Multi-task Much...?

Dear Everyone,

Hope yall are doing well and are ready for some awesome updates! Yesterday was phenomenal.. We started the day with another small breakfast of toast and eggs then had a little time to get ready for prayer walks at Kyoto University. We had to take the city bus from the church which is always an adventure and we arrived at KU in one piece. Before we started our prayer walks we passed out some tracks off campus with information about the Kyoto Christian Center and a few thoughts for the receiver of the track to ponder. I'm not a big fan of just handing someone a track and walking away but it wasn't about me. It was about being willing to serve God in whatever way I could or that He provided. We handed out the tracks for about 30 minutes or so. Once they were all gone, we went to various areas of campus in pairs and prayer walked for around 45 minutes. I prayed for all kinds of issues and trust God with what He is doing on that campus, in Kyoto, and all across Japan. Continue to pray for this country!
Once our prayer walks were over, we all met up for lunch and I got to see another friend from last year named Sunhwa. We shared a lot of laughs and enjoyed catching up from last year. After lunch was over we can back to the church and had a couple hours free time until Friday Night Fellowship. During that time we all took naps, practiced our Japanese choir song, and Sensei challenged me to a few games of ping pong. I was stoked. All that preparation at the Cone house had lead up to this epic match. We warmed up for a few minutes and I felt pretty confident. Sensei won the first game 21-17. I told myself it's alright, you know his weak points and can take the second game. Sensei won the second game at a score of 23-21. That was the back breaker. His forehand spin was unstoppable. I tried every trick in the book but once he got going, there was no stopping the onslaught. I wanted to play one more game to salvage my dignity...Yep, you guessed it. Sensei won the third game 21-13. I was utter decimated on the ping pong table. I had nothing left. So far in Japan I am 2-3 in ping pong matches and I am determined to leave with a winning record. I am going to challenge Sensei to a rematch in order to redeem myself so updates to come!
After my epic fail at ping pong for the day, it was time for Friday Night Fellowship to begin. I knew that I was going to be sharing my testimony and singing, but there was some news from Leena right before the service started. "So tonight you will be sharing your testimony, singing a song, and THEN sharing a message with everyone." Wow. I was speechless for a few minutes.. Thankfully, I had a message prepared for another time and wasn't concerned about preaching. It was just having to do all of that at one time. God blew me away. Sharing my testimony went well and I am so humbled every time I get to share the incredible work God has done in my life. The song was even better. I am currently learning guitar and the only song I can play half decent is Revelation Song. God truly strengthened me as I played and I had an incredible time of worship before the Lord in front of everyone. All I can say is wow. Immediately after I finished the song, I had a sip of tea and then it was time to preach. Hyato translated on the spot which was great for the crowd since many of them couldn't understand English that well. I preached from Acts 17 about turning the world upside down. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. God gave me the words to say, some of which I hadn't even thought of or written down in my preparation. I pray that God was glorified through my message and I trust Him with everything I did last night. I thought I might be tired afterward, but was filled with joy and a lot of energy!
I also got to see Yusuke last night. I had been waiting over a week to see him and we had a wonderful reunion. Yusuke is one of the guys I met last year who I got very close to and someone I have kept up with over the year I have been gone. I gave him a UGA t-shirt and he loved it. We even rode bikes to Mister Donut after the service around 10 pm and then went to the grocery store after that to get some milk for breakfast today. Once we got back he left and I went to bed not to long after. What an incredible day! Thank you God for using a willing heart and for blessing in ways I don't deserve...Now I am just waiting for a very relaxed day to begin. I helped with breakfast this morning and cook some scrambled eggs. After that I came upstairs and am now writing to you. Pray that God would continue to use our team and that God be with me as I move on to another church tomorrow afternoon. Pray for the college students in Japan and that there would be a revival and outpouring of the Holy Spirit...Last but not least are the shout outs for the day. The first shout out goes to...Dustin. Miss you buddy and wish you could be here with me. I finally went to Mister Donut. I couldn't remember which one you told me to try so I bought several. I'm sure I knocked out your recommendation...Hope all is well and I can't wait to see you bud. The second shout out of the day goes to...Kevin Pope. Happy Birthday Bud! Sorry I couldn't be there for your celebration and I hope you are enjoying your special day! Maybe you will win a game of nerts! ps. Go Ravens! Thank you everyone for your support and I look forward to updating you soon..

Only By Grace,
CP