I am in my last week of employment at Union Savings Bank.  It’s wonderful!  This Sunday will start our four-day revival at church with Richard Green.  I’m very excited to hear him speak again before I leave for Japan.

Speaking of Japan, my paperwork is still in Japan.  What I’m waiting on right now is my certificate of eligibility.  This is issued by the Japanese government, and my paperwork for it had to be mailed to the church in Japan, and they had to take it to the immigration office.  Once it’s approved and processed (we’re in the third week of the process), then the church will mail it back to me, and I will mail that, with my visa application and passport, to he Japanese embassy in Detroit.  I could drive up there…but I don’t really feel like it.  Mailing it won’t take much time at all though, a max of 5 days.  Either way, it doesn’t look like I’m leaving on the 24th, since I’ll have to have my passport to board the plane.  Yippee!  Just waiting on God for this, He’s got it all taken care of. 

This Saturday is my going away party!  I hope that a lot of people show up.  I also get to see my brother and sister-in-law, and I’m thrilled about that!  It’ll be a while before I see them again, so I’m excited.  Also, I believe that my cousins who live in Tokyo are going to come and visit me in Shimonoseki during my break in August.  We’ll get to go sight-seeing then, and that’ll be so much fun to spend time with them.

I don’t like to think that I’m psychosomatic, or a hypochondriac in any way, BUT I’ve developed a cough lately, and that doesn’t usually happen for me…I’m thinking I have walking pneumonia.  I don’t feel sick except for my cough…so I’m thinking that’s it.  I’ve discovered that if I breathe through my nose, I don’t cough nearly as much. 

My uncle Tom has been sent back home.  The mass in his abdomen (the one the size of a softball) is too large to operate on, so, they biopsied it and will get the results back for that early next week.  They’re hoping he will get stronger and then they can do maybe used chemo to reduce the size and then operate.  This is cool, his website: http://ourfriendtom.com/web/
Near the bottom on the right is a link to “Who’s Among Us”. Click on the link and then on the upper left side, click on “MAPS”.  A screen will come up with stars showing people who have visited the sight.  Those currently on are representd by pulsating stars, but it’s really neat to see how wide-spread my uncle’s influence has been…all around the world!  What a blessed man to know that so many care for him!  What great things God has done with his life!

I think that’s it for me!  Oh…Happy Pi Day (3/14)…it’s also my 9 month birthday.  No gifts just yet…come to my party tomorrow though!  🙂  Later!!

On a day when circumstances could really get me down, God allows a warm wind to blow through the region, and the presence of cloud shadows calm me and remind me of God’s everpresent love and concern.  Even though rain is just around the corner…the fact that I can walk outside without a sweater or jacket, and let the wind blow in my hair, and sit at the airport on the trunk of my car (though it’s windy enough that not many planes will be flying), and open the windows in the house, and sit on the hill at Harbin, all if I wanted to…it makes me feel so much better.  (I probably have Seasonal Affective Disorder…but who doesn’t!?).  Here’s the purpose of my post:

  I just wanted to pass the word along and ask for prayer for my uncle Tom.  He and his family live in Alabama.  Back in December he had surgery to remove a tumor (sarcoma), and it was a very involved procedure, as it was spreading rapidly, they had to remove part of his aorta (by the spine) and a kidney, and something else that I’m not remembering exactly.  He was doing great for several weeks, but developed a fever a few days ago.  He was on his way to Houston to have some tests done and about 20 minutes before landing, he started shaking all over.  They took him to the hotel to rest and then had to take him to the Emergency Room.  Right now, he is in ICU in pretty poor condition.  He has low vitamin levels, and the remaining kidney is having trouble.  They believe his body is rejecting the graft they did for his aorta.  Please, please, please keep him and his family in prayer.  This is really hard on all of us, that they are going through this.  One of the best men I know.  Thank you. 

Also, my paperwork for my Certificate of Eligibility have been filed with the Japanese Customs office in Shimonseki…we’re waiting on that to be processed, and then I’ll get my papers back and can send off for my visa into the country from Detroit.  Keep the whole process in your prayers…my EDD is still March 24th.  It’s comin’ fast!

This past Sunday, I went in front of my church and shared publicly what I was going to be doing in Japan and how I feel God has called me specifically for this ministry, and that He has supernaturally stepped in to show me that this is His will in my life.  Almost immediately after making that declaration, though I had already made it through email and in prayer requests, I began to freak.  I started to worry about not receiving recent communication from the team in Japan.  I started to worry about my visa being approved.  I started to worry that I wouldn’t be able to raise enough money.  I started to worry that God really hadn’t called me and that it was just wishful thinking. 

At first, it was just an internal ache, and then a frenzy, and then it started to show itself to others.  And at that point, I decided that I needed to investigate what was going on.  All the signs pointed to my own lack of faith.  Yeah, even though I have surrendered to serve God for a year in Japan – I was showing that my faith isn’t exactly what I profess it to be.  I was, essentially, saying, “God, I’m going to do this for you, but I’m afraid that after I make that stand, You’re going to show me to be a fool for believing You.”

I’ve been continuing to listen to the many sermons available online by Francis Chan and some other pastors at his congregation in Simi Valley, California.  Right now, Francis is going through a series on Grace.  It’s beautiful, and I’ve really enjoyed listening to them.  I’ve been learning so much too, and it’s all pointed and directed towards this time in my life.  In one of the sermons, Francis distinguishes a verse in James 5:

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.” (vs 17, ESV)

The version that Francis read stated that “Elijah was a man like us.”  When he said that, it hit me a little, and made me stop enough to think that it might be important.  But I didn’t have much of an application for it, so I went on with the sermon and then on with my day.  It left enough of an impression on me to make me think God had something to tell me that I decided to read through Elijah’s life, as shown in 1 Kings 17- 2 Kings 2.  Elijah comes out of nowhere, from a town that isn’t worth being mentioned before this time called Tishbe.  But he comes right out and calls down a judgment for no rain to fall in the land until he gives the word.  He fed by ravens near a brook in the wilderness sent by God.  When the brook dries up, God tells him to go find a widow in Zarephath.  The woman is about to make the last meal for her and her son before they die of hunger, but Elijah tells her to first bring food to him and then her flour and oil will never run out.  And so she does, and so they never run out.  He then raises her son from the dead after he becomes sick.  All he does is stretch himself out three times over the boy and cry out to God, and God hears him and raises the boy back to life.  After this, Elijah confronts the king Ahab and challenges the prophets of Baal which have been given free run of the nation of Israel.  After a miraculous showdown (found in 1 Kings 18:20-40), we then see Elijah running away, fleeing from Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, and hiding in a cave.  At this point, God draws Elijah out of the cave to give him a little lesson in the nature of God and the humility of man.

I’ve read this story dozens of times.  I’ve always found it interesting how the showdown of 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah actually happens, and then the subsequent, “Woe is me!” attitude of Elijah afterwards.  But with the statement by James, “Elijah was man just like us” and my own current state of being, it takes on a different light.  Elijah, even after God has done great and wonderful things in his life, doubts God’s ability, or even will, to preserve him from the wrath of Jezebel.  He took that great step and acted as God’s judgment on the prophets of Baal, but then feared that God would leave him out in the open and unprotected, and alone.  It seems to be only a little struggle for Elijah, but enough that it was documented for our benefit all these years later.

There’s always the fear, when dealing with the wild God of ours, that He’s going to ask us to do something that will lead to our ruin.  But does He really?  I have heard that He has the best in mind for us, I know that He has the best in mind for us, but do I believe that He has the best in mind for me?  It’s one thing to say, “Yes God, I’ll go to Japan for you for a year.” It’s quite another to say, “God, I’ll let you work in me as well and increase my faith and walk in You.”  How dare I offer myself to God for service and then not allow Him to work in me?  Please pray with me for this. 

I’ve been trying to get my support letters out and as long as I don’t think too long about it, then I don’t worry too much about having enough money for my term over there.  But here are a couple encouragements I received yesterday and this morning:

  A man came in to the office to get some banking done.  Remember, I haven’t mentioned anything to my manager yet about leaving.  This man saw my “Congratulations on Graduating” card and asked about my college and what my degree was in, and then asked what I was planning to do with it.  I told him, generalities like, “the mission field, maybe Asia, in language-based ministry.”  I went on to take care of his transaction and when it was over, he looked up and asked, “So what are you doing with it now?”  I was confused about what he meant, and then I realized he was talking about my degree.  He said that having a job, and eating, it’s easy to be distracted from the purpose.  He asked if I was focused on my goal.  I felt like a deer in headlights.  I looked down at my manager, and then up at him, grabbed one of my business cards and wrote on the back that I’m leaving for Japan in a month.  Then I told him that if he wanted any more information that he should use my email address.  He said that he understood and that he’d add me to his prayer list. 

  Then, I was talking with my eldest sister.  She was telling me how my 8 yr old nephew, Jason, has been figuring out my going to Japan for a year.  She was telling him how I’m raising support and going to need money and whatnot.  He left her and returned with 75 cents.  I almost cried when she told me.  And then she added that he kept the dollar her had because he wanted to buy a pop at daycare.  🙂  Such a cute kid!

  This morning, I was listening to another of Francis Chan’s sermons.  It’s entitled “Grace and Works”.  The part that I was listening to was an interview he had with Heather Mercer, one of the girls kidnapped and imprisoned in Afghanistan several years ago by the Taleban, for sharing the Gospel.  She was held for 3 and a half months before being rescued by US Special Ops.  One thing stuck out to me in her interview.  She said, “There was a season for telling our story.  But there came a point when I was afraid that it would be all that God would ever do with me.  I didn’t want to tell the same story for the rest of my life.  God is continuing to work.”  Now she is working on a special project in the north of Iraq.  Like her, I don’t want China to be my only story.  God is continuing to do things in my life, and my life’s not over.  So long as He keeps me alive, my story will keep going.  That is an exciting thought for me.  God is continually writing in the book of my life, and my next chapter is titled, “Japan or Bust!”

I’m going!!   I’m getting my stuff together for applying for the visa, and my date of departure is really dependent on when that is approved.  But it’s looking like it’ll be the Monday after Easter!   Eeekkk!!!  Crrrrazzy!!  Now, I have a mess of things to get together, but I know that God will help everything go smoothly.  Ah!  I’m sooo excited…it definitely hasn’t sunk in yet.  Thanks for your prayers, I still need them!