a lot of small realizations that I trust will turn into a cohesive picture eventually. Keep praying for that, I guess. I want to take away from this trip what God wants me to, not just what I think I want to.

Weird selfie after a very long day...
;)

 *Those Who Trust, Salvador