A Great Wish

Konbonwa Everyone!

Today I had lunch with my Sunday School teacher at a Japanese restaurant to talk about my experiences in Japan. It was a really nice and relaxing time, but it was also a sort of serious discussion. We were talking about how it frustrates us seeing people who don't seem to have any passion for seeing others come to Christ, even within our church. They are "Christian Atheist" as my pastor puts it. They go to church, but their life does not reflect God or what the church really should be like. It breaks my heart to see people in my youth group who are there just because they have to be or because that's what expected. High school was a difficult time for me, but God taught me so much during that time. I learned to depend on Him and make Him my everything. He also taught me to make wherever I was my mission field. It's true that I went to Japan as a summer missionary for two and a half months, but I've been on mission much longer than that. Whether it's in my high school, in my neighborhood, or at GCSU. There are lost people in Japan, but there are also lost people here in the U.S.! A lot of people don't think of school as being a mission field, but in truth, that's the best place to be a missionary!

I've always wanted to be a missionary ever since I was a little girl. I used to watch "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" that is loosely based on Gladys Alward's life and mission to China. So hey, I wanted to be a missionary to China! But God slowly but surely changed my view of missions the older I got. I saw it wasn't just being a missionary to a foreign country, but that God was calling me to be a missionary wherever I was! Not only calling, but commanding! This is a huge responsibility, and not one I take lightly! But guess what? I'm not the only one commanded to this mission field. Every Christian is! So let's wake up people! We've got a great job to do! Don't just talk to people! Live out your lives for the God who created you and love you! He is worthy of our praise and adoration! His power is beyond imagination!

God is also teaching me more about how Christians SHOULD be different from non-Christians. Otherwise, what's to make people want to change? So if we watch the same TV shoes, movies, listen to the same music, act the same way, what's the thing that makes us so different? We are not to be of the world, so why do we live in the world? I am just as guilty as everyone else, but I want to make a change. So who's with me? There's some things I already do not do, but there are definitely things I have to work on! Please keep me in you prayers! I have so much to learn and so much to do! But God is always faithful, especially compared to my unfaithfulness. Thank you God! I love you!

The church in Japan is a great inspiration to me! They are definitely human, but that just makes their witness all the more incredible! They WANT to reach their fellow countrymen, they WANT to be at church, and they WANT to learn! If I have learned anything during my visit there, hard work definitely pays off! I also think we can join together with this church, even if you've never met them, in working on the mission field, for the mission field is everywhere. I beg you, as a fellow sister in Christ, to live your life for Christ! It's hard, but it's worth it. And keep me accountable as well! We're in this together, and no one is better than the other. We need everyone in order for us to do really well. We are the body of Christ, and as such, we should treat each other as we would want to be treated ourselves. Again, I encourage you to give your life completely to Christ. There is no one more capable than the Creator of the Universe! :D

Peace to you all,

Keri Lynn