Amy : Missing Japan

It has been a couple of days now since returning home to Seattle. I can happily and thankfully say that I am NOT jetlagged. Not in the least. I'm waiting for it as if it might come later but so far, I'm sleeping and waking at the correct times. This is another one of those blessings that I believe God has granted me - knowing in advance that I would have to return straight to work and be functional, God helped me overcome jetlag without even losing a day. Being back in Seattle however, has give me some time to reflect about what happened over the past couple of weeks. As I sit at home and at work, I find myself remembering moments from VBS or times in Japan that make me laugh and at the same time cry, because I'm already missing Japan so much! It is surprising how fast it all went by but here are the memories that keep coming back:

1) The Tamuras and Nakamuras. These two families have shown me that life can be different from the norm. They have showed me what it is like to live a life that chases after what is important to God and it is apparent that their hearts bleed for the things that God's heart bleeds for. They have been so motivating and encouraging for me to see the amount of faith they have and how they are so willing to trust God in all that they do - even with their children's futures.

2) The Nokendai team. Being a person who values and NEEDS personal space, I thought I would truly go insane from living in such close quarters with 8 strangers. It is amazing how much patience God can give to someone on a short term missions trip though!! Honestly, my teammates made this trip so much fun. No names to be mentioned here but even when things went missing, we all handled it with such grace and forgiveness. And even when we poked fun at certain people, those being made fun of allowed us to laugh at their expense and again, handled it with extra measures of grace. We worked so well as a team - we cleaned up that community center in 10 minutes flat!! We each had our own role in the team that we naturally filled. I believe that we truly operated like the body of Christ. I was so blessed to be part of this team. I miss having you guys around all the time already :P

3) VBS. I didn't fully realize the extent of the communication barrier until I got to Japan. It was heart breaking for me when one of the kids ran up to me, said something in Japanese, and I was NOT able to understand what it is that they had just said. I distinctly remember that moment and realized that I would need to use other forms of communication beyond words. During arts and crafts, I had to show them what to do rather than telling them what to do. I smiled more at them hoping it would convey happy positive feelings rather than a neutral face which could be interpretted as positive or negative. While I will always remember these kids and their moms, i will never forget the moment I stopped in the middle of sharing my testimony and saw every pair of eyes on me, and every ear listening. It was so quiet I believe I could have heard a pin drop. In all the previous days at VBS, the kids were bouncing off the walls. It was during that one moment that I had their full complete attention - and this blew me away. It felt like a God moment and I will never forget it. Even in the short time we had with these kids, we developed such good friendships. I will be praying for these kids and their families that VBS has made a positive impact in their lives and that the seeds we planted will grow in good soil.