"We have to go back!!" -Jack from Lost

We just finished 3 days of orientation in Japan. Orientation is probably being a bit generous, in actuality we collapse in Tokyo for a couple days after flying around the world while the staff here in Japan encourages us, gently instructs, and slowly gets us rolling on the Island. I forgot how overwhelming it is to be here. Crippled by illiteracy, poor language skills, and bad manners it's hard to think we can make any type of impact over here. The staff describes the situation using a football field analogy. If the goal line was salvation, most Americans would be around the 50 yard line or so, familiar with the Bible, the idea of one God, living near a church etc. The Japanese are probably at about the 2 yard line...with 98 yards to go, churches are hard to find, there is no general familiarity with the Bible, and even the idea of one God hasn't been a serious consideration. I mean, to me, it doesn't really sound like they're on the 2 yard line; It sounds more like they don't know we're playing football. There's a lot of work to be done, and patience to be had.

And it starts tonight with a welcome to Shizuoka dinner with the students. Be praying!

Return to Shizuoka!!

3 Years ago God let me take part in 8 weeks in Japan that changed my life. It opened my eyes to the beauty of Christianity in other nations, and had a large part in my choice to spend two years as full time staff.

Today I'm headed back. Right now I'm about 15 hours away from touching down in Tokyo, Japan. God could do anything with this next 6 weeks, I'm unbelievably excited, and as you can probably tell, running on about 45 minutes of sleep over the last 48 hours :)

Last Semester Fall of '11

Time for a bit of reflection.

I'm not really an introspective type of person, especially when I don't force myself to talk to someone about myself or write on this or the other blog, but it seems healthy to look back at the last 6 months and see what change God has forced me through.

Starting the year off I was definitely excited to get back to work. My time as a slinging sausages in the local grocery stores had grown in me a fantastic appreciation for the opportunity God has given me to spend a couple years working in ministry as a profession. Not that sales is somehow less valuable, in fact quite the opposite. Joining EDGE corps one of the things I really wanted to grow in was my ability to evangelize. As one of my friends had pointed out the nitty gritty steps of evangelism, especially the type of cold calling evangelism I find myself doing on campus, are basically the same steps one uses to sell sausages. Especially these sausages because I legitimately believed people would be better off laying down 5 bucks for them.

So even though at the time I felt like I was wasting time standing around in the bright refrigerated sections of markets all over town. In reality God was giving me a chance to grow, very specifically in an area I had asked Him to grow me in. And as a bonus He was letting me store up a bit of cash for the coming school year.

Once back on campus one of the things I knew I had to do this year was give another shot to discipling guys. The Navigators are huge on discipleship, which makes sense because Christ was all about it and wanted the all the nations to be involved. All of them. I had tried meeting with some guys my first year but the nature and mechanics of discipling just never hit me. I described it as trying to figure out how to waterski in an earlier post. But you know what, if you watch enough people ski, read enough books about it, talk to people about it, and keep getting out there and trying it, sometimes things start to click.

This is getting pretty long, and my laptop battery is about to go out so tomorrow I'll explain more about the mercy God has shown to me in the discipleship arena.

Updates have been bumped back to later tonight

Hey if you read my email it mentioned that I would try to get some much more substantial updates posted here. Unfortunately it's looking like that will have to happen either late tonight or tomorrow. BUT IT WILL HAPPEN.

Week 1 (Beginning anew)

I was telling my staff team (Ryan, Dave and Val) the other day how as the semester starts, I feel like Sisyphus at the bottom of the same hill with that same heavy stone. I didn’t mean it to come out quite as hopeless as you and they maybe imagined it. I think it was just the nature of college ministry finally hitting me. And it only took 15 months. A new class of students were coming in; our seniors had graduated. We now have maybe a week to comb through the incoming 15,693 students trying to find anyone with a hint of interest in exploring God’s Word with us. Then I realized it’s not college ministry that’s cyclical, it’s just ministry. It’s the life from here on out. The rest of my life I will be meeting people who need help becoming mature believers. Lord willing anyway.

As my Dad constantly reminds me however, I’m never going to run into one of these folks at the wrong time or on accident. God’s been waiting until the perfect time to introduce us.

So as I sit at the bottom of another hill with a boulder that gets bigger the more I look at it. It’s really quite a bit of pride to even assume I could move a Sisyphus class boulder. Only the incomparable being who “declared the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done” could move it. And He will move it because “His purpose is established, and He will accomplish all His good pleasure’.

I’m not at the bottome of a hill really, I’m actually here:

At the top of a roller coaster. Unable to fight gravity having already strapped myself in and committed to the ride. It’s only day 3 and so far He’s shown me a ride well worth the price of admission J

Waterskiing and Discipling

Starting in ministry really reminds me of my experience water-skiing. At least it does after some reflection of a full semester on campus. The Conferences and trainers tell you all the things you should be doing, "keep your feet together, lean back, don't cross the ski's, get in the dorms, disciple these guys to become laborers, and don't forget to keep up your own walk." But sometimes you still can't get out of the water and on the skis, and it feels like sometimes they give you advice like my Dad gave me when I was trying to water-ski. "I not really sure what you’re doing wrong, I got up on my 3rd try. You just have to have the feel it." Probably true, but mostly frustrating.

Thankfully I’ve had a lot of chance to “feel it” and I think I am starting to get an idea of how to stand up. And as I was reminded by a friend the other day, I should stop trying to stand up, lean back in faith and let God pull me up. In plain terms, I desperately needs the Holy Spirit's help when reaching the guys. Pretty simple, but for a prideful person it's hard to remember and swallow.

P.S. I should be back into posting updates, so look for about a post a week giving some kind of update on how I, or the ministry is growing....I haven't really nailed down the specifics of the content yet. But I'll try and keep it short. No exegetical discussions of Isaiah or Jeremaiah, I promise.

Pride --> Anxiety --> Discouragement --> Peace

I'm out of time. Today I have to head back to Arizona from SDSU to finish fundraising. It's something I knew was going to happen 3 weeks ago when I came to San Diego, but the stuff that's happened, the things I've seen, and the people I've spent time with make leaving infinitely harder than I ever thought it would be. Even if it is just temporarily.

I spent a lot of time yesterday frustrated for so may reasons. I was frustrated because I felt like I had let my team down by not being funded and leaving them short handed at a crucial time in the ministry. I was frustrated because I felt like in the little time I've been here I haven't been as effective as I wanted to be. I was frustrated because what little I had accomplished I felt like would be gone, lost in the shuffle of the weeks to come as I try and get back out to SDSU.

It just comes down to a lack of faith. Paul and Timothy once wrote to the Phillipians -

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

God will take care of it. His work never fades away, and He never takes a break. I wasn't trusting in the gracious God that allows and guides the sunrise and sunset every day. I wasn't asking enough of the generous God who once held the sun in the sky for an entire extra day at the request of one of his servants. And I wasn't thanking my God who had brought me this far, though He owed me nothing good and certainly nothing as incredible as what He's shown me these last 3 weeks. While I was wondering what it was that I had done wrong, the truth is, I can't do anything right without His help. "Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stay awake in Vain" (~Ps 127).

So now I go back to AZ, relying on God to complete his work in these guys I've met, to complete his work with my funding, and thanking Him for allowing me to witness the things He has shown me so far....But it's still hard.