"Anyway"

"People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and some true enemies;
succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend your life building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough;
Give the world your best anyway.
For you see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway."

Handwritten reflection found on the wall of Mother Teresa's room.

Twitterpated

I have a confession. After coming back from Japan, I had become too comfortable and too lazy. I had all this free time and yet I was not spending any of it with my Beloved. I could feel the distance growing between the Lord and myself and I was disgusted by it. I tried making excuses that it was normal to have this happen after such a growing time in Japan, but excuses weren't going to change my situation. I knew that I needed, wanted, and craved time with the Lord and to actually do it, I would need some accountability. I asked someone close to me to hold me accountable and make sure that I got up in the morning and have a date with Jesus! That first quiet time was amazing and I questioned why I ever stopped having this time. After about a week and a half of not specifically spending time with the Lord, I want to share with you what the Lord told me in that first time with Him!
I woke up that morning and immediately heard God tell me, "Read Hosea." Knowing what Hosea was about, I already knew what God was going to tell me. I was excited!
For those of you not familiar with the book of Hosea, the first three chapters are about the man, Hosea. God tells him to marry and unconditionally love a prostitute and to have children with her. Hosea does just this. Gomer, the prostitute, marries Hosea but continues to seek love and passion from other men. She turns her back on Hosea. But, Hosea still loves her and in the end redeems her!

Hosea 3:1 says, "And the Lord said to me, 'Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loved the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins."

These last two weeks, I have sought love and pleasure from other things mainly food, my computer, and the T.V. But even in this time of turning my back on God, He still loved me! He still pursued me, and He still called me His beloved! During the quiet time, I was put in awe by His love!

I want to love God the way He loves me! After, reading through Hosea, I opened up the book I am currently ready by Jamie Zumwalt called Simple Obsession: Enjoying the Tender Heart of God. The chapter I was on was called Head over Feet and not surprisingly, the chapter talked about Hosea and being passionately in love with God. (Don't you love it when God brings up the same themes when you are not expecting it?) The book talked about the word "Twitterpated" from the movie Bambi. The author defined it as being passionately in love with another person to the point that only they exist. That person becomes our simple obsession. I do not want to be like Gomer and seek love from other things (although I know I always will becuase I am a sinner.)
I yearn to be twitterpated with God because He is twitterpated with me!

Hosea 2:19, 20 "I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord."

Courtney

The Last Days

As promised, here is a post about the last few days I had in Japan.
These days almost seem surreal and went by really fast. It still has not hit me that I had to say goodbye to all my friends in Japan and that I am back in America.
That final Friday was our last day on the Gaidai campus. We had a farewell picnic and many of our friends from the campus came including the two new believers from the night before. Two girls who work full time with Campus Crusade in Japan came too. We spent the time hanging out, taking pictures, and really just sharing our hearts with these people before we left. Our new sisters and the CRU staff exchanged information and made plans to start a Bible study together, PRAISE THE LORD! The students then had to go back to class and that was the last of our outreach.
That night was our women's dinner for our team, but we invited many of our Japanese friends as well as CRU staff to come. It was a great night but sad at the same time. We all exchanged gifts for each other and said our final goodbyes. The month went by so fast and I could hardly believe that it was time for goodbye.
The following day, we cleaned our apartments and locked up for the final time. We weren't leaving back to the states until Monday, but we were leaving Tokyo and heading to small town called Atame that is near the sea for a two day relax before leaving Japan. It was really fun and a great time for our team to bond.
Monday, we left Atame and took a three hour train ride to the airport with all our luggage (what an experience) and then took the 11 hour plane ride back to L.A. The trip was over. We spent a few days in L.A doing debrief which was designed for us to process all that we had done, encourage each other, and get readjusted back into America. Then it was time to say goodbye to the team which was pretty sad as we had all grown close in the five weeks we spent together. Before I knew it, I was heading to Alaska.
The good news; The Lord is good and faithful! He is always with me and His plan does not cease, so I look forward to what is ahead of me and rejoice in the fact the He has control of everything!

In Christ,

Courtney

Pictures!


Prayer Hug with my team!


Sharing my testimony at the Outreach


Farewell Picnic at Gaidai!


Doing the Lifehouse Everything Skit at our outreach


Our team at Disney Sea on one of our days off!


Sweating at the Train Station after hours of travel with our luggage!



Chillin on my futon in my room.


My team the Last Night of Debrief!

Home in Alaska!

It has been over week since my last post and a lot has happened. I was not able to update due to having no Internet access. I want to first let you all know that I am now home in Alaska! I have not been home in the summer for over two years and it is wonderful. I forgot how beautiful Alaska is in the summer!
I also wanted to thank all of you for all of your support and prayers in getting me to Japan and while I was in Japan. I will give you a post in few days about all that happened in the last three days in Japan and all that happened at debrief. God did incredible things in that short amount of time and I am in awe of His limitless power. I will also put up many pictures of the trip but you can also check my facebook page for a many more!
There is one thing that I want to share with you that has been on my heart. Even though I am home from Japan, I am not home from the mission field. I often get caught up in thinking that I have to go somewhere different from where I live to be a missionary, but that is not the case. True, there are unreached people groups that have never heard the Gospel and as Christians, we need to be going to those that need to hear, but there are also people who have not heard the Gospel in my own hometown or who's hearts were closed when they heard it the first time. I need to be looking at the places around me and ask the Lord to highlight people who I need to share with. I then need to share with them, just like I did in Japan, by trusting the Lord that He will move in the hearts of the those I am talking to.
So, my adventure is not over and will never be over! Therefore, I ask for your continued prayers as I go on to the next journey of my life and continue to share the Greatest news ever told. I will continue to update you (hopefully weekly) on all the amazing, crazy, and beautiful things God is doing in my life.
I also ask that you pray for my two best friends, Lauren and Caroline. Lauren has been in Ivory Coast, Africa, sharing the Gospel and is there for another two weeks.
Caroline just got back from sharing the Gospel in East Asia and, like me, is adjusting to life back in America and has a desire to share the Gospel here as well.

I want to leave you with Colossians 3:1-4

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Till His kingdom comes,

Courtney

Two New Sisters!!!!

Glory to God in the Highest! Emmanuel!

Last night's outreach was incredible! God truly worked through our weakness and inefficiencies! His will was done and He was glorified! Our outreach was called the American Farewell Party since we are leaving on Monday. Many new students came to the outreach. We started the outreach by having some of our team members share what they will miss most about Japan. We then performed our Lifehouse Everything skit and it brought some students to tears. After that, I got up in front of everyone and shared my testimony, and my friend, Yukiko, translated. I was pretty nervous and my voice was still not fully back, but the Lord spoke through me and got the message that I wanted to share across. The main message was about the ultimate, never ending, unconditional love from Jesus Christ that can not be experienced from another human being. I talked about how even in my sin, shame, and guilt, God loves me. No matter what I have done in the past, where I am at now, or what I will do in the future, God loves me. I then told all the students that they too can experience this incredible love. I ended with sharing 1 John4:16 "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
After my testimony, my roommate, Casey, came up and played the guitar and sang a song. Then the Japanese staff surprised us by singing us a song to say thanks and gave us all gifts. It was very moving and quite sad.
We then proceeded to break up in small groups to talk about the skit and my testimony and use this time to share the Gospel.I was in a group with my team member, Katherine Anne, Yukiko (the staff member who translated for me) and two girls names Yumi and Shiori from the Gai Dai campus. Katherine Anne had met Yumi for the first time on Tuesday when they got "randomly" paired up to play badminton together. Katherine Anne invited her to our party and she brought her friend, Shiori, who we had never met before.
While talking to the girls, I really felt the presence of the Holy spirit and I knew they would both decide to come to know Jesus that night. During my testimony, Katherine Anne also heard God tell her to be ready to pray the prayer with someone tonight. After having a long spiritual conversation with both of them, the time came to share the Gospel. Yukiko asked me to go through the Knowing God Personally booklet and that she would translate when needed. The Lord really spoke through me and at the end I asked them if they understood everything. They not only told me they understood it but that they also believed it and WANTED IT!!! They were able to tell the Gospel back to us and clearly had a good understanding of it. Yumi also told us that she saw how I had an English bible and Yukiko had a Japanese bible and how that showed her how God is for ALL PEOPLE! WOW! That blew my mind! They wanted to pray the prayer right theew to accept Jesus in their hearts. So Katherine Anne, Yukiko, and I prayed with them. We then did follow up and rejoiced with them for being our new sisters!!! They were so joyful! The Lord truly blessed me with allowing me to be a harvester in these two girls' lives.
Today, we had our final picnic on the Gai Dai campus and both Yumi and Shiori showed up. Both had already started reading the bible as soon as they had returned to their homes after the party. Yukiko and another staff member, Fumi, came to out picnic to specifically become closer friends with these two girls since Katherine Anne and I are leaving. Yumi and Shiori asked for Yukiko's and Fumi's contact information and were excited to start a Bible Study with them! PRAISE THE LORD!
Tonight we are having one last dinner at our apartments and we have invited many of our Japanese friends to come, so please be praying that in these last hours of ministry that God be glorified and we continue to pour out love and be bold!

Thanks for all of your prayers! They truly are Powerful!

Till His kingdom comes,

Courtney

Pictures of the Outreach coming soon! I was just so excited to share this story that I couldn't wait for pics!

Prayers Please!

Hello my wonderful friends, family, and supporters!

I am writing to specifically ask for your prayers. We have only two days of ministry left and we are fully expectant for God to do wonderful things! But because of this, I know Satan will be attacking even more. Today, I woke up really sick. I had a headache, sore throat, chills, and fatigue. I went on campus but I had to leave early to go sleep and try to get well. I was not the only team member that was feeling ill either. I am filling a little better now but I still have a sore throat and I am losing my voice. Tomorrow, I will be sharing my testimony at our final big outreach, so I will need a voice to speak and I pray that the Holy Spirit will speak through me! I know that God is my healer and when I am weak, He is strong! Please pray for healing, and that He still uses me in my time of sickness. Pray that I turn to Him and in this time look to Him for comfort and rest and spend time in His word and presence.
A lot of the team has also just been feeling tired and are ready to go home. So please pray that they finish strong and don't get complacent or comfortable. Pray that we speak with boldness and authority the Jesus has given us, sharing the most incredible love anyone can experience. Pray against any fear that is in any of us! For I know that "perfect love casts out all fear!" Pray that the burden for the people of Japan grows in our hearts! Pray that we can see the friends that we have made here as our brothers and sisters in heaven. Pray that we can unconditionally love them knowing He first loved us.
Pray for our outreach tomorrow! Pray that the words of God are spoken and that people come to know Him!
Finally, pray that God's will be done and that He is glorified through it all! That He is lifted high and that we keep our eyes set on Him!

I will follow the Lamb wherever He goes!

Till His Kingdom comes,

Courtney

Just Pictures!

I thought I would have a post of just pictures since I have been lacking in them! Enjoy!

Court


I'm having a great time!


All of us in front of the Imperial Palace!


Katherine Anne and I in front of the Imperial Palace! A friend put the hat on me to make me look goofy!


Eating at Denny's in Tokyo!


Introducing the outreach with my translator!


Sharing the Gospel at our outreach!


Chilling at Team Meeting!


Learning how to swing dance after Church!


The girls at the Gai Dai picnic!


A group of us at the Gai Dai picture!

Praises to God in the Highest!

Konichiwa!

I know the longer the mission trip has been happening, the less I have posted, and I apologize. God is still continuing to do AMAZING things in our relationship building and random evangelism, but there is one thing I do find a little bit difficult. I feel like there is not much to update you on because nothing more has been happening with the Japanese students I have become friends with. I have already shared the Gospel with them and my testimony and continue to pour love into them and they are still really open, but none of them had wanted to make the step into actually accepting Jesus. However, I do know that it does take time and I may not see the fruits. The concept of Christianity is so new to them, that they need more time to process what is being said to them. So I will continue pouring into them knowing that God is faithful and has an incredible plan for the Japanese. AND some incredible things are STILL happening here so I will give you an update on those.

Tuesday: On the Gaidai campus. I had lunch with Ayaka and some other students. Then a girl that Katherine Ann has been getting to know, invited us to go play badminton her. We thought it was going to be a nice chill game with a few people, but a wonderful opportunity opened instead. We ended up going into her gym class (which was in a building we were told never to go into) and played with a class of about fifty students! Their professor was completely fine with us being there and he had us introduce ourselves to the entire class when we were finished! Praise the Lord! We ended up meeting a bunch more students. I met a girl named Rina who was a person of peace and she really wanted to get to know me better. I got to share part of my testimony with her and invite her to our huge outreach on Thursday. She came and brought three friends with her!

Wednesday: On the Hitostubashi campus. Had lunch with Emily, her friend Ing, Seira! I got to have spiritual conversation with Ing and she was really cool. She is a practicing Buddhist and was able to give me some insight into her religion. Seira ended up staying a long time after lunch and Humi (a CCC Japanese staff) and I got to share the Gospel with her and I shared my testimony with her. She was incredibly moved and open. She said that she had never thought about these things before and was going to go to the Library to check out a bible, but we had one, so we were able to give it to her to keep. She was so grateful.
Thursday: On the Hitsostubashi campus again for Business English lunch, which I led. We decided to do soularium (which is a survey that uses pictures and opens up for spiritual conversations) I did soularium with Omar and Shun. Shun continues to be open and learning more and more about God.
Thursday night was our big outreach. This is what all of us have been inviting Japanese students to for the last three weeks. Another girl on the team and I were in charge of planning it. WE decided to get enough food for 60-70 people. There were over 100 people at the outreach and we actually ran out food! Praise God for bringing Japanese students. There were probably around 75 students who were not Christians and had probably not heard the Gospel! Among these students were Ayaka, Bond, Shun, and Rina. We performed our Lifehouse- Everything skit and many of the students were really moved. We broke up into small groups after that and discussed the skit. Through these discussions, many of us got to share the Gospel and PRAISE THE LORD, one girl named Nao came to know the LORD!! The whole trip was worth that one girl and we still have another outreach to do this Thursday!
Friday: We had a picnic at Gaidai and many of our same friends came! We played a hilarious game called zip bong and had a great time just hanging out outside. After, our team had an awesome prayer walk! We prayed that the Holy Spirit start raining down on the Gaidai campus and literally 30 seconds later, it started to physically rain! It was beautiful!
Saturday: A group of us went to Asakasa with some of our Gaidai friends to see a temple and do some shopping. It was a fun day! Our Japanese friends then took us to Denny's :) for a family meal! We thought it was pretty funny that we ate there in Japan, but fortunately the menu is nothing like the one in America!

Thank you all so much for the prayers! I can't believe I only have a week left! I hope to be able to talk to many of you once I am back in the states! I have been in awe of all the amazing things God has done here but humbled at the same time. There is a great need for more missionaries here and all over the world and the burden in my heart for long term missions has continued to grow while I am here.

One of my favorite Passages!
Philippians 2:1-11
2:1 "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

In Christ,

Courtney

Practicing our Skit for the outreach!



Students at the Outreach watching Blake share his Testimony!



Team B and our Friends from Hitostubashi at the Discover Friends Party!


Having fun at Asakasa!

Rain down!

Hello all my wonderful supporters! (Disclaimer: I did not have time to proof read this so I am sorry for any grammatical errors.)

I am so sorry that I have not updated my post in a few days. Things have been pretty busy here and I go to sleep exhausted each night. A lot has happened so there is a lot to update you on, but I will keep the details just to the ministry so you don't have to read a novel! I also don't have any pics right now but I will give you some more in a few days. I have not updated since last Thursday, so I will give you a day by day play!

Thursday: This was the most incredible day. I was back on the Histostubashi Campus and met with students for the business English lunch. This was the day I had set up to share the Gospel with Shun. After the lunch, Shun stayed because he wanted to talk about know God personally. Shun sat down with Robin (one of the long term missionaries,) Omar (one of the full time staff,) and me. I asked him if he had read the Knowing God Personally Pamphlet and if he had any questions. He said yes to both. The four of us ended sitting in that room for two and a half hours. Shun asked some great questions. The Japanese do not understand the concept of sin, so we had to explain that to him. He then asked if there was anything that a person had to do once he accepts Christ or if he could go back to leading the same life. He also asked if God is perfect, then why is there evil in the world. The Holy Spirit really spoke through Robin, Omar, and I and we were able to answer all of his questions. Shun understood everything but still could not make the connection for his NEED for a Savior. WE asked them if he would want a life where Shun was in control or if God was in control. He said he wanted his same life where he was in control. He does not think that he does anything bad and he does not see why he needs to surrender his life to God. Omar then told Shun about the story of the young rich man that Jesus has an encounter with (Matthew 19:16-26.) Omar told him that this rich man reminds him of most of the Japanese he comes in contact with and that is why hardly any Japanese come to know Jesus. Omar then asked Shun that even though he didn't want to believe in Jesus, if we could still pray to Jesus for him. HE SAID YES!!! So all three of us prayed for Shun and he was very thankful. We then gave Shun a Japanese bible and said that he will have a better understanding if he reads it. Robin and I had to get going as we had to get to the train to get to another appointment. Shun said that he wanted to walk us to the station. Shun did not have to do this and it was completely out of his way. Once we got to the station and was about to say goodbye, Shun asked if we could meet again to pray for him some more!!!!!! PRAISE JESUS!!! And he asked if we could pray for his Friend as well!! Robin and I were amazed at this as he had decided not to accept Jesus! We, of course, said yes and I have plans on meeting up with him again. The Holy Spirit is definitely working in Shun. Even though it may be a slow process for Shun to accept the Lord and I may not get to be there to see it, the Lord has a hold of him! This was an incredible day and Robin told that this doesn't happen very often.

Friday: Today we had our picnic outreach at a park near Gai Dai University. It was so much fun and really helped us solidify our relationships with our students there. We were able to hang out and get into spiritual conversations with them. It was mostly the students we have already been meeting with but two new students came and they ended up skipping class and staying for two hours after to keep talking to us. Richard and I got in a spiritual conversations with one of the students named Kei, and he was really open to the Gospel and he talked about how sad and depressed a lot of students are in Japan and how they all turn to drugs. We were able to give him a Manga Gospel and have plans to meet with him again. I also had brought some Alaskan smoked salmon to the picnic and the students loved it!!! Ayaka could not make it to the picnic but had sent a message with her friend saying that she was so sorry and that she really wanted to see me! Today really opened a lot of doors for the students getting to hear even more about Jesus.

Saturday: Today, Katherine Anne, Casey, and I met up with two of our friends we met on the Hitostubashi campus, Emily and Mint, along with Anita, who is on staff with CRU here. We went and got carousel sushi and then went and did Karaoke afterwards. A truly Japanese day. It was a lot of fun! We are meeting up with the girls again and its time to share the Gospel with them. Please pray that they are open to hearing and that we have the boldness to tell.

Sunday: A few of us met up with one of our Friends from the Gai Dai campus named Bond. He has been coming to all of our lunches and we have been getting to know him well. Our plans were that he was going to take us around Tokyo and then come to church with us after (church is usually in the afternoons or evenings here in Japan.) He took us to Tokyo Tower which is like the Eiffel Tower except higher and the mansion that was built in the late 1800's by the Founders of Mitsubishi. It was fun and interesting, but we were all exhausted. We then got on the train and headed to church. As soon as we got off at the station, Bond told us that he could not come to church as he had a project to do and that he would come next time. We were all really disappointed as we thought that Bond was really open to Christianity. However, it is not our doing, but the Lord's doing to have Bond come to know Him and we have to trust in the Lord's plan.

Monday: This is our day off from ministry and we spent it by going to Tokyo Sea at Tokyo Disney Land Resort. IT was so much fun, but it rained all day and we were all sopping wet and cold. It was nice coming back to the apartment and able to have an evening of relaxation and getting a good nights rest for the two weeks of ministry we still have before us!

"The Prayers of a Righteous man are powerful and effective." Please keep our team and Tokyo in your prayers as we desperately need them. Please be specifically praying for the Japanese students and that the veil over their eyes is lifted and they see the need for a Savior. Pray for the students I have mentioned by name: Ayaka, Shun, Emily, Mint, and Bond.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers! Pictures to come soon! Please shoot me an email if you have any questions or thoughts! I am so thankful for all of you!

In Christ,

Courtney

"I bow my knees before the Father"

So, these last few days have been a time that I have truly needed to rely on God. It is the second week and the newness of Tokyo is starting to wear off and our team is starting to get tired and weary. Some of our team members are sick, others overwhelmed, and others just plan exhausted. Some of my team members are not even allowed to share ANYTHING about Christianity on their campus. The good news is God is faithful and we have been able to go to Him in prayer and as always, He has provided comfort, hope, peace, and love.
On Sunday, I attended church and it was wonderful! Then the four of us who went to the same church, had lunch in a park nearby. On Monday, (which is our Sabbath day,) a group of us went to climb Mt. Takao, which is the most climbed mountain in Japan! It was wonderful to be out of Tokyo and in God's creation. The hike was actually pretty difficult and we were all exhausted afterward, but it felt so good to get fresh air and exercise.
This Tuesday and Wednesday, I was on the Gaidai and Hitostubashi campus meeting with Japanese students who I have already built a relationship with. I also continue to prayer walk and rely on the Holy spirit in random evangelism. In our time of evangelism, I met six girls on the Gaidai campus who seemed interested in getting to know us more. We are having a picnic on Friday at a park near the Gaidai campus and we have invited a lot of people to come. PLEASE PRAY that our friends we have been building relationships with and the people we have just met, come to this picnic and respond to God's Love! Also, be praying for the Hitostubashi campus as many of the students we have been talking to do not seem very open to the Gospel and it has been harder to strike up conversations.
I am ready to share the Gospel with all of these students and ready to see them accept Jesus as the Lord, so please pray for me for wisdom for the right moment to share and patience in knowing that not everyone will be open to hearing. But the Holy Spirit is present and I am expectant that He will do great things!

A passage that came to me during our time of prayer this morning was Ephesians 3:14-21 and I would like to share it with you!
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Thanks so much for your prayers, they are truly a blessing!

In Christ,

Courtney


About to start up the mountain!


Me at the top of Mt. Takao


The Japanese foot bath we got to experience after our long hike!


The special dessert our Japanese friends made for us. Sticky rice filled with bean paste and wrapped in banana leaves. Not everyone thought it was tasty!


Ayaka and I. She is so open to the Gospel! Continue prayers that she accept Jesus as her Savior!

Humble thyself in the Sight of the Lord!

It has been a whirlwind in the last few days and I am getting behind on my blog updating. There is a lot that has happened in the last few days but I will give you the highlights!
I met with Ayaka on the Gaidai campus for lunch again. We had an incredible conversation and I got to share the Gospel and my testimony with her! She was so opened to hearing about it and so thankful that I shared with her. She has not accepted the Lord yet, but I know that it will happen! Once I finished sharing with her, I asked her if she knew how we came to be, if there was life after death, and if she thought if we had a purpose here on earth. She said that she had never really thought about it before and wasn't sure! But we have struck up an amazing friendship and she wants to show me around Tokyo! Please be praying for her by name that the Holy Spirit work in her!
On Friday, about four of us met up with one of the long term missionaries and went to Shinjuku to hand out food to the homeless. The homeless here are completely neglected and are often ignored on the streets, but when I saw them, I was so humbled. Jesus loves them so much and cares for every single hair on their head. We had a language barrier when giving them food but we were able to communicate to them that Jesus loved them. While serving food to the homeless, we were walking through the red light district of Tokyo and I could really feel the spiritual oppression and warfare. We saw the sex houses and gambling places as well as men on the street who lure women into the brothels. But God is greater then all of that!
On Saturday, I went to the Hitostubashi campus for a huge festival the school was having. I was able to see all my new Japanese friends that go to that school and support them in their performances and buy from their food stands. It was super fun and our friends were incredibly encouraged that their new American friends came to see them. Please pray that showing our support to them was a testimony to our walk with the Lord and that they desire to have that same walk.
Please pray for me also! It has been a little discouraging being in such a difficult country. I have not seen any healing or people coming to know the Lord yet, but I know that God specifically called me here and that it is not my doing but His! Seeds are being planted, to Him be the glory. Also pray that I stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit and what He is calling me to do each day!

Update from India!
Many of my college friends from my church, Antioch Community Church, are currently serving in India! Here is an update I received from one of them. I thought it was extremely encouraging so I thought I would share it!
"Today is the first day we went out to share in Bangalore and the team as a whole saw 14 healings and 2 salvations!!! We know that God has a lot more in store for the next 17 days! The Kingdom is coming in Bangalore!!! Praise JESUS"

Thanks for all the prayers, love, and support!

Till His Kingdom comes,

Courtney

Pictures!!

Having a Sunday afternoon picnic in a park in Kichijoji!


Eating a Japanese Taco!


My Teammate, Richard, buying Chicken on a Stick at the Festival!


A Jazz band playing at the Festival


My Friend, Shun, and me at the Hitostubashi Festival!


Me at the top of a Tokyo Government Building!


Our Team in front of the Temple!

The Lord is with Us! (P.S this was posted on June 4th, 10:15am)

The last two days I have been doing prayer walking, ministry and random evangelism on the Hitostubashi Campus and the Holy Spirit is moving and shaking.I have had some really awesome spiritual conversations with doors opening to share the Gospel. On Wednesday, a team member and I just went on the campus, grabbed lunch, and sat with three students we had never met. These three girls were wonderful and were open to talking. One was from Thailand, one from Singapore, and one from Japan. They all spoke English very well. The girl from Japan, Seira, was very interested in getting to know us know and wanted to meet again. We will be having lunch with her and heading toward more spiritual conversation.
On Thursday, we went back to the campus and hosted an English Business lunch where we talked about writing professional business emails.I was paired with this student named Shun. We ended up talking for about two hours and he went and got ice cream with our group after. We shared out likes and dislikes. Then he started talking about how much he liked Christmas which was a great segway into talking about beliefs. I asked him what he believed and he told me he believed in many gods and that there was a god for everything. He said that he went to the temple to pray about ten times a year. I asked him if his prayers were heard and answered and he told me only some of the time but a lot of the time it is just luck. He told me that when he does good things is usually when his prayers are answered. I could really see his desperate cry for a God who answers prayers. I was able to share a little of what I believe and give him a "Knowing God Personally" booklet. He was so interested in reading it and told me he was very thankful that he got to keep it. We are meeting next week to discuss the book and to answer questions. I will be sharing the Gospel and my testimony with him so prayers that he receives it with an open heart.
Last night, our whole team went to the Student Impact (CRU) meeting at the Mitaka student center. Just to give you perspective, this meeting is for eight campuses in Tokyo with a total of around 150,000 students. At OCU, we have around 2,000 undergrad and there are about 30 believers that come to our meeting. There were only about 10 believers from ALL the campuses at this meeting and they are also probably the only believers at there school. It was heartbreaking to know that there are so many students here who have never heard the Gospel, but it was also really encouraging to fellowship with the few Japanese students who have passionate hearts for their campuses. Please pray for these students as it is very difficult to be the only Christians on their campus.
The Lord is also teaching me a lot. He is teaching me what it means to totally rely on Him and not hold on to earthly things for they are only temporary. I especially learned this when I found out my car was broken in to (its in Oklahoma) and most of my stuff along with personal papers was stolen while I have been here in Japan. I had a lot of fear about it but the Lord comforted me with Isa. 41:10 "Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my VICTORIOUS right hand." This was such an encouragement.

I am so excited to see what God has planned in the next three weeks. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement! Enjoy the pics below!

In Christ,

Courtney

A building on the Hitostubashi campus


This is us on the Hitostubashi campus doing our Business English lunch! We got a little distracted!



Some of my new Japanese Christian friends at the Student Impact "CRU" meeting!


My Team member, Katherine Anne, getting ready to eat her lunch


Some Japanese Students studying in the Caf!


This is me drinking my morning coffee on the Hitostubashi Campus. It comes with a straw!

Movement below the Surface!

Praise the Lord for He is good and faithful!

Today, my team of five went on our first campus, Gaidai, the Foreign School.On this campus, there is only one Christian student that we know of. First we prayer walked around the school, asking for the Holy Spirit to rain down on the school and allow us to encounter students of peace who are open to hearing the Gospel. We then went into a small class room of a Christian Professor who teaches Filipino. This is the first time any Christians have been able to speak to a class at the school. The five of us introduced ourselves and told them that we were Christians from America who were sharing what we believed and learning about Japanese culture. This class was right before lunch, so we told them that we would save a table in the cafeteria and if any one would like to join us for lunch, we would love to have them.

We had no idea how many of them would actually show up. Praise Jesus, the ENTIRE CLASS showed up to talk to us!I personally talked to three girls whose names are Ayaka, Akane, and Mirei. We had great conversation on America and Japan and just getting to know each other well. Then Ayaka asked if I was a Christian and that opened up a huge door! None of them have any beliefs but I asked them if they were interested in learning more about Christians and what we believe. All three were really interested and said they wanted to know more! I then got out the "Knowing God Personally" booklets in Japanese and gave it to them. They all took it! They then had to go to class but they said they would read the booklet! We are meeting for lunch on Friday and discussing the Gospel and answering any questions they have.

Prayers that they are open to the Gospel and choose to receive Jesus. Prayers that we continue to build a relationship and get to know each other more during this month!

I am so excited to see the Holy Spirit move!

In Christ,

Courtney

Staying Awake in Tokyo!

Hello All!

I have been here two days but it feels like I have been here much longer. I am still getting used to the time change and therefore have been waking up at 5:30 in the morning and feeling exhausted during the day. But the Lord has been faithful in giving me energy. Yesterday (Sunday,) we went to Harijuku for lunch. I ate takoyama, which is fried octopus. We also visited a shrine and it was heartbreaking. People were worshipping to deities that don't exist. People would throw money into this box, clap, and say a prayer to their ancestors. You could also leave cards of prayers and leave them for the deities to answer. Some of the prayers were just crying out in need of a savior. I really felt the emptiness there and started praying hardcore. Going there was really good and it rejuvenated my heart to desperately want to share the Gospel with the people of Japan. We then went to church. The service only had about 150 people at it and we were told that is the largest church in Tokyo. The service was amazing and it was in both Japanese and English. It was so great to meet Japanese Christians.

Today we had our briefing with the Campus Crusade for Christ (Student Impact) Japanese staff. Our team is breaking up into three teams and each team is in charge of two campuses. I am with four other people and are going to be on the two top universities in Japan that we were told were equivalent to Harvard and Princeton here. I desperately need your prayers for these campuses.

I will remind you that less then 1% of Japan is Christian. Also, Japan is the least evangelized industrial nation in the world. The two campuses we are going have maybe one or two Christians on. One campus, the CRU staff doesn't even know if there is one Christian on the campus. This is out of thousands of students. On top of that, many cults are invading these campuses and taking on lots of students. Students look at all these cults as the same religion. There is a lot of spiritual warfare.

The first university is called Hetochibachi. It is the school of business, economics, and law. Students coming out of this school will be the top leaders in Japan. This school is comprised mostly of men. This is the school where there may be no Christians.

The second University is called Gaedai. It is the school of Foreign studies. This school is comprised mostly of girls and 30% of its students are from abroad. (There is a good chance I may use my Chinese here.) There are only one or two Christians on this campus. Praise the Lord, there is a professor who is a Christian, and tomorrow, we will be going in to her class and introduce ourselves and share our faith.

Even though there is a freedom of religion, we have to treat evangelism on these campuses like there is not. Especially at Gaedai. There administration does not like any strangers on campus and do not want ANY politics or RELIGION shared on campus. If they find out about us, we will get kicked off immediately. Prayers for protection please.

Even though both of these campuses are very dry and possibly not open to the Gospel, God is FAITHFUL, and I am very expectant at what he will do. I pray that we will see students come to know the Lord and be willing to share their faith with their classmates. I pray that the students we approach will be willing to talk to us and have open hearts and minds. I pray that relationships will be built.

Tokyo campuses are now like the Vally of Dry Bones in the Book of Ezekiel, but one day, flesh will appear on them and they will rise up as a young army for the Lord!

Thanks for all of your prayers so far! "The Prayers of a righteous man ARE powerful and effective."

Here are some pics!


This is me at the temple!


These are the prayers written on wooden boards at the temple!


The Octopus that I ate!


The endless skyline of Tokyo taken from the top of Tokyo Government building!

Many Blessings,

Courtney

Yokoso Tokyo!

Konichiwa!

I just woke up for my first morning in Tokyo! My team arrived safely last night, ate some rice bowls, found our apartments, set up our futons and the crashed! This blog will be short and sweet as I have to go find a power strip that will fit my three pronged power cord to my computer since they don't have any in our apartment! But I want to give you some pictures!



This is my team! We have bonded and have already become great friends!



Here is my roommate, Casey in our small little room with our futons set up!



Here is our kitchen, living room, hangout area!



And here is the view from our balcony!

I am so excited to share this experience with you! Continued prayers that this city is set ablaze with God's Love!!

In Christ,

Courtney

Today is the Day that the Lord has made!

Today is the day that has been long anticipated. After months and months of prayer, support raising, and preparing, my team of 14 other people and myself are heading off to Tokyo! We leave today around 2:30pm (California TIme) and get into Tokyo on Saturday evening around 6pm (Tokyo time.) But it will really be 1 in the morning on Saturday California time. Needless to say, we will be pretty tired. The flight will be around 12 hours long. Even with this long trek ahead, I am so ready to go and ready to serve the Lord and help spread His kingdom.
Last night, we had a time of prayer and send off amongst the other teams who are going overseas as well. Once our team was prayed over, our coach (someone who is not going with us but helped to train us) read us a verse that she specifically had on her heart. The verse is 1 Timothy 4:12-14

"Let know one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given to you by prophecy when the council of elders laid thier hands on you."

Also, before we all left to back to our rooms and start packing, Revelation 7:9-10 was read over us.

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all the tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out in a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb."

This is my prayer: That revival happen on the Tokyo campus. That the Japanese fall on their knees in worship to God. That they choose salvation! THat God encounter them in a whole new way. That the Holy Spirit descend upon them! That God increases and we decrease!

Thanks to all who have been part of this trip through prayer and support. I will continue to keep you updated and pictures will be coming soon! I will be praying that God encounters you where you are at and that He places people in your life with whom you can share the Good News with!

Much Love,

Courtney

"How Beautiful are the feet that Bring the Good News!"

First Day of Briefing:

Its finally here! The start of my journey to Tokyo to serve the Lord! I left Oklahoma City today, said some sad goodbyes and I flew to Orange County, California. It's warm and sunny here! There are palm trees and the beach is only a few blocks away. I got to meet my fellow team members for the first time! They are all so wonderful and its so great to finally see all the faces of the people I will become really close to and have to rely on in sharing the Gospel together. We all discussed why we are going Japan and what we want to see God do there. We all had different things to say but the one thing we all had in common was the passion to see Japanese people come to know Jesus! We leave to Tokyo Friday morning and before then, we will be growing and uniting as a team. I will let you know all that I learn and the preparation that happens these next few days and all the things God puts on my heart!

Prayer Requests: That are team be united! That we learn each others strengths and weaknesses. That we help each other grow and encourage each other to rely on the Lord.

"Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few'" Matthew 9:37

You are all wonderful! Feel free to leave comments! Blessings for all of you! Much love.

In Christ,

Courtney