Normal life? Oh yeah!

Where to start? The last week has been super full of awesome stuff, today included. Consequently I’ve been wondering if it is possible to die from lack of sleep… Sleep was definitely one of my new years resolutions this year, so I need to get on it, but the question is always what to cut out of my day when I have a to do list a mile long, and a ‘I want to do’ list five miles long.

So here is what my life looks like recently:

School:
I’m back to school, and it's the beginning of a new academic year. I have a ton of new students, and they freak out when I walk into their classroom for the first time (because I am a foreigner). Its really cute! They give the traditional “eeeehhh?????????” and then start screaming “HELLO! HELLO!” with their far from perfect pronunciation. It’s really endearing! I’ve got a few Spanish speaking students too, so its been really fun to brush up on my Spanish.

I was asked to do a lesson for my 9th graders about my time in the Tsunami zone. Japanese students aren’t really encouraged to think for themselves of discuss very often (some TV shows even show a recoding of someone watching the show in the corner of the screen to show those watching how they should respond to the show), so it was really cool to take some time to help them process what is going on in their country. We watched the YouTube video my friend Ian made when we went to Ishinomaki, and talked about what is going on, and talked about what our response should be to this situation. As junior high students, they probably can’t go volunteer or donate a ton of money. We talked about what real HOPE and LOVE mean. And that maybe the proper response to this tragedy for junior high students is to live well and LOVE and HOPE where they are. We want to love those in Fukushima, and maybe we can’t go there, but we can love those around us. We also talked a little bit about bullying, because some of the students from Fukushima who have had to leave their cities and transfer into other school districts are getting bullied. “汚れ,” being labeled as dirty, is a classic form of Japanese psychological bulling, and “radiation” has provided the perfect fuel for students’ cruelty. I had all the students write me a reflection in Japanese, and it was really cool to see what they had to say.

Tohoku: It’s been a month and nine days. My friends from Kamizoku (the house church I went to Tohoku with), CRASH, and TCU (the school I went to study abroad at) are working hard still. I wish I was there everyday, but just as I encouraged my students to, I can pray and love and live as well as I can here. Let’s us not forget, and let us not cease to love and serve and give and volunteer.

Church:
I had a Bible study with three Japanese ladies this past Monday, and it was AWESOME!! I’m going to be taking them through the covenants in the Bible (Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic etc.) culminating with the New Covenant. I’ve wanted to try teaching chronologically through the Bible before, and I’ve been reading a really really AWESEOME book by one of by Biola profs, Dr. Lunde, called “Following Jesus, The Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Convental Discipleship,” and its been helping me understand following Jesus, and the Old Testament, in a whole new light. Anyways, we studied Genesis 1-3 this past week, and it was the first time for all of them to study this section of scripture. It was sooooooo much fun to watch them begin to understand the depth that is in those three chapters and their implication. From a western viewpoint, Genesis one critiques materialism, but for the common person in Japan it more critiques animism and astrology, two huge belief systems here. It was super cool to see how asking a few questions led them to out the implications from the text. I know I was super super blessed by the study, and they said they were too, and they were looking forward to next time. It’s amazing how easily I have taken all the churching and theological education I have gotten for granted. Two of the ladies at the study have been Christians for a long time, but this was the first time they got to study this section of the Bible, which is so fundamental. It was super cool to get to put some of my study to use, and I’m thinking of asking my pastor if I can preach once a month…? I just really want to bring the Word and see people grow.

We’re having an Easter even for kids at my church this Sunday. And we only have one kid that comes to church, so we aren’t sure how many kids are going to come, but we’re inviting a lot of people. It’s going to be super fun! Games! Easter eggs! Music! I’m sharing a short gospel message, etc.

I’ve also been involved in the young adults group at the big church in the city. It’s every Thursday evening, and its great to hang out with some Christians my own age. They are having a camp the week after next that I am going to go to, which will be a cool way to get to know everyone better.

A high school ministry (Hi. B.A. its an interdenominational gathering for high school students, because most Japanese churches are really small, so they don’t have much fellowship for young people) just started in my city, and I’m thinking of getting involved. That’s the age group I really want to work with, but I’m a little nervous about spreading myself too thin, which I feel like I am already doing…

Japanese…
Oh Japanese!!! I used to tell people this wasn’t such a hard language. The beginning levels are not. But unlike most languages that get easier the further you get, this one gets exponentially harder the further you get. I have the proficiency test coming up in a little over two months….YIKES! So if I’m not teaching, doing ministry, (mostly failing at) trying to keep in touch with all my friends scattered around the country, or hanging out with all the random friends I have accumulated over my 8 months here, you can find me at starbucks studying kanji, or on the bus studying vocab, or doing reading comprehension into the late hours of the night in my apartment. Hence my lack of sleep induced headache at the moment. But guess where I am! Starbucks! Studying! I was competing with a friend on the proficiency test in July (any of you who were in Greek with me know how well I lean language once there is a little competition involved! cough cough, Jared Winn!), but he just decided not to take it. BUMMER! But I’m pretty determined to round-house kick this test in the face, competition or no competition.

I have more to say, but I just realized this is getting ridiculously long, and none of you are probably going to make it this far! If you are reading this, tell me you know the secret word: ninja(!!!), next time you see me and I’ll buy you a coffee or something for bearing with me to the end! <3