Prayer Requests and Updates

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by! The high school interns got here about 5 days ago and it has already been so great to have them. All of us college interns have come to this point where we are pretty tired and in need of rest, but thankfully we have our 3 day retreat tomorrow! It will be a great time of fellowship, rest, and a chance for all of us to get to know all of the high school interns. Even though we are growing a little tired, Father has not. Everyday there are new stories about His faithfulness and grace.

Here is some great news and PR requests:

Sarah and I think we might have found our Cadence (the person we have been pring to meet who plays the ukulele)!! Saturday was park ministry day and Sarah and I both took our teams to Yoyogi park. That morning, we both PRed that today would be the day we meet Cadence. It was a pretty slow morning and was raining off and on all day, so there weren't too too many people in the park. Sure enough, just as we were rounding our groups up to leave, I saw 2 Japanese women hula dancing and someone playing the guitar. Sarah and I thought that maybe they would have a ukulele. We walked up to them and there were like 6 ukuleles laying around and about 2 people playing them. They asked us to join in with their song and gave us each a ukulele to play. It was so much fun!! They were so inviting and so sweet and obviously obsessed with Hawaiian culture. One of the women playing the ukulele gave us her card because we told her that we wanted to learn more and it so happens to be that she is a teacher and member of the Japanese Ukulele Association. I was silently freaking out. She really wants Sarah and I to contact her.

Please please be PRing that this is Cadence and that many doors and opportunities would open up!

Us ILT (intern leadership team) had dinner at our M's house our first week here and on our way back we met a girl named M-san who has perfect English and went to a Christian mission high school. We have been hanging out with her and her friends a few times now. I feel like I have known this girl for years- she is so sweet. Her friend S-san is not like other Japanese guys. He is very very sweet and caring. My heart breaks for him every time I am with him. They know that we are M's in Japan and we have shared with them a little, M-san already knows a lot. We are going to meet with them very soon, like in the next couple of weeks or so. Please be PRing that we would have a great open door to share with all of them. Please PR that their hearts will be open to what we have to share with them and allow them to see the urgency and their need for our Father.

I feel like this is very brief, so I am sorry for that. I know I have said this before, but I will be updating more often. Thank you all so much for your support!

Yuki is Here

So here is a quick update: I found my ukulele!
Last Wednesday, Kelsea and I went to pick up the iGo Kansas Nebraska team at Tokyo station. It takes us about 40ish minutes to get there and we were so pumped to pick up an iGo one week team. We finally got a seat on the train and I heard over the speaker, "Next stop is Ochanomizu". I had no idea that Ochanomizu was on the same train line at Tokyo station. Right then, I had this feeling that I had to stop at this station. I turned to Kelsea, "Kelsea! We have to get off! My ukulele is here." She looked at me like I was crazy haha. We then got off at Ochanomizu (this is the station where Sarah got her ukulele) and we started off down the street with the 12 million guitar shops. I was on a mission. I just knew that my ukulele was here. The 3rd place that I went to was the home of my precious ukulele, Yuki. It was the first one that I saw and the place was having a huge sale! My ukulele ended up being more than half off! It was even under the price that I had prayed for. The really cool thing is that I was not even supposed to be picking up the iGo team that day. My teammate Jill was put on the schedule to do that, but she wanted to be with the CBU team that day so I told her that I would switch with her. Father really does have his hand on every moment! Each step of this ukulele journey has been a blessing and so incredible. It has only been a little over a week and I have learned so much about our Father and His work.
Saturday, two days after I got Yuki, Sarah and I were put on the schedule to lead the Kansas Nebraska team to do park ministry. Of course, Sarah and I took our ukuleles. We met a girl who also played the ukulele but it was not Cadence. It was a good encouragment though. We were asked to share our ukulele story with the Kansas Nebraska team earlier that morning during their orientation time and we got some really encouraging responses and we have the whole team praying with us to find Cadence. This student team has been so amazing and ready to do Father's work every step of the way. I am so blessed that we could share our story with the group and have them be a part of His story with the ukuleles. Even if it is not Father's will for us to find Cadence, I know that this story has done great things through the teams hearts and my own. It has really shown Father's faithfulness and love.
Thank you for all of the prayers! I know that Father has put together this story for a purpose and I cannot wait to see how it unfolds.
Love you all!

"Ask Whatever You Wish"... Ukulele?

It has almost been 2 weeks here in Tokyo which sounds so crazy to me. I want it to go by as slow as possible but it has been speeding by. Wow guys... our Father is just incredible!! I cannot get over how amazing it is that our maker is so big, loving, sovereign, I could go on forever. I want to explode with praise! iGo Global teaches us some core values and one is our Father's ancient work. That is something that I have seen everyday through some of my own stories here in Tokyo and through the other interns and missionaries' stories. He hasn't ever left any of His people here in Tokyo. He has always been doing work here. He is doing HUGE things this summer! This is a part of our Father's word that He has been showing me every morning which has been so encouraging:
For you are all children of the light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober... but since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 1 Thess. 5:4-8
Okay so story time!
This is going to sound so crazy, so I am just warning you.
On Sunday mornings, the missionaries and intern team get together for church in the park. Well on the train to the park, my teammate Sarah and I got to talking. Long story short, we both shared that we both have been wanting to play the ukulele for a really long time. For some reason recently I have been thinking that I wish that I would have bought a ukulele and brought it to Tokyo. I dont even know how to really play haha. I told her this and then basically we got the same thought at the same exact time. Two words: Holy Spirit. I know, sounds crazy right? Well Father told us both to buy a ukulele. We then started to PR walk to the park and then He told us both to pray for a specific girl to teach us ukulele and in return we would teach her His word. All day we PRed for this girl, we call her Cadence, and some amazing opportunities to use the ukulele for His glory. Little did we know that ukuleles are apparently a huge deal here because they are obsessed with Hawaii. We also PRed that Father would take us to a place where they sell cheaper ukuleles.
The journey for the ukuleles began after the park around 3. We stopped at this station called Kichijoji because we heard from the Journeymen that they have a guitar shop there. One of the journeymen also told us the wrong exit to the station so we were both standing there not knowing where to go. We saw these 2 guys and went up to them and asked them where this shop was. They took us there, that's what these wonderful Japanese people do when you're lost. We got to the store and we stood outside of it to chat with them for a little bit. We ended up inviting them to play games with us at the park where we have church every Sunday. We also added that we were Christians and the guy points to his cross necklace, "Christian". I asked, "are you a Christian?" and he responded, "oh no, just for fashion." The fact that he knew that the cross meant Christian is huge! That means that he has been shown the gospel and knows a little about Jesus! That's like a miracle. Crosses are just a huge fashion trend here, but people have no idea what it means.
We looked around and all of the ukuleles were way too expensive. We then went to another station about 4 stops down our train line where Sarah and I knew that they had a whole street full of shops. It was about 7 when we got there. We knew that the chances of places being open would be slim, but we just felt like we HAD to go. We were totally walking by the Holy Spirit's guidance. We had no idea where we were going or what we were going to be doing, we just knew that we had to follow where our Father was leading.
We arrived and basically all of the stores were closed because its Sunday night at 7. We begin to turn away to go back to the station for home when Sarah looks down this dark alley and sees this guitar place all lit up. We walk in there and sure enough, the first thing I see is a ukulele for $30! Totally Father! We were floored! I kept thinking, "okay, is this all really happening?" So of course we bought it. One down, one more to go.
We ended up finding another guitar shop walking on our way back home but it was closed. We picked up a flyer from the previous shop and it has a list of all of these ukulele cafes in our area! Every place that we went to that night had a purpose.
This all happened last night in about 4 hours. We know that our Father has huge plans, so right now we are just following and waiting for Him to give us opportunities and one last ukulele for me.

We are PRing for Cadence, a second ukulele, and the locations to put all of this together.
This is by far the craziest yet the most amazing thing ever. Our Father is so amazing. I love how He uses His children!! Please join with us in PR for these specific things. These are the things that Father has laid on our hearts.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15:7-8

Love you guys :)