Isaiah

I'm sorry I haven't been updating y'all, I was kinda just waiting for something to post about. The rest of the team got here a couple days ago. I don't think I've ever been more excited to see people. It was so great to see people who I had already met and new friends that I hadn't. After only a couple of days, I can say that I love this team so much. God has done a great work in bringing people together from all over the country and different walks of life to serve Him together this summer. I got to experience the most amazing community with the team from last summer, and it has been weird not seeing them here with us, but I am excited to see how God unites us this summer for His glory. Everything is different from last year: new team, different missionary, different ministry plan, and I can just feel that something glorious is going to happen this summer here in Tokyo. We may not fully see the results for years, but I am confident that God is going to stinking rock Tokyo and Japan this summer.

Yesterday my area team and I went to our park to prayer walk and just kinda scope it out. Our park is huge and has a lot of great things for park ministry days. The most interesting thing is the shrine to one of the gods of fortunes. I had been praying earlier that I just wasn't feeling the darkness like I had last year. I didn't want to be hardened to it, I wanted to remember how important the gospel is and feel the urgency to share it. So God told me to go to the shrine and pray. The darkness hit me immediately. I quickly flipped to Isaiah and started praying through chapters 64 and 65. I had forgotten how relevant Isaiah is to Japan. I was shaken up a little bit. I was definitely reminded. I read Isaiah 45-47 this morning, and just got so much out of it. It was one of the best quiet times I've had in a while, thank You Jesus. God reminded me that He will tear down the exalted places, but He does things in His timing. And His timing is perfect. The end of 47:11 says: "...I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have a purpose, and I will do it." Our God is so big and mighty and completely sovereign. He will make Himself famous in Japan and all over the world. But He knows what the right timing is, and it's not mine. If it were up to me, all the temples just all fell down and everyone would turn to Jesus and there would be mass revival all over Japan that would spread all over the world. But I am finite and know nothing of the grand plan the Master Planner has for His creation. I just have to trust, pray, and be obedient.

Please pray that our team would continue to mesh well and just become a family. Some our us are sick, please pray for total and complete healing in every way.

Please pray that I would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and God's ancient work all around me, and that I would be patient. One of my friends who I went to Germany with in 2007 gave the best definition of patience I have ever heard: "Patience is not just waiting for your turn, it's being ok if you never get one." My job here is to do what I can to help the interns shine as bright as they can for the Lord. We went and did 5 minute English the other day and everyone got to talk to someone but me. That might be a theme for the summer, sitting back and praying for my friends as God uses them to share His story with people. Part of me thinks this in unfair because last summer I didn't really get to have a contact or a Bible study, I should get to have one this summer right? So very wrong. I am not God, He does what He pleases. He accomplishes His purposes in His time. There is no I or Kelley in God or Jesus. I don't really fit in the story, He chooses to use this broken, selfish vassal for His glory, even though I stumble all over myself and trample dirt on His name almost by the minute. That is a little bit of where I am. I am nothing. He is everything. I don't want my nothingness to get in the way of everything He wants to do.

Please pray for volunteer teams as they are gearing up to get here. I am not really sure how many we are going to have, but in the next two week we are going to have three. Pray things will go well, they will be ready to hit the ground running, and that all the interns will know what they are doing haha.

I love y'all. Sorry this is long. I will try to keep y'all more updated to prevent super long blogs in the future. :)

Passion World Tour

Last night one of my teammates and I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Passion Conference World Tour stop here in Tokyo. I already know that will be a highlight of my entire summer. Chris Tomlin led worship and Louie Giglio spoke. That in and of itself is a great way to kick off a summer long mission trip. The greatest part is that we were two of about 2,500. Most of the people around us were Japanese. Every song they played had both the English and Japanese words on the screen. Thousands of people were jumping and raising their hands for the Lord. In a city with a small Christian population, words cannot describe how wonderful it was to see and be a part of that. It reminded us that our God is greater, stronger, and higher than any other. He is awesome in power and Tokyo is His city. Louie presented the gospel so beautifully through a translator. It was exactly what I needed to hear to remind me why I am here, why we share the greatest story ever. God refreshed me, He gave me what I needed to speak to people this summer. At several point in the song portion, Chris would start singing in Japanese. The most powerful was in the chorus of "How He Loves". I wanted to cry it was so beautiful to hear my Japanese brothers and sisters singing of our great Savior's love in their heart language. It is not something that I will forget ever.

Tonight we got to join all the Baptist churches in the Tokyo area for a monthly prayer meeting and for a share time from one of the IMB missionaries. We sang Japanese hymns, listened to a Japanese pastor preach out of Act (all in Japanese of course), and got to be there as the missionary shared the vision for the summer. I think one of the most exciting changes for this summer is that we will be doing a lot more work with established Baptist churches here in Tokyo. I am so excited to see how God is going to use and bless this partnership. I am thinking Father is fixing to explode all over Tokyo and Japan.

I have spent more time with Japanese Christians in the past two days than I got to all summer long last year. My heart is so encouraged to know that this isn't a lost cause. God's ancient work in this city runs deep. I don't know why He chose me, but I am so thankful and humbled that God is letting me be here to see His power and might.

Please be praying for the Japanese church, that it would rise up and God would grow it like crazy.

Please pray for the interns that will be flying here this week from the States.

Please pray against satan's attacks on this summer. I know it will be a lot because I can already see God doing so much. This is not satan's country or people, everything is God's.

Thank you for your prayers! They go farther than you think!

And so it begins...

Well folks, I am writing this from our apartment (the Cave) in Tokyo! It has been a very surreal, roller coaster day. I was able to get where I needed to be on time and never got lost, thanks to God and your prayers. I got to spend some good time with Father on the plane, as well as really get into Through the Gates of Splendor by Elizabeth Elliot. The two combined to be stronger than satan's attempts to get me off track and discouraged. I am excited to be here, but it is so sad being the only person in a room with 12 beds in it. One of the Journeymen told me to enjoy it because the Cave will never be this quiet again, which is very true. I am excited to see what this summer has for our team and the city of Tokyo. God is going to do something big y'all, just keep praying for it. Thank you for your prayers that got me here safely and on time. Thank you for your prayers and your encouragements whenever I need them. This is an invaluable network that I know God is really going to use this summer to make Him name famous in Japan and beyond. Thanks again. Love y'all!

Well folks, May 18th is upon us. I've said most of my goodbyes. I'm mostly packed. But the closer I get to finally boarding the plane, the more unprepared I feel. Part of me wishes I was doing something easy this summer, as selfish as that sounds. I am tired and weary. I can't do this. I feel like I have just wasted my few days at home, I don't really even think I can tell you what I did in them. I would like to think that part of this is humility, but I think it's mostly just my sin nature peeking through. I know I have been called. I know I have been equipped. I know I have the Holy Spirit of the Living God dwelling inside me. And I know that is more than enough. I just want a break. This summer is going to be hard.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, I feel like Paul describes a moment like this. Paul says that even though he has begged and pleaded with God to take this thorn from his side, it remains there. But instead of leaving it at that, Jesus said "My grace is sufficient for you, My power is made perfect it weakness." I feel like God has really pressed this upon my heart recently, which probably means it is going to be a summer of learning what it means to let His power shine through. Which is kind of perfect, because I can think of nothing more that I need. Way more of Him, absolutely none of me.

Brothers and sisters, please pray for me. Please pray for a restful peace to come over me with all of this in my remaining hours in America. Please pray that I would cling to His Word and seek it daily more than food or water. Please pray that I will do what I need to do and be who I need to be to accomplish this task for our Lord. Please pray for my teammates as they are undoubtedly facing some of the same feelings. I am being prepared for an absolute battle this summer. Please pray for strength, humility, harmony, sympathy, and mercy for me and my teammates this summer.

I love y'all very much, and just know that it is by your prayers I am here, I am going, and I will be able to do anything worth anything for God this summer.

Red Eyes.

I'm sorry it's been so long since I have updated y'all on anything. It's been pretty crazy as this school year comes to a close. I will go ahead and share the prayer requests first because they are the most important.

A few of my teammates are still struggling with funds, as far as I know. We leave very soon. Please pray that God would provide peace and money to them all as they wait.

Pray for the team. Pray that God would be able to finish what He wants to have completed in us all before we leave the country. Pray for a spirit of unity and love for us all this summer.

Pray for the missionaries that are busy getting everything worked out for all the interns and volunteers coming this summer.

Here is a selfish one: I have to fly to Japan by myself. As much as I've flown, I have never flown alone before. And I have a layover on the West coast before I can get on the plane for Tokyo. I know God has everything under control and I have nothing to fear, but I am still nervous about a long day of traveling alone. Mostly switching from the domestic terminal to the international one, getting lost, and missing my flight or luggage. I know these are stupid, petty worries. I know that worry is sin. Please pray that God would give me peace about it all, and that I would stop sinning with my worry.

As some of y'all may know, my Grandpa (Dad's dad) passed away on Sunday. Today was his funeral. He had been sick for a long time, and was a believer so his passing has been bittersweet for my family. Alzheimer's robbed my sister and I the chance of really getting to know him, so I knew it wasn't quite as hard for me as it was for my dad, aunts, and older cousins, but it still hit me harder than I thought it would. My Grandpa was an amazing man of God. My oldest cousin did the funeral this morning and it was full of stories about how much my Grandpa did for Hope Baptist church, our family, and the Lord. I realized today just how rich of a Christian heritage I come from. When I was younger and lived in a mostly Hispanic town, I was frustrated with the fact that I didn't really have much of an ethnic heritage to claim like most of my friends did. I now see how foolish I was. My heritage is eternal. As Christians, our citizenship lies in Heaven, not on earth. How wonderful is it that God has given me a family where I can really start to understand that. I have no idea why Father has richly blessed me like He as, but I am incredibly and eternally thankful. He gave me two wonderful, Godly grandfathers who truly value His Word. He gave me two precious, Godly grandmothers who love me deeply with a love more than their own. He gave me the best parents that I could even imagine to ask for. I know that to whom much is given much is expected.

I know that this summer, much is expect of me. As much as I feel prepared, or at least as much as I can be before I go, satan has been creeping in with a fear that I will fail, that I will not love the interns as I should, that I will be selfish and silly, that I will be as bold as I have been called to be. I am 13 days away from getting on a plane and I feel less prepared than I did at the beginning of this semester. I have let fear creep in. I hate satan so stinking much! I know that I have everything I need, I have God. I cannot ask for anything more. I have the Holy Spirit working and moving inside of me. I need nothing else. God is working, Jesus is seated, and the Spirit is helping. Brad said that at our JSI Leadership retreat, and Father can never remind me of that enough.

Today was hard. But God is so faithful and sovereign. I got back from Hope and pretty much came straight to the library to study because I have two finals on Friday (Oh yeah, if you could pray for finals that would be awesome). I hadn't been able to really do my quiet time this morning so I sat down and did that first, I could feel it in my soul that I needed that most. If I had read this morning, I don't know if it would have meant as much. My soul was crying out for its food for the day, and Father brought a feast. The reading plan I am on had 2 Corinthians listed to read. Friends, I have not felt this renewed and joyful in a long time. My outer self was wasting away, but my spirit was strengthened. The ministry that God has called me to this summer is His, not mine. The interns I am called to shepherd are His, I am still a simple little sheep myself. I have been reminded of the freedom of serving in any kind of leadership position doesn't mean that I have to do more, but so much less in order to let Him receive more and more glory, that is rightfully His anyway. Praise God for His Word, the gift of the Holy Spirit to understand it, and the sacrifice of His Son for our sins to bring us the salvation that must come first.

"So we do not lost heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not at the things that are seen but to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18