Settling Back In
The nighttime view from my apartment balcony!
I’ve been back in Tokyo for about two weeks now! There’s still an adjustment to be made, but it’s not nearly as drastic as last year. We live in a neighborhood located right along the Sumida River. Being primarily a residential area, there are plenty of places to walk along the water or stop to grab an iced latte.
The first major thing the summer interns helped with was moving Grace City Church Tokyo into their first ever permanent location! Located in Ochanomizu (literally meaning “tea’s water”), having a permanent space will open up new fellowship event possibilities. I’ll soon start teaching guitar lessons in the new space for individuals in the youth group! Safe to say that it was worthwhile for me to lug my guitar to the other side of the globe!
First sermon in the new church space!
The Grace City youth group practicing a new song
The interns overlooking Mt. Fuji. Just thinking about how I hiked to the top in one day last year makes me feel tired…
But, I never stay in one place for very long! Just as soon as we unpacked our apartment, we were repacking for a weekend in 山中湖 (Yamanakako, meaning “between the mountain and lake”). At a newly renovated christian lodge, we participated in a Women’s retreat, getting the chance to talk to other missionaries from around this region! It was awesome to laugh, share stories of how God has been working, and even do a cafe crawl around the lake.
Looking forward for the next couple of weeks, I’ll be focusing on a few digital marketing and design projects alongside translating Penelope Panda’s Peculiar Family into Japanese! And of course, lots of Japanese language school.
Things you can be praying for:
That God would use this new permanent church location to further His kingdom. It’s located between multiple popular universities, so there are lots of potential outreach events.
To keep the interns motivated and moving forward. Just the day-to-day activities can be draining in another culture, let alone learning a new language.
For our Japanese friends that don’t know Christ to open their hearts towards Him! After all, that’s what it’s all about.