So on March 9th we packed up our bags and left for another church in Osaka. It's actually the home church of one our team members, which for him was a little creepy, seeing his family and all. But he doesn't seem to mind too much. And it really comes in handy to have a local in the team.
The atmosphere in this church has been totally different from the previous one. We feel so loved and appreciated, and we're also the only ones sleeping in the church so it doesn't feel like people are watching us all the time. We're doing pretty much everything together as a team which makes such a difference, and I feel like we're actually a family now, not just a bunch of people put together for a period of time. We've been doing a lot of meetings, sharing testimonies, preaching and leading worship. And it's been great to see the people getting refreshed in the spirit, and I just hope it would last. Anywhere we go it seems like there is such a hunger and desire for more of God, but nobody to show them how it's done. And even though most of our team members are 19 years old, these people respect us so much as their spiritual leaders for the day.
I don't know how to describe it other than just restful. This place is for me feels like somewhere I can just breathe and relax and enjoy all that God is blessing us with. We still have busy schedules, actually it's the busyest time so far in a way, but I still feel more peaceful than ever before on this outreach.
And like I said, the team's getting really close now that we're really doing stuff together. There's still a lot to be patient about and the dynamincs change all the time, but at least for my part I'm having less trouble with feeling left out or whatever. On monday we went to Universal Studios Japan, which was pretty cool, though it started raining and my shoes got soaked. Most of the time we just stood in lines, queueing for rides that weren't all that exciting, but it was still fun. And Afterwards we went to the Hard Rock Cafe to have dinner, which was totally worth the 3000yen I spent. Amazing food.
The food's really starting to become a problem. I have gained about 8 kilos since I came to Australia, and all this deep fried stuff isn't really helping. I'm afraid I'm either gonna gain another 10 kilos when I go back home just cos I'll binge on comfort snacks because I miss Australia, or I'll develop some sort of an eating disorder and struglle with that for the next 10 years. Or maybe it'll naturally go away when I change back into my healthy Finnish diet. But still, I feel really fat most of the time yet it's hard to stop eating when I'm hungry, and all the places we go to eat are really unhealthy. IT SUCKS. I'm just praying to God that he wont let me get any fatter than this...
Anyway, back to God. I don't know what He's up to at the moment, but something Ronnie spoke at the first meeting we did here really seems to apply to this season of our outreach. It was the story of the poor widow who gave one single coin as an offering, cos it was all she had. And like that widow, we don't have a lot to offer. None of us really have a lot of life experience, or wisdom that comes from that exprience, most of us have never seen a miracle or even seen a person getting saved. So really, what do we have to offer? But the little we have, that's what we'll bring to the table, trusting that maybe next time there'll be more to give. The first meeting we did I was sitting at the back of the room, just looking around during worship, and I saw this deaf guy singing in sign language. I felt really bad for him that he couldn't hear the music, and of course I thought about praying for him. But having never seen anyone getting healed (well I have but my they were stuff like hurting ankle etc. and my cynicism tells me it wasnt really a miracle) I was pretty reluctant to go. But I remembered this conversation with this awesome lady back at the previous church about healings and stuff. She told me it's not about what we can or cannot do, how much faith we have or how loud we yell our prayer. There is no formula to healing. It's God and God alone who works or doesn't work us, and all we're meant to do is to pray for sick people and lay hands on them. But I still didn't wanna do it. Yet inside me there was a burning that I knew I couldn't just ignore, and I'd be so dissapointed in myself if I didn't go. And that's what God eventually whispered in my ear; it's not for the deaf guy, it's for me. So I went and prayed with such a passion that I cried. And I cried after I'd prayed for him. He didn't get healed but I believe something in me changed. I guess after praying for my skin (twice, actually) with our entire school back in Brisbane and not seeing the results I stopped wanting to pray for healing cos it most likely resulted in embarrasment and confusion rather than healing. I didn't want to feel like I had to make excuses for God, and though I've never doubted His ability to heal people or even raise the dead, I just thought he's never do it through or to me. But as I put my fears aside and offered the little that I had, I know a piece of that fear or cynicism broke off. And I'll try to keep walking in that still, just offering the last coin I have in the hopes of receiving something bigger the next time.
I'm getting really tired so I'm gonna leave it there. Hopefully the next post will be sooner than later. Keep us in your prayers and send me mail cos I haven't really heard about anything that's going on back home!! Arigato.
The atmosphere in this church has been totally different from the previous one. We feel so loved and appreciated, and we're also the only ones sleeping in the church so it doesn't feel like people are watching us all the time. We're doing pretty much everything together as a team which makes such a difference, and I feel like we're actually a family now, not just a bunch of people put together for a period of time. We've been doing a lot of meetings, sharing testimonies, preaching and leading worship. And it's been great to see the people getting refreshed in the spirit, and I just hope it would last. Anywhere we go it seems like there is such a hunger and desire for more of God, but nobody to show them how it's done. And even though most of our team members are 19 years old, these people respect us so much as their spiritual leaders for the day.
I don't know how to describe it other than just restful. This place is for me feels like somewhere I can just breathe and relax and enjoy all that God is blessing us with. We still have busy schedules, actually it's the busyest time so far in a way, but I still feel more peaceful than ever before on this outreach.
And like I said, the team's getting really close now that we're really doing stuff together. There's still a lot to be patient about and the dynamincs change all the time, but at least for my part I'm having less trouble with feeling left out or whatever. On monday we went to Universal Studios Japan, which was pretty cool, though it started raining and my shoes got soaked. Most of the time we just stood in lines, queueing for rides that weren't all that exciting, but it was still fun. And Afterwards we went to the Hard Rock Cafe to have dinner, which was totally worth the 3000yen I spent. Amazing food.
The food's really starting to become a problem. I have gained about 8 kilos since I came to Australia, and all this deep fried stuff isn't really helping. I'm afraid I'm either gonna gain another 10 kilos when I go back home just cos I'll binge on comfort snacks because I miss Australia, or I'll develop some sort of an eating disorder and struglle with that for the next 10 years. Or maybe it'll naturally go away when I change back into my healthy Finnish diet. But still, I feel really fat most of the time yet it's hard to stop eating when I'm hungry, and all the places we go to eat are really unhealthy. IT SUCKS. I'm just praying to God that he wont let me get any fatter than this...
Anyway, back to God. I don't know what He's up to at the moment, but something Ronnie spoke at the first meeting we did here really seems to apply to this season of our outreach. It was the story of the poor widow who gave one single coin as an offering, cos it was all she had. And like that widow, we don't have a lot to offer. None of us really have a lot of life experience, or wisdom that comes from that exprience, most of us have never seen a miracle or even seen a person getting saved. So really, what do we have to offer? But the little we have, that's what we'll bring to the table, trusting that maybe next time there'll be more to give. The first meeting we did I was sitting at the back of the room, just looking around during worship, and I saw this deaf guy singing in sign language. I felt really bad for him that he couldn't hear the music, and of course I thought about praying for him. But having never seen anyone getting healed (well I have but my they were stuff like hurting ankle etc. and my cynicism tells me it wasnt really a miracle) I was pretty reluctant to go. But I remembered this conversation with this awesome lady back at the previous church about healings and stuff. She told me it's not about what we can or cannot do, how much faith we have or how loud we yell our prayer. There is no formula to healing. It's God and God alone who works or doesn't work us, and all we're meant to do is to pray for sick people and lay hands on them. But I still didn't wanna do it. Yet inside me there was a burning that I knew I couldn't just ignore, and I'd be so dissapointed in myself if I didn't go. And that's what God eventually whispered in my ear; it's not for the deaf guy, it's for me. So I went and prayed with such a passion that I cried. And I cried after I'd prayed for him. He didn't get healed but I believe something in me changed. I guess after praying for my skin (twice, actually) with our entire school back in Brisbane and not seeing the results I stopped wanting to pray for healing cos it most likely resulted in embarrasment and confusion rather than healing. I didn't want to feel like I had to make excuses for God, and though I've never doubted His ability to heal people or even raise the dead, I just thought he's never do it through or to me. But as I put my fears aside and offered the little that I had, I know a piece of that fear or cynicism broke off. And I'll try to keep walking in that still, just offering the last coin I have in the hopes of receiving something bigger the next time.
I'm getting really tired so I'm gonna leave it there. Hopefully the next post will be sooner than later. Keep us in your prayers and send me mail cos I haven't really heard about anything that's going on back home!! Arigato.
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