This is a thank you letter to my supporters...but I thought it does a good job of an overview of my trip to Japan. So here it is. Thanks babe for the idea!!!
Dear Friends and Family,
I wanted to start out by thanking you from the bottom of my heart. I have just returned from my amazing mission trip to Japan, and it was all made possible by your generous donations and God’s grace. I am so thankful for your support and I wanted to give you a brief overview of what I did while I was there and how I saw God moving. The team that I traveled with was Walking on Water’s Team, co-working with Christian Surfers Australia and Christian Surfers Japan; 12 people total. None of the teams had met before, but by the end of the trip we had an awesome team unity and great friendships based around God’s purpose. The first place that we traveled to was the city of Miyazaki. It was wonderful to see a different side of Japan than what I was expecting. It was so much different than Tokyo, much more rural and slow paced. The area was full of surfers and nice beaches, which our team definitely enjoyed. The next place we went to was the island of Tanegashima, which was even more untouched and remote feeling than the first area we went to. The primary jobs the natives had were fishing and farming. One cool thing about this island is that it is where the Japanese Space Program is stationed (so we were able to see the launch pads and such from a distance). It also feels like the North Shore of Hawaii. It is known as one of the best surf spots in Japan, which means there are always a ton of surfers flocking to the beaches. We used the super surf to our advantage and were able to interact with many more surfers than we had first expected. While I was in Japan, it was amazing to see how God used us. We gave out free DVDs and flyers for our upcoming movie nights using the few Japanese words we knew. It was difficult to try to talk with the individuals that we came in contact with, but through God’s mysterious ways we were able to connect with them all. Once we met with surfers and other beach goers we were able to hang out and build relationships. Through our surfing, hosting meals and other interactions we gained trust and familiarity with all of the people. As a result of our team cultivating friendships we were able to see over eighty individuals show up for each movie premier. The movie was entitled Noah’s Arc and it has a clear message of the gospel in Japanese. We were stoked at the turn out for both of these showings and really had God to thank. Through all of our efforts and outreaches, we were able to see three people come to Christ for the first time. Praise God, new brothers and sisters. While we were there we also ran two surf camps and were able to teach lessons one-on-one to people that had never even been in the water or had the chance to try surfing before. Again, I want to thank you for all of your support and prayers. While I was in Japan, God really showed me how to trust in His plan. Because of the language barrier, I was forced to have confidence that God would move through me. Back in the States I think I rely more on myself, but through this trip it has shown me that I really need to put my faith wholeheartedly in Him and His plan for my life. This was such an amazing opportunity to see God working in a culture outside of my own and I look forward to future adventures.
