I'm in Japan! I'm on Campus Crusade for Christ's Tokyo team for the summer. We will be spending our time bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to students on the various universities in West Tokyo!
After an intense time of support raising, our team raised enough support for the deadline. With less than a week before we boarded the plane to Japan - that being the deadline - our team was $19,000 short of what was needed. Within 3 days we saw that go down to nearly $1,000. Also, one of our teammates left his passport before meeting up with the other 16 of our team in LA, where we flew out. The morning of the flight, he received it in the mail. Praise God for his works!
Our team met on the campus of Vanguard University of South California for 3 days of briefing for the project. Besides our team, there was a team going to the Dominican Republic and one going to East Asia. The university was very accommodating for the event, and each team met for the first time and got to know more about their mission trip. Some highlights from briefing include the support raising and Jack's passport being found on time, learning about Japanese culture (and trying some interesting snacks, like fish jerky) and singing worship songs with a bunch of people i have never met before yet felt close to in regards to our purpose for being in the same place.
The 12 hour flight was alright. My normal motion sickness didn't get to me, and it wasn't exactly suffering watching movies and eating Japanese cuisine the whole time. It's also pretty sweet being in the future (well, compared to Michigan). The flight attendants were very kind and patient with my lack of Japanese language skills. The first thing i noticed, though, was that they were wearing surgical masks. I didn't completely know how hard the swine flu has hit Japan.
Peace,
Joe
