7.25.07 - summer

well, looks like the tsuyu season is coming to a close. thank goodness. water is great and all, but thunderstorms combined with 80 degree weather just isn't my cup o' tea. especially since i have to walk everywhere. summer brings hot, muggy weather. oh, and of course, we still have typhoon season to look forward to. but, since it's summer, we might as well take advantage of the weather by bbq'ing! so, sat, we had a bbq for the extreme ministry. q'ed up a bunch of meat, and had a good time of fellowship and worship.

sun, lead worship at newhope with the teen's blaze band. it was kind of bitter-sweet though. nyika and lauren will be leaving for the states next week, and so this was the last time we'll all be leading worship together. it has been an awesome experience leading with this group. nyika & lauren, hontoni arigato! you two have been so key to the growth of our worship team. thank you for your leadership, skill, advise, and servant's hearts for the blaze worship team. you've helped create a solid core for our worship team, and with this new group of leaders, i know we'll continue to grow more and more. i'm sad that you're leaving, but i'm excited about how the team will grow while you're gone.

personally, i've been having a hard time with what the future holds. every time i get asked "when are you coming home?" or "when are you leaving?", i'm forced to hold back this inner struggle of where do i "belong"? it's not that i don't want to be in california, it's quite the contrary. i'd love to be back in the bay. but i've invested so much of myself to make tokyo my "home", that the thought of leaving crushes my heart.

every day, i still find myself thinking "my life here is so different". the thought of my life without new hope, frontlines, blaze, xtreme, jonathan's, densha's, convini's, choco cro, ton-chin-kan, yodobashi-camera, doramas, and mezamashi terebi frighten me. and the thought of having to re-adjust to a world that seems so distant right now frightens me.

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who is like you
tim neufeld

the lord is my strength and my soul
he has become my salvation
he is my god, and i will praise him
i will lift him up

who is like you?
majestic in holiness
awesome in glory
working wonders (2x)

in your unfailing love
you will lead the people that you redeem
and in your strength, you will guide them
to your holy place

who among the gods is like you?
who in all the heavens?
who among the gods is like you?

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7.20.07 - food adventures

last week, ryan and karen came into tokyo for a visit. it was really great seeing them and hanging out with them in tokyo. good friends always equals good food! sunday, after church, we went for a stroll in akihabara, including the giant yodobashi camera. after taking in a bit of otaku culture, we went to eat okonomiyaki. yukari was the okonomiyaki place our friends at new hope osaka took us to down there, and they opened a store in akiba, so we went there for some japanese-pancakey-goodness.

monday was umi no hi, so i had the day off from work. met up with ry, karen, ken, and ashley for gyoza in harajuku... then it was off on our ocean-day-food-adventure. first stop was asakusa to see the temple, and grab some traditional japanese snackies at the nakamise's. we loaded up on hot ninyo-yaki (mini red bean cake), age-manju (deep fried bean cake) and fresh baked senbei (rice crackers). next, we took a river cruise from asakusa to hamarikyu garden. from there, we walked over to shiodome, for green tea desserts at tsujiri. off tha hook! our last stop was shinjuku to take in some sights before dinner. we walked all over to work off all the afternoon goodies, and we ended up finishing our adventure with kaiten sushi.

thanks ryan & karen for coming and visiting. i'm so happy i could share a part of my life here with you guys! also, thanks to all the tsugawas for all the goodies from home.

tomorrow, we're having bbq for the xtreme ministry. hopefully the weather will hold up, and it won't get rained out. please keep us in your prayers! arigato!

mata raishu! until next week!

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the stand
hillsong united

you stood before creation
eternity within your hand
you spoke the earth into motion
my soul now to stand

you stood before my failure
carried the cross for my shame
my sin weighed upon your shoulders
my soul now to stand

so what can i say
what can i do
but offer this heart o god
completely to you

so i'll walk upon salvation
your spirit alive in me
this life to declare your promise
my soul now to stand

so i ’ll stand
with arms high and heart abandoned
in awe of the one who gave it all

so i ’ll stand
my soul lord to you surrendered
all i am is yours

show me your heart
show me your way
show me your glory

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7.06.07 - worlds collide

keeping busy & pressing on! josh, bg, and blane finished up their time in nagoya and came out to tokyo last week. got a chance to see them monday at the farewell party for the ccc stint team. blane had to leave thurs, but i took friday off so i could spend the day with josh & bg.

we went around taking in some of the sights of tokyo, not to mention some of the tastes as well. started at the tocho in shinjuku to take in some views (ptl the weather cleared up enough for us to venture around). next, we went down to harajuku to our favorite gyoza shop for lunch. then we made our way to ginza to do some exploring at the depa-chika's. tried a sample of chocolate truffles at satie chocolatier in mitsukoshi, and agreed that that was probably the finest piece of chocolate we've ever tried. yabai! after exploring the sony tower, we met up with some friends for dessert at fujiya. "everybody loves parfait". back to shinjuku to work up an appetite before dinner, we did some more "exploring" at takashimaya and tokyu hands. all-you-can-eat-sushi at hina sushi topped off our stomaches, so we met up with jeremiah to sing away some calories with karaoke.

saturday, i had frontlines practice, followed by auditions. we had a bunch of people interested in joining frontlines ministry come and audition. it was great getting together with, and meeting new people with a heart for worship. we were blessed to see how god is working in frontlines, and look forward to ministring along with you all. afterwards, i met up with josh, bg, and some other friends for our favorite all-you-can-eat-shabu-shabu/sukiyaki @ mo-para.

sunday, josh, bg, and miyou came to visit new hope. the hula team did a great job, with many of the members dancing for the first time in front of the congregation! sugoi! after service, josh, bg, miyou, hoshino, garett, and i went down to tujiri in shiodome. this is the tokyo branch of the famous green tea store in kyoto known for its green tea parfait! soooo good! afterwards, we walked to ginza to snap a few pics, then to shinjuku to meet up with jeremiah for udon for a late dinner. btw, cha-siu tempura... simply amazing! why have i not had this before?

all in all, the weekend was filled with good friends, good food, and good times. it's times like these that i really feel like my worlds are colliding... in a good way. i was so thankful to be able to share my life in japan with good friends from home. as we were riding the subway, it felt like josh had never left. it brought back a lot of memories of the time we spent hanging out here in tokyo... a lot of great memories! i know josh contributed a huge part to my quick transition to life here, and i really cherish those good times we shared. i was sad josh & bg had to leave on mon, but am really excited about what the future holds for all of us.

next week, ryan & karen are coming in! i can't wait! jah, until next time . . . blessings!

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caught in a moment
lincoln brewster

every morning praise i sing to thee
you're slow to wrath and
swift to bless my soul
your love endures unchanging
o hallelujah

cover me with your grace
shine on me with your light
take your arms hold me tight
keep me caught in the moment

every night i pray myself to sleep
i look to you and plead
my soul you'll keep
you endure unchanging
o hallelujah

you've opened my eyes now
the mystery is clear to me
that in you and you alone
i find the love that sets me free

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