A long time coming.

So, it has been quite a while since my last post on here, I apologize for that, to those who read this. Anyway, it has been an amazing past few weeks. I continue to learn more about my God, and the love we should have for one another as brothers in Christ. And as I draw nearer to the end of my Japanese excursion, I am torn in two. I desire to come home and return to my friends and family, and to find comfort in their fellowship, but on the other hand I feel as though my time here has been too short, and the friendships that I have made with students here, too shallow. But I know that they are in God's hands and he is the one who will draw them to Himself, not me. This weekend was amazing, I traveled by myself 3 hours by Shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama, a city on the west side of Japan to see a friend who goes to UNL. He and his mother live in Okayama. It was a great time. We hung out most of the day on Friday and all day Saturday. We went to see an amazing garden and castle. And we went to an art museum, sword museum, and pottery museum as well. I especially enjoyed the sword museum and the art museum. Today, I spoke about what God has taught we while here to the local church (Joy Fellowship). I really struggled with what to talk about, but I finally rested this morning on walking in the spirit and our dependence on God. I think it went fairly well, but I really had to depend upon God for the words because I was feeling really unable to express what I wanted to say. Anyway I think that is about it for now, please be praying that heart will not be divided these last couple of weeks and that I will continue to focus on my relationships with the students.

Grace and Peace,

Dustin

Desiring God!

Wow, I don't really know what to say, but God has definitely been at work while I have been here. I feel like I am in a constant state of being sanctified and being drawn to Him. As I have been reading through Mark, I have been learning more about Jesus, and even more about myself. As I read through Mark 4:40 a few days ago, I felt that the question Christ was asking, he was asking the very same thing of me. He says, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" I came to the conclusion that there was a couple things in my life that I was not letting Him take care of, and trying to control myself. I have also been learning a lot about what it means to live by faith, to be moved by the spirit. I feel like in my mind I still don't have a grasp of this concept, yet I have been seeing it happen in my own life so I know it is true, this has been a consequence of studying through the book of Galatians. I have also been doing my own study through the book of I John, I started this one before I left, but since I have been here, God has shown me 2 things from this book. One, I am a child of God, and what that truly means to be as such. And two, how to love the brethren. This I have felt has the most important as of late. i have had a couple discussions about this, and I have come to realize that without love among the brethren, a ministry fails. It is what Jesus says in John 13:35, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." He has also shown me just how selfish and prideful I am. When it comes to my knowledge in the word, I can get pretty arrogant. Then during the study on Galatians, I really started to struggle to be the one with the answers, this is when I realized what was going on, I had been praying for humility, and this was how God answered. During this time I also learned that I don't know how to listen to people, I am always seeking the next great answer, or to give the advice they may or may not need to here at the time. What an Amazing God we have that he manifests his Glory to us by putting us through trials to refine us. I have also been reading Desiring God by John Piper. Through it I really have been learning what it means to find joy in God, and what it means to worship and love Him, and to love others. Finally, I thought I would share a praise. I don't know the whole story yet, but for those of you who know Taka, he is on staff in Tokyo right now, he has been in Shizuoka for the past few days due to a friend who was just released from the hospital so he could die. He, Takashi, has been struggling with cancer and Taka has been ministering to him for a long time. Taka sent me an email Sunday while I was in Tokyo, to tell me he was going one last time to share the gospel with Takashi. Well, I saw Taka last night and he told me that Takashi accepted Christ. What an amazing work of God!!! God's sovereign hand truly guides the steps of man. Oh, and one more thing that I would like to share before I sign off. Monday night, I went out to the beach to watch over the girls while they had some alone time. I didn't know why I went, because Matt was already with them, but I found that God had a purpose for me being there. I was struggling with selfishness again, and it was at this point that I felt that being stripped away from me. I was praying for everyone, but myself, something that had not happened in prayer once yet on this trip. I was also struggling with a question that Kanako had asked of Nate, "If God is God, why would he allow a whole nation as big as Japan go to hell?" It was at this point that I feel God spoke to my heart and gave me comfort. He brought to mind I Kings 19, when Elijah is stuggling with the state of the leadership of Israel and their blatant rebellion against God, and this right after God had manifested his power by setting the alter ablaze and consuming it and everything on it. God spoke to Elijah and told him that he had preserved a remnant that had not bowed in worship to Baal. God really gave me peace that even in Japan he was preserving for Himself a remnant. And as I was praying for laborers, i felt a peace about returning to Japan at some point in the future. I had been struggling with that this weekend, I didn't want to come back because it has just been so difficult. But God put that to rest, and I feel like I am perhaps being called to return to work in Japan at some point in the future. Anyway that is all for now. To those who have been praying for me, thank you so much. And to those who sent me (via financial gifts) thank you for your sacrifice. I am truly grateful for the work God has done through you.

Grace and Peace,
Dustin