Christopher's Blog

I have so many unaswered questions and there is so much I don't understand yet. Today is one of those days that the best thing I could probably do is just sit around my house and think about things.

This week I have been thinking a lot about righteousness. I've been asking myself if I have been growing in the righteousness of Christ each day. Each day I have many things to keep me occupied but is what I am doing glorifying God? It is because I have realized how many opportunities there is to share the love of God with the people around me that I have been really wanting to deepen my relationship with God. I know that God wants to use me but because I have been so distracted, my relationship with Him has suffered. God has really been working in my life and I am very excited about it.

On Sabbath morning I woke up and was supprised to see about 4 inches of snow on the ground. On Sabbath afternoon six of the young adults from my church played with the young kids in the snow for a few hours. After that we went to Sue's house for dinner. She is Korean and cooked some very good and spicy Korean dishes. Living in Japan is a very intercultural experience.

When I first came to Japan I was wondering if I would be able to learn the language. I knew that because I was 23 when I started to study it would make it difficult so I hesitated because I wasn't sure if I could really learn it but now I realize that age doesn't really matter but determination and hard work ?There is something very rewarding about learning a language so different from English and being able to communicate with people of a culture so different than our own. I am glad I took the challenge and kept with it. Often I see people come to Japan with hopes to learn Japanese but when they realize how much time and work it takes to actually learn they give up or settle with learning just the basics. I've had to make it a high priority because it is too easy to surround myself with only people who speak English. For a long time I was unable to spend very much time with people who didn't speak English but now as I am able to coverse a little more in Japanese it is easier to spend an entire day with someone who barely speaks English. It is also very rewarding to be able to read certain things. Of course, because there are thousands of characters, I am not able to read everything, but I am able to recognize more and more as time goes on. My absolute goal is 4000 characters and about 12,000 words. That is not fluent but well sufficient to communicate just about anything. Right now I am a long way from there, maybe one tenth or so unless I count each different word for as a separate word then I know about 5 times as many words. I would like to be 10 times better than I am now. I hope to continue to work hard at learning even though I still have a full time job and am taking quite a few college classes. It's all about time management. One of my prayers is for God to help me manage my time and money wisely. I'm not sure what I want to do with Japanese, maybe nothing, but there is the possibility of being a missionary here. There is a great work to be done here, especially if people would learn the language. I wish more people were willing to come here to Japan and reach out to people where they are. The English schools are great and have brought so many people to Jesus but there are so many more people who know absolutely nothing about Christianity. Yea sure this is a rich country and many hearts are hardened by wealth and fashion but so many people here are really interested in Western culture and people which is an opportunity in itself. Not only that, there just are not even close to enough spiritual leaders for the Seventh-day Adventist Christians that are currently here. There is a huge need here and I wish more people would do something about it.

I am so glad that my internet is finally working. It was frustrating for me because I didn't have internet until today since I returned to Japan last Wednesday. I use Skype to call people so I had no way of calling friends or family outside of Japan. But everything is good now.

It has been difficult for me to come back to Japan because I want so bad to be closer to certain friends and family. There are good things about being back in Japan like running and praying with Alastair and 5:00 a.m., the two new faces in my Thursday evening English/Japanese Bible study on Daniel, the Tuesday night doctrine study I am starting with Brandon, my Cub Scout den on Wednesdays, going to Japanese class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, YEC prayer meeting on Wednesdays and church on Sabbaths, exciting church board meetings, the food, and of course spending time with the friends I have here whenever there is time. It was nice to come back and be told that I was really missed. One thing I don't miss is the lack of free time though.

I want to ask anybody reading this to please pray for the Gospel to be spread in Japan and especially that God uses us at YEC to bring people into the truth of God's love and hope in His promises found in the Bible prophecies and promises

I'm on the plane again. This time on my way from Chicago to Portland. I had a really great time with Raewyn and her family in Berrien Springs. Today we went to The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago before they dropped me off at the airport. Yesterday we went to Pioneer Memorial Church and listened to Dwight Nelson speak. After church I tested out pastor Dwight's Japanese and he remembers quite a bit. After church we went on a walk throught the woods by the dairy farm then in the evening we went out for pizza then roasted marshmellows over a fire. On Friday I slept in. When I woke up Deirdre and I went to Raewyns new house to meet up with her. When we got there they were already finished unloading so Raewyn took me to the seminary to show me where she will be studying for the next couple years. In the afternoon we went to a beach, the dunes, and a peer at Lake Michigan. On Thursday Raewyn and I went to see her cousin in Portland then rushed off to the airport to catch our flight. On Wednesday we had a relaxing day. All we did was go out to eat, go bowling, and play games. On Monday and Tuesday we went snowboarding at Mt. Batchelor. On Monday there was 11 of us (Scott, April, Shannon, Paula, Keola, Brandon, Anna, Jeffrey, dad, Raewyn, and me) and on Tuesday there were 9 of us because Shannon and Paula left. The funnest day of my entire week was Monday teaching Raewyn how to snowboard. Monday night we stayed up very late playing games and relaxing in the hot tub. Raewyn and I got out of the hot tub a couple times to lay in the snow. We also put enough snow in the hot tub to drop the temperature from 102 to 90 degrees. On Tuesday I landed a backside 360 and did 2 backflips. Sunday was Karen's wedding which is the whole reason why I came to the U.S. in the first place. She had a beautiful, large wedding. She was obviously very excited to get married because she cried all the way up the aisle. Sabbath is when I arrived from Japan. I was so tired but had a good time seeing my family. We went to church in the morning and played games in the evening. I also had an unforgetable talk with Anna on Saturday night about missions, God, and a whole lot more.

So that was my week. I was so happy to be able to spend time with my family and Raewyn. I wish so much that I could spend more time with Raewyn on this trip because I don't know the next time we can see each other. Right now it looks like possible 8 months or more before I see Raewyn again and probably longer than that before I see my family again unless something happens and plans change. I am so glad for everything that happened this week. It was the best way I could have started out the new year. I'm not sure what will happen in 2006 but I know that the first week couldn't have been any better.

I'm now sitting here on the plane going to Portland to see my family. All week long I have been excited to see so many people that I haven't seen in a long time. My cousin Karen is getting married tomorrow which is the main purpose of my trip. I'm also very much looking foward to spending time with my brothers, parents, cousins, and Raewyn. I'm also really looking foward to going snowboarding at Mt. Batchelor which is my favorite mountain in the world. It is where I had a seasons pass for a few years.

It's interesting to me that I left Japan at 3:15 pm on Sabbath afternoon and I will land in Portland at 7:10 am on Sabbath morning. That means Sabbath will be about 41 hours long for me. It also means I will live December 31st from 7:10 am until 3:15 pm twice.

Here is what happened this week. Yesterday I spent the morning at home packing and cleaning my house then in the afternoon I picked up Calene and took her to Atsugi base so she could go shopping. I had some things I needed to do there anyway so it was convenient. When we were there we met Brandon (RP3 Cleveland) and he and Calene came over to my house to meet my neighbor Chie and have pizza together. We had a fun time talking and watching Christian music videos together.

On Thursday of this week I met up with some old friends, Makiko and Naoki, from Tokyo that I haven't seen since about April. We went to Odaiba which I think is very high tech and modern and looks futuristic. We went to the Sony Science Museum which was fascinating. They had displays of light and illusions and many fun little activities and games for children and adults. We went to a couple great Japanese resturants. One of them we sat on the floor and ate soba and the other we had okonomiyaki cooked right at our table.

On Monday, the day after Christmas, I met up with Brandon and Sue and went to Disney Sea. When we got there we met up with Lisa and five of her friends and her sister. We had a great time riding the rides and spending all our money on food. It was definately worth the time and money.