Rambling

So these past three weeks have been pretty busy. But busy is good. I haven't had time to think about much else. We have been meeting new university students and making new friends. Of course this only makes me wonder more about all of the lost people in Japan. The more friends I make the more I long to see them come to Christ. Can you imagine your friends burning forever in Hell? Sometimes these are the nightmares that race through my mind. They don't even know what's in store for them after they die. A lot of people here are only concerned with what is happening in the moment and very few think too far ahead into the future. One of the questions that I like to ask them is what do they want to be doing in the next ten years. Of course this even gets me thinking.
The weather has been hot here. And getting hotter. When the volunteer team was here we went to many places that I had not visited yet. We climbed part way up a mountain too. That was really awesome. Sometime I'd like to get back there and finish climbing it.
I've been helping all of my friends study English. At this point I know that this is the main draw to any kind of friendship with me, but if I can use that to glorify God then I don't mind at all. All I can do is keep praying for them and hope that somehow their eyes are opened up to the truths of Christ and the need for grace.
Sometimes it's overwhelming looking at hundreds of people everyday that are going to go to hell. The amount of lostness is great. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few, and that is not any more apparent than here in Fukuoka.
I have surprised myself in the past few weeks with language. God has blessed me often with understanding and the right words in Japanese in a way that could only be from Him. For example I tried to explain the concept of House Church to a friend, and I basically was able to do it completely in broken Japanese. ha ha. It probably made no sense to him grammatically but he still understood what I was trying to tell him.
So this post is kind of just rambling. However I felt it was necessary to write something because it has been so long since my last post. My next one should be more clear. Thank you all for your prayers. It's been a hard weekend and a lot has been on my mind.

The right words

God knows how to put the words in my mouth, even when I don't know what to say! I have had some opportunities these past couple of weeks to share my testimony with some people and it was at these times that I worried most about how to verbalize my faith. But it was always after I was done witnessing to a friend here, that God reminded me that all I have to do is share what I know and He will do the rest. After I have done my part it is up to the Holy Spirit to work in the listeners heart. Only God can make a dead soul alive! Not me.
So this is one of the big encouragements to me. Not having to worry about my foolish words.
Please pray for the young man that I am spending time with now. He shows interest and understanding in the ideas of Jesus, but I am praying that he also sees the necessity of grace. We will call him Jim for the sake of a name.
I gave Jim one of the comic book Bibles last week which he read quickly. He told me that "some of the ideas are well thought out." Which I suppose means he has been thinking of them after the fact. This is encouraging for me to hear.
Thank you all for your prayers.
The weather has been a bit rainy here, but the locals say that it will only get rainier as the summer progresses. It's the wet season. Next week our team is going to be receiving some volunteers for the month. Two of the guys will be staying in my apartment with me. So that will be nice to have some company for June. We will be playing ultimate frisbee with students and trying to develop relationships with them that I will be able to continue even after the volunteer team leaves.
Pray for the team to be encouraged about missions while they stay here. Ask the Spirit to work in their hearts and break them for the Japanese people while they are here.