short update from Nagoya Team

Only a 1 1/2 hour bullet train ride south, the Nagoya Epic Team has been laboring in Japan as well! They have seen 3 people come to Christ in the past couple weeks! It's amazing to hear how our other half of the team is faring, but it's been difficult to be in contact with them since they have limited internet access. I don't know the stories, but hopefully we will hear about them more soon.

Also, a little update on our dear friend Kei. A couple nights ago, we prayed with her and she invited Jesus to be in her heart. She said she was really wanting for someone to be there for her in the midst of trouble, and afterwards she said she felt so good. However, as is typical with Japanese people, she is hesitant to commit to "Christianity" because of the many negative stigmas that surround religion in Japan. She doesn't want other people to think she is weird. This is very normal for Japanese thought, and as the concepts of Christianity are so foreign to many I am not surprised. I am unsure of how much she really grasps the whole gospel, since everything is so new to her, but please be praying for us as we simply love her and share our lives with her. I pray that as we continue to befriend this sweet woman, that she would not see that Christianity is about religiosity, but it's about a posture before a holy God who has sent his son to be our friend and to die for our sake to break us out of bondage. She is still so open to us, and she really wants to read the Bible and to learn more. And guess what...? She's a hip-hop dancer like me, so I hope that in the next week or so we can bond over our shared love for that.

"So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." --1 Thess. 2:8