Japan

Well I have started my journey of 16 weeks strait of travel. The first stop was Japan.
This was my second time to Tokyo to speak at the YWAM base. My dear friends Greg and Rachel Lilly are leading the DTS there now and it was so great to go and partner with them. I have known Rachel since she was in High School and I spoke in Greg’s DTS and played a little part in getting them together. They have both always had a call to Japan so to be able to go and see them living their was amazing. I stayed in their little apartment right outside Tokyo. They have a little 2 year old girl Arianna that made me crack up and Rachel is nine months pregnant with their second daughter. It was awesome just to connect with them in Japan.

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If you have ever been to Tokyo you know how huge and spread out everything is. One of the big challenges for the YWAM base is finding housing and space. They don’t have a base yet. The Lilly’s house is about a hour and half away from the church where the lectures are held. That included a 25 min walk to the train station and the first train ride if you caught the right one was about 25 min in the craziest packed trains you have ever seen, then another 10-15 min train ride and a 5 min walk. That was just getting there and then you get to do it again to get back. By the time I got there to speak I felt like I had already had a crazy adventure. I did not mind it though. It made me respect all the staff and students that do it every day. You know the trains are so packed in the morning that a train attendant goes by and pushes people in from the their backside so the doors will close. I would wait for a slower train so I did not get as smashed. One more crazy thing about the trains is no one talks and everyone is either on their phone or sleeping. I am including a picture of a man sleeping on me. I am starting to be more and more intrigued by their culture. I felt like I learned a lot more about it this time.

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This time speaking in the DTS on “Holy Spirit” looked a lot different to me then it normally does. It’s hard to really describe why, but it felt a lot of time’s like I was just sitting in a living room with family. Then when it came time for prayer and ministry it was calm, deep but life changing for them. I love that no matter how many times I speak on Holy Spirit He does new things. I also got to speak at their community evening meeting. It was the first time I had Japanese translator, and something I learned that there language is a lot longer then English. It was an amazing night though with a great response to bravery!
While I was there I got to do a pastoral visit for one of our Fire and Fragrance outreach teams that my girl Kateland Hilty is co-leading. They are doing an amazing job. They have seen 5 salvations so far which is huge for Japan. So far they have seen more fruit on their outreach then any team I know of.  It was so great to see it!

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My time in Japan was amazing and my heart continues to grow more for the base and staff. They are starting to feel like family and when you speak in a place that feels like family there is a greater authority released.
Two funny stories: Arianna Lilly is only two so she is still learning to speak and she does not know Japanese yet. She is in her stroller and a Japanese child starts to yell out to her in Japanese. Ari yells back in her best sounding Asian jibberish thinking she is communicating with him. Ha ha ha raising your kids in a different culture is great!
The other one is in Japan everyone bows to each other and even when your talking and thanking people you slightly bowing. Well I don’t know any Japanese so when I am in the store or somewhere trying to communicate I am bowing and making sounds that are similar to theirs ha ha well when I got back to the USA I was in the airport and forgot I was in the US and started doing it at Starbucks. Made me laugh at myself!
Well I am now in Salem, OR speaking at a YWAM base here and have meetings in Albany this weekend and then I am off to Ireland Monday. More reports to come.

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