I apologize for not updating this as often as I had hoped, but here is a little bit about what has been going on during our time as CTI 14:22:
We returned back from Japan on October 19th and immediately started learning the last few songs in our song rep for our Fall tour. We got to spend one week in Willmar during this time of training and then it was back out on the road again!
Japan was an incredible experience. I say this not because we witnessed any "super cool miracles" or came back with any "big" stories, but because I got to experience what it meant to have your heart completely broken for a certain group of people. This trip was one in which I grew in humility, surrender, and trust.
It was my prayer at the beginning of our tour that God would give me a heart for the people of Japan and allow me to grow in a love for them because they are His people. It was only about half way into our time over there that I started to see the fruits of this prayer.
One evening I was able to go out on a front balcony of a church we were staying at and just observe the people walking by in the street below. There was a festival up the road, so there was a pretty steady flow of people, and I just remember my heart hurting for them. I couldn't help but pray that God would send someone to intercede for them. With the statistic of less than 1% of Japan being Christian, the words "they just don't know" kept running through in my mind. I allowed this to fuel my prayers for their salvation, and God used this time to motivate me in sharing the Gospel.
Our time in Japan consisted of a lot of street concerts, church worship services, and even a few cafe concerts. God used us differently in every type of venue, but the cool thing was realizing that the Gospel is the same everywhere. Even half way across the world, Christ's redeeming love is spread just the same.
We are now in Toronto, Canada, and have had a busy start to our Fall tour. We've played in prisons, schools, churches, and at recovery meetings, and God is revealing himself more and more to us everyday. I thank you for all of your prayers and support and I look forward to see what else God has in store for us as a team!
