Flying over Japan coastline


The team


Trains are vital for transportion


Tokyo:

A city without an edge,

in need of hope and the knowledge of God

A long first day

"You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, not shall there be any after Me. I, I am the Lord, and besides Me there is no savior.... also henceforth I am He; there is none who can deliver from My hand; I work, and who can turn it back?'"

-Isaiah 43:10-11,13

God's Grace

Through God’s graciousness we have made it safely to Japan. The journey was lengthy but good. According to His plan, we sat in row 57 next to Yu-Jin, a delightful young woman from Korea. Over the hours we visited with her a great deal. It had been her first visit to America (Kentucky). By talking very slowly, using her Korean/English dictionary, drawing when words failed, and listening much, we learned we had much in common. The conversation freely lead to spiritual discussion and questions, and she happily took a Gospel booklet I gave her before we deplaned.

Flying over green and wet rice paddies, we landed in Tokyo. A bus took the 10 of us and all our luggage to our hotel. To adapt to Japanese time, we immediately left again to explore and stay awake before sleeping for the night. On a brain half there, we learned how to read a bus schedule, get to the airport by bus, find the train station, and how to order food.

Once in our room, we were vividly reminded of the great need before us here in Japan. Along side of a Gideon Bible, lies "The Teaching of Buddha." Laying our weary heads down for the night was not hard, due to our exhaustion and accompanied with the peace in our hearts only the One True God gives. I thought of how few in this country that could lie down in peace. "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep, for thou Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

Willing Hearts

After much prayer, our passports arrived a few days ago, the Lord has provided the resources, and our first stage of team orientation has been completed. With this all set, Tuesday morning we will start off for Japan with nine others on our team.

As part of the inaugural team in The Nippon Initiative, we are humbled to have a part in this vision to further the Truth and Light of Jesus Christ in a desperately needy land. We look forward to seeing just what God can do through eleven willing hearts.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Wow! I can hardly believe that I'm leaving for Japan just a little over 12 hours from now. It still seems a little unreal. I'm so excited and joyful that we have this opportunity and to be the first team of many more to follow (Lord willing) is amazing! Get out the machete- we've got some trail-blazing to do!

We had some great team training yesterday and today. Pastor Randy and Pastor Doug gave us principles from God's Word on servant hood as modeled by Jesus Christ, making good choices when we are weary or experiencing culture shock, and also practical appplications for reaching out to the Japanese people. It was just what I needed to hear. My heart and mind feel like a suitcase that has just been filled with powerful spiritual tools. Now I just need to go finish packing my real suitcase!

-Elsbeth

The Adventure Begins!

Hi, this is Mariah for those of you who don't know me! I am from Minnesota and have joined the team for the trip to Japan. We had some great training yesterday and today which I am thankful for. It definitely helped me to receive some tools to take along when serving the people in Japan. It is hard to believe that we are actually leaving tomorrow morning to travel to the other side of the world! Your prayers are much appreciated!

Mariah

Ready, set, go!

We have just finished up our stateside training compliments of Pastor Randy and Pastor Doug. They gave us much to think about in regards to cross-cultural servanthood. Now we are working hard to make sure we have everything we need for the morning.
Michelle and I are trying hard to make sure we don't pack too much :)

Off We Go...

The Nippon Initiative 2007 gets underway tomorrow, May 29, 2007, with the inaugural team leaving from Indianapolis for Tokyo via Detroit. Team members include: Stan, Michelle, and Toby; Elsbeth; Evan; Mariah; Mike and Sharon; Randy, Dale, and Elliott. We covet your prayers as we travel. Our hearts are full of anticipation for what the Lord has in store for our time in Japan. We are asking the Lord to help us be servants and to show the love of our Lord in tangible ways to all we encounter.