first japanese girl receives Christ!!!!

I personally witnessed (for the first time) a Japanese girl receive Christ into her heart!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) I can't say I was the one who actually led her to Jesus, but I got to pray with her and for her as I saw God totally change her heart!

It happened tonight (Friday night). We had our first large outreach in Japan. There were about 80 people there. It was the Japanese Campus Crusade for Christ's monthly outreach, and the theme was "freedom" since its the 4th of July. At the beginning, I met 3 Japanese girls and sat down with them. One of the 3 girls I met was Chihiro. A JCCC staff woman named Fumi, Chihiro, and I began to talk about Christianity. We were surprised to find out that Chihiro had been going to church this past year with her boyfriend, but she herself was not a Christian. At first she thought that church would just be a very rigid and strict place, but she was surprised to find that she enjoyed learning about the Bible and that it wasn't all stuffy like she thought. She was learning about God's love and was starting to understand it, but she said, "I still haven't experienced God's love." We talked for a while about the Holy Spirit and shared a bit of our testimonies. Mostly Fumi was doing the talking because Chihiro couldn't speak much English. Suddenly, Chihiro told us that she would like to receive Christ right now! We showed her the Knowing God Personally booklet--a tract we use in CCC to explain the gospel in 4 points--and by the end she said that the prayer that was written in the end of the book expressed the desire of her heart! We prayed together and we all started crying. Afterwards, she looked up and said, "Now I feel God's love." We have a new sister in Christ! Please pray for Chihiro (me & her on the left).

It was the most incredible thing to witness. I mostly just sat there while Fumi and Chihiro spoke in Japanese, and I couldn't understand a word they were saying. However, the whole time I was praying for them, and somehow I knew that their conversation was so good and Chihiro's heart was turning to the Lord as they spoke. Even before I knew that she wanted to be a Christian, I could sense the Holy Spirit was there and tears were already coming to my eyes as this woman's heart was changed. Praise the Lord! Heaven is having a party right now for her! I am so privileged to have prayed with her.

Backtracking to what's been going on this entire week... We have been going to campus every day. As it turns out, we are going back to being on 4 different campuses. Again flexibility is key. :) So today 3 other girls and I went for the first time to Tsuda University, a women's college. We met some great girls and it was a lot of fun! Please pray for a student we met, Kei. She came to the outreach tonight, too, and afterwards she said she would really like to talk to me about something. She is so sweet and I think she will be open to the gospel! Pray for boldness and opportunities to share it with her. Pray for Tsuda University, as it is already so open to the gospel! (Right: missionaries from America, Japan, and Taiwan at Tsuda University)

So much has happened. One cool thing is I have been able to hang out with 4 different Japanese students who I met at UCLA! During the Japanese Homestay in February (some of you may remember me writing about it) I helped host a bunch of Japanese students through CCC. It so happens that 4 of them attend Toyo University, and I will see them on a regular basis! On Thursday, I got to sit in on a Bible study with one of the girls, Tomomi, who is not a Christian but is very interested in learning about the Bible. Please pray for her and that she would keep doing Bible study with us!

The rest of this summer, we will continue doing ministry on Todai, Tsuda, Toyo, and Rikkyo. Our Epic Tokyo Team has been so great stepping it up in evangelism and leadership. But already I can sense that being in a foreign country and doing a TON of ministry is putting a lot of stress on our students. Pray that we would get rest this weekend, that we would build deep relationships with one another, and that we would be unified in mind and spirit. We need all of what our students working together in order for this summer to be all that it can be. Lord, help us to strengthen each other in our weaknesses and to act as Your body to reach the lost in Japan.