I haven't posted in monthssss :x
but I hope to post something longer soon.
Anyway, I had a really good day of ministry.
God answers our prayers!

next step

Somewhat of a breakthrough with my parents during a skype conversation the other day in regard to my plans after this year. But what is my next step? I don't know. Still praying.

Mum doesn't want me to stay in Japan unless it's for other work, I know they'd both prefer me to be in Australia and not to do something that requires support raising but my priority lies in what God calls me to, even if they aren't 100% supportive of my decision.

Do I re-stint? Do I join staff in Australia? Do I do something totally different? It doesn't really help that I'm not a particularly passionate person, so I feel like there's not much I can say I'm passionate about outside of what I'm doing at the moment, even towards the degree that I did that my parents expect me to get a job in. As much as I want to rule it out maybe I shouldn't just yet since I believe there was a reason why God led me into that.


We'll see in October...

ancora imparo

soooo I will try to blog more! My excuse is that it might be a bit hard though because I also have my blog about my STINT in Japan to update too but it's not much of an excuse because I haven't been posting much there either D:

anyway...

I thought I'd write about some things I've personally been learning in Japan.

- Hearing from God: we tend to be so easily distracted. I know for me I struggle with listening more to my mp3 player or what other people say than what God is trying to say to me. But I'm so thankful (especially as the weather has gotten hotter) to have been able to just rest in God's word more and hear from him through my times with Him. Being away in New Zealand and at V20 was good in bringing my focus back to just listening to what God has to say. There is still plenty of room for me to grow in listening to God.

The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:3-4

- Complete surrender to the Lordship of Christ: I always knew that a true follower of Christ fully surrenders their life to God. I wasn't so sure on why though and I think that affected my own inability to fully surrender parts of my life to Christ. But I was able to understand more about why after reading "The Prodigal God" and "The Reason For God" by Tim Keller and realising that while salvation was free for us, it came at a great cost to the Father when He gave up His Son on the cross. We fully surrender our lives because we were bought at that price and now belong to Him.

At V20 Roger Hershey also challenged us to think about what rights Jesus gave up when He chose to come to Earth, and now as we surrender to His Lordship, what rights do we also give up. This was hard for me because I realised that although I may not demand it from God, I still hold onto the expectation of my rights for my parents' approval of what I'm doing, for comfort, for a relationship, for recognition and respect, and for my passions, desires and dreams. Holding onto these rights is equal to the unwillingness of completely surrendering to the Lordship of Christ. It's like I'm saying "I still want to be in control of these areas of my life, I don't fully trust You so I won't give these over to You". But He's helping me to learn to let go and be completely sold to the cause of Christ and the spreading of the gospel.

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father -- and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:14-15

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:24

Almost half-way

aah my neglected blog! Haven't had time to update since coming to Japan!
It's been almost 5 months which means we are almost half-way through the STINT.
So much has happened: the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, connected with the Japanese Christians, saw 4 girls come to faith, went to New Zealand for our midyear debrief and the V20 conference, Japanese has improved(!) and more!


After coming back from V20 in New Zealand, I feel like God has given me a lot to digest in thinking about how things have gone so far in the last semester, in looking ahead to what to do next semester and even in my future beyond this STINT. Nothing is clear for sure, but I know I need to pray.

Let Your Kingdom Come

Just wanted to share a song that we sung at the Student Life missionary conference I attended last month. We sung it after the last talk where the speaker Ken Cochrum spoke about God's amazing plan and reminded us how even though He didn't have to, He chose to involve us in this plan. A powerful reminder for me was also when Ken spoke about how so many of the well-known Christians in history were called and used greatly by God before the age of 30. When Ken asked those 30 and under to stand up it was so humbling too to be reminded of God choosing to involve me in His plan despite being young and inexperienced.

But regardless of where we are, called to the mission field or not, this song is really a prayer for any believer, that His kingdom come and that we are used by Him to see this fulfilled.

Let Your Kingdom Come

Words and music by Bob Kauflin
As recorded on Valley of Vision

Your glorious cause, O God, engages our hearts
May Jesus Christ be known wherever we are
We ask not for ourselves, but for Your renown
The cross has saved us so we pray
Your kingdom come

Let Your kingdom come
Let Your will be done
So that everyone might know Your Name
Let Your song be heard everywhere on earth
Till Your sovereign work on earth is done
Let Your kingdom come

Give us Your strength, O God, and courage to speak
Perform Your wondrous deeds through those who are weak
Lord use us as You want, whatever the test
By grace we’ll preach Your gospel
Till our dying breath

© 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

Prayer

Been reading the book Prayer by Philip Yancey and been challenged to think hard about my perspective of prayer and what I pray about. A few of the chapters are about our partnership with God and how prayer and action (living out our faith in God) go hand-in-hand. This is an interesting little bit of text that is found in the book that makes you really consider what the focus of your prayers are and the actions you do and do not take as a result of those prayers.

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

On another note, I'm almost half-way through my MPD! Sitting on around 45% monthly and already have over 50% of the one-time gifts needed!

It doesn't feel quite like Christmas (I don't know what Christmas is supposed to feel like anymore), but aside from being reminded of the salvation we have through Jesus, and to trust in God's timing, this Christmas seems that much more special because reaching the half-way mark in my support raising is a huge answer to prayer and experiencing firsthand God's provision is one of the best gifts anyone could receive.

But what is still needed to get me over the line: more prayer and action.

Testimony by a North Korean student

Watched this video awhile ago now. Her testimony was very moving. Really need to pray for North Korea.

I'm so bad at updating my blog! Christmas is coming up so soon too!

Been having a lot of appointments to meet people and share about what I'll be doing next year. I'm currently at about 35% of the total and and slowly getting less and less people I can contact, so if you know anyone else who might be interested in supporting the ministry in Japan next year please let me know!!

Only two months to go before the deadline!

Gen. 26

I'm a quarter of the way there! Around 26.5% if I want to be a little more exact. Really hoping to be half way through by the end of this month. By my own efforts that would be impossible but I'm really reminded of how God provided for and blessed Abraham and Isaac, recorded in Genesis 26:

²The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. ³Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, ⁵because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.”

God always keeps his promises! And even though I know I'm going to be away from what I'm comfortable for awhile, I know that as I stay, obey and do as the Lord tells me to then His blessing will be there too. And of course He is there with me every step of the way.

Will be exciting to see how things turn out in the next month and half of MPD before Christmas!

john 3:16-17% lol

I didn't calculate how much I've raised so far quite right last time so I guess I'm further along than I thought. Hovering around 16-17%. Sort of a big jump but it was because I took out the one-time expenses so it's just out of the total monthly needs. Anyway, money aside, I had three MPD appointments today. The time was really precious as I really got to share about what God has placed on my heart and also hear about what has been going on in the lives of the sisters I met up with.

I realise how easily I've gotten distracted by things during this period of time that has even led me to forget that God is with me in this whole process. But God used the appointment I had with a good sister and aunty to remind me and speak to me of many things:
+ that MPD is so much more than what I initially thought it was (just looking for partners to support in prayer and finances)
+ the challenge and initial opposition by my parents on my decision was really God's way of confirming to me that this is where He wants me to be
+ I have a limited time with my family before I leave so I should really be spending quality time with them
+ how humbling it is that I have the privilege and opportunity to serve as a missionary
+ and that I don't need to worry because God is always with me.

So many more things that I can add but emotions have been running sorta wild today so that'll be it for now.

God is working.

STINT: Ministry Partner Development (MPD) update

Got the ball rolling with support raising! So thankful for the opportunity I had to share at my church last Sunday. I had hoped I could do the sharing in Chinese but I realised my ability is not enough to express all that I wanted to say (too many difficult terms!). But it's in my weaknesses that I see God's power and grace, especially as a good brother in Christ (CJ) at church was doing Chi-Eng/Eng-Chi translation. I'm on 5% now! Still a long way to go but I know that I can place full trust in God and His provision. I'm already slowly seeing God working in this and I really can't wait to be able to share with people how things turn out in the next few months!

So many emotions are running through my head, especially as I realise I still have so much to raise! But I'm feeling really excited about being able to meet and share with people about how God has been leading me and I'm quite happy to be support raising now (I can't believe it haha)!

God is good.

God is amazing!

So encouraged by this. God is amazing! :)

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/14/the-story-behind-the-chilean-miners-jesus-t-shirts/

The t-shirts that many of the Chilean miners wore as they were being rescued were a gift from Campus Crusade for Christ (Agapé), Chile, and read "thank you Lord" on the front, and on the back: "In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also." Psalm 95:4.

I'm so proud to be part of this global movement of God. Click here to read more

Source: http://peterwhitfield.blogspot.com/2010/10/gracias-senor-chilean-miners-t-shirt.html

Praying for them...

two more weeks!

Less than two weeks before my graduation ceremony! And officially finishing up with helping Student Life at Monash :( Time has seriously flown by. It's been 5 years! It's a little hard for me to believe that my time as a uni student is already OVER. I wouldn't change any of it though.

The SL spring ball was already over a week ago too. Feels like so much was put in but then it was over in a flash. So thankful to my sister, Gina, for helping with so much. Without her, it wouldn't have happened. And for the people who came earlier to set up too (Vincent, Cecilia and Nelson). It was a good way to end my time at uni and with Student Life at Monash as a student. So grateful to God how He used SL to work in me and also in my sister. aw I'm sad to be leaving :'(

Anyway, God has been teaching me so much as I've been leading a small group of teenage girls at church and going through some really important concepts about who God is and what it means to be a Christian. I've read some really cool stories and analogies about different topics so I should share them on my blog in the future.

While I was looking for materials/resources I came across the videos on the American Every Student website. I watched this 3 part testimony by Josh McDowell, the author of the book "More Than A Carpenter". His story is so powerful and so worth watching:
http://www.everystudent.com/videos/joshm.php
http://www.everystudent.com/videos/joshm2.php
http://www.everystudent.com/videos/joshm3.php

Graduation!

I'm GRADUATING!

YAY! Had a little scare about it after I checked the website on Tuesday because it didn't have my name under the degree! The next day I went to my faculty to ask about it and it was because I had done subjects out of order from going on exchange. Anyway, it was fixed yesterday so now I can graduate as expected on October 21! (My parents will be overseas though *sad face*.)

STINT: ACCEPTED!

WOOHOO! I've been officially accepted for STINT in Nagoya next year!

This week has been big! With news of finally being accepted and also near confirmation for my graduation in October.

Now onto support raising! I have about 4 and a half months (not including Christmas and New Year's time) to raise everything. Gotta get all my things ready for it now.

Yay thank you God!

STINT: Next step

I have an interview tomorrow for my STINT application at 2PM.
Your prayers would be greatly appreciated!

If I pass I will be working here next year!

much needed update on life!

I need to update my blog more often :[
Anyway, so much has happened since the last post!

I got through reading the transferable concepts that I needed to read for my STINT application awhile ago. There was a lot of challenging stuff that stood out as I read through the concepts, particularly on fruitful living and what it really means to be walking in the Spirit. The concepts are quite long but are definitely worth reading and understanding well.

These particular pages and quote stood out for me:
http://www.ccci.org/training-and-growth/classics/transferable-concepts/experience-gods-love-and-forgiveness/02-greatest-relationship-ever-experience.htm
http://www.ccci.org/training-and-growth/classics/transferable-concepts/experience-gods-love-and-forgiveness/05-receive-gods-love-and-forgiveness.htm

Why should a Christian desire to walk in the fullness and control of the Holy Spirit moment by moment as a way of life? There are several important reasons: to please and honor the Lord, who delights to have fellowship with His children; to enjoy a fuller, richer, more exciting life with our Savior and with others; and to be more fruitful in your witness for your Savior.

Sharing Christ with others as an expression of gratitude and as an act of obedience to the Lord is the natural result of walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Since every Christian is commanded to be a witness for our Lord, not to be involved and committed is to disobey Him and would indicate that the Christian is not walking in the control of the Holy Spirit.

=======================

So yeah, I already sent in my STINT application! Right now I'm just waiting for an interview time to be set up. The day I sent in my application, I went to Sydney and got to hang out with Mission Megumi friends, Maicy (Mac U missionary) and other Student Lifers. It was a really good catch up time and I had an awesome time of sharing throughout the whole trip. I was so grateful and blessed during the times I spent with Maicy and hearing how God led her to work with CCC and being able to share with her about what I had been going through. It was a trip that God really used as confirmation for going on STINT for me. YAY (^___^)

I also got two part-time tutoring jobs last week. It happened so quickly too because I sent in my resume for the jobs on Saturday night and then got replies/calls within the next two days. So crazy how God provides (especially because my parents kept nagging me about getting a part-time job)! I've only started one, tutoring two Korean kids and their mum for two hours and then one hour with their dad, three times a week. It's a struggle because the kids and mum don't speak very much English at all so it's really hard to explain things to them, and for the husband, he's sorta hoping that he will improve really quickly despite the whole family only being here for another month. It's a challenge to continue being patient with him as well because his thinking and some things that he shared with me are things I don't agree with. I just hope that I can be a reflection of Christ to this family.

The other job is tutoring English to Korean students over skype. I don't know how it will turn out yet because the employer is still organising the things needed for me to start working. This will be ongoing which is good since once the other family I'm tutoring returns to Korea, I will still have a job.

Last thing, Student Life ball is in a little over a month's time!

Big week!

It's been a big week! Results came out and I passed my final subject so I should be able to graduate in October! I also gave the pastor's reference form for my STINT application to my dad to fill out. I still feel like I need to talk to my parents about the details but from what I've heard them say, they have accepted the idea of me going so YAY PRAISE GOD!

Another thing that happened this week (today) was that I translated for the sermon at church for the first time! I was able to prepare a bit before by looking at the passages and the main points that dad was gonna talk about but it was still pretty nerve-wracking. Anyway I was glad that I could serve in that way, because it taught me to really trust in God for understanding and clarity in the translation.

In the last week I was also able to go out sharing at Deakin Uni with an American summer project team. On one hand it was good "practise" for next year but of course it was more so a pleasure and a joy to be able to tell others about God and see their responses! For example, them wanting to keep the KGP to think more about it or really shocked/excited about hearing the Gospel for the first time! The American team will be at Monash this week so really looking forward to the people we will meet and the conversations we will have! (They already led four people to Christ! Hallelujah!!!!)

MYC 2010!

Just put up a post from about three weeks ago (the one before leaving for MYC) and looking back over what I wrote, I'm quite amazed to see how MYC has impacted me and my attitudes towards different things.

I have to say it was quite intense being on the organising team. But it really was a pleasure to be a part of planning for the conference since it has always been a highlight and favourite time of year for me ever since I started attending. To see how God works through a conference such as MYC and how many students were impacted was a real blessing. And it was great to just see people having so much fun, making friends and just enjoying the whole experience. Hopefully it all just propels people to get involved in God's work at their uni and in the other areas of their life.

On a personal level, the talks by John North really spoke to me, both in challenging/convicting me and also reassuring me. In relation to my STINT application, I wrote last time that I still wasn't fully sure of my decision, but after the last talk at MYC I was much more certain to go through with it, even if my parents aren't entirely happy with my decision. Something that came up during the last talk on God's orchestration of salvation or just things in general really spoke to me as I realised that everything that has pointed towards Japan was not purely a bunch of coincidences but orchestrated by God and there was such a strong desire to be part of God's orchestration of salvation in people's lives in Japan.

This was the video that was played:



Anyway, I don't think the application process will take as long as I thought it would either and I'm aiming to get everything done by the end of this month (the interview as well). Hoping to bring it up again with my parents real soon.

MYC!!!

Tomorrow Renee and I are driving up to Albury to get stuff prepared for MYC starting on Sunday!
It's been a crazy and hectic two last weeks but we've managed to get everything done. Some stuff messed up :( with the pens and the booklet that I was in charge of but oh well we have everything we need so it's all good.
I'm excited that it's finally here but at the same time I know time will fly by quickly and it will all be over before we know it. Should be loads of fun! Can't wait!!!!!!!