What a day!

Wow. I`m exhausted.
Today we:
*Visited an old friend - Nanako - had lunch with her and went to an afternoon church service. Worship was hyper with lots of lights and drums in the basement of a building. It wore me out. But it was good to spend time with Nanako.
*Went to an outdoor festival where Mari`s dad sang with a Japanese Gospel choir. It was awesome! The leader of the choir was not a christian when she started the group, but through her interest in gospel music, she heard the Good News and gave her life to Jesus. They sing all the songs in English and in Japanese and she is not shy at all about joyfully sharing the Gospel during the concert. It was great! Half of the choir members are not Christians.
*Visited a couple who pastor a church in their apartment and people generally hang out there all day, so we met up with them for dinner. It was really refreshing. I was so tired from the heat, the train rides and the afternoon church service. We had a great time talking, laughing, sharing testimonies - it was just what I needed. One Korean couple in particular were a blessing because you could see the love of God in them. The pastor invited me to speak at one of their meetings in September. I would love to share whatever God gives me if there`s opportunity. Please pray for this.

This week I taught a bible study for three women from Mari`s parents` church. The bible study was about seeking God in secret and what it means that He will reward us openly. They came to Mari`s house at 11am. None of us knew each other very well at all. Even though they go to the same church, they didn`t know each other closely. We talked a while, ate fajitas with Mari`s family (which was really fun), studied the bible, and then prayed for each other.
After we prayed for each other, they all loosened up. One woman confessed a particular area that she`s been struggling with. I talked to her about "going boldly before the throne of grace" - I encouraged her to fully express her situation to God. I also told her how God helped me overcome the same thing. We prayed for her, and she prayed with tears streaming down her face, and God showed up.
After that, they started talking about how much they want fellowship like this on a regular basis. This is my heart`s greatest desire for Japan!!! So I talked to them about how simple it is. It didn`t take much to enourage them because they were so hungry for it. "All it takes is one person saying `Hey, you want to come over to my house and pray for each other?`" If any one of those women does that, I`m sure that Jesus will be happy to join them. Please pray for these sisters that they`ll get the deep fellowship that they`re thirsty for.

That`s a quick update for now. Like I said before, I`m exhausted.

:-)