Prayer Answered!! + A Little Sharing Time

Hey!!! So H-san had been out of the country for her spring break but now she is back!!! She and I had kept in contact through email a little bit, but I found out earlier that her phone wasn't in service so besides the pc email exchanges, I didn't have any other way to contact her when she returned to Japan. So I knew her return date was approaching and hoped that she would just contact me since my phone information hadn't changed. Anyways, to make the long story short, I kept missing calls from some unsaved number and it turns out it was her!!!!! It is so encouraging!! because...

I had been a bit discouraged lately. I felt like because I cannot see fruit as a direct result of me being here in Japan, there wasn't a point in me being here. However, God's Word has reminded me again of my job! John 15:4 - "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." I've been so focused on the fruit, that I forgot to really seek Him out to remain in Him. I had forgotten something as simple as that, and I praise God for putting me back on track. Hopefully I don't stray again too soon! :P

Lately...

Lately, I've been good overall :) Yesterday January 26, 2010, was my 1 year since I started working with the IMB. Yay hehe. So, basically, unless things change and who knows, it was my halfway mark for this part of my life. I don't know if I can say that I have something concrete to show you that this is what all my time and efforts have produced, but that's ok because really, it's not about my time and efforts but about what God is doing through me. As long as I'm faithful to Him and His calling for me, then I know I can be satisfied and content. Of course, remembering that all the time can be a challenge... ;)

Weeellll! I'll tell you something crazy and amazing!!! I was just starting to type out a prayer request when my prayers were answered!!!!!! That can't be just a coincidence!! H-san, who had been so faithful, all of a sudden stopped contacting me and I couldn't get a hold of her for about 2 weeks! It really concerned me because it was very unlike her! So I literally typed, "I've lost contact with H-san!!" when BOOM my phone next to me started ringing and guess who it was?!? H-san!!!!!! That is too crazy it was almost creepy haha. Wowzers. Amazing. I still do have a prayer request regarding her though: H-san will be going to Korea for 2 months because her school is now on a break session. Please pray for her that during this time, God will continue to draw her close to Himself, and that she will grow in Him and His Word!!!

Now, here are some pictures from my surroundings here:

This is a residential shrine, in an area called Musashi-Koganei where I work. We were doing distribution in this area, putting an offer for a free dvd called The Hope that shares the Gospel in a very non-cheesy and pretty well made video all in Japanese into every mailbox we saw. There were many shrines and temples in this small area to my surprise actually. Please pray that people living here would be open to the Gospel! Two other areas where I work are called Nishi-Kokubunji and Kokubunji, so please keep these places in mind too as you pray!

It was one of my teammate's birthday and we had sukiyaki for her birthday!! Yummy yummy! It is kind of like shabu shabu for those of you who know, except you cook everything in sauce.

The same night we had sukiyaki, the teammate's neighbor came over to share this beautiful cherry blossom with us. It is a rare kind because as most others bloom in the spring (late March/early April), this kind blooms in the winter in December/January. It smelled wonderful, like Yuzu cha (Japanese)/Yuja cha (Korean)!

A view of Shibuya crossing around noon on a weekday. Very empty compared to the other times!

Personal prayer request: My right foot has been in an almost constant pain for maybe around 2 months. I don't need this here, especially since I use my feet to carry me almost everywhere (I have no car!). Please pray for my foot that the pain will go away and it will be a nice and healthy foot so I can go out to do His work! Thank you! :)