Konnichiwa from Japan!

Hope everything is going well in America. :) We have been here for about 3 weeks and we only have a week and a half left before we head back. Thank you again for all your prayers and support. We really do feel your prayers at work here! Please please keep praying for us :)

SWING DANCING AND HIP HOP DANCING LESSONS EVANGELISM
We used the tool of teaching dancing to build relationships with students that we met on campus. After swing dancing and learning a hip hop routine, we spent hours sharing our testimonies. This was just one way for people to feel comfortable in a church because many of them have never been inside a church before.

KYOTO PRAYER WALK
We had an opportunity to visit Kyoto. This place is known for their shrines and temples. Many Japanese people go there to pray to idols for good fortune. We saw many people clap their hands and ring the bells to wake up their gods so that they can hear their prayers. Every single person on the team was deeply moved and filled with a great burden to pray for everyone we saw. We realized that Japan has deep roots in idolatry and we must humble ourselves and pray for a great revival in Japan.

Our hearts broke as we saw parents teaching their kids to follow these rituals that lead no where. They would write prayer requests and tie them here so that they can be answered. We were convicted to pray for the next generation of children in Japan. We realized that the reason why many college students don't consider Jesus is because they grew up going to these temples and shrines. We would often hear, "Japanese people are Buddhist" though they don't really practice this belief.

We had a chance to overlook the city of Kyoto and pray for revival. We prayed that instead of shrines and temples built by man, that God would one day raise up Churches of Jesus Christ and Kingdom workers in this city. All of us once again recognized how the harvest is so plentiful and the workers are so few. So we spent time to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers here.

Overall, we were pretty overwhelmed by the vastness of the task of this city to believe in Jesus. Yet, once we took our eyes off of ourselves, we found so much hope in our great God who is mighty to save. We were reminded of how amazing God is as we read in 2 Peter 3:9 about how God is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

HOMELESS MINISTRY
We were able to share dramas, songs and the Gospel message to the homeless ministry. There has been an increase in this ministry because many people have lost jobs due to the economy. Though we are so much younger than the people that come to this ministry, we prayed in faith believing that Jesus will reach out to them in His perfect time. We pray that they would constantly remember the hope that they can have in Jesus.

The Pastor of this ministry has been serving here for 56 years. We were greatly impacted by his faithfulness despite very little fruit. He challenged and blessed us in so many ways as he shared with us about loving Jesus and living for Him.

As we only have a little over a week left, please pray that we would finish strong! :) More than anything, we want more Japanese people to at least hear the Gospel once. Many have never heard of Jesus or Church. Please pray that we would be focused on that these last days.

Prayer requests:
1. This is the last week on campus to meet new students, we really need to be bold and invite many people to J-House. Please pray that we would not be ashamed of the Gospel and go all out this week!

2. Weekend events. We have 3 events that we are wanting to invite students to. Friday Funky Party, Saturday America Night, Sunday farewell party. All of these events will be crucial in sharing the Gospel with all the students we met thus far. We want to share the Truth with gentleness and respect and love. Please pray for mustard seed faith! We want to believe that GOD is able!

3. Discipleship: Also, through these events, we want to connect the students we met to J-House members so that they can continue to minister to them and disciple them. We love the partnership we have with J-House. So please pray for a smooth transition in the friendships.

4. Love Jesus. Though we are a bit tired, we want to simply love Jesus more in all that we do. Please pray that Jesus is the reason we are here. We want our relationship with Jesus to grow deeper.

Arigato (thank you)!!

J-Team 2009