check-up
recently we had to submit a brief form that informed our asian access supervisors of our spiritual, emotional, and physical health...we'd like to share our responses with you (claire first) so that you -- our friends and family -- can get inside our hearts...
...claire's responses:
Q: How is your spiritual health?
Spiritually, I am growing. I was greatly encouraged at CPI through the times of worship and learning. I have been encouraged by the faith and witness of the members of the Gakuentoshi church planting team. This along with the fellowship and support of the Kansai team.has been an answer to many prayers--God is such a faithful provider!
Q: How is your emotional health?
Emotionally, I am still running high on the excitement of being in Japan.
Q: How is your physical health?
Physically, I am growing in size! There's been so much good food everywhere and people have been so generous in taking us out to eat or cooking for us. This has been the first time in over 10 years that I've been without a car. Walking around a lot has been great.
...bobby's responses:
Q: How is your spiritual health?
By God's grace, I am growing. At the personal level, God has met me in fresh and faith-deepening ways as each morning I have been meditating on and memorizing Scripture. Seeing God through His truth has fueled my intercessory life. In particular, from the CPI conference and Akiro-sensei's moving example, God showed me the importance of repentance and confession, not only for myself, but also for Japan. To that end, several passages of Scripture have been powerful in my prayer life and thinking, e.g., Psalm 51, Daniel 9, and Isaiah 55. At a corporate level, God has surrounded me with many wonderful servants from the Gakuentoshi church family and the Asian Access Kansai team. Eric and Sue, especially, have been vital to our transition and spiritual balance. Also our brothers and sisters at Gakuentoshi Chapel have demonstrated the love and humility and peace of Christ in so many quiet yet noticeable ways. Their fingerprints are on us already! We've also received notes of encouragement and support from our home base in the states, including phone contact with our parents. Through such support, God reminds us that we are serving together with many in the states who love God and yearn for the gospel light to shine in Japan.
Q: How is your emotional health?
Emotionally, I am balanced but at times broken. Our transition could not have been smoother. We thank and praise God for the process of moving to Japan. Though tired at intervals, on no occasion did I feel emotionally "fried" or burned out. To the contrary, God has filled me with emotional strength at the right times and during the lulls, God seems to have deepened my emotional reserves. Yet I am broken emotionally. As I walk on the streets and stand in the subways, as I look at so many Japanese people and figure that with the reality that less than 1% of Japan is Christian, I feel genuinely heart-broken. Sometimes I pray. Other times I quietly sing a prayer to God so as to cover the strangers I see in prayer. I know that this may be expected with a newly arrived CPA. But, because I am well-tuned to my emotions and am not afraid to show them before God or others, I feel that this brokenness is part of a healthy way to grow emotionally in Christ.
Q: How is your physical health?
No major issues to talk about. I've been walking a lot more since we arrived, which has been good for my heart and my body. I have been sleeping full nights' rest with no problems. (Since the time of my writing, I have been battling a stubborn cold)
...claire's responses:
Q: How is your spiritual health?
Spiritually, I am growing. I was greatly encouraged at CPI through the times of worship and learning. I have been encouraged by the faith and witness of the members of the Gakuentoshi church planting team. This along with the fellowship and support of the Kansai team.has been an answer to many prayers--God is such a faithful provider!
Q: How is your emotional health?
Emotionally, I am still running high on the excitement of being in Japan.
Q: How is your physical health?
Physically, I am growing in size! There's been so much good food everywhere and people have been so generous in taking us out to eat or cooking for us. This has been the first time in over 10 years that I've been without a car. Walking around a lot has been great.
...bobby's responses:
Q: How is your spiritual health?
By God's grace, I am growing. At the personal level, God has met me in fresh and faith-deepening ways as each morning I have been meditating on and memorizing Scripture. Seeing God through His truth has fueled my intercessory life. In particular, from the CPI conference and Akiro-sensei's moving example, God showed me the importance of repentance and confession, not only for myself, but also for Japan. To that end, several passages of Scripture have been powerful in my prayer life and thinking, e.g., Psalm 51, Daniel 9, and Isaiah 55. At a corporate level, God has surrounded me with many wonderful servants from the Gakuentoshi church family and the Asian Access Kansai team. Eric and Sue, especially, have been vital to our transition and spiritual balance. Also our brothers and sisters at Gakuentoshi Chapel have demonstrated the love and humility and peace of Christ in so many quiet yet noticeable ways. Their fingerprints are on us already! We've also received notes of encouragement and support from our home base in the states, including phone contact with our parents. Through such support, God reminds us that we are serving together with many in the states who love God and yearn for the gospel light to shine in Japan.
Q: How is your emotional health?
Emotionally, I am balanced but at times broken. Our transition could not have been smoother. We thank and praise God for the process of moving to Japan. Though tired at intervals, on no occasion did I feel emotionally "fried" or burned out. To the contrary, God has filled me with emotional strength at the right times and during the lulls, God seems to have deepened my emotional reserves. Yet I am broken emotionally. As I walk on the streets and stand in the subways, as I look at so many Japanese people and figure that with the reality that less than 1% of Japan is Christian, I feel genuinely heart-broken. Sometimes I pray. Other times I quietly sing a prayer to God so as to cover the strangers I see in prayer. I know that this may be expected with a newly arrived CPA. But, because I am well-tuned to my emotions and am not afraid to show them before God or others, I feel that this brokenness is part of a healthy way to grow emotionally in Christ.
Q: How is your physical health?
No major issues to talk about. I've been walking a lot more since we arrived, which has been good for my heart and my body. I have been sleeping full nights' rest with no problems. (Since the time of my writing, I have been battling a stubborn cold)
posted by B & C at
12:23 PM
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