This past February, I was notified that I’ve been accepted to go on a summer mission trip to Tokyo, Japan, for six weeks with the Christian ministry, Campus Crusade For Christ (http://www.wearesent.com/sp-tokyo.php) . While there, I hope to form relationships with students at the university and share the Gospel with them. After living in Japan for four years and taking three Japanese language courses at UNC Chapel Hill, I’ve been able to learn a lot about Japanese culture, and I know this will be a challenging and stretching summer.
Japan’s society is one in which a person’s worth and identity depends upon a person’s success in school and work. Students invest their lives in their schooling and careers. My sensei taught me that within Tokyo, suicides are committed daily through the train systems, the majority of them by students. If they fail at what they believe is their entire life, what do they have left to live for?
In light of the devastation in Japan from the massive earthquakes and resulting tsunamis, and with the death toll now over 13,000 people with at least 14,000 missing, it is even clearer that the people are in desperate need of hope, the hope that comes from Christ.
But…
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” Romans 10:14-15
My team will carry the message of healing, hope and restoration that we have been blessed with hearing and believing. We have responded by committing ourselves to furthering it by going to Japan. I know this is an exciting opportunity, but I still have a lot of room for growth in my own faith. I hope that this trip will provide me with a chance to deepen my understanding of God's word and grow closer to Him alongside my teammates and the students we will be ministering to.
My prayer for Japan is that God will use this time of devastation and pain to bring hope and salvation to those who still have not heard His name and the truth: When Christ was crucified, He took away our sins and failures in order to give us eternal life (John 17:3). They must know that it is not in their striving and self-discipline, and that it is all in the debt Christ fulfilled for us. I pray that they will be blessed with the chance to hear and believe, just as we are.
My prayer for you, is that you, too, realize that the work has already been done for you, and that you may rest knowing that your worth and identity has never been dependent on your actions, but all on Christ’s sacrifice. We are called to respond to this grace by sharing it with the world.
I am inviting you to respond, and be a part of God’s movement in Japan. Prayers are always needed, and God has proven that He answers. I also ask that you prayerfully consider giving an amount of money toward my trip. My goal of $6,000 must be met before I leave on June 22, 2011. Whatever amount the Lord leads you to give is the right amount. All gifts are tax-deductible and checks should be made out to Campus Crusade for Christ. Email me at enmoser@email.unc.edu for more information about contributing if you feel led to do so. I am confident that all will be provided through whom God moves to support me. I also ask that if you know of anyone who may be interested in joining my support team that you would email me with their contact info or pass on my information to them.
Thank you so much for your support through prayers and/or donations! God calls us to serve Him as a fellowship, and that is what I want this summer to be about. I will be updating this Blog in the weeks to come and throughout the summer and sharing how God has been providing, and the works He performs through my team in Tokyo. I encourage you to please post prayer requests for anyone or any situation, so that we may be a community of believers supporting each other in prayer knowing that God hears and answers.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
Love in Christ,
Elizabeth Moser
