Summer school and Vacation Bible School ended on August 17th, and since then we've been re-calibrating, gearing up for September. After a fun and successful summer school, one student has been enrolled in our Noah's Ark preschool full-time. This is the first student, and the breakthrough that we've been waiting for. Another from the same summer school wants to enroll part-time. Though the journey to making this a successful program to reach the community and support the church is a long road ahead, we are grateful and hopeful.

The last two weeks have been sort of easy going, as we prepared for the school year to start, and got some needed rest. Since I've been here in April, there have been three mid-term missionaries here, going to Japanese language school during the day, and helping the church when back. I've been rooming with one of them in a house that's about a two minute bike ride from church. At the end of September, the other two will go back as well. There are a lot of changes going on, hence the entry title. They've all been great companions, and really helpful to the church, but the A&O has everything worked out I know. Please pray for a great transition back for them, and that they hear The Spirit's voice every step of the way (Jinsoo, Sol me, Min Kyong)

I've been thankful that I've been able to be a regular in the sports circles that I've been frequenting. At the Christian high school, since I've been here, I've been able to connect with missionaries and outsiders that come to play basketball on Wed, not to mention get some exercise and have fun. But in the last month, I've been going to a soccer club as well. Waseda University is one of the most academically strong and famous schools in Japan. They not only have a varsity team, but a club team of outsiders comprised of working men that plays in a competitive league in Japan. By providence, two of the members, including the coach, are fluent in English! This is really rare to find. The coach was a pro abroad in many countries including Australia. Another lived in England, and one actually plays for Harvard right now! Praying for an opening, God gave me great opportunities to get to know them a bit during practice. Then, both of them saw a towel I brought in that says "Jesus loves you" from church, and asked me about it. I got to tell them both about the God that's pursuing them. One of them said to me, I think a lot of Japanese kids commit suicide because they don't have a faith. I got to tell him how God has made us with a need for Him, and we will be incomplete without Him, moving from one thing to another until we find our identity in Him. There was a day when a player had a shoulder injury, and I asked to pray for him. He said that it instantly became lighter. Then in my broken Japanese I tried to tell him this kind of thing as well, but I was saddened when he responded by asking, is the word "God" in English "Jesus"? Even though he lives in the developed world, he didn't know the first thing about Christianity.

God has put on my mind of late to be conscious that if anything is important, everything is important. I think it's important to prioritize, and situations and decisions have different value, but the implication that anything we do has importance, really means that nothing we do should be written off as otherwise in our minds. All people of the faith can conclude our relationship with God and others is very important. Even our bed times, the food we eat, the way we pray, and the words we speak are all things people can probably see as important to some degree, right? But what about your choice of toothpaste, whether you chose paper or plastic, whether you shampoo your hair or not today? I don't think the point shouldn't be to worry about these things, but to realize that even the smallest decisions we make can end up having big impacts on our lives, especially if they become habits. Paul Washer says, if you can stand before God, you can stand before any man. What you do in private where just God is watching is a true reflection of your faith. The other part is that sometimes things seem very insignificant, but end up having terrific value. If we take everything with that kind of sober-mindedness, hopefully we won't presumptuously act, and miss out on something God wants to do. What brought all this to my mind was having our first full time student in the preschool. It's easy to fall into a trap of thinking it's not significant, but if we do really well, that one student could by recommendation turn into many, which could mean a successful school that supports the Tokyo Vision Church, and ultimately lead to many people hearing the Gospel. The parable of the talents is also relevant. Also as John Paul Jackson says, where there is peace, purpose arises. And peace is found through listening to and trusting in God. I believe God has great plans for everyone at any given time, but how can He entrust them to us if our houses aren't in order? So my friends, let's be excellent in all that we do, not just with the obvious things, but in our entire walk.

Please pray:

-Outreach, all those I come into contact with

-Noah's Ark School, and Tokyo Vision Church to fulfill God's calling

-Mr. and Mrs. Kang who lead the Church. Mr. Kang is speaking in about a dozen US churches this month

-Good all around Spiritual health and discipline

-A phone from heaven, with signal better than AT&T's

Jesse

To be faithful with the small