KGK Summer School - “Is This It!?”

So last week I went to KGK’s evangelistic camp, and I gotta say it was amazing :) The way they organised everything, the location (we situated near a mountain lake called matsubarako in nagano. There’s a Christian campsite there :) sooooo nice!), the group discussions, the talks, the testimonies, the music, the fellowship, nearly everything was just right! Seeing how some of the leaders worked tirelessly all day, and woke at 6am for prayer meeting each morning, was an amazing thing to see :) I am really thankful that God allowed me to go on this camp and see how the KGKers work :D I think about one third of the people there were non-Christians, and some had little or no exposure to Christianity at all! Also, at least one person turned to Christ :) Kouhei - the guy who decided to become a Christian, stayed up with me on the final night to talk for several hours about how he felt about this new faith, and it was just so encouraging to hear his thoughts! Another guy who considered himself to be a Christian and had stopped attending church, realised after the camp that he could no longer deny that Jesus is Lord. I’m sure there were many other stories, but i haven’t heard them yet.

Two days prior to the camp, I got a message from a friend in KGK saying “HEY! I heard you’ve been made into a group leader for the camp!” And I was like “WHAT!??” It was very sudden and surprising, and considering i had only a day or two to prepare, and considering the whole camp was in Japanese, i was quite unsettled... I accepted coz i thought it would be an amazing experience, but honestly i was afraid because i’d never done anything like it before. So i prayed and prayed for me and my co-leader, and for the camp, and it turns out that it went really well :) So i really thank God for speaking through me, despite my broken Japanese - I managed because He gave me the strength and ability to do it :D Considering I had so little sleep before the camp, and considering how little i slept during camp, it was amazing that I lasted for the whole cmap and managed to lead as well - and i know that i could not have done it on my own strength.

So the theme for this year was “Is This It!?” (and the logo used was Michael Jackson’s “Is This It” poster!). Most the messages were delivered by Hayashi sensei - a guy with an Osakan accent :) looooove the way Osakans talk lol! Anyways, his talks were based on Matthew 19, the story about the rich young man, and a bit before that - the one where Jesus says that the kingdom of God belongs to little children. One of the talks was done by Ooshima Sensei, who is also a heaps good preacher. He preached on John 4 - where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and tells her that He offers living water. Our Bible studies were also based on that passage. Just being reminded of how deep Christ’s love is for us and how sinful we are, and how much we need Him... is seriously amazing. No matter how many times i hear these messages they never get old, and i couldn’t help but get teary eyed whilst listening (i wasn’t the only one trust me!). The songs we sang were largely based on those Gospel themes too, so that didn’t help to stop me from weeping lol...

So after each talk we would break up into groups to discuss what the talks were about, and anything else we had questions about. This was probably the main part of the camp - sharing time. I heard from most group leaders that the time spent in the groups was amazing because everyone opened up and spoke so honestly about what they felt. That was true for our group as well, and thanks to my co-leader Ayako and our staffworker Makiko, our other group members were able to understand the messages and express what they really felt about it all. Two of our group members were very new Christians, and the other two were non-Christians.

Aki was one of the young Christians (well he’s older than me but younger as a Christian) - and before the camp he didn’t expect very much, but he said he was very glad he came because he got to learn so much about his faith. Tomika - the other Christian in the group, was able to open up and learn heaps as well. Tomoko - a non-Christian girl who has been investigating religion and in particular Christianity for 3 years, was also part of our group, and she really opened up and shared honestly about what she thought. Initially she came because she was angry at Christianity for something her Christian friend had done in the past, so i think initially she was not very open, but after a while she really opened up and shared why she was angry and why she could not accept Christianity. Through many tears she got her point across, and after a few days she was no longer reserved about how she felt. I think by the end of it she had a much better opinion of Christians and Christianity, although she didn’t want to accept it still. But i feel that this could be a large stepping stone for her on the way :) We plant the seeds and God makes them grow hey? Anyways, the other non-Christian in our group - a guy called Yuu, came probably not knowing exactly what he was looking for, but by the end of it he heard the message and although he was unable to accept it, I think he felt that Christian fellowship and many of the teachings in Christianity are awesome. This guy was super popular amongst the ladies too loolll, so i think he thoroughly enjoyed his time there. He also talked a whole lot in the group and asked a whole heap of questions, so i really pray that we got our point across and that he continues to seek!

I really liked how the days were structured - and although there wasn’t a lot of variety in the program, i felt that that extra time spent in groups was much needed. The fact that nearly every activity was done in our groups was really really good for bonding - perhaps something we can think about for our camps back in Australia :) I’ve never been in a group that has opened up so honestly before - so i was really glad :D Okay, i didn’t understand everything that was said, but i think i got most of the important stuff that was said :)



Here are the lyrics to 3 of the songs that we sang at camp. I really came to love these songs heaps :D This first song’s melody is very Japanese i reckon - it sounds like a Ghibli song or something :) You can look them up on youtube if you wanna! Just copy and paste the titles.


今こそキリストの愛に応えて (I now respond to Christ’s love)

私が神の子とされた　罪人の私が
I’ve been made into a child of God, a sinner like me

無限の愛の大きさにただ感謝をしよう
I’m ever thankful for this amazing and eternal love

こんな私のためにさえ命まで与えた
He gave up His life even for a person like me

十字架の愛の大きさにただ感謝をしよう
I’m ever thankful for the great love shown on the cross

-CHORUS-

今こそキリストの愛に応えて
I now respond to Christ’s love

命を　すべてを　ささげよう
And offer my life and everything to Him


生きる指針を失った　迷い子の私が
I’ve lost all direction in life, but

生きる希望と喜びに満たされてるなんて
I have been filled with a living hope and joy

何の力もないけれど何かをしてゆこう
I have no strength but I will do something about it

こんな小さな物だけど何かをささげよう
I have not much to offer you, but what i have i give to You


CHORUS-

たった一度の人生を無駄にしたくはない
I only have this one life and i don’t want to waste it

力の限りキリストを愛し続けよう
With all my might i will continue to love Christ

多くの友を救うため　福音を告げるため
I will tell the Gospel in order to save many friends,

日本の国を救うため　世界を変えるため
In order to save the people of Japan, and to change the world


満たして下さる方 (The One who satisfies me)
主よ　私は飢え渇いて　今 ここ に来ました
Lord I come to You starving and thirsty
主よ　あなたに両手上げて　こころからあがめま す
Lord, I raise both hands to you and worship You from the bottom of my heart
主よ　あなただけが　
Lord, only You
私を満たして下さる方
Can satisfy me
主よ　あなただけに 賛美の歌をささげます
Lord, only to You will I give these songs of praise



注がれた愛 (Love poured out)

愛する友のために命を捨てる
To give up one’s life for a friend you love

これほど大きな愛があるだろうか
I wonder if such a love exists?

逃れる道もなく何かを求めて
When I had nowhere to run to, while i sought something

私はまだ罪の中にいた時
While i was still in sin



キリストが私のために命を投げ出して
Christ gave up His life for me

その愛を永遠の愛を心に注がれた
And poured out His love, His eternal love into my heart


All in all, the camp was awesome and i really thank God that i could be used to lead a group despite my broken Japanese. This camp, like KOSTA, helped me to understand more about how mission in Japan would look like. It appears that even a failure like me can be used by God to accomplish bigger things :) So i am truly truly thankful for the great opportunities that He is giving me.

Thank God for:
- An awesome camp, awesome fellowship, and His amazing love
- Kouhei - the guy who became a Christian at the camp
- Allowing me to get through the camp and experience leadership in Japanese

Please pray:
- That i may continue to think about how i can serve God here
- That i may seek God first and foremost, and follow Him with fervour - praying constantly and being diligent in reading His word
- That my Japanese language ability may continue to improve more and more
- That i won’t be lazy for the rest of these holidays and that i may get my assignments done, and get some studying done :)

Thanks for reading! :)

KOSTA Japan :D

There's been a whole lot on, but i'm just gonna blog a bit about the camp i just went to :D So KOSTA is a camp that was started in american by exchange students from korea, and it's made its way to Japan! This year was i think the 5th or 6th year in Japan, and it was an amazing camp to say the least. i think there were about 3000 koreans, couple of hundred japanese, couple of hundred chinese and like 20 people in the english part. It was HUGE!

The koreans are crazy! Worship style and everything is just so different! We had a summer festival thing the other night which was like a concert - there were heaps of amazing performances that night :) They did a re-make of some korean drama as a skit and made it Christian like, and also a remake of UP! :D They also had a bunch of famous singers come to sing, they had a heap of dances and other artsy performances :) Soooo awesome!

Learnt quite a lot and i was just struck by how disciplined the koreans and japanese are! Especially how they pray, worship and stuff. I mean it was kinda crazy... their praying style, but i can tell that they really do lift up their hearts to God when they worship. It's really amazing! Something i need to learn from. All in all, it was very tiring but i learnt heaps, and i think i can say that i am quite sure God wants me to mission here as a long term missionary some time in the future. It seems so obvious now! But of course, that would mean that i would have to go to Bible college i think! My parents are gonna hate that so much...

I met this american guy (who really reminds me of a friend of mine who just got married!) who is doing this english teaching program here in Japan for 2 years - and it's with a Christian organisation! :D I was so happy to hear about it :) He sent me the website for it, so i may check it out some time :) This guy was telling me how hard it is if you are doing the JET program (the non-Christian english teaching program) it's hard on Christians who dont have a proper support group there for them. So he told me about the thing he's doing :) I think he said he's almost finished, but he doesn't know where to go next. He said he may end up as a missionary in Japan as well! One of the kroean guys i met there (who is about my age and is living in Japan indefinitely) was also thinking about mission here :)

I was also talking to my other foreign student friends and a couple of them said they wanna end up living here in Japan - either because they dont like home, or because they wanna start a business here. In any case, it might mean that i will see some of them again here in Japan in the future :D

I'm really glad that God brought me to that camp :) If i haven't told the story on this blog already, i shall explain it now. So when i was on the Credo mission team in Japan, one weekend i was with the team in Kanazawa, but i had to come back home to make it for class on monday. So as i waited for the bus at kanazawa, this korean missionary came up to me and started talking to me, thinking i was a local japanese person who knew nothing about God. We talked abotu what we were doing in Kanazawa, and he told me about KOSTA. Didn't think very much of it, but when i get home early the next morning (dead tired) my chinese friend from the local korean church came up to me and gave me a pamphlet for KOSTA! So i thought "i think God wants me to go to this camp...", so i signed up and went!

I guess He brought me there to strengthen my will to do mission here... seriously it just seems so certain now. One of the talks that hit me the most was a talk the other night. The speaker was a 91 year old korean pastor, and he seemd younger because he was quite full of energy still :) When he was 67, he received the call (i think through a dream....and he referred to the Acts 2 passage where Peter quotes Joel "your old men will dream dreams") to minister to the world. he knew he then had to learn english even though he was so old. Once his mind was set, he set out to learn, and although it is like basically impossible to learn another language at such an old age he continues to try. He memorised all of Genesis 1 in English, as well as all of Martin Luther's "I have a dream" speech. Although i could not understand a word he said, i was so encouraged and inspired in seeing how hard he worked for God. He's also the pastor of the flutist who came to play that night, and the flutist was saying how great a pastor he is. He was saying that everyday at 4am, the pastor would get up to send an encouraging message to the flutist. 4am!!! And he's a pastor of a huge church in Korea! This pastor was also saying that afterh e learns english, he wants to learn chinese! He's really really got an amazing vision... and i am really inspired by how hard he works for God. Then i look at myself and i think about how lazy i am, and how small my passion for God is... and i think that i will need to get my act together. That's certainly what i prayed. And i think i will keep praying for that so please pray for me to grow in passion and love for Christ so that i may do His work wherever i am - that i may be His witness to the ends of the world (that was the theme for the camp btw - Acts 1:8).

The stories of the other pastors and speakers were amazing too...and some of the other testimonies i heard from other people were really amazing! One speaker was a famous korean pop star, until he went to jail for something - then God brought him back. Now he is the pastor of a church here in Japan! Another dude started a church i think in America - and although he didn't know much english, he started a taekwondo class, and from there proceeded to build 3 churches! One of the other guys i became friends with was born and raised in america - Christian family, but a rebel. He got into drugs and went to jail in the past, but when he came to Japan to study, he became a Christian! Actually it was 4 years ago at this camp that he became a Christian (i was wrong... this year wasn't the first time for this camp to be held here lol...)! And now his passion and all is very encouraging.

Now i can really see why Korea is one of the biggest (or maybe THE biggest) Christian country in the world... i've heard that Korea sends out more missionaries than any other country! Their passion is amazing! Their discipline and their style of worship is certainly something to model. Although i found it a little strange admittedly, perhaps i could get used to the worship style. During prayer, the person out front would tell us what to pray for, then all at once, while music is playing, everyone would pray together, and some would be doing some loud screaming, shouting thingy... i certainly found it... different... very different indeed to what i'm used to... but i feel that it shows how passionate they are and how much they pour out their hearts to God. I think many of the preachers may have lost their voices from praying so loudly! Some of them had pretty hoarse voices by the end of it!

I also heard a few songs that i came to like quite a lot! I don't think they're new or anything, but here are the names of the songs i liked:

Above all

There is none like You

I could sing of Your love forever

He knows my name

So yeah, the camp was certainly a great eye-opener :) Here are some videos for you to enjoy!

I was surprised at this! I found it quite funny that they would re-do the lyrics to pop songs like these and make them into Christian songs haha!! The strange thing is... koreans tend to be quite conservative and yet these girls dressed up almost exactly the same as the SNSD girls and danced almost exactly the same dance...in front of a big Christian audience of about 4000 people :0 Still rather interesting though (i mean i do like SNSD after all LOL!) Sorry for the horrible quality of the video though :(

This next one is of a korean singer who i think sings for some dramas and stuff. Her name is Lisa something, and her english is quite good! I assume from her good accent and her name that she was raised in America haha. SHe has a really really amazing voice :) She made like no mistakes and i heard her sing 3 days in a row! Crazyness! Oh and the pianist is really goood too :) He's like a jazz pianist that plays a lot of crazy stuff haha.

And this last video is of the flutist guy who came to play for us one night. He was really amazing :) He's a famous flutist in Korea - he does songs for korean dramas and stuff :D He studied in america for a bit as well so his english is quite good, except that he pronounces Jesus as "Jejus" like most native koreans do :P Before he did his last song he explained to us that everytime he wakes up in the morning, he gives a flying kiss to Jesus! Looolll, it sounded funny but i thought it was cool :) So he told us to do the same: to say "Jesus! I LOVE YOU!" And give Him a flying kiss :) I.e. kiss your fingers and blow upwards, facing heaven :D After his first song, he said something quite profound. At first i thought he was being boastful, but turns out i was wrong haha... so he played with three different flutes - a silver one costing more than $30,000 US, a gold one costing more than $100,000 US, and a small wooden irish flute costing less than $100 US. After playing all three he said "they all make different sounds but it's not like one sounds worse than the other. What matters is the player!" At this point i thought, "is this guy saying that he's so awesome that he can make even a cheap flute sound awesome!?" And then he said "what i mean is, even if you feel like you are useless, God can use you in amazing ways because He is God. You may feel like you are worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars and not be used by God in such amazing ways as someone who feels worthless." So no matter how useless we feel, we can rest assured that because God is the one in control, we needn't worry about feeling useless! So please enjoy this video! :D I really looooved the music he played! :) very nice and calming!

This one was reaaalllly nice :) This was when he showed that the little irish flute could sound really awesome :D

Anyways! I've got a bit of stuff to prepare for the KGK evangelistic camp, and i've only got tomorrow to do it :( But im really looking forward to this! Should be an amazing time :D Should open up my eyes to see how to mission here effectively as well!

Thank God for:

- KOSTA - Japan and the awesome people i met there, along with their awesome stories

- For keeping me strong and teaching me so much

Please pray for:

- Revival in Japan - that God will raise up more leaders, and more people who want to know our Saviour Jesus Christ!

- For the KGK camps (one this week - the evangelical one, and one next week - the Bible camp for Christians) - that they may run well and that many will come to know Him through them!

Well then! Thanks for reading and keeping up to date on my blog :D

English Conversation Class and Hanabi taikai! :D

Today was one amazing day :D So for a while now i've been trying to set up this english conversation class for the Japanese people, and today was the first lesson! There were 5 others and there should be more coming next week! It was quite fun, and i think i can say it went quite well :) It seems not many Japanese actually know anything about Christianity at all... which is sad... there really needs to be a lot of work done here! But praise God the class went well today :) Please pray that the rest of the classes go well too!

Anyways, after the class, Takatsuya (one of the dudes that came to the English conversation class) and I met up with the others at Ichikawa Daimon for the fireworks festival :D I can't express how absolutely awesome the fireworks were :0

In Japan the fireworks work quite differently to how they do in Australia. They go for about an hour and a half, and they do short bursts or sets for a few minutes then take breaks in between. All up i took 34 videos, so i think there were 34 sets unless i missed one! So they spread out the fireworks, unlike in Sydney how they shoot them all at once and go crazy! There are also a lot more interesting fireworks (like happy faces, sad faces, stars, love hearts, cat faces and fish!), and they are made to be enjoyed over a longer time, and you get to say "WOW" more often because they go psycho at the end of each set, and the finale is an absolute killer :D. They are also very well patterned :) It's not like New year's in Sydney when everyone is drunk and rowdy haha... The location was also perfect! Surrounded by mountains, the fireworks were shot from a river area, and we were RIGHT in front! :D Thanks to one of our Japanese friends we were able to reserve a place super close to the fireworks, and the view was amazing to say the least :) Oh yeah, and during one of the breaks, a dude proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes :D Awesome stuff! The videos are obviously nowhere near as good as the real thing, but hopefully you can see how awesome they were anyways :D

I apologise for the annoying voices in the videos lol!

Here's a video with the interested shaped fireworks! xD

This one here is the second last set, and it ended so amazingly that we thought it was the last! Turns out we were wrong :)

And here's a video of the final set :D

There's also a bunch of other stuff which i havent gotten around to blogging about, but photos are up on facebook and photos tell a thousand words :D