The Certainty of Citizenship

I was deleting old Windows document files and came across a list of yearly prayers I made back in January 6th, 2006. One prayer said, "I would like to work with a strong Christian organization... and do ministry and evangelism work in Japan..."
I never thought I would be living in Japan this long. This past week was my birthday and it was pretty "nostalgic" because the last time I celebrated my birthday in Japan was when my mother birthed me, haha. It was also my 6 month anniversary of living in Japan.
Last week, I received my three year Japanese visa - I can live, go to school, and work here. Many people I've met have been trying to get Japanese visas and been denied. And these people speak better Japanese than me. I know I will be here until I graduate in May but I didn't plan on staying longer. But taking the step of faith in applying for it has opened up a lot of doors to permanently serve in Japan.
As a blessing as the visa was, the Lord was speaking to me a lot during the process. He reminded me that citizenship is uncertain. Uncertain in the sense that the community we live in will not accept us as a citizen of that community, because we live in an earthly community. On the outside, I am accepted here as a Japanese but inside, I know many Japanese people need Jesus. In America, outward acceptance comes a bit slower and requires making sacrifices, just to even bypass my asian looks. Christians all feel like a foreigner because "... our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ..." (Phil. 3:20). I've decided to take the acceptance of my visa to mean I am more unaccepted in this world. Because the visa means a next step in radically serving Christ in faith, in Japan, where very few know the One true God.
It is exciting to see what God will do this year. One year older means I'm a short time closer to meeting Jesus, yo :)

Translation - つうやく

(photo above: courtesy of e3 missions)
I've been translating from Japanese into English for the church since last December. It's only been a few times for our Sunday night services. During the semester here at the Bible College, I will definitely be translating testimonies for a few students as they share for Morning Chapel.
Translating has, by far, been the most difficult ministry work I've had to do since coming to the Okinawa Bible College campus. Maybe even the most difficult ministry work I've ever done. I've cried over it every time. But God is continually teaching me a lot through it and increasing my faith in Him so much. And I'm finding that translating is becoming a great way to study the Bible more and really forcing me to improve on my Japanese.


Since I can't read Kanji (the Chinese characters used in Japanese writing), preparing for messages has been the daunting task of looking up Kanji after Kanji. The rest has been in looking up the Scripture reading in Japanese and trying to decipher the closest meaning into English. After that, it's having to stand next to the speaker, in front of the congregation, and give the message they wrote, into English. Praise the Lord for all the times I had to give presentations at the Academy of Art University.
My prayer every time has been for God's message to be given to the people and led by the Holy Spirit. This was probably the prayer of the men who penned the Bible, the men who translated for the Septuagint, the men who translated the Bible into other languages, and the men who speak God's truth at the pulpit today. I remind myself that it is a privilege to be in God's ministry and be a part of bringing glory and honor to the name of Jesus Christ.
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." - Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)

Game Night

On our first Saturday night of the semester, the interns had a game night for everyone. It was pretty fun - we did "guess what's in the box", where you have to guess just by feeling stuff. They had things like toilet paper, tofu, a guitar capo, and even... Nato. Eww...


We also made cupcakes and ate a ton in between games. Overall, it was a great time of fellowship.


(above: I think Rie and Tatsuhiko were trying to guess konnyaku in this one)

Spring Semster - Act 1

Classes have started up at CCBC Japan. This semester, students will be staying in Okinawa for the first half of the semester. The second half will be in Tokyo. Since we have teachers teaching at both campuses, some classes have been over Skype, Google+, and Ustream. It's pretty amazing how video chat is being used for God's glory. Using it in live corporate business settings is pretty cool, but having live BIBLE classes is just way cooler, you know :)


Sitting in Ruth and Esther class (above). It's being streamed in Tokyo, as well.


I'm also taking a gospel of John class. It's over Skype right now until we fly to Tokyo and then, of course, it will be in person. The class is only offered in Japanese this semester (meaning no translation), but since it's required for me in order to graduate, I've taken up the challenge. It's going pretty good - I'm only able to retain about 20% of the lecture, but everyone in the class has been super helpful in clarifying things for me.


I also snuck a picture of the IBS class (Inductive Bible Study) that Pastor Tommy and Tamiko are teaching. I've taken the class already but always thinking about sitting in it. I feel like everyone and their grandmother is taking the class - it's that good :)


With the move to Tokyo in a little over a month, I've definitely been taking the opportunity of spending more time with the fellowship here in Okinawa. So last Sunday, myself, a few students, and a family from CC Ginowan went to a nearby skatepark to hang out.


I will mostly miss the fellowship in Okinawa. Nowhere else has really felt like home to me. I can attest to it being many things: the family here, the laid-back Okinawan sun, serving Him in many ways by faith. But I am learning that life in ministry involves not getting too comfortable in where you're at. It's not about where I want to serve but it is where God wants me to serve at.

The Salvation Experience

I've been doing my "Chuck tracks" this winter break. Chuck Tracks are audio sermons by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. The tracks take you through the entire Bible, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse. In order to graduate from CCBC, you have had to listen to every single track and have taken notes on them. So every semester, we have to listen to about 100+ audio tracks (roughly seven a week). They range from about 30 minutes to an hour long. Since this is my last semester, I am listening to sermons on every book from Romans to Revelation. The feat sounds impossible but once you start getting into them the first semester, you're so blessed by Chuck Smith's teaching that it becomes almost a part of your life. Students like to joke and say they have a "date with Chuck" when they leave you to go listen to them.
Anyways, this portion that he spoke about in his message on Titus was very interesting. It was about the importance of the hope we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you want to listen to the tracks yourself, they're free and can be found at Blue Letter Bible. Click on Audio/Video --> Chuck Smith

"Paul said that if our hope were in this world only, we would be miserable. But I have a hope that sustains me, that keeps me going when things are dark. I have a hope that sustains me when things are going against me, and I'm discouraged, there is that hope that keeps me going. Hope is so vital and hope is so important to existence to keep you going, and it's amazing how hope can just keep you going.

We've mentioned before the experiments done with the Norwegian wharf rats. There are some corollaries. They put them in these tubs, and they spray these tubs constantly with water so that they couldn't roll over and float. And the rats drowned in an average of seventeen minutes. Then with an experimental group, as they were about to drown, they would take some of the rats, lift them out of the tub, dry them off, put them back in their cages, feed them, and let them live a normal life again. And then later on after they had recovered fully, their health, they put them back in the tubs under the same conditions. And these rats that lasted an average of seventeen minutes, now were able to survive for thirty-seven hours. Interestingly enough, the psychologist who conducted the experiments contributed it to the fact that the rats had experienced a salvation experience; that is, they had almost drowned when they were saved, so they kept hoping for salvation again. That kept them going, not just seventeen minutes, now it kept them going thirty-seven hours. The hope made that much difference.

Oh, what a glorious hope we have. Don't let anybody take it away from you, that hope that is in Jesus Christ of eternal life that is made by God, the promise of God, something so sure. God, who cannot lie, God's Word that cannot fail, has given to us the promise of eternal life, and thus the hope of eternal life.