Gospel Team 2007Prayer Requests and Updates!

1. Gospel Team Will Start This Saturday!
2. Rally Schedule
3. What Is Gospel Team?
4. GT Shirt!
5. This Year's Tract
6. Prayer Request for 6/9
7. Kick Off Rally Report!
8. Team Pictures
9. First Day of Rallies!
10. Behind the Scenes
11. Prayer Request for 6/13 and Some Other Things
12. Feedback Session with the Japanese Staff
13. Special Prayer Request!
14. Pictures from the Ochanomizu Rally
15. Prayer Request for 6/15
16. Pictures from the Kashiwa Rally
17. What We Do After the Rally
18. Answered Prayer and Tomorrow's Street Evangelism
19. Pictures from the Hachiouji Rally
20. Street Evangelism Report
21. Kansai Team
22. Omake
23. Quick Updates
24. A Surprise E-Mail
25. Report from Tamatsukuri (Kansai)
26. 80 High School Students at the Yokohama Rally
27. The Outdoor Rally: Kichijouji
28. A Need for a New Strategy...?
29. Umeda Report
30. "Kanban" Story
31. Wednesday: a Day of Rest, Affirmation, and Prayer
32. Thoughts about Tracting
33. Akabane Report
34. Saidaiji Report and Prayer Request for 6/22
35. Quick Report
36. Pictures from Various Rallies
37. Kansai Final
38. Kanto Final
39. After the Final
40. Words from Eriya Arai

I asked Eriya Arai, the chief hi-b.a. staff, to write his thoughts regarding this year's Gospel Team. He's been with the ministry for 11 years and has an undying heart for the youth of this nation.

「GTが払う犠牲は決して少なくない。キリストの十字架の犠牲には遠く及ばないが、日本のために彼ら以上に犠牲を払って伝道しているクリスチャンを探すことは極めて困難である。その犠牲の故か、それとも信仰の故か、はたまた彼らの情熱の故か、たったの１５日間で、驚くほどの高校生が福音に触れ、キリストを受け入れた。これが神の働きであることは疑う余地もない。このGTとこの１５日間でキリストを受け入れた高校生がいる限り、日本の福音化はそう遠い将来ではないだろう。」

"Gospel Team members sacrificed a lot. Needless to say it doesn't come close to Christ's sacrifice on the cross, but it's difficult to find Christians who are this selfless and giving of themselves for evangelism. Because of their sacrifice, because of their faith, or because of their passion, countless Japanese high school students heard the gospel and accepted Jesus Christ, in only a matter of 15 days. No doubt, it is the work of the living God. As long as servants like GT members exist, and as long as high school students who accept our Savior exist, the evangelization of Japan is not a distant future."

Please continue to support this ministry through your prayers!

After the last rally, the Kanto teams had a time of celebration. Sushi and pizza, an "East meets West" kind of party. Celebration, needless to say, because we saw God's work, and not only that, we were part of God's work.




We then sat down with some deep questions:
- What did you realize about God during GT?
- What did you realize about yourself?

We got in a big circle and shared our thoughts. We also covered some practical issues like: what should we change about GT for next year? what were some things you thought worked well?

Finally, Andy Carlson led us through some songs.
"Longs To Be"
"One Way"
"I Love You Lord"


We couldn't stop ourselves from jumping up and down!

(May the Lord bring salvation...)

(GT members in prayer before the rally)

(Director Paul Suzuki, praying...)

(The Worship Band, after their practice)

(Staff person Nakamura-san doing some final sound check)

So, the Shibuywa HiBA center was filled with people and God's glory on 6/23.
Humid and hot, yes, but also the heat of excitement, the kind that comes when people are caught by God's love.


Five Teams got up and sang:
"Praise"
"Mahiruno Youni"
"Lord I Lift Your Name on High" (English and Japanese)


Since we felt like we had a lot of talent on this year's GT, we showed three skits, a "manzai" (Japanese comedy) and a GT member's rap.

Lindsey Hollands and Phil Ellison were the MC for the evening.

Joseph Oh did his original rap!

Patrick McGuinty gave him the beat.

Naomi gave her testimony, Yoshiya translated...

In a separate room, people were praying...


The message was delivered by Japanese Staff Eriya Arai.

This day, 113 high school students came to the rally.
34 new students (of which 20 were repeaters from other GT rallies).
And we were able to confirm 6 students who prayed to receive Jesus Christ!

Thank you for your prayers!

Thank you so much for your prayer support! Both Finals in Kansai and Kanto are over, the students have returned home (or on their way back to Tokyo).

Here's the Kansai Team practicing at the JL building before the Final.


Over 40 high school students came out to the Kansai Final.


Lilian was the MC.
The whole team made up the band.
Erika shared her testimony in front of the Japanese high school students.
The team made an original rap song and performed it, too.




Japanese students made their own band and did a special performance.



8 new people came (not including the repeaters who came to other Kansai rallies). Team leader Hyuk said that it was the kind of rally where you could almost feel the presence of God.

As I have promised earlier, here are some pictures from Friday 6/22:

(Kansai Team at lunch before the Sakai Higashi rally)


(Sakai Higashi rally... please pray that the Lord will reach the high school students in that area.)



(The Japanese Christian high school students had a special song prepared for the GT rally. The team members were touched and encouraged.)


At Fujisawa, there was one new student who came from tracts. Fujisawa is yet another tough area to reach. A lot of the land there is owned by yakuza (Japanese mafia) and there's a natural heaviness, something like a spiritual darkness, that could be getting in the way of any Chrisitan effort.



At Asakadai, one student came from tracts, and she happened to be a believer. Seh didn't know anything about HiBA, but later found out that her mother used to go to HiBA when she was in high school. We're hoping that this new student will get connected to the ministry and through it to other believers.




As I mentioned in the previous entry, Shibuya Friday had 5 students who came back from last week's rally. This is precisely the kind of result we're looking for: connection. Gospel Team will end on Saturday, but the ministry continues, and we want these newcomers to get connected to the ministry, to their Christian peers, and then to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.



Saturday 6/23 is the last day of Gospel Team 2007. I may not be able to write an update until after the Final rally, after the debrief.

The Final rally in Kanto is from 2:30, but GT will be at the HiBA center in Shibuya from 10AM for preparation and prayer. The Kansai Final will start at 2:00. Please pray the Lord will touch hearts, change lives, and lead this nation to His salvation.

The computer at the HiBA center broke down for no apparent reason, which has kept me from writing today. I'll post some pictures later on, but for now, a quick report.

No new person came today in Kansai to the rally in Sakai Higashi. Please pray for their hearts, although from what I know about that team, they are quick to turn discouragement into a reason for prayer. They will be preparing for the Kansai Final.

Shibuya Friday, on the other hand, saw some results. 5 students who came to last week's rally came back this week! They really wanted to hear more about the Jesus Christ. On top of that, 9 new students came, and we really didn't have enough team members to cover for them.

Reports from Asakadai and Fujisawa should be coming sometime later tonight.

Please be praying for the Final rally. One in Kanto, the other in Kansai. All of us are tired, some of us are sick, but we are excited and confident that the Lord will surprise us tomorrow. And until then we want to be on our knees...

Team leader Hyuk Kim had a dream in the afternoon. He was chasing a high school student in order to give him a tract. And when he did so, the student smiled and said, "I already have one, and I'm coming to the rally. I was baptized not so long ago and I am a Christian."

And guess what happened at the rally...

One male student came from a tract, and he was a believer, baptized about a year ago. The Kansai HiBA staff changed his message.





Later at night the team ate at a restaurant called "Friendly"... There's something like humor in it since GT is called "Let's Be Friends" in Japanese.

Prayer Request for 6/22
- Please pray for Asakadai's HiBA staff An Buja. She's been suffering from anaemia and on bad days has to stay in bed all day. But she is a powerful woman of prayer who listens very closely to the Lord's guidance, and her message reaches students' hearts.
- We have two more full days of GT. Please pray that all the teams will finish well.
- Please pray for the Kanto Final and Kansai Final. They will be the last rallies, the climax of GT, and we want to see the Lord do mighty things.

Akabane club usually has about 10-15 Christian students (who are called "regulars") every week. In faith, staff member Chieko-san rented a larger room, hoping that many would come to the Akabane rally.



Indeed the Lord blessed this desire and brought a total of 36 high school students, of which 10 were new to HiBA and heard the gosepl for the first time. We also praised the Lord when we learned that two girls who came from tracts decided to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Again and again we realize that the Lord has a larger, longer story at work, for each and every person in this nation. GT is just a part of that unimaginable, perfect plan. And we are glad to be a part of it.

This morning I got an e-mail from the Kansai team saying they handed out ALL the tracts that were prepared for Saidaiji.



Tracting can teach you a lot about people, the area, yourself, and God.

Some schools instruct their students not to take anything on their way to school. Such locations are obviously really difficult to reach. We've had angry teachers come yell at us, kicking us off their neighborhood.

In other areas the students are really friendly and responsive, and our tracts vanish in a matter of 30 minutes. Or Kichijouji, on the other hand, is known to be a tough spot. Even GT veterans have a difficult time tracting there.

Students are more likely to take it when you make eye contact with them. Or if the leader of the group (who usually positions herself at the front of the group) takes it, the others tend to follow. Some throw it away right in front of you. Others have ripped it to shreds.

You quickly lose the enthusiasm.
Even one rejection can trigger a major disappointment.
You get to find out how difficult it is to be cheerful when your smile is not meant to be returned. You find out that you don't know what to say when handing out tracts. "Good morning," "Have a nice day!" "Please come!"... what else? Y
ou discover that your passion is invisible to the hundreds of high school students who walk by. You are puzzled because there's so much love inside you and the students just don't care.
It is then that you learn the heart of God.
It is then that you understand how He continues to pour out His love, despite the lack of response.

It is God's nature to love. And when we inherit even a little bit of his vast heart for the lost, we gain access to an inexplicable power that enables us to act similarly.

Perhaps I'm making too large of a statement just from tracting, but I cannot stop feeling this way, watching the team members persevere day after day, distributing what could be a ticket to salvation.


(Hisho Uga trying to attract a crowd during this morning's tracting at Minami Urawa Station)