back in busy breezy brisbane

this is what the children looked like after they were told we were leaving... NOT REALLY...

Aren't they cute though? Heeehee...

IT was really hard leaving Japan. All the relationships we built, all the fun and memories we created and shared. All the seeds we planted. How I wish I could be there to see the flowers blossom and fruit bud. But reality strikes. back to busy breezy brisbane.

Something really funny happened at the airport. So it was a really touching moment-- Heapsa people including Y (a nonchristian cool-chick) and her MOM came to bid us farewell. We all drank our last latte together at the starbucks in the airport and then parted ways at the gate. So picture this. 4 Aussie team members right, 3 of us had already cleared the bag-check thing (where they make u dispose of liquids etc?) and we're there behind the glass waving frantically to the horde of Japanese kindsouls who came to say byebye and we wave for like 5 minutes!!! All the time wondering where the last member-- E was. And guess what she was doing? E was BRUSHING HER TEETH at the bag-check!!! honestly!!!

So anyway, thank you so much for reading and praying and giving to missions in Japan. Remember that it is God's mission always. And that paraphrasing John P, the ultimate goal of God is not missions. it is worship. mission exists cos worship doesn't.

I hope that the blog has helped in your understanding of the land of Japan and how better we can pray for them. Also, please also prayerfully consider what you could do for them as well on top of praying. :) I do appreciate all your prayers as it was such a great run from the planning of the trip till the return. God was and is just so evident in many different ways.

Don't hesitate to email me or call/text/snailmail me if you would like more information or more details about the trip or what else we learnt etc. SamMcG (the leader) intends to organise another trip end of next year with CMS so if you're interested, I could forward him your contact or vice-versa too!

Okay, I should get back to packing the house now. Not to complain or anything, but my house looks like a warehouse! and the fridge was frozen over and couldn't open on the day I arrived and there was this disgusting smell from the rubbish bin! haha! ok, maybe you didn't need to know that. Whatever it is, it's now sorted so have a great day!

きをつけて！

p/s i'm considering going again next year (for a STM) and might consider going for a longer time (maybe 2-3 years) or whatever in the future future so please pray for wisdom and direction. thank you!!! :)

キラキラ光る

literally, the title means to sparkle or twinkle. it's the beginning of the Japanese version of twinkle twinkle
little star :)

it's early thurs mornin as I write.. around 0000hrs? ;) and I'm writing with a smile as I recall the day and week gone.

was really encouraged even this last week. just to hear that just with one hr of interaction with us, 3 moms decided to find out more about this Jesus we came for and have been talking about.

Community outreach event aka Aussie Christmas Party was THE BOMB! :) (which means it went smashingly!) the hall was packed to the rafters and like some people had to like stand with their backs right up
against the wall or peek from
the staircase! but everyone I asked had fun despite space constraints and had a chance to hear the gospel! tWas awesome ;)

and like a few of the nonchristian girls we've met have been like really open and coming to bible study and other similar events so please do keep praying! it's really exciting cos apparently the japanese people usually take really long to open up to people and stuff? but yea, God is definitely doing something :)

homestayed with a really sweet Japanese family Monday and Tues...


that's the mom there making shabushabu for our dinner! yummy!

and then wed and thurs I'm staying with a long term missionary from Ireland! :) she's been here 10.5 years now and she's absolutely hilarious! plus her dogs! super cute! Had a good chat with her and she was sharing with me her achievements and struggles and role and all? super informative and encouraging! really respect how some missionaries just live by faith without the support of a missions organisation or whatever behind them! すごい

in that missionary's house now lives another chick from melb who first came on a STM like mine 3 years ago! she's pretty amazing, leaving her job and all to come teach English in japan and share the good news ;) hEre's her:



so perhaps I should go to
sleep soon. but yea, don't forget to keep at least twinkling for Christ! :) mayb the world'll see your twinkle and be attracted to your creator :)

p/s had a yakitori-treat for dinner today and wow, the things they ordered and so I tried...


and that my dear friend was the chicken heart I ate. I also digested some knee, neck, butt... TONGUE?!!! yumm?! :) but grateful nontheless! ごちそうさまでした!!!

Friday already?!

omg. it's already Friday night! just had the highschool event which changed to be more like a junior high school thing but still good nontheless! :) always glad to have people hear the gospel!

today we also went up/down/left/right to Kobe! to help out with English class there and encourage some other missionaries from CMS (Kelly,Brad&Michelle). Please pray for them as they endeavour to build more bridges and glorify God through their work there.

OH! i must tell you!!! So yesterday we hung out with a 99yr old grannanny Mrs F which was such an encouragement really. even just her testimony of coming to faith and then getting baptised at 92!!! it's just mind blowing!

Honestly, I never wanted to grow that old? but if I could be as lucid and as sharp and as much of a blessing as her at 99, why not yea? speaking to her made me even somewhat ashamed of the moments where i felt tired of life. seriously, an old lady who's almost a century old with a fervour and passion for God can really put young pple such as myself to shame sometimes.



That's her there! And though you can't see it cos her right hand's not in the picture, she's actually doing the peace sign! Super funky granmama she is. She even asked for our numbers and said she call us in Aus! She only speaks Japanese tho so she told me I'd recognize her if I heard an old lady going "moshimoooshi" :) haha she's hilarious!

Now for some serious stuff! Speaking to more Japanese here, I realize the reality of a personal God. Unlike in other countries, where it's common to have like "2nd generation Christians", every jap Christian I've spoken to here has an incredible testimony of grace reaching out to them.

A pastor commented today about how jap pple are essentially rather religious people? but compelled by fear such that they desire that outward display of "worship" and god, accepting the ritual an traditions of their forefathers without questioning.

upon reflection, I think perhaps they might be a little commitment phobic. Cos they're all rather careful people, thus they tend toward stuff that perhaps are efficient and require little intimacy/commitment. that could explain why new fad religions are ever so popular? I mean, if it were real and people could spend like $2000AUD and buy their salvation for a lifetime, then why not right? but fact is, no one can buy their way in. the price has been paid!

so please continue praying! good night for now.. I'm so super tired! hope my last few sentences made sense!

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a God that answers

so heaps of things have been happening! too many to mention perhaps, too tedious for you to read! suffice to say God answers prayers! :)

I'm not sure if I wrote this earlier but there was a day I prayed one girls sister would not get a divorce? and even though the situation seemed absolutely impossible, God turned it around and she changed her mind at the veryvery last minute! (that was like <12 hours post prayer!) Praise God!!!

and then like the skit we did on Sunday! have I written about that yet? i think I probably have but yea, even up till today, which is tues, we have been receiving feedback re: the message and how that has impacted their way of thinking! wow!

plus my first worship sess on the piano last sun went well too! 2 ladies actually came up to me after to tell me how like my piano playing touched them! and for those who've heard me play, you'd know its definitely God!

and i know these arent like wow the blind can see or the lame can walk kinda miracles? it's small I know but I do believe that in small and big ways God is moving here. and He is preparing for himself a people.

remember the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few! so ask the God of the harvest to send more labourers!

plus I do believe that God could still make the lame walk and blind see at this day and age if he wanted! ;) maybe tomorrow I'll meet someone who needs healing in that way!

for today, God healed our team member and he's now in the pink of health, ready to serve God with all he has!

tomorrow we're heading out to a homeless district in the middle of night! will let u know how all goes! meantime, please continue praying for the land of the rising sun ;)

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taste and see

today was my first taste of homelessness. being always blest with a great family, good company, food on the table-- sometimes even too much and always shelter over my head unless I voluntarily camp
under the stars; I never could
imagine how it would be like homeless.

this is what it looks like..
sleeping on street corners or wherever possible


rolling the blanket around as tight as possible to prevent any winter draft (it's an actual person under tat blanket)



makeshift cardboard houses that can neither withstand the cold nor rain.

going to bed with an empty stomach most nights. and over 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year, when no volunteers work, going hungry all nights.

met about 100 homeless pple today. gave away heapsa tracts and rice balls. realised that the majority are men >60 yrs old jobless&wandering the streets. many drunk, using alcohol as a means of escapism.

main vice? gambling! in fact, the pachinko parlors are the best decorated with the most colourful and prettiest flashing lights! all this while just one street away lay the destitute and poor, huddling in the dark alleys.

do u think Jesus loved the homeless and died for them too? I do. and guess wat? surprisingly, many of them knew about Christ already and some even asked which church we are from even before opening the tract or having a look at is! :)


you can pray for the local church (in the shinsekai area) who's name is in the top of the photo! :)

can also pray for these homeless pple that we met

for high school outreach and community outreach we're heading up this weekend

(and pls excuse this rushed post, 15 mins to type.. :))

see you soon!

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start of week 2

thAnks for praying and leaving comments. am really encouraged by you :)

will try to break down posts so it's easier to read (ie not one long post)

so week 2 started with a big... (hint: not big bang!) it started with a big Buddha! serious! :)

Nara: home of the disputably the biggest Buddha in the world? we drove about 1.5 hours to the city of Nara to have a sense of the culture and spiritual atmosphere there...


have a good look at the signs! a different temple in EVERY direction! where else in the world have u seen such a religious place? sigh, while standing there at the shrine gates, watching the hordes of people step up to sound the gong, I felt a taste of how God might feel-- akin to a heart breaking? how I felt like going up to and shaking everyone there. and if we believed that might have opened their eyes we just might have done it...



this the place where people
write their wishes on wood and hang them up, in hope that 'god' might read it and answer their wishes. have another close look-"dear God, please make me happy".. why can't they see the truth? なんで?!

is your heart moved for japan yet?


in one part of the massive park of temples in Nara, which we took like 6 hours to finish walking, there lives a cluster of shrines. this is where people go for specific requests. ps hide here is explaining to us each section.. one for studies, marriage, etc etc



these bibs are on tombstones because they belong to babies who have been aborted. you read right. not miscarried or had sudden death syndrome but aborted in cold blood. they say there are special shrines these mothers can go to to try to absolve their guilt. some pay up to like 500 000¥ which is >AUD $5000 to do so.

now please... can someone tell me why if they are so hungry for grace... if they are so religious. if they know they need God? why.. why then do they reject the one who loves them most? why do they reject the only one who could help them?

been also reading "silence" by "shusaku endo" which is about persecution of the early Japanese church. I highly recommend it if you want to know more about christianity in Japan.



here's something to cheer you up lest you get too depressed by my post. a piggiebun I had for dinner!

BUT if you feel for japan... if you see the need? then please... please plead with God with us for truth to shine through and illuminate their hearts and minds in Jesus Christ!

there are so many ridiculous new fad religions which innocent people falling for-- like "the institute of human happiness". honest! so dodgy but boasting 1 million members to date! it's members having to pay >$5000AUD for a goldframed photo of the leading dude for his spirit to come into
their house! and remember, you're only rolling your eyes because you know the truth.. so please pray!

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eNd of weEk one

"time flies when you're having fun"

(that's one of the idioms we taught today in English class.)

and indeed it has! (although I wouldn't exactly describe it as "fun"?!)

it's been a fairly long week in Sakai/Asakayama, Osaka, Japan! time now is 2355 and I'm absolutely ready for bed!

briefly, I want to thank God for his provision for dr R's court case resUlt? :) (in my hEart whiLst prAying before, I reAlly felt eVerythiNg'll be oKay? and it is! hOw awesome..)

also praise God together for the good days of English teaching and sharing his word! for sustaining us and keeping us (one was down with a bad flu, complete with bodyache&all) in good health. for continual opportunities to glorify him in the various things we endeavour!

yesterday was kids outreach on top of English class and like 35 kids rocked up to the party?! :) so twas pretty cool cos it means another 35 heard about Jesus!



sOme of them painting here ;)

was super blest to be invited for dinner with a nonchristian family we shall call m too! ;) they were superrr nice and the mom and daughter especially?! ;) they convinced us to put on the yukatas (summer kimonos) to feel like a Japanese! (ok actually not much encouragement was required, I was more than happy to wear it?!)



pretty?! ;)

that was yesterday. today, 2 new kids that came for the party rocked up at church so thank God for that!

and den the 2 ladies above, y&her mom, also came today to watch our skit? and den they stayed for sports! more opportunity to build relationships! yAay! even the mom played cricket! supaa fun!



playing touch at a super pretty park with the church and new pple!

Had a really interesting conversation with a jap doctor about the openess of the Japanese mind and he talked about cultural diversity and heterogeneous/homogeneous-ness of countries and all? Pretty impressive for an intermediate English student!

pleAse pray:
- continued health and wellbeing for the church, team, and pple we come in contact with esp
- soft hearts as fertile soil as we continue sowing seeds
- perseverance thru tiredness and just learning to rely in Gods grace
- continue to present a no frills, pure and unadulterated gospel
- relationships would continue to grow as God grants us favor with the Japanese despite obvious barriers like language and culture
- for jAp doctor TM that his understanding of culture and stuff would point toward the creator God!
- a revival thru japan! I reckon the devil's got a real stronghold here. u can feel it in the atmosphere! no kidding!

please pray!

not all a bed of roses

day 1 of teaching English proper

what a day! it's 0030 now and I'm still awaiting my turn to use the shower!

how do they do it here? 12 hour 6 days 52 weeks a year? I bring it down to either passion, or supernatural stamina.

I'm really tired. like physically I'm ok, probably able do a 2.4km run now or something? but I feel my brain has switched off! but fair enough, we've been up since 0730ish and teaching since 1030? aah, time for my little little brain to take a big rest!

now today, speaking to the people here, I discovered the sad reality of some of their non-conversion even if they wanted to? (which they didn't say they did but they were pretty happy to listen from the Word)

for one, she said she couldn't become a Christian because her family was the first to make incense sticks here and she has to carry down the tradition and business.

for another, she is so busy that coming to English class is a treat and whats stoppin her from receiving Christ is because she is Buddhist. and tat was it

tomorrow, we're going to help out with the church-home-school. that's for the kids that maybe were bullied or whatever and have thus stopped going to school. please pray for them and for us too

so during English class, we had "bible-time" which is when we get to share something "Jesus-related". :)

shared my testimony today too and realized that unlike some other people with dramatic transformations or great conversion stories, mine is very simple and straightforward! in fact, I could sum it up in one sentence! see I was born in a Christian family, believed, still believe and just kept going with it. mUst remember it's not my testimony that changes lives or my words that move pple but only the gospel has the power for salvation!

back to work now!




check out how close the car is parked to the wall? そごうい‼ such amazing space-saving techniques! ;)

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in osAka

Thank God we all reached safely! ;) Everything that could have gone wrong didn't! Plus I even made my first osAka-ian (I just made that word up) friend on the airplane!

"SURPRISE?!!!!"
hAhaha that was the first thing we heard when we stepped into the lighthouse church yesterday evening! Slightly bewildered and absolutely amused we gingerly stepped toward the sound as the lights flicked on... Guess what greeted us?!

Instead of a bevy of friendly Japanese faces like I expected, it was SMcGs mAsks and his fAce plastered everywhere! I'm serious! It was their way of welcoming us... with a surprise party! and boy what a welcome! :)

So today was the first day in Osaka-shi and to help us adjust to the totally different weather and culture, we spent the morning praying and in a meeting, ate delicious tonkatsu for lunch, then took the semi-rapid express train into one of the city centres called Namba and walked around, soaking in the sights (bright lights and even brighter outfits), smells and sounds! Thereafter was finalizing the next day's English Class and preparing ourselves for a full week ahead and finally a great big bowl of ramen which tastes 10x better than any noodlething I've eaten ever! おいしいかったですよ。

On a more serious note we chatted with the pastor of lighthouse and his wife (amazingly passionate, dynamic and faithful young leaders) during the morningmeeting and found out a little more about Christianity in Japan.

i learnt.. and this is something you could please pray about too.. that:

- the japs generally have a rather skewed and negative view of religion in general due to various cults and happenings. This impacts on their ability to receive God or recognize that being a Christian is about a relationship and not rituals.

- many japs carry with them a sense of guilt and shame which could be related to their upbringing, the war, and the pressure of the expectation of being perfect

- they work reallyreally hard, many 7-day weeks and manymany hours averaging 0800-2000

- some have a sense of hopelessness as they don't see any difference to their end? like if they died now or later? so that might explain the high suicide rates!

- there's also a very pervasive sense of materialism and self-sufficiency here... chasing after development of their lives post-world-war has led to a dependence on themselves and their own ability, further distancing the reality of God or the need for him. not to mention with help of the male pride...

- many churches here are not only small but have heapsa old people. where are all the young people and next generation leaders?!

- there's a lack of unity in the churches here. seems like some churches view others not likes family of God but rather as rivals. maybe because they're protective over their numbers? (tat's my guess.. I don't quite know...)

there are heaps more things but i think that should be enough prayer points for now. being here really is different from
hearing about it ay, so if you get a chance (like if jets's having another sale or something) do pop on a plane and come see and feel for yourself! but beware, u may get ur heart broken. so I shall head to bed now for it's 0000hrs

some pics



through the little blue door the lighthouse shines



shinsaibashi, where we walked today



people who own businesses splash water on this idol for
good luck. so much so it's turned green with algae



just behind, a lady sweeps the fragrance of incense onto
her body and pats it in for more effect I think (see her left hand on right shoulder?)



dinner! the most yummilicious ramen I've ever ever ever tasted! nothing like the instant ones or the franchised ones! ;) mMmmmm...

ok tTfn! the house I'm living in and the church actually has no
Internet so I won't be able
to post as often as I'd like but yea, I'll try my best!

don't forget to say a little prayer (or a big one if you can) for Japan before u close this window!

またね

depArturE!

おはようございます
(ohayo gozaimasu)

it's about 6ish as i type and we're well on our way to the gold coast airport! so I thought I would post something before we get on the plane proper :)

not feeling superduperoverthetop excited at the moment? :) probably because I'm more sleepy than anything?! :) but I reckon it'd hit pretty soon? probably after my first cuppa.

sOoo...

7 shiRts



100 bOomErAngs



hEApsa prAyer and soMe mOney latEr, shAz is finAlly on hEr wAy to shArinjAp! ;)

Just wanted to thAnk yOu so sO soOo mUch for all your support! (both moral and practical). Thank you for your prayers, words of encouragement, donations (monetary and warm clothing) and prAyers! aah, I said prayers twice, must really be sleepy.

so off I go to catch a powernap before hopping in the plane over! :) please do bookmark the blog and i will endeavour to update it as much as possible! Please also continue to pray for the land of Japan and all the people who are doing God's work there! ;)

And yea, please also uplift Mario and his trip to East Asia? And also remember to touch base with Kim and Eleasa as they return from their mission in Kenya!

Take care now and God bless you heaps!

See you in Osaka!

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my tEam

in a clockwise direction, using me as the reference, here's my team! consisting of SMcG, our team leader and CMS mission coordinator dude, MK from CCCB Coopers Plains, Est who went on the OMF trip to Jap last year, and Clay who has offered to take me to the Coolongatta airport earlyearly Monday morning! yEeah I'm getting pumped! 7 Tshirts to paint in the meantime tho! :) hAha too easy! ;)




らいしゅうのげつようびがチームとひこきでおおさかにいきます！

这个星期一我们会塔飞机去大阪市。

(We're going to take the plane to Osaka this Sunday! yAay! ;))

diBs on my tripPp

Yesterday was a little of a reality check... Twas the last meeting till we fly off on Monday! Time has really flown (pun intended) since I first decided to go hey...

Meeting was slightly awakening cos even as we planned for stuff I always had some sort of "visions of grandeur"?! Being the idealistic optimist that I am, I never thought what if only afew people turned up for our outreach event? But today SMcG asked about our expectations and if we would think it a failure if only 2 people turned up..?! And then he asked how many of us would feel bad letting our church here know... (about that only 2 pple came) would we feel like we were letting you down? How would we also then measure success of the trip?

Honestly, I reckon I would be superuberduper disappointed if only a few people turned up.. and even more so if those who turned up walked out halfway or something-- which I'm praying they won't? But yupp, I'm learning that success is not necessarily how many people come, or how well I think I did, or even how many salvations there are at that moment? (Not saying that we won't try our best in everything we endeavour, cos we will! ;)) But I guess ultimately success would really to be able to be available to be used as an instrument of God. And that no matter what the circumstance that God may ever be glorified! いつも。

Yupp, so this is something I painted for our "Australia themed party"-- We're supposed to be "lifeguards/surf patrol" and this is my demo tee! is it prettee?!! ;) Haha ok time for work now! Seeyaaah






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leSs than 3 weEks!

wOah cAn you believe I'll be in osAka in less than 3 weeks? :) tHe destinAtion seems pretty surreal yet the jOurney definitely reAL! :) haha がんばってます

jAp test was pretty uneventful I suppose? never read so much jap in one sitting! ;) was pretty impressed at how far we've come as a class ;) thaNks 4 all ur prAyers too!

hAd anOther meeting yesterday to firm up details of our schedules, roles and all! So exciting! planning for the kids as well as the church party is mostly done but we still need some sorta drawcArd for the highschoolers?! any great ideas? ;) what do guys think of a campfire? ;) haha

so anyway, fOr the curious and musically gifted, here's tHe jAp soNg we're gOing to present as a special item. it talks about how great God's love for us in that He gave it ALL! ;) we're also planning to link it to the chorus of 3rd days "love song" for a bit of a surprise ending! ;)




righteyo! shld get back to lunch 4 now! keep praying and shining where you are! ;) remember, we're all evangelists, whether we're using words or not! ( ;) of course words could potentially make ur msg clearer but that's a message for another time!)

じゃ！
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info-sesh

i'm not that prolific a writer. and not that eloquent either. so forgive the randomness in thought as i try to pen down stuff leading up to and throughout this trip to osaka. :)

today we (mario and i) had our first info-session. really encouraged by all who came. really great to see people who are genuinely interested in what God is doing and also really heart-warming to have friends rally around to pray for us and support us in various ways. :)

so there's my prayer point slide. :) it's slightly different from the one you saw this morning cos i don't have the anime tat mario put up. so i found one of my own! :) かわいですね。(how cute is that?!)

em... time to go back to studying for jap exam tomorrow! and thereafter start practising one of the songs we're going to sing. ;) here's the video if you wanted to have a listen! it actually is one of my favourite Christmas songs now. :) prepare a tissue before you listen just in case! :) (just joking)



oh as a short recap, i'll be heading off to Osaka with CMS (a team of 5 headed by SamMc) on the 23rd November- 14th December 2009. (THAT'S IN 3 WEEKS! AAAAH!) we'll be doing church support, english classes and having special outreach events for pri-school and high-school students, adults (church aussie party) and the homeless (we'll be staying up the whole nite for that one...) :) it's going to be awesome! so thank you once again for being a part of it! :)