July 9- July 15: Week Five Recap

 

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 Yamanaka. The apex team, along with Kim (Adam was sick this week), settled into a beautiful traditional Japanese house. This spacious airbnb offered a perfect view of Mt. Fuji. While we were not able to see Lake Yamanaka, our time in the countryside was refreshing and exactly what we needed. 


Wednesday we were assigned to spend time in solitude and prayer. This space allowed me to pray, journal, and reflect in his word. 

Thursday we spent in community with each other and debriefed our past weeks together

Friday took the train back to Tokyo where we settled back in our Airbnb for our last week in here. That evening, it was Jenna's and my turn to go to Communitas at Kim's house. Since Jenna had previous commitments, John came along instead. Our topic this week was joy, and the question "Where does your joy come from?" While we did not have a photo taken, we had many students and guests come to Communitas this week. 

On Saturday, the team met at Kim's house to debrief and catch Adam up on all that he had missed from the retreat. After that, we went to the Mitama Matsuri summer festival. Below is a photo of some of the 30,000 lanterns strung along the path to the Yasakuni shrine. 



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