My time in Japan has been interesting, and definitely amazing. There are have been many new experiences of culture, as well as learning things about the power of God. One thing that being in Japan has challenged me with, is remembering the ways in which God has answered prayer. Japanese people like to pray, but they expect that their prayers will not be answered. God answers the prayers of those who seek Him, and depend on Him, and this comes as a surprise, that God cares enough about us.

On Tuesday night, we had our team’s “fun night” where we spend time trying something new, and having fun, as a whole team on Mission Megumi. This time, though, the guys on the team hung out, to have some manly time. What does this involve? Silly question, clearly the answer is: eating, walking through a cemetery, and karaoke. We went to the Mountain restaurant near Yagoto station, which is known for serving rather bizzare meals. For dinner, we had chocolate banana spaghetti, followed by an Italian tomato paffe for dessert.

On our way home, we walked past a cemetery. It looks nothing like what I’ve seen in Australia. It was on a hill, with hundreds, and hundreds of graves. It looked like a maze of graves. It’s pretty likely that none of them believed in Jesus, and found hope and life in Him.

This week on campus, we tried using Soularium on campus. This involves a pile of picture cards, and using these cards to talk about our opinions and images of life, and God. They haven’t been used in Japan before, and so we brought them with us from Australia to see how they would go. So far, it seems to be pretty good in starting conversation, and creating an engaging conversation. As Soularium was designed by Western culture, we have tried to adapt it to better suit Japanese culture, by removing pictures that are not very clear.

One of the most encouraging stories for me on Gaidai is split into two parts. On one day of campus, I went with an Aussie STINTer, and a Japanese student, to go and meet students in one of the new buildings on campus. We found someone who the STINTer already knew, and we began a two-hour conversation with him. It was a really good conversation, as he was working on an English debate about capital punishment, so he asked us what we thought, to try and build his argument. We ended up talking about God, and faith, and the Japanese student was able to share his story in coming to know Jesus, and also to share the main points of the Gospel. He was very interested, and listened well, asking lots of questions.

A couple of days later, I was in the same building with one of the Japanese girls. We weren’t sure who to talk to, so we sat down to pray about it first. After we prayed, we ran into him, and this time he was with a group of friends. We started talking to them, and were talking about Christmas. On Thursday, we had a Christmas party, and so were inviting students to come to that, and also giving them Christmas CDs with music. After we invited these students, we were talking about the meaning of Christmas; why and how someone’s birthday could be celebrated all throughout the earth. The guy we had shared the Gospel with pulled out the booklet we had given him with the main points of the Gospel on it, and told his friends about it, and so we were able to share the Gospel with them, and they were also very interested!

It has been amazing to see how God has been at work on Gaidai, and finding students are so interested in finding out about who God is, and the relationship we can have with Him. And knowing that it has nothing to do with what we do, or how we do it, but that God is in charge, and is just showing us the way He has already set for us.

We now have only one week left on campus – time is going really quickly!