Reflections : Hitomi

First of all, thank you so much for all of your support for the mission trip! I had the most amazing time in Japan, and I would like to share you some things that really stood out to me during the trip.

During the time we were in Japan, we were discussing about how all the Christians in Japan are really serious about their faith, and Joanne went and said, "Why aren't WE serious about our faith? Why aren't WE serious about helping others grow as a Christian?" That really stood out to me because it is really amazing how passionate the people at church are about loving God. At Yamagata, I heard some testimonies from the Sakuragaoka church and the Oe church. Those testimonies really helped me understand that they absolutely love serving God even amongst the hardships of being a Christian in Japan. They love Him so much and I now know that I want to be more passionate about my faith. I also talked to a lady who was affected by the disaster, and even though her story was extremely sad, she has not given up on life yet. These people I talked to are dealing with so much and they still have not given up. I want to be a person that doesn't give up on life because God is always there for me.

I was also able to understand the power of worship much better than I did before. When Bradley shared his testimony, he talked about how worship basically lead him closer to God. Also during the trip, we were given the opportunity to worship many times and every time I sang, I felt a surge of God's love pour into my heart. Being able to express our love towards God in the form of music is such a beautiful thing and I really didn't fully understand that until this trip.

Lastly, I want to talk about the last service in Japan I went to. It was in Koganei church, and it was an absolutely emotional day for me. During service, I started to cry my eyes out because I felt so sad I was leaving everybody and I felt so grateful for what God did in my life. Even after I said goodbye to everybody, I cried the whole ride back because my heart was overwhelmed with God's love. Love CHANGES people. Love changed ME. Through love I was able to go on a mission trip for the first time, be the first to share my testimony in Japan, sing my heart out to God, interact with the people in Japan, and grow as a disciple of God. I am still amazed by God's AGAPE love. God is good.