New Hope and Waseda

Our first full day in Tokyo was mellow, but we got to go to a Japanese/English church service at a church called New Hope Tokyo. The pastor is Hawaiian, the message and worship were done in both English and Japanese, and there was an Australian giving the announcements in Japanese. Needless to say it was quite the experience for our jet-lagged team. It was really beautiful too, however, seeing God still praised with little concern for language barriers or any barriers men tend to establish. Singing praise songs in Japanese and having no idea what I was saying except that I was singing to God was a special experience for me. It really showed that God is transcendent over time and place and culture. That is what is so special about this time we have in Japan. We don't speak the same language or have the same traditions or cultural norms, but we're all sinners in need of saving grace. THe only difference is that my team knows that grace. Now we get to share it with these people.

Moving on to today...we took the train to the JCCC Student Center at Mitaka to have an orientation with the Japanese staff team. They shared their heart for this ministry particularly and answered questions we had about what we would be doing and how to best do it. After an amazing lunch of tuna sashimi, we got on the train again to finally visit Waseda University where we will spend most of our time.

The campus has several parts, a main campus, literature building, engineering campus etc. We prayer walked the main campus and it was beautiful. It almost had the feel of UCLA with a mixture of old and modern architecture, but very classic designs, and lots of gorgeous mature trees. It was crazy walking around and seeing some of the 40,000 students that Waseda boasts and realizing we are actually here and this ministry is really happening. My prayer was that God would just clearly lead us to people who are seeking and that we would just be humbled by this honor that we have to further his kingdom. We did meet a few students before leaving the campus so that was an exciting first step.


Last night was the worst for jet lag, but I'm still feeling the affects of it right now. God has blessed me with an amazing team, they are so much fun and so genuine. I feel like I have known them forever so it is strange to think it has been less than a week. God's grace can do crazy things!

Kon ban wa.


Oh! I wanted to leave you with a better picture of the team. This was taken at Vanguard right before we left. I haven't uploaded any other pictures yet, but when I do I will be sure and put them up.

Ohayo Gozaimasu

Just wanted to let you know my team and I made it safely to Koenji, Tokyo without any major mishaps. We got to our apartments by about 9:30 and were in bed by 11. The weather was a lovely 79 degrees with slight drizzle. We do have internet in our apartment so I will be able to keep you updated. We have an easy day today, just going to church at 1, so I am very thankful for that.

Anyways, just wanted to let you know we made it and I'm so excited to finally be experiencing this.
Blessings!

One of my teammates edited this photo of our team, sans leaders. We've had an amazing, blessed time of briefing and bonding together as a team. Even though there are only eight of us I really feel like each of us was called to be here and has a special something to offer to our team. I'm SO excited to finally go and see what God has in store for us.

We had a special night at our last meeting where each team was commissioned and prayed over. Our team leaders washed our feet as a sign of their love for us and willingness to serve alongside with us. It was a special time of praising the amazing God who we are going out into the world to glorify. Our final team meeting was spent going over last minute logistics about our travel plans, things to expect once we get there and final guidelines. We are functioning with the buddy system, each person responsible for a "buddy" and making sure that said buddy makes it to Japan in one piece. Prayers for that would be greatly appreciated.

At the moment one person is still raising a last bit of support, but we have been so encouraged and really overwhelmed by God's faithfulness in that situation. That is one thing that has continued to blow me away during this process- that people are ready and willing to support the work we are doing. So while I am the one physically in Japan this summer I want to thank you for being the ones who got me there by God's grace. On that same note I really want to keep you all updated on every little blessing and mishap that I experience. I cannot guarantee regular updates because I'm unsure of the internet situation we will have, but I will do my best to keep all of you faithfully updated on how God is moving in Tokyo.


Before I say good night and bon voyage, I just want to say thank you again and again for all your love and support. I'm definitely overwhelmed that this is actually happening, but I am also so humbled by this opportunity to just be a laborer for the kingdom and want to thank you for your part in bringing me to this point. God has truly built up a community of believers around me and I would not be able to do this without your prayers. So, for that I thank you.


A verse the Lord really spoke to me through in quiet time yesterday was Hebrews 10:23. I just want to leave you with these words: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

Thanks be to God for his great faithfulness!
Good night

Prayer Request

Hi all! I just wanted to ask you to pray that my team gets our last bit of support in. We have a little less than $1000 to raise so we are trusting God to provide fully and faithfully but would appreciate the prayers!

We leave Vanguard at 10:30 tomorrow morning, but I'll be sure and post one more time at least before we leave. It sounds like internet connections might be scarce in Tokyo, but I'll do my best! Actually, you could pray for that too :)

Blessings

First day of briefing

The wireless internet is a little shaky in my room so I just wanted to quickly update on my first experiences with my team. There are 8 students and two leaders total. Jordan, Albert, Christine, Alexis and Ada are all from UCSB. Stephanie is from Arkansas and Sarah goes to Ohio State. They are a really fun group of people and in our sharing time I can honestly say I'm looking forward to serving with them. It was also fun to see UCLA friends who are going on the three other trips that are briefing with us.

Anyways, I just wanted to say I'm doing well, God is ever faithful, and thank you again for all the love and support each one of you has given to me.

Good night from Vanguard!

Meditations on Packing

It's amazing how God can get to you, teaching and humbling in the most random situations. The random situation I speak of in this case is packing for my trip. As you might know, I am leaving for briefing tomorrow before gallivanting around the world to Tokyo, Japan. The only possessions I will have to my name are what I can fit in a suitcase and two carry-on bags. That being said, I initially wanted to pack as much as I possibly could. I wanted to be a good girl scout and "be prepared" and since I'm going to be hot and sweaty I figured I needed as many clothes as possible. When one shirt got too sweaty I could just put on a new one!

But then I weighed my mondo suitcase on my grandparents' bathroom scale. Granted the scale was pretty old and definitely off a few pounds, but my suitcase was well on its way over the limit. This meant some MAJOR down-sizing. Out came the baby suitcase, half the size of this monster I had successfully stuffed. With cutbacks particularly in the clothing department and clothes-rolling worthy of any experienced traveler, I was able to pack everything in this mini suitcase and a carry-on duffel bag. Pretty good if I do say so myself!

Sometime during this whole ordeal the words of Jesus to his apostles telling them to not take cloak or staff popped into my head. At first it was very fuzzy, but I was able to clarify the thought enough to get a google search going for the passage in the Bible that I was thinking of. The incident is found three times: Matthew 10:5-15; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6. In all these Jesus sends his disciples and explicitly instructs them to take nothing with them as they go out and preach the Gospel. Needless to say I felt just slightly ridiculous about my packing stress. Here I am worrying over having enough clean shirts and my toothbrush when the very God I serve is sending out those nearest and dearest to him with only the clothes on their backs. It made me wonder if I would ever be able to trust God enough to do something like that, go out with nothing to call my own and trust Him to provide for me like he always does.

Now I am fairly certain that God doesn't object to some clean underwear, a hairbrush and shampoo, but I'm positive that he cares more about the state of my heart than the state of my clothing. Having this put on my heart has definitely made my packing experience a lot easier.

Here are a couple pictures to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with before my trip...and also the mess I'm trying to organize so my family doesn't have to look at it for a month and a half!

the basics

Just so everyone is on the same page, here are the basics about my trip and about our destination.

I'm going to Tokyo on Summer Project with Campus Crusade for Christ. With a team of 10 others, including two leaders, I will be building relationships with Japanese college students on a couple college campuses in the city. Japan is only about 1% Christian and many people have never even heard the name Jesus Christ before. My small role in this giant picture is to build relationships with my peers in Tokyo and by doing so, hopefully introduce them to the love of Christ for the very first time. When we leave we will leave these students in the faithful hands of the staff and interns who work for Crusade in Japan.

Some fun facts about my home for 6 weeks...

Tokyo is the capital of Japan and home of the Japanese government and the Imperial Family. Tokyo boasts a total population over 13 million (that's a lot of people, the city of Los Angeles has approximately 4 million). The city flower is the cherry blossom and the ginkgo tree claims the illustrious position of city tree. Officially labeled a "metropolis" Tokyo boasts hot humid summers (my favorite). It is also sister cities with eleven major cities, including our own New York City and Berlin, Germany and Paris, France among others.


(image from wikipedia images)

I never thought I would be a blogger, but with God all things are possible I suppose. I have certainly been experiencing his power the past months as I've been preparing for this trip. With all the preparation I have almost forgotten that I'm actually going to be in Japan for 6 weeks this summer...I guess I got too caught up in the planning to remember that little detail. But praise God, I and my team of 10 will be flying to Tokyo June 25th after three days of briefing at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. (To all of you who I told we left the 28th, I'm sorry. Despite all my apparent planning I was very confused as to our date of departure. Don't worry, however, my mother straightened me all out, I will be at the airport on the right day)

I just finished spring quarter of my sophomore year at UCLA and came home on thursday. Even though dorm rooms are about the size of a sardine can, it baffles me as to how much stuff I could fit in mine, even when shared with two other sardines...students. That being said my week and a half before Tokyo is being spent organizing my room before packing some of it up again. I think my family especially is thankful for this time for me to clean.

If you've made it this far in my first blog entry ever, congratulations and thank you. I appreciate the support of you, my friends and family, so very much. Thank you for your prayers and continued encouragement. I'm getting really excited to finally go to Tokyo and live out what God has called me to do, but at the same time am very nervous to see what exactly he has in store for me. I hoping this blog will allow me to share all those adventures with you.

His Servant,
Quinn