All Must Be Well

We sang this song at my church this past week and the lyrics really spoke to me in this support raising process. There are highs and lows each day, even every hour as I am forced to trust the Lord with the results. It can be an exuberant experience when I see prayers answered, but also a frustrating and weary process as the task seems overwhelming. The truth is, however, through all the ups and downs, all must be well because the God of the universe is in control. I encourage you to take a moment to slow down and rest in these lyrics. They speak truth that I think we all too easily forget.

Through the love of God our Savior, all will be well

Free and changeless is His favor, all is well

Precious is the blood that healed us

Perfect is the grace that sealed us

Strong the hand stretched forth to shield us

All must be well

Though we pass through tribulation, all will be well

Ours is such a full salvation, all is well

Happy still in God confiding

Fruitful if in Christ abiding

Steadfast through the Spirit's guiding

All must be well

We expect a bright tomorrow; all will be well

Faith can sing through days of sorrow, all is well

On our Father's love relying

Jesus every need supplying

Yes in living or in dying

All must be well

Credit where credit is due:
from Watch The Rising Day, released 17 August 2010
Written by Matthew S. Smith
©2007 Detuned Radio Music
Based in part on a hymn text by Mary Bowly Peters

30%

Just briefly wanted to update you on how support is going! The Lord is gracious in his provision and I just passed the 30% mark. My goal is to have full support by August 1st so it still is a daunting task, but I know he will provide. Will you pray to our great provider with me and ask for him to bring in $1000 in monthly support this week?

Other prayer requests-

1. For my team and I that we would grow closer to each other, but especially that we would each individually learn to lean on God for strength in this process
2. Speed and efficiency for the government employees dealing with our visas
3. That the staff in Tokyo would be able to find us housing for the year that is conveniently located and fully furnished
4. Relief for the Japanese who are experiencing flooding in southern Japan

In other news, please let me know of any ways I can be praying for you!

Ending the Bruin chapter, beginning the Nihon chapter

As a recent graduate from one of the greatest universities in the world (not that I'm biased or anything), I can fairly say one chapter of my life has closed and another is being written. As a graduate with a degree in English, I can also acknowledge the importance of beginnings and endings to a story. If the beginning is dull, the prospect of staying awake long enough to give the book another chance is daunting. The beginning should be where the emotional connection is made, where the reader is given proper motivation for the great cost of time and emotion that they are sacrificing. In the same way, there is almost nothing more disappointing in life than a dud finale at the end of a long book. It makes your investment of time and interest an absolute waste, and there can even be strong feelings of betrayal towards the author. It often climaxes in a strong desire to cry about how unfair life is towards you.

In my stylish cap and gown over graduation weekend at UCLA


Now perhaps I was a bit hyperbolic in my above analysis, but because I am experiencing such a transition in my own life I feel it's quite applicable. After four years of amazing stories being lived out at UCLA, that chapter has come to a close. It ended with countless anecdotes of God's faithfulness to me in terms of providing Christian community, opportunities to grow in my faith, and the priceless chance to learn. It was a satisfying ending. And though bittersweet I look forward to the beginning of this next chapter because I know the character of the author who writes it. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, compassionate, patient, a provider, warrior and King. Knowing these traits I know his stories are worth reading, and in my case I get to live it out. Talk about an adventure!

This next chapter God is just starting to write is the story of my year-long missions trip back to Tokyo, Japan. I am going again with Cru (aren't abbreviations great! I just saved about 20 letters!) and will be bringing the hope and truth of the gospel to college students at some of the largest universities in Tokyo.

This chapter has been foreshadowed in previous chapters of my life, a clear sign that the author is in full control of what is going on, for which I am thankful. Right now the story is about the ups and downs of support-raising and preparing for the intensity of ministry in a country where less than 1% of the population is Christian. The story is going to have adventure, heartbreak, despair, unadulterated joy, friendship, warfare, humor, mishaps, drama. But I can with confidence assure you that it will have a happy ending because it will end in the glory of our heavenly Father. Ultimately that is all that really matters. Praise be to God that he even chooses to tell his story through us!

So there you are, where I've been and where my story is taking me. I hope you will join me in this journey, that you will read my story as the Lord writes it, and that we will be mutually encouraged by what He does.


In Him who has written the perfect story,
Quinn

Reflections

Well I finally took some time today to get away and just reflect on the trip and all that happened in the past month and a half. At debrief they tried to equip us for the reverse culture shock we would experience coming back to America from our respective countries. I've definitely noticed some weird things about being back in the US, like we're reallllly obnoxiously loud compared to the Japanese. And there is also the discrepancy between the intense experiences we've had on project and the continuation of life as normal at home. They told us that people often struggle to go from constantly being pulled and stretched in faith to living life the way it always was as a completely different person.

It has been hard to go back to normal life with my family and work. I miss my team especially. The close community we had for those 5 weeks was something special. I miss the Japanese nationals we made friends with, the JCCC staff, Japanese food and all the random Japanese cultural norms that had become normal for me. Today I was able to process through all these things and give them all to God. It was freeing to turn them over to him. It was also cool because I was able to thank him for so many things too. The fact that I miss Tokyo and my team so much is really just a testament to how awesome this summer was, how powerfully God showed up on our trip. So while I'm having "withdrawals" now, it's a crazy blessing that it even happened the way it did. And the things I learned in country are absolutely invaluable for ministry and life here. As I process everything better and readjust, the growth I experienced and the wisdom and brokenness I gained will help me better serve God's kingdom here in the US. That's a pretty crazy thought and I am truly excited to see what ministry at school will look like this next year because of project.

Sorry if I'm rambling...I think I'm still processing some as I write this for you. Basically I would say that I still need time to reflect more and pray over things more, but I am doing well and God is ever faithful. It's great to be back with my family and back in non-humid weather. And I'm excited to catch up with friends and tell them how God blew me away this summer. And over everything God is still teaching me things and breaking me in areas that I still struggle with. It's a never-ending process!


In closing, thank you so much for taking this journey with me with all its ups and downs. Thank you for rejoicing in my rejoicing and for covering me with your prayers in my hard times. It meant so much knowing I had a community of believers back home praying over myself, my team and our ministry the whole time we were in Japan. Please keep Tokyo in your prayers. God IS moving and changing lives radically, but it is still a very dark and broken place. Pray for the JCCC staff who serve so faithfully, for the christian students on all the college campuses, for our friends at Waseda who are exploring Christianity, for all those who are utterly broken and hopeless. And pray that God would raise up laborers to go and be lights. The workers really are few in Japan though the need is so great. And please pray that if God wants me or anyone on my team to go back for Him that he would make that calling very clear to us. I told him I would go wherever he wanted me so it will be interesting to see where that promise leads me.

Well, I guess this is "matane" for now. I pray God continues to grow you and show you his faithfulness as he has so powerfully to me this summer. Blessings in Him.

Hebrews 10:23
His servant, Quinn

Final Pictures

Hi all! It's been a week since we landed in California now and I'm still processing and organizing my life back in America. I'll do a final reflections post later this week, but I wanted to leave you all with some Disneyland pictures and photos from our last few adventures together as a team. Enjoy!







Our last morning in Tokyo. We went on the guys' roof to see the sun rise in the land of the rising sun.



At Narita Airport waiting for our flight.



Crashed on the van ride back to Vanguard for debrief.




Welcomed home with a gorgeous California sunset.



And finally, one of the students from UCSB disigned project hoodies for our team. We took a bunch of team hoodie photos together before saying good-bye. These are a few of my favorites from the bunch.

Sayonara

We leave Tokyo tomorrow. Our flight leaves around 7pm and we arrive back in the states around 1pm the same day...time travel is possible folks! I didn't rest well last night for some reason and tonight is not going to be very restful either, so please pray for sleep on the plane and for safe and easy traveling. Thank you all so much! Blessings

Photo Diary

I finally uploaded pictures again so here are some photos from my past week. Enjoy!

Christine and I with the limericks that we wrote for each of our teammates:


Our adventure with Aki and Rurika on Tuesday:








Our friends at the outreach on tuesday night:

Me with Jean, a Christian student at Waseda, and our new friend Manami:


The men:


Albert and Me in front of the Waseda statue/Okuma Hall:


Family Sushi Night!






Good meal. I actually added on one more plate to this stack after I took the photo: