June 1, 2013
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J-Days: The pack, the parrot, and the pass.
Updates will probably come less daily and perhaps once or twice a week(one on Saturday which will be our Sabbaths and one when time permits) as life here really begins to pick up the pace. This will give me more to say per update and more time to just pray and focus on what God is doing here and now instead of feeling tied down to have to update this blog daily.
So heres the update in no particular chronological order, just by whatever comes to my minds end first:
-There appears to be no apparent jetlag hindering my running about, PRAISE THE TRINITY!
-We are still getting some final training done here in Tokyo before we go into the campuses, but I have really been blessed by all the prayer and prep along with the ongoing bonding between my team brethren.
-Please pray for my 1st Mentor in life as he is on his own mission trip in Haiti and I'm told that a couple mornings ago, there have been gunshots in the slum area next to their compound where they are serving.
-"It is official, I am no longer the current Whale King." -J.P. Fisher
-Had my first sushi in Japan(SOOOO GOOOOOD that it stirs the affections of my soul for God!!!)
-Blessed by meeting older men of God, Uncle Kam and Omar, who have zealously been serving the Lord faithfully here in Japan with their families for over 10 years and how they keep reminding us that success isn't in the number of converts one makes, but its in one's faithfulness to God. It has reminded me rightly of Jon Lim's GPA Theorem(http://jonlim4.tumblr.com/post/19617685432/9-reminders-while-studying-1-6-gpa-4-0-gpa)
-[Deep] introspection of my CURRENT sins and struggles while on missions and confessing+surrendering it all to Christ! I am still a bi-polar skitzophrat in the faith, but despite my long list of whorreble sins and struggles, God still uses me graciously and its amazing!
-Learning about the pack, the parrot, and the pass for the glory of God and the final salvation of the many.
-[DM] is still a struggle, even here in Japan, especially during prep or when my mind wanders. "What separates an evangelist's lure and life story from a PUA's opener and routine?" -[DM]. But God's grace has been violent in sustaining my [focus] despite the spiritual warfare and I know that even though things are still just getting started and will only get more difficult from here, His grace will be what I need.
-Reminded of good and bad memories on my mission trip to Thailand four years ago and I find myself in total awe of how different I am now due to God's refining/maturing work of my soul over the past years.
-Seeing God's sovereignty as to why He put me in the team that I am in and so much more God glorifying dominoes that are falling!
-Sweet Gospel Centered Thoughts flooding the attic of my minds end fuel my passion for missions. Soli Deo Gloria!
-Praying about my Lord Willing future and timeline and holy ambitions in light of what God has been exposing me to.
If you have any questions or want any specifics let me know and I'll add it in my next update.
grace and peace, trials and suffering, our joy and His glory!
