Hoping in God

Hey!

It is a beautiful sunny afternoon in Japan. I have just gotten back from a walk. I have been thinking a lot about living a life that honours and glorifies God in everything I do. I have been pondering the power and might of God and thinking a lot about the power of prayer. If we cry out in passion to God what would happen? I have no doubt that when we cry out to the Lord in prayer He is faithful to answer. God is bigger than anything I know and to be completely honest that just goes over my head sometimes. I feel like so often I unintentionally put God in a box. I am learning not to limit what God can do. I am learning what it means to pray with power and trust God to answer those prayers no matter how impossible it sounds. I am learning what it looks like to love people as God loves them, unconditionally. I am nowhere near perfect at this but I pray that God would help me to do this more; to make me more like Him. I am seeing the power that God's unconditional love has in peoples lives. I want to live a life of love for God. I am tired of empty dreaming. I want to live passionately for God, falling more in love with Him everyday, not wasting a moment. I want to make a difference for God's kingdom with the way I live my life. I know that on my own I can do nothing but with God nothing is impossible. Tomorrow we are having a Japanese day, complete with kimonos and a tea ceremony. I am really excited to experience this part of Japanese culture. On Wednesday we are starting a week long electronics fast. That means I won't be on a computer for a whole week and this will be my last blog update for a little bit. It also means I won't be able to email or talk on the computer. The purpose is to spend more intentional time with the other team mates and learn that we don't need laptops to survive. It should be really interesting. Next week we are having a mid-term retreat. We will be spending time with the missionaries and other english teachers, taking a break from our ministry duties and seeing some sights. Please pray for safety travelling, that we would hear what God is speaking to us and that we would return refreshed and renewed. Continue to pray for the people of Japan, that their hearts would be opened to God and that they would see His glory as well as His great love for them. Pray for good health for our team as their is a cold going around our house. Pray for quick healing, strength and energy from God. Pray that God would fill us with a passion for the lost here in Japan and that we would serve humbly in whatever we are asked to do while here. God is going to do amazing things here.
Sayonara
Amber

Surprise Parties, Roller Coasters and Amazing Grace

Hey!
So it has been a while since I updated my blog. I have been really busy lately with teaching english classes and planning. Last week two of the girls on our team had their birthdays so on Friday we planned them a nice little birthday surprise. We had a birthday dinner for them and then took them out for karaoke. For karaoke we blindfolded them and took them to karaoke not telling them where we were going. They had kind of figured out that was what we were doing so it wasn't that much of a surprise but it was still fun. At karaoke in Japan you get a private room for you and your friends and can choose from english or japanese songs. We of course chose english songs to sing along with and danced around singing loud and being silly. On Saturday I taught my travel english class and english music class. Both classe went really well. For english music class we brought the lyrics for Amazing Grace (our student's request) and when Joanna was explaining what the lyrics meant our student started tearing up. Please pray that God would continue to work in her heart and that she would be open to the love and grace of God and the message of the gospel. On Sunday we had church and then went bowling with some of the church members. A family that has their children in one of the english classes we are teaching came bowling with us. Praise God for that and pray that He would use this time to bring them back to the church and ultimately draw this family to Himself. On Monday we went to Nagashima Spaland, which is a large amusement park about an hour drive away from where we are staying. This amusement park has lots of roller coasters and other thrilling rides. It has the largest wooden roller coaster, the White Cyclone, and the 2nd largest roller coaster in the world, the Steel Dragon. We rode the White Cyclone three times and the Steel Dragon twice. The Steel Dragon was pretty much amazing. Words cannot even describe it. I am afraid that I am now ruined for any other roller coasters after this one though. This was also my first time riding on a roller coaster and I must say that I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS!!! We spent all day at Nagashima Spaland and it was really fun. This week we are going into Nagoya to apply for our religious worker visas. There is a good chance that we may not get approved because we are here for such a short time. Please pray that God would give us favour with the people processing our visas and that His will would be done in this. Please continue to pray for our team, the Hieberts, the churh and the people of Japan. Pray for good health for us and continued energy and strength from God as some of us are not feeling well and are feeling a bit weary at some times. I trust that God is going to do something amazing in Japan. We are His instruments. God will do something amazing here in His time. Until next time, Sayonara.

new english class

Hey!
So I found out today that I am also teaching a travel english class on Saturday afternoons. It should be lots of fun.

Hey!
Our new English classes have started up this week. We have 8 different classes that people have signed up for and 1-2 students in each. I get to teach the English Music and Lyrics class and am really excited about that. There is one student in that class. There is also an English Bible Class which has two students in it, one of which is not Christian. That is something to definitely praise God for. I am also assisting one of the English teachers (Wendy) in her classes on Thursday in Fujigaoka. It is a very full day with 8 classes. I leave home at 7 am and don't get home until 10 that night. I really enjoy assisting those classes and look forward to getting to know the students better. Please pray for us that we would be able to teach English effectively and have the courage and boldness to share the Gospel with our students and other people we meet. I have been growing in my faith a lot during my time here. God has been teaching me about patience a lot and that sometimes I have to wait. I have been learning to trust God and trust that He has great things in store for me. I am really learning to wait on God. Please continue to pray for the people of Japan that there hearts would be open to God's truth and love. Pray that God will fill us with joy. Pray that we will be shining lights for God here. Pray that we will continue to grow in our faith and spend time with God regularly and spend time in prayer. Tomorrow in church one person is getting baptized and two people are coming into membership and giving their testimonies. Pray that it would go well and that the man getting baptized would not back out. Pray for the believers in Japan as well that they would stay strong in their faith and be bold in their faith. I am very excited to see how God is going to work here and in our lives. Until next time, Sayonara

Spring in Japan

This past week has been the week when all the cherry blossoms are in bloom in Japan. I feel so lucky to be visiting Japan during this time. It is absolutely beautiful :) The blooming of the cherry blossoms signals the arrival of spring to Japan and all this past week we have had absolutely gorgeous weather. This past Thursday we had a picnic in the park with some ladies from the church, viewed the cherry blossoms and took pictures. On Saturday we took the train to Inyuama with Wendy, one of the English teachers here, and a couple of Japanese ladies. Inyuama was holding it's spring festival. There was a parade with floats from different cities in Japan. The floats were pulled by men through the streets. There were a lot of booths selling souvenirs and food. There was also a huge garage sale/flea market. We stayed until evening when we watched the floats be lit up by a bunch of paper lanterns. I feel so blessed to have experienced this and to have seen a part of Japanese culture. To see such a different part of the world and to know that we are all created by God in His image is amazing. I have also been frustrated sometimes being here. Sometimes it feels like we are trying to plant in hard, dry soil and there is not much being produced. Japan needs the spirit of God to rain down on it. Already I feel the difference between this missions trip and other missions trips I have been on. It might be that I will come home in June and not have amazing conversion stories or anything like that. It is so different here from other countries. I can imagine how hard it must be for long term missionaries here, sometimes not seeing the fruits of their labour for months. I know that God is bigger than all this though. I believe so strongly that He will rain down here in Japan and it will be powerful. Please keep on praying for the people of Japan, that their hearts would be open. Please pray for the missionaries here, for the Hieberts, that they would continue to be strengthened and encouraged and that they would not lose heart but trust that God is working even though it is not seen. Pray also for the other believers here that they would stay strong in their faith and that they would be filled with a passion for the things of God. Until next time Sayonara