Answered Prayers

Sometimes, I feel as though God doesn't hear my prayers when they aren't responded to immediately.

As many of you remember, last year, when I traveled to Japan for the first time, my biggest concern and prayer request was that I would sit next to someone on the plane who I could talk with. Neither of my plane rides were bad, but I did not have the opportunity to talk to any of the people sitting next to me. To be honest, I was really discouraged, especially on the plane ride back to the States, because I wanted to share about my trip--and what better time to share than on a plane with someone who has to listen to you for all fourteen hours? I mean, they're kinda held hostage... The only other option is to exit the plane mid-flight. Yet, all the people who sat next to me slept.

This year, I was so excited to go back to Japan that I didn't think once about who would be sitting next to me on the plane... Then again, I assumed it would be my brother, Zach, who accompanied me on the trip. The flight to Japan was peaceful. I listened to my music (Les Misérables, of course) and Zach slept. I expected that. That month spent in Japan, I was able to see God work in miraculous ways, and really did not want to leave. Thankfully, God provided me an opportunity to prolong my stay. There were no people working on grounds crew the week after my original departure date, so I chose to stay an extra week and help out at Okutama Bible Chalet.

Finally, my time came to leave. Leaving this year was a million times harder than last year. All that I had experienced in Japan caused me to fall in love with that country even more. When I got on the plane (around four hours after I left Steve and Belva's house), I was still crying. Like I said, it was REALLY hard for me to leave. However, my blubbering caused the person sitting next to me to inquire whether or not I was okay. He was a Japanese man traveling to Taiwan for business, and happened to speak English. We talked for the three hour plane ride to Taipei, and I had the chance to share my faith with him! Before we parted ways, he told me, "I believe...but not enough. I still need to learn more." Hearing this left me encouraged, but that was only a glimpse of what God had in store for me.

On the plane from Taipei to Los Angeles, I sat next to a girl who looked to be around my age. She was wearing a shirt that seemed vaguely to be hinting to something Christian. (I don't remember what it said.) I decided to ask her what her shirt was about. It turned out that it was a Christian t-shirt, and that she had just come back from a mission trip to Cambodia.

That little question sparked a fourteen hour discussion between the two of us, sharing the joys and sorrows of our mission trips, vocalizing how God had changed us through those trips, and just learning more about each other. Cheyenne (the girl I sat next to) and I spent time praying together, doing a mini Bible study, and learning/teaching random words from the Cambodian and Japanese languages. She had a list of questions that her group was asked to answer in order to help them talk about their trip when they returned back to the States, and we went over those questions together. At the end of the flight, we were tired, but extremely blessed by each other, so we exchanged information and found out we live only two hours away from each other. Cheyenne and I still keep in touch, and hope to meet up sometime soon.

Looking back on the events of that day, I realized that God knew that I needed a person to talk to more this year than I did last year. With this knowledge only He possesses, He answered my prayer in a way I never would have imagined. I didn't even think once about who I was going to sit next to on the plane this year, but God loves me so intimately that He answered my long-forgotten prayer from a year ago. We truly serve a remarkable God who hears our requests and knows when to answer them.

Cheyenne and me looking very tired after staying up fourteen hours to talk.

Culture

Looking back on my experiences in Japan, I realized how, even though I was on the other side of the world, much was the same. People are people--no matter what country they come from or which language they speak. However, there were some things in Japan that were totally foreign to me. Here's a list of some little cultural things I found interesting.


1. Mayonnaise--They use mayonnaise like we use ketchup... it goes on everything, from sushi to pizza.

2. Construction Areas--Somehow, Japan makes construction areas look so much cuter! I love the robotic "director" pointing cars in the right direction, as well as the "people" holding up the gates.

3. Gifts--The Japanese are huge on "omiagae", or gift giving. A traditional gift is generally fruit, and gift fruits can be quite expensive! The melon below is worth $118 U.S. Dollars.

4. Bugs--This doesn't have much to do with culture, but there were some pretty crazy bugs where Zach and I worked!

5. Vending Machines--You could find at least one vending machine on each street corner... From church to Steve's house, which is about two miles, there were 30 vending machines!

6. 7 and Holdings--Connected to 7/11, this convenience store sells mostly food. "Obento", or boxed lunches, are extremely popular for food-on-the-go. However, unlike American lunchables, these lunches could pass for being from a restaurant!

7. While I'm on the subject of food... The food at rest stops/gas stations is super good, too!

8. Driving--In Japan, people drive on the left side of the road.

9. Roads--Because Japan is roughly the size of California, space is limited. A lot of the two-lane roads in Japan would be considered one-lane roads in America. (The picture below is a two-lane road.)

10. Stop signs--Stop signs in Japan are upside-down triangles.

11. Toilets--One thing I really miss are Japanese toilets... They're always so nice and clean! There are different buttons you can push that perform different tasks, such as heating the seat, spraying water to clean you, or even playing music to cover any noises. Below is a picture of a cleaner that is in every stall... You use that and a clean rag to wipe down the seat before and after you go.

12. Karaoke--Karaoke is extremely popular in Japan... Instead of going to the mall or the movies to hang out, many teenagers go sing karaoke.

13. Denny's--The food at Denny's in Japan is a) definitely not American, and 2) super good quality!

14. Main dish--Rice is always served closest to you at meals, because it is the main dish.

Hopefully you enjoyed learning a bit about Japanese culture!

Love Without Language

Language is necessary to express love, right?  Wrong.  This past week, I served up in the Tohoku area, where the tsunami hit almost three and a half years ago.  There, I learned that language can be utilized to express love, but it does not need to be used.

This realization hit me as I was messing around with my flute in the middle of a coffee shop.  To give a back story, for most of the week, Steve Kotlarczyk, Zach, and I worked at Ippo-ippo, a coffee shop that provided free coffee as well as a healing place for tsunami victims living in temporary housing.  Business was regularly slow at one point during the day, so I would pull out my flute and play hymns while a missionary's kid who was serving there for a month would accompany me.  Often, Zach would give us a beat on the cajon, which is basically a box that makes different drum sounds depending on where it's hit.  Every now and then, a Japanese guy who was Zach's age and was working there for the summer would join in on guitar.

So, there we were, messing around with different pieces, jazzing them up, slowing them down, adding syncopation, and playing our hearts out.  Nothing different from any of the past days.  Then, came the moment of my epiphany.  Raphael, the missionary's kid, turned to the hymn "As the Deer" and started playing on piano.  Motoi, the Japanese guy, Zach, and I joined in immediately.  During the last verse of the song, Motoi and Rafi started singing in Japanese, a worker at the shop started singing in her native language of Cantonese, and I put down my flute and started singing in English.  It was such a beautiful moment: five different people were contributing to the music, four different countries were represented (Rafi is from New Zealand), three different languages were being sung, but everyone had one sole purpose: to glorify God and express their love to Him.

This realization completely changed how I approached my tasks for the remaining part of the week.  While we were at the coffee shop, our tasks were to play music and then talk to those who came in.  Although I couldn't speak the language, I learned I could show my love by just listening.  Many of the customers were old and just needed a listening ear.  

Another major part of our day consisted in playing with children living in temporary housing.  Because the space in temporary housing districts is limited, children are often cooped up and need a place to get rid of their built up energy.  We would visit a different housing tract each day and play with the children and help them finish their homework.  Although I did not speak Japanese, and many of the children were too young to grasp that I couldn't, I was able to show them love by playing games with them.

All in all, this "mission trip within a mission trip" served as a great learning experience, and may have changed me more than I changed the many people I came in contact with.  Please continue to pray for the work that is going on up in the Tohoku region.  Pray especially for strength for the missionaries up there, and for permanent housing to be built quickly.

Other prayer requests:

Well, this is more of a praise: I was able to visit Moto-san, a man who lived with and took care of his mother, and whose house was hit by the tsunami.  Last year, I did a lot of work "mudding out" that house (stripping it down to its framing).  This year, we returned to find the house knocked down.  Moto-san was extremely embarrassed about the fact that his mother decided finally to rebuild a new house after all of the work we, as well as other volunteers, put into it.  However, we let him know that we were happy to be a part of the tearing down process (even if that wasn't the intention at the time), and told him that we want what is best for him and his mother.  The missionary who connected us with Moto-san told us that he got a call from him after we left, and that he hadn't seen Moto-san that happy since the decision was made to tear down the old house.  We were thankful to see him again and to lift his spirits.

Please pray for strength as these next few weeks are extremely busy.  Okutama Bible Chalet is putting on an English camp, and I will be serving as grounds crew, a counselor, and possibly and English teacher, too.  This will take a lot of time management, so please pray I can do every job to the best of my ability.

Also, pray that I will cherish every moment I have left here in Japan and that I won't take anything for granted.  Along with that, please pray that God will be preparing my heart to leave so that I can still be effective when I go back to the States.

Thank you for all of your support!

Motoi, Zach, me, and Rafi practicing before the customers arrive

Filling bags of cookies to deliver to those staying in temporary housing

Me, Steve, and Urabe-san talking at Ippo-ippo

Playing with two girls living in temporary housing

One little girl really took a liking to me, and we played together the entire day.

This is a typical temporary housing area... there are rows of houses lined up right next to each other... the white box is the front, and the little porch area on the left is the back of another temporary housing row. 

Moto-san, Zach, and me

We can't take work seriously at the coffee shop.

Why Japan?

A young boy observes his older brother worshipping at the Meiji shrine.  Attempting to emulate his brother's meticulous rituals, he claps his hands...but claps once too many times.  He is behind and cannot keep up with his brother's movements.  One can see the frustration building as he attempts to do the ritual perfectly, but instead makes countless mistakes.

I witnessed this scene last summer while visiting Tokyo for a day, and the image has vividly remained in my head ever since.  Upon further contemplation, I realized that this serves as a metaphor for the country of Japan.  For, the Japanese try so hard to be perfect.  This is by far the most respectful culture I have ever encountered, and the people are always concerned about another's needs rather than their own.  However, their efforts are in vain, for they are missing the mark.  Just as the little boy was trying so hard to do everything perfectly, yet still could not perform the tasks, the Japanese are trying so hard to work toward salvation, yet are missing the mark completely.

Sadly, because of their riches, Japan is overlooked as a mission field.  Many falsely assume that prosperity is directly related to percentage of Christianity in any given country.  Yet, a mere 0.02% of Japanese are Christian.  Few have even heard of Christianity.  Because of these unique circumstances, God has given me a heart for this beautiful country of Japan.

I, along with my younger brother Zach, am serving at a camp outside of Tokyo called Okutama Bible Chalet.  We work on grounds crew, and our daily tasks include cleaning the bathrooms, doing dishes, and general maintenance of the camp.  Although this job is not glorious, I have come to recognize its importance in spreading the Gospel to Japan.  Okutama Bible Chalet (OBC) hosts camps for various ages throughout the year.  During the month of July, they host English camps for two weeks.  Hundreds of children are sent to these camps in order to improve their English speaking skills.  OBC is known throughout Japan for their English camps, so many families, although non-Christian, send their children to learn English.  However, in both the morning and the evening, the children attend chapel and hear the Gospel spoken in Japanese.  Thus, those who may have never been acquainted with Christianity can hear from God's Word and learn about Christ. 

Where does my role come into play?  How can I aid in delivering the Gospel when I merely clean camp?  Yasushi-san, the Japanese camp director, sat us down on our first day at OBC and explained, "Your job may not seem important in bringing the Gospel.  But, what if the bathrooms are not cleaned and a child needs to use it and becomes sick from the smell?  He would miss chapel, and have to go home, and may never hear of Christ again, all because of a dirty toilet.  Just like the Body of Christ, your role is vital to allow the Gospel to be delivered."  

My prayer is to do my best in even the simplest of tasks so that the physical condition of the camp will not hinder the campers from meeting Christ.  It would be a blessing if you could pray for strength for both Zach and me, since for this next week, we are the only two members on grounds crew, which is quite an undertaking.  Also, pray for the preparation of the hearts of those who will be attending camps, and for their cultural presuppositions to not be a hinderance.  Lastly, please pray for counselors to be provided for the English camps, because currently the camp has reached its limits on the number of children able to attend, but is short on staff.

Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu! (Translates loosely to "think well of me")

-Brittany