So it begins…

So i think that in the next day or so, everything will be finalized with my support so that i can be released to actually start my field ministry with Mars Hill. The past week has been crazy as I’ve been transitioning from support raising mode to setting foot on the field. Here’s a cool little story that will be the first among many i believe.

Tuesday afternoon i was doing some reading/writing at a Starbucks in UVillage, a shopping center right next to the UW. When i walked in to buy a drink i noticed that the guy ringing me up was not only Asian, but unusually tall. I made some small talk about him being tall and then asked him about getting into some basketball games at UW. He told me about some of the places he played, and with that i went back to my seat since we were holding up a huge line by talking…

At my table, a few minutes into writing out an essay the guy sitting across from me gets my attention and tells me my phone is buzzing (i had headphones on). After i get off the phone, i tell him thanks and ask him for his name. He replies, “Hiro.” I knew he was international, but unsure of where he was from until he gave me his name, which i knew was Japanese. So then i start talking to him about Japan and being Japanese-American, etc. I think he asked me what i did (student/job) and i told him i worked for a church. So then i asked him what he knew/believed about Christianity. He had some background from doing a home stay with a Christian family, but i wasn’t sure if he really grasped the gospel. I took a few minutes to explain the basics of the gospel and asked him what he thought about it. He had never read or researched the claims and hinted to possibly doing it sometime. We left exchanging contact info and having a pretty good initial relationship (i ended up seeing him again today at the same spot).

Upon leaving, i swung by the drink counter and said something to the barista about playing basketball with him. This turned into him asking for my number so that he could text me when he and his frat brothers played basketball. Turns out he’s in an Asian frat.

Later that night i had a chance to meet with some national staff from Epic, an ethnic ministry of Campus Crusade that focuses on reaching Asian American college students. It was a great encouragement to gain insight and wisdom while also sharing my struggles/desires. This was a huge answer to prayers i had been lifting up to God regarding my cluelessness about a lot of cultural aspects of the ministry people within Mars Hill couldn’t provide me (vast majority are caucasian).

I am praying more than i have before, even more so than support raising, and i would ask everyone to join with me in petitioning God. Pray for God’s saving grace to fall on this campus and its students, especially the Asian student population. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be moving in the hearts of many students, softening hard hearts and opening blind eyes. Pray for me specifically in this stage that God would give me as many opportunities as possible each day to make new contacts and that He would turn their hearts towards me in favor. Pray that God would bring me Asian students who already love Jesus and have a desire to see their people meet Jesus and be transformed and redeemed by Him. Pray that God would bring me an Asian girl who believes in the vision and can lead and disciple women, and work in harmony with me. Pray for me, that i would be constantly aware of my need for Jesus (not that it ever changes, but that i would be aware of this reality) so that i pray continually and abide solely in Him. Pray that out of this i would be strengthened and equipped mightily by the Holy Spirit. Pray that God would provide a community for me to belong and share my life, as a normal guy and not one leading it. Pray that as God does amazing things, i would faithfully turn all the praise/credit/glory to Him alone, as is fitting. And pray that i would have a spirit of humility and a heart that truly fears the Lord.