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July 16- July 23: Week Six Recap

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  Week Six Recap Our last week here in Tokyo. This week was a bit bumpy. Even with everyone, excluding myself, getting sick at some point, feel-like temperatures being above 100 degrees, and sadness for leaving, this was one of the best weeks yet. On Sunday, our day of rest, I chose to travel to Shibuya alone to go gift shopping. Later that day it was my turn to lead the student devotional. I chose to speak on 1 King's 19:11-18 where God speaks to Elijah in a still small voice.  Monday was our last fun day with Kim and Adam here in Tokyo. They took us, the Apex team, to Shinjuku for fun activities.  The next day, Tuesday, John, Jenna, and I had the opportunity to come alongside Lou Ann in teaching English to elderly folks. Lou Ann is a ReachGlobal missionary and wife to Shige. At English lessons with Lou Ann, we got to talk and get to know a different generation of Japanese folks. These retired elderly lived much different lives than the college students we had been spending most o
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July 9- July 15: Week Five Recap

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  Week Five Recap Week five was a time of rest and recap all that we had done so far on our trip. On Sunday, we were given our day of rest. The next day, Monday, I woke up early to travel to the Waseda area to meet up with a current Waseda student and friend I had made. While talking over lunch together, I discovered that she was a Christian and together we were able to discuss our faith backgrounds and testimonies. Below is a photo of my new friend and I.  That afternoon, my apex team and I rushed over to the Tokyo Skytree Tower to give it a second chance, since our first encounter had been a failure. This time, instead of the thick blanket of clouds that we had seen in our first week, we had a beautiful 360 view of the entire city. From 1,476 feet in the air, we spent some time praying and reminiscing over our trip so far. Below is a photo of a few of us along with the view.  Tuesday morning we left for our debrief retreat. We all piled into John Lee's car and headed for Lake Yam
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July 2- July 8: Week Four Recap

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  Week Four Recap Time is flying by fast! Week 4 is already complete! Another busy week to recap. Let's start with Sunday. This Sunday I traveled solo about an hour out of the city to Kiyose Station where I met with a missionary family that my family knows. I attended church with the Reasoners who are missionaries with Send International. Together we spent the day catching up as I listened to their stories and testimonies. Below is a photo from left to right of pastor Iwai Motoo, myself, and then Mrs. & Mr. Reasoner.  Mondays are usually fun days with our hosts Kim and Adam. This Monday, however, we spent the morning catching up on financial reports and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and hanging out together as a team. Later that evening, however, John, Kali, and I went to the Lee's home to babysit the three girls for a few hours.  On Tuesday we had prayYamanote as usual. This week, however, we had the SecondLevel ministry team join us. SecondLevel is an evangelis
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June 25- July 1: Week Three Recap

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  Week Three Recap We made it halfway! Week three is done. Let's recap this week. Beginning with our day of rest on Sunday, a few of us on the team went to church at Musashino EFCJ in Kichijoji to listen to Shige (ReachGlobal Tokyo City Team co-leader) deliver the message at a Japanese church. The rest of the day we spent exploring Kichijoji. Later in the day, I met with ReachGlobal missionary Sarah over dinner. There she shared her testimony and her heart for missions in Japan. During this time, my eyes were opened to the desperate need for Jesus in the hearts of the Japanese people. First-world country or not, these people need Jesus just as much as everyone else does.  On Monday, we started the day by handing out flyers at the Waseda University street corner. These flyers were advertising an American-themed Fourth of July party. The party was hosted by the Story House club at Waseda and all students were invited. In the afternoon, we had our first official Japanese lesson at Hos
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June 18- June 24: Week Two Recap

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  Week Two Recap Week two is done! Let's recap all that happened. We began our week on Sunday with a day of rest. On Monday, a few of us including myself was able to babysit for a missionary family here in Tokyo. We were able to bless the Lee family by taking care of their three little girls. Tuesday was a whirlwind of action. Shige Nakazawa, one of the Tokyo City team leaders took the Apex team on a prayer walk of the entire city. While the city was huge we were able to stop at four main stations, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Akihabara, and Nishi-Nippori. While stopping and getting out at each of these stations, Shige opened our eyes to the desperate need for Christ in this city and nation. Below is a photo of my team with Shige at a Shinto shrine in Nishi-Nippori. The next day, Wednesday, we met with the Lee's neighbors. These two women became some of our Japanese teachers. Our first lesson was on food and cooking. Together we made a delicious meal of cold soba noodles and edamame.  O
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June 10- June 17: Week One Recap

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Week One Recap Hello everyone, thank you so much for all of your prayers and support over the weeks. Let's recap all that the Lord has done ov er week one. We began our week with orientation and on-site cultural training. That Sunday we had the opportunity to visit a Japanese Hawaiian Church in downtown Tokyo. The next day we visited the Senso-ji Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine. There, we were able to pray that God would break the spiritual strongholds over that place. In the afternoon, while it was still cloudy, we had the amazing experience of looking down from the Tokyo Skytree and praying over the entire city. Even though we couldn't see much of anything, we got to look through God's eyes and see an entire city filled with lost people who didn't know Jesus. On Tuesday, we hopped on the Yamanote train line to join a local ministry, "Pray Yamanote." ( https://prayyamanote.com/ ) Here we were able to take the train line around the border of the entire city.
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Welcome to Tokyo

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 Welcome to Tokyo We made it to Japan! In the afternoon of June 9th, we finally arrived in Tokyo Japan. With two full days of experience in Japan, I'm excited to update you all!  First of all, meet the team! Pictured from left to right we have Jenna, Kali, myself, John, Emily, our two site leaders Adam and Kim, and finally Henry on the far right.  Monday through Wednesday my team, along with other teams going to different locations, met at Moody Bible Institute for orientation and missionary training. Finally, on Thursday morning we flew out to Tokyo with only one layover. A total of 16 hours in the air! These last two days have been busy! From moving into our Airbnb and adjusting to a new culture, we have been able to tour the city, try lots of new yummy food, and even attend a Japanese church service. We have lots planned for the rest of the week.  Again, I want to thank you all so much for your prayer and support.  Prayer Requests Luke 10:2 Pray that there would be more missiona
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