My goodness where do I even start. First off I would love to thank everyone who supported me in this time! Either in prayer or finacially or both it all meant the world to me and I could feel a real grace and blessing to do it all and I know it was because of the support. My prayer is that the Lord richly blesses you just as you have richly blessed me. Onething to know before I begin to share about my time is Jesus is receiving the rewards in the Nations. There is the movement awakening in peoples hearts and know that these stories I am sharing with are testimonies of what God did and are yours to share as well.
Well, On March 28th I board on a plane in Kona, Hawaii bound for Tokyo, Japan. With 8 other radical lovers of Jesus we did not exactly what to expect or what we would see in this Nation. We were going with this one heart that we would spread the Joy of God through out the Nation of Japan. So with John 15:11-13 (These things I have spoke to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy maybe full. "This commandments that you love on another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one that this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.") as our anchor we would set out with just that. Our joy would be made full in Jesus, that we would love Jesus and one another fully and that we would lay down our lives for one another daily to see the kingdom of God brought to Japan.
Our journey began with heading directly up to the Tohoku prefecture of Japan. This is the area where the Tsunami hit last March. So not knowing what we would see only knowing where we were going and what we would do our team went with the happiest hearts to go and help the Japanese. We would join the organization Samaritan's Purse who had been there from the beginning to help rebuild homes. Our job was to mud out the houses which, was pretty much demoing the house. We did everything from demolishing walls, pulling up floors, to literally shoveling out dirt. It was amazing! My team always went in with the a joy that only could be given by God. However you can't go through this area with out being totally blown away by the amounts of devastation that is still so noticeable. As we drove to our first house all you see are cars stacked up along the side of the road and no one has come to move them. We were told that in Japan the owner of the car has to come and claim it to be moved. This means the majority of those cars have not been claimed because they belonged to someone who died in the tsunami. As you drive along you begin to see some homes that were completely demolished and others that still are standing right next to it or a house standing alone in an area in which you can tell that there once were homes that stood next to it. All through out this time you are just silenced by this very surreal moment. As you meet people your heart is broken even more by how much they have actually suffered and everyone has a different lose, a different story, and a different pain from that day. All you want is to hold them and let them cry and share with them the hope you carry that Jesus has given you.
One of the greatest stories that my team came away with from being up in Tohoku is about this wonderful girl we met up there, her name is Saki. She is a beautiful, 19 year old Japanese girl whose home we actually worked on. This was an unusual meeting because most of the time the families are never home when a team comes to work on a home and to meet a 19 year old their is even a bigger shock because that age they are generally working or in college. My team however got all of that and we were so excited because we knew God was up to something if this never happens. We were told this by our crew leader. She spoke a little English but what we quickly realized is that she just loved being with us and as we just started to love on her she would try to speak with us a little bit more. Our team just made it a real point to talk with her and to love on her. So we had planned to go out to sushi where Saki worked one day and that day she came home early from school because she had the flu with a fever. In tears she looked at us and said she was unable to go out at all that night or week and at that moment we reached our hands out and prayed in the Name of JESUS BE HEALED! Later that night she wrote Shelley on my team and told her her fever had broke that afternoon and that she was better! COME ON JESUS!!! We loved her so much and even though communication was hard at times it didn't seem to stop her from receiving the love of Jesus or knowing that there was something different about us. She isn't saved yet because she believes it is her responsibility to continually pray for her grandmother who was lost in the tsunami to be in a better place. However, I do know that Saki encountered Jesus along with her mother and our team still continues to pray for them and contend for their salvation. This was just our first three weeks and there were many other things that did happen.
When we left the Tohuku area we headed down to Tokyo. Where we weren't entirely sure what to do except to love on the people of Japan, and help out the YWAM base there. Because of the hearts of many on our team we did see 8 salvation's in the course of our 6 weeks in Tokyo. Some may that's not very many but its not about the number or the lack of trying or anything really. Let's be honest we all know that Salvation is freedom of choice and you can choose him or not. Its all about encountering the love of Jesus and knowing that He loves you and died for you. We never had a translator either in these times which goes to show that the Gospel is quite simple and that if you carry the love of Jesus in your heart he does all the rest. We look at these eight people as the beginning fruit of the great harvest Japan will see. We just saw just a little bit of what is to come. Praise JESUS you are worthy of it all.
One of my favorite stories of the Salvation's comes from a wonderful girl on my team name Miriam. She was out on the streets and as she is roaming the streets of Tokyo she just began to get a desire to see someone get saved. So she asked the Lord for a picture of what to do next and at the moment she saw a girl with pigtails and bangs. Now in Japan that is a common description of a young girl. She had been looking for this girl and didn't see one of them. Until they were heading home and there she was all of a sudden the pigtails girl. A little reluctant at first, Miriam finally started walking after this girl (who was walking very fast) to talk with her. As she caught up to her they began to talk a little bit Miriam just laid out the simplicity of the Gospel and at the end asked this girl if she wanted to know Jesus and the girl said yes! Now I just have to add this side note that this girl she was talking to didn't know very much English and Miriam didn't know any Japanese. So Miriam leads her in the prayer and the girl was like He is now inside of me and Miriam was like YES! The girl she said smiled and was so happy and Miriam told her to get a Bible and the girl was like okay. It was so genuine and this is just one of the eight stories we have.
God did so much in that Nation and I have to say for myself however the greatest reward was walking with all the people on my team. They all taught me something unique and without them my life would not be where it is now. They had so much grace for me as a leader and loved me unconditionally. It was worth every moment spending time with them and pouring into them. Watching them being transformed by the love of Jesus was such an honor. I remember telling God one day that if they were the only reason I came to Japan was to see them just fall more in love with him it was worth it. It had nothing with what I did it had to do all with how much God loved them in every situation and ever place in life. They each came away with their own stories. They each came away with their own experiences. They came away with a true encounter of who God is.
HE LOVES YOU!
So this is just a little bit of all I saw and did. It was a blessing beyond words. I loved every moment that God had me in. Even in the hard ones I look back and only see his Faithfulness. If you want to know more let me know. I would love to tell you. You can email me at katelandhilty@gmail.com. If you want to be on my mailing list let me know. I love to letting people know what is going on. I love you all.
Kateland :)
You are incredible and I love you so much! Keep doing what you're doing.
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