...and then there were Teams!

It has been one awesome week...

Last Thursday and Friday, I spent time on campus - prayer walking and handing out flyers for Bible study. We also had XHOP on Thursday evening. It was so good, just a really powerful time of prayer for Tokyo and for the church in Japan and, of course, some worship time! I really needed that time on Thursday too - it was the first day I got a little overwhelmed. I was on campus by myself that day because Robert was meeting with a student at Waseda and I got a little turned around on the back side of campus while prayer walking...it was hot...I think I was getting a little dehyrdated...

Needless to say, it wasn't the best of days - BUT, God is forever teaching us something new. I think a lot of what I'm experiencing this summer is just a taste of what it must feel like to be an international student. You are alone, you don't know the language very well and you probably aren't confident in what you do know, you are lost in a crowd of people too busy to notice you. The food is different, the money system, the way people treat each other. I, however, know when I'm going home. I live with an American. I can speak English in Tokyo, but how many people know Japanese in Oklahoma? I have a renewed passion for teaching, assisting, and befriending internationals! I can sit on campus at Todai or Waseda, and I know I'm not alone because I have Christ. I have my hope, my joy, my protection in Him, and still I am overcome sometimes by my human need to be noticed. I can't imagine how hard it must be without the security of His love.

Saturday Susan, Robert and I met the Central Washington team in Komagome. We had dinner together. They were so nice! They will be working with a church here in Tokyo and doing campus ministry as well. Very busy schedule for them, but I know they will enjoy it and God will bless them and the people they minister to while they are in Japan!

Sunday was Father's Day, as you know! It was a little sad for me, being away from home and missing my dad. I sent him an e-card and talked to him a little on the internet though! I really loved the church service at Tokyo Urban Church. They played a game, then gave the fathers a gift to just honor them and thank them for being amazing fathers and spiritual fathers! Also, all the girls were back from Singapore so I was in my cell group with them and the boys and girls cell group ate lunch together. We played some games. I have really been blessed with my Japanese church family, they are so much fun and they are so in love with Jesus! It is so refreshing when I'm there with them, because they have a lot of young people in their church and it is just this image to me of what Japan on fire would look like - the young people leading their families to Christ, becoming worship leaders, teachers and pastors. They are such a blessing to me!

Monday - ohhh Monday! Busy day, but it was so good! The Hawaii team came in, we met them at the station and took them to the student center. After they left to do some sight-seeing, Robert, Susan and I cleaned up the student center - which I am forever calling "the storefront" because of my NSU Chi Alpha building! I felt a little bit more in my element, preparation. Prepping the building, the futons, going over our schedule...felt good to be doing stuff like that. We had a XA service that night when the team got back. Susan and Robert led worship and then the Hawaii team played Hawaiian songs and did some hula before Pastor Andrew spoke. There were quite a few students there, so it was really good and we all had a really good time fellowshipping with one another.

The next day, we all met up at Todai (Yuki-san and Keiko-san came too, two amazing ladies who come to our XHOP prayer meetings) and the Hawaii team led the Bible study. We had two new members, both with ties to Hawaii - so that was definitely a God thing! Afterwards, we ate lunch then headed to Nakano to do some shopping with the team...which is where this really crazy thing happened...we were all crossing the street to get to Nakano Broadway to shop and there is this guy on the corner handing out advertisements/tissues. He looked so familiar but the person I thought he looked like wasn't from Tokyo, so I just kept walking. As I passed by, I glanced back just to check one more time and the guy smiled. It was him! It was Masayuki - a friend of mine from college back in Tahlequah. We were both really surprised to see each other. Definitely one of the highlights of this week!

That night, Yuki-san and Keiko-san invited me to YWAM(Youth With a Mission) meeting at the Ochanomizu Christian Center. I bought my first Japanese bible there at their bookstore and the guy who led worship was from ORU! I'm amazed at the people God has been placing in my path along the way here in Tokyo.

Today, we were at Waseda University. Ate lunch, passed out flyers. I met this awesome girl Mari who heard about Jesus in Germany and is now reaching out to students at Waseda. She hosts Bible studies in her apartment near the campus. Robert taught Bible study, we had some awesome discussion. Pray that God opens up doors for us there at Waseda. It's difficult to get students to come to the evening Bible study because it's a commuter campus, but nothing is impossible for Him! I'm going back to Waseda tomorrow, meeting a friend from NSU and hopefully some new people so -- be praying for me, that I have boldness and divine appointments!

Thank you so much for your prayers and your support, as always. Feel free to e-mail me, fosburg@nsuok.edu!

So...

...some things about Tokyo:

1. Convenient stores are truly convenient. Not only are they conveniently placed just about everywhere, Quicktrip's got nothing on the food selection. So - find a meal that looks especially oishii, grab a bottled tea/juice/coffee/water and get to the counter where they will be more than happy to microwave that bad boy for you to enjoy elsewhere. Oh, and there is a copy machine. AND you can pay your bills there? Yeah. I know what you are thinking..."That is so convenient!" So, thanks to the 7-11 near the apartment, I have near unlimited access to curry rice.

2. You might be wondering, "Is there anything in Tokyo that strikes fear into Amanda's heart like never before?" The answer is yes, and the fear is getting ran over by a bicycle. There are SO many bicycles here. They are everywhere. I have yet to see a real parking lot for cars...I have seen plenty of bike parking lots though. I guess cars are generally parked in tall parking buildings - but still...the car/bike ratio is pretty extreme. I do have to give it to the Japanese though, they are talented bicyclists. I wouldn't make it on a bike here, for sure.

3. Most wards require their citizens to divide up their trash to be recycled. It's actually really cool. There is some satisfaction in knowing you are keeping your environment just a little bit cleaner by properly disposing your plastics. Also, people don't walk and eat - so there are few trash cans to be found along the sidewalks. Sometimes it's a little strange trying to find one...and then you also have to make sure it's the right one.

4. Sometimes the train is so busy and so full in the morning, guys with white gloves have to push the people inside so the doors will close. True story. I've seen them.

5. Everything is pretty kawaii. Cuteness is a big deal here.

6. There cafeteria food is pretty good, unlike the food at NSU - which is ridiculously sad in comparison.

7. 100 Yen shops (aka, the Japanese dollar store) actually have really awesome stuff, not the junk we have at some of our dollar stores...

8. Going to the movies? Approx. $18 for a ticket in Shinjuku, but you can bring in all the food and drink you can carry!

9. The freshest sushi is considered the best sushi around here. Sometimes that means it's still moving...

10. Japan is pretty awesome in general. I suggest a visit.


It's been a pretty awesome week so far! That last post was something I wrote at XHOP last Saturday night. XHOP stands for Chi Alpha(XA) House of Prayer. It's held at the student center every other Saturday night and every Thursday night. It was a really powerful time of prayer and worship. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's XHOP!

Sunday, Susan preached at our church about God's love and loving others in Japanese. I really love Tokyo Urban Church. The people are so nice there. The prayer time is intense - these people know how to pray! It's fun, and I'm actually picking up on hiragana better trying to read the worship slides. Slowly, but surely...

Hiromi, my roommate from NSU, met up with me at Itabashi station on Monday morning! It was so exciting to see her get off the train and I'm sure people thought we were crazy because we ran to each other on the train platform. I've missed her, and it was good to see a familiar face. She took me to Harajuku - a famous shopping district in Tokyo. We went to Takeshita street, which is so busy but has some of the coolest shops. That's also where we took "purikura" - ex. the picture above! It was so much fun. I ate sushi for the first time. I ate shrimp for the first time. I had a Coffee Jelly Frappuccino at Starbucks. We also strolled down the most expensive shopping street in Tokyo - Omotesando Hills - though you can find designer labels at most of the plazas in Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Harajuku. Fashion is really important to young Tokyo. Materialism is probably worse here than in America. Anyways, we hung out in Harajuku and Ikebukuro all day, ate some sweets, took some pictures and made plans to do it again soon!

Tuesday, we went to Todai and had LOGOS Bible study. It was really good, they are covering the Purpose Driven Life right now. After study, we went to lunch and met up with Shawn - a Chinese student we've been having really good conversations about God with. He's really nice and he and Robert are getting to be pretty good friends! We are also waiting on sight-seeing plans with a student we met last week, Yuta. He's offered to take us around a few places, I can't wait! I'm going to Todai tomorrow, so please pray that I have some divine appointments and that God gives me wisdom as I meet new people!

After Bible study on Tuesday, I went to Shinjuku by myself for the first time and didn't get lost - so that was exciting! I went to the big bookstore where they sell English books. Yay! I always feel better around books and coffee. Oh, there are so many coffeeshops here. It makes me very happy!

Today, we spent the day in Waseda. We were able to meet up with the CCC(Campus Crusade for Christ) team in one of the lounges. They are doing some good work there at Waseda. I talked to some of their team and met a few Waseda students. I had a really good conversation with this girl Mayumi. She's traveling to the States in a few months for vacation. She loves Audrey Hepburn! I also met a cool guy, Tadakazu. Hopefully we'll get to hang out again on Friday afternoon when I go back there. Robert, the other XA intern, had this amazing divine appointment happen with some guys! So, definitely pray for us that more connections are made with students and that God opens doors and hearts to share His love! Oh yeah, and I led Bible study at WEBs tonight. It was...okay. I hope what was in my heart actually got out. We had a new student, a Japanese friend of Praise's(S. Korean from London who is also here for missions) from London was there. It was hard for me to concentrate on talking slowly because I was a little nervous I think. I'm generally better at it, but by God's grace hopefully someone heard something they needed - whether today or in the future.

It's after midnight, so I should probably head to bed. Thanks for your support, your prayers and for reading this. Leave comments or send me some e-mail to let me know how things are going at home!

Tokyo Morning.

Sunlight breaks through half-drawn curtains
Your whispers echo in my heart
"Come, come and see..."

The street is alive
Bicycles line sidewalks
Children hang onto their mother's arms

I just want to hang onto You
As You roam these narrow alleys
Pausing in low, shaded doorways

Your fingerprints are there -

On faces that don't recognize You
Don't they feel You, Father?
Can't they sense Your love?

Your pain carries this train
You reach out your hands
Wanting to touch, to know, to love

But You meet empty eyes
And hearts that don't understand You
Though You speak their language

You know the land these tracks roll over
Nothing is foreign to You
And You are not afraid

So I cling to You
As crowds empty out onto the platform
Only to meet another rushing in

Your eyes scan faces -
Knowing every smile and every tear
That has ever been worn

You take my hand -
You hold my heart
I feel Your pain and the separation

Another station, another street
The people come and go
And somehow don't know

You are here, You are here.

-af. xhop june 13

Smile Everyday.

Sometimes two trains will run right alongside one another. When they are parallel, you can't see anything in the train, it's going by so fast - but then the tracks split and one train begins to pull away. I like to scan the faces of those in that train pulling away - it is rare to see a smile. It is the same most places in the world, you catch people in that moment alone and there is just an emptiness in their eyes. Routine living can drain a person's joy, and it must be hard not to slip into a routine here in the city.

This week we started campus ministry at Todai and Waseda. Tuesday we had LOGOS Bible study at the University of Tokyo. The campus is really pretty and very old. There is a lot of gothic architecture and massive trees. I love it. Anyways, day one at Todai we went to LOGOS first. They are studying the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. It's cool, because the room where we meet is just partitioned off from an area where people sit and eat or study, so everything we say or sing can be heard on the other side of that partition - who knows what a person outside might catch? I pray it draws some of them in. After LOGOS, we ate lunch downstairs. We got to eat with a Chinese student from the Bible study Zhe Ye. He was really cool, and we had a pretty awesome conversation at lunch. Todai is mostly made up of third and fourth year students and graduate students, so these students are a little more serious about school and are looking for jobs already. It's vastly different from Waseda, but we'll get to that in a minute. After lunch, we prayer walked for awhile and looked around the campus. Todai has a Starbucks...so that was good news! Robert came back to Kita with me and Susan after we left Todai then we all ate dinner at McDonald's! Shrimp burger, anyone?

Wednesday, we went to Waseda and ate lunch at the cafeteria. After that, we did a little campus tour and did some praying. Waseda is a liberal arts school, so the atmosphere is totally different. Todai is beautiful, but if I lived here - Waseda would be where I wanted to be. It's just fun. We watched some hip hop dancers on one side of the campus, were mistaken for international dancers (yeah...I don't know how that French guy came to that conclusion...) on the other side of campus, and found a lot of really cool places to hang out and meet people. WEBs Bible study was at 6, so we met our British accented Korean friend Praise and then headed to the meeting area. Robert and I shared our testimonies, then Praise and Aiyumi also shared - it was so good just discussing how good and powerful God has been in our lives and how He saved us from the path we were on. It's hard to imagine who I could have been...what if I wasn't in Japan right now? Crazy. God is so good. After WEBs, it was definitely dinner time. We went to Seven Blessing Ramen Shop and ate real ramen and some amazing gyoza. It was a lot of fun, and we are pretty sure a famous baseball player was sitting at the table behind us! Oh, Tokyo. Oh and I ate some kind of squid snack at Bible study...it was interesting...kinda sour?! Hmm...

Robert and I went back to Todai on Thursday. My first time solo on the train! Woohoo! I actually really like the trains, even though they are often crowded and the stations are confusing - it's like a small victory every time I remember where I'm going. So, we made it there - no problems. We ate lunch with this awesome guy Yuta who offered to take us sightseeing when he gets a chance. Pretty cool. We prayer walked after lunch, I got some coffee and Robert met some people at Starbucks then we just hung out in the park for a bit. It was there that we met these really cool guys who were studying English. They really enjoyed my Japanese phrasebook and we all took pictures together and hopefully they'll come to the LOGOS party at the end of the month!

Today was my day off, so I stayed around the apartment this morning then I went to get some lunch and explore a bit. I found a really awesome street past the station that had some cool stores and places to eat. I had fun looking around there - sampled some green tea, bought some bread and a C.C. Lemon drink. Shortly after I got back, I left with Debbie to go look at some curtains in this other shopping place. We took the subway to the next station and met some of her friends, Chisako and her son Yuta! He is such an adorable little boy. Anyways, there were so many amazing stores down the street she took us to. I wanted to look everywhere! Debbie found some curtains she liked and I went to my first 100 Yen shop. It's like a dollar store, only waaaay better. It was a really good afternoon.

I changed and stuff when we got back for my big night out in Shinjuku with Susan, Yuri, Praise and Hikari! That place is huge and there are all these designer stores and nice restaurants. It's very big and very bright and very busy. It was pretty exciting. We went to movies, which in Japan cost approx. an arm and a leg. Ok, just $18. Luckily I paid student price which was only $15 - but it's pretty cool because you can bring any kind of food you want in there and they don't care. It's really nice, too. Hikari says we went to the best theater in Japan. I believe it, it was pretty cool. So, we watched Star Trek and it was awesome.

I survived Shinjuku station at 11 pm, so I'll make it to XHOP prayer at the student center tomorrow evening. I have a lot to pray about. As exciting as Shinjuku is, there were a lot of things there that broke my heart. Like any big city, there are the vices that come with big city life. Addiction - drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography. Here, it's not as hidden as it is in the smaller areas of the city. Full blown nudity in advertisements, you can smell alcohol everywhere, the pachinko slot machines are loud and people are waiting outside to get in. Most people are just looking for escape. When will people realize that real joy can't be bought with money?

It's about 1 a.m. Tokyo time and I'm exhausted from all that running around I did today! It's so much fun though, and I'm learning and experiencing so much. Keep praying for the team and for Chi Alpha in Japan - thank you!

Oyasumi-nasai!