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!