Day 5, or 6 back home :)

Today was an early start... getting up at 6:45am here time, and 4:45pm home time, I got a shower at the retreat center, and its definitely not Katsu and Hideko's house haha...

Its just fine though. I once heard from a man that "its not true ministry unless you are sufferin' for Jesus" and I can definitely see some truth to that. The reason i think so is that when we are comfortable its easy to minister and serve, whereas on the flip-side it can be extremely difficult to serve when we are not comfortable. I pray that God will help me to overcome the discomfort (which he most definitely has already), but that He will continue to. This morning we are going to have breakfast at the retreat center and I am excited to see what we are going to have. I will again, update later with more information and blogging items, but for now I leave you with a God Bless and good morning :) Take care all...(7:45am)

So as the rest of the day went on... it turned out to be our busiest day yet. We played three services today, one at 9:00am, 1:30pm, and 6:45pm. Wow... I'm so drained but I got some great pics of us helping with the kids today so I can't wait to upload some of them for you all to see...

It has been a crazy day for me in a lot of ways. Some I can't really go into detail about but yea... So I am hangin with Josh right now, and its pretty cool, we are listening to some Shane and Shane. Pretty tight if ya know what I mean. Of course I gotta say to my boy Bruce, I'm stayin metal. I laid out some pretty tight solos today, messed up a few but ehhh it happens. Yea so overall it was another great day for ministry, our most intense yet, but we had an amazing closing worship service tonight OMW... yea we all shared some testimony and then Tyler shared his whole one with us tonight, it was a good night, great bonding, great fellowship and yea, just a great day/'night.

So I am off to finish uplaoding pics and then go to bed... night all!!

(10:42pm)

-Kris-

Day 4, first at the conference.

So. . .

Today we head to the Asian Access conference at a retreat center about an hour away. I am really hoping they have internet so I can keep updating, but if not I wanted to give a final update before I left. So right now I am packing my stuff up because this will be our last night with our first host family.

One thing I have learned is that being a servant is probably one of the best ways we can exemplify Christ, and this host family has probably been the closest to perfect at that part as I've ever seen. They do things for us without a second thought and can barely speak our language, its truly God's kingdom at work. I am loving every minute of this place and can't wait to continue ministering through song :) its about breakfast time, so I am actually going to post this early, and then come back and edit it if the resort we stay at has internet. So yea, God Bless

(7:24am)

Well yet again, God has used Aperture in some great ministry. We played for the Asian Access conference retreat. On top of that we helped with the children's ministry aspect of the conference. There will be some video and pics of some of that on my facebook and some on the sites of other band member's choosing. So definitely check those out.

One thing i learned today is that God can use any situation to provide us with an opportunity to grow. I am learning so much about myself on this trip as well as learning how to become a better minister of God's will for loving all. Thank you to all who have helped in sending us here. God Bless you and thanks for your continued prayer :)

(10:23pm)

-Kris-

Third THird THIRD DAY!

Good Morning...

So today yet again breakfast is smelling amazing, and I can't wait to get going on our first day of ministry. We head out at 7:40am, and probably will not get back from the school we are playing at until oh... 10:00pm or so... Will most definitely blog to tell of the day though so bye bye for now (6:54am)

Wow... awesome first day of ministry. I love playin music for kids... It's awesome stuff... great work and yea it just is amazing. GOD IS GOOD THAT's fo sho!!!

So we played a morning service at Jessica's high school, and then later in the evening at a youth group event. I also went around by myself this afternoon and took some pics of the town and the surrounding area. It was a very calming environmentally absorbing moment of the trip for me. I just went around and took pictures and soaked in the Japanese city life.

I Am so blessed to be here, and am really developing a heart for all of God's Japanese children, lost and found. I wonder where God will take me after college and if Japan is in the horizon for me again one day.

I am so beat yet again, so I am going to go... and sleep... and yea... sleep.... zzz..zzz...zzz... oh not yet... but yea

Goodnight everyone...

-Kris-

Second Day in the land of the Rising Sun...

Well....

I am bloggin a little early to start because I can't seem to sleep all the way through the night. I just keep waking up like two hours before my alarm. I guess its because of all the all nighters and late nights from my years in college so far, throwin me off my sleep schedule haha. Either way its a pretty sweet house me and Zech are in. We have like our own room, we have to share, but its so sweet. So yea I might try and go back to sleep and finish this post up later :) (6:50am)

Didn't quite get back to sleep but...

So we got up today to one of the sweetest breakfasts i've ever had. We had this awesome Japanese toast, followed by some American-style, and Japanese-style scrambled eggs. Then we had this really cool soup made from corn, milk, and some other stuff. As well as some sausage. I am just loving it here, and am so blessed to have this opportunity. Thanks again to everyone who helped send us and all who are still praying for us and thinking about us. (9:38am-More to Come)

10:50pm

So it was yet again another great day. We went to the electronic district in Tokyo, and met a new friend Reichi (if that's how you spell his name). He led us around and showed us some sweet shops and places. We went to the @home cafe today as well. That was an interesting experience in which at first I had no idea what was going on... I thought I did, but then it was like ummm what? haha... So yea, we walked a whole bunch today like everywhere it felt like. I got a Japanese knife and some music stuff. I am so tired so I will cut this blog entry short and post a pic. I bid you all goodnight and yea goodnight...

P.S.

To talk about the picture up top. I took this picture to show that even in Japan, a fairly industrialized country, and a place that I thought had a lot more than America in some regards, but this man reminded me that brokenness and hurt and need is everywhere. I don't know about you but yea it just makes me feel like I could be doing more... so anyway, just let this pic speak to you...

-Kris-

Second Day...

Well today we started out waking up at Jessica's house, then we had a delightful, but yet slightly familiar breakfast with muffins and bagels. We then got our money situation squared away, and after that it was off to Tokyo to visit a Buddhist temple. Around the temple there was lots of tourist-ish shops and we got to help a bunch of Japanese student's projects. We also saw a guy who was totally tryin to pull off Hugh Jackman look-alike. Then we went to a Japanese fast food joint, that was great!!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE FOOD HERE AHHHHHHHH!!!!! After that we just kind of moseyed through Tokyo...

Then we moved toward the Imperial palace. We couldn't get very close, but it was still cool to go. We got to see tons of different things in Tokyo, and grabbed some Bubble Tea and Crepes (and when I drank the Bubble Tea it definitely reminded me of the time I drank it with Jessey Forsyth, and I hope your reading this :)) After the bubble tea a lot of the day is kind of a blur... We rode a lot, and I mean a lot of trains... haha... TONS OF TRAINS... GOBS OF TRAINS!!!!

Then we had a nice dinner at Jessica's with all the host families, and me and Zech went off to ours. We absolutely love these people :). Katsu is a great photographer with an awesome blog (http://Weltgeist.exblog.jp/m2010-03-01/). Him and his wife have been very gracious so far and I am positive that won't change. We are looking forward to beginning what we came here to do wednesday. We had a pre-conference jam session tonight and it was awesome. Now I am getting ready for bed because I am still al little jet-lagged and exhausted haha... so yea I bid you farewell and goodnight (everyone who is reading this) :)

-Kris-