Tokyo and Phuket

Tokyo Christmas Party :) We didn't know how many people to expect, but we ended up with 50+ people :)

I’m going to assume that many of you are just a little curious about my time in Tokyo and Phuket, Thailand, mostly because I would be if I were on the opposite side of things. I have so many stories and things that I’ve learned that I feel like I’m still discovering them. The Lord is so active in this world that it is undeniable, and it is easy to look out the window and see the little ways that He is working, even if it is in the small smile of a Japanese man or woman on the street or in the rescue of a Thai woman from the sex trade. The Lord is working. He is active, and He loves each and every one of us so deeply that He can’t help but show that in the smallest ways everyday, as I am discovering.

Hiro and Myumi's Decision Cafe and Japanese Christians (aka Christians make up less than 1% of the total population of Japan)

I think the hardest lesson for me was learning how to love and how to receive love, no strings attached. I have spent much of my life working for God’s (and everyone else’s love), so the new and freeing concept that God and my fellow DTSers could love me no strings attached was hard to move from my head to my heart. I know that God loves me, He sacrificed His Son for me…. No greater love than that, right? But for someone who has spent most of her life working for love, it is a hard habit to break and even harder to move into her heart. However, I was forced to question how I was supposed to love like God loves when I didn’t even fully accept His love in my own life. It struck me that I was being asked to love complete strangers in both Japan and Thailand, and I couldn’t possibly offer them something that I didn’t even have.

Myumi and Me :)

I feel like God took me on a journey to discovering His love for me and in turn, discovering His love for both the Japanese and Thais. He did this in a lot of ways, but the main way He did this is through my team members and the local missionaries in both locations. Looking back at the place that I was at prior to DTS and seeing where I am now, I realize how much God must have loved me in order to bring me to DTS and truly rescuing me. God saved me through DTS.  He brought people into my life who love me and know me. In some ways, I feel like I have watched my team members show me God’s love. They have shown me time and again that love really pushes through the good and bad, it isn’t judgmental or condemning, it doesn’t ask how much you give, but asks how much will you receive, and it is there when no one else is. In a lot of ways, I am still discovering God’s love for me and others, but I beginning to understand that God is huge, and even if I were the only one still on the planet, He would have still made the world exactly the same. He has opened my ears and heart to all He has to offer me, and I’m excited to see what He has coming next for me…

* There is much more to tell, but that will come in time… 

The adorable Essie and I!!

Thai's paying homage at a local shrine. "To be Thai is to be Buddhist" is a common belief amongst all Thais.

My roomie and Joe (Mongolian Missionary to Japan) making an appearance. Joe has the most amazing story. He and His family became very dear to our team.