we have one month of One Accord tour left. WHAT? one month? it makes me kinda sad when I think about it. I am soo fortunate to have this opportunity to impact teenagers and adults. Also, I am fortunate that I even got chosen to be on this team... and to play alongside with these amazing musicians with BIG hearts. I don't even know where to start. Obviously for me, I didn't make it my 3 times I auditioned to be on OA. But God wanted me on there for some reason, so with all the circumstances that happened, I ended up being on OA'07.

honestly, I can still go on longer being with the other amazing 6 people and traveling, and just being a little part in God's big picture of reaching young people. but I KNOW that this was only a door that God has opened and it's coming to a close because He has other things He wants me to do. like... lead a trip to Japan or something which I am SOO freaking excited about! I can't even tell you how excited I am. Everytime I talk to Paul (aka the missionary dude ) about the logistics and stuff, I get more and more excited. yeah ninedays!

what's weird to me right now is that if all goes well, I will be graduating this May. eek! It's a weird feeling just because I've been training for 11 years to do what I felt God's been calling me to do since I was 10 and now... it's going to be coming to past very soon. what?! no way!!

I have no idea what's going to happen to me. I really don't. All I know right now is that I will move to Japan soon after I graduate. How soon? I'm not sure yet. The sooner I move, the sooner the reality hits. And I believe that God has been giving me different opportunities and connections with people and everything seems to be falling in place. The fact that Dave Pedde has even spoken things over my life scares me at times. Musically I feel the most intimidated by him, but yet he believes in me. Same with my parents. Although we obviously do not share the same music genre, they have been very supportive of me. I love how I'm just flowing with the current and I'm being guided. God is AMAZING!

thoughts...

as I keep walking through doors, God keeps opening new ones. It is impossible for me NOT to say that God does not exist, cuz then I would be lying to myself.

Where to start...I will start with the opportunity to go to Japan this past summer to do ministry for 3 months. God broke barriers in my life, got me out of the comfort zone and I got my feet wet to do ministry there in the future. I was this girl who was terrified to perform infront of people, but God put a mic in my hand and I toured with Mika for couple months. I led worship in Japanese and English. Then by the 3rd month, I was playing guitar and singing out in the streets in Japan for 2 weeks straight and had my own show at the church coffee shop for a week for couple hours.



I come back to school and had heard that 3 people had left One Accord 07. In the back of my mind, I was thinking that maybe God was opening another door. But at the same time, I felt like that I would never make One Accord and it was just another dream that wouldn't be caught. As I was walking back to the Fine Arts Building after Performance Prep class, Dave Pedde, the professor that oversees One Accord, pops the question "so.. what if I asked you to be on One Accord?" I was shocked, honestly. Of course, my answer was yes. I realized that I get to do the type of ministry I had dreamed about doing. Leading worship at summer camps, youth groups, youth rallys and Sunday worship, being a camp counselor, performing original songs, going to high schools to do school assemblies, and most of all, be there and love on young people. The cool thing is that since at this point, English is my stronger language, I feel like God is preparing me to use me in this type of ministry from English first.



Because of One Accord, I was a little sad that I wouldn't be able to do ministry in Japan this summer, but then here comes another door.

About 7 weeks ago from today, 10 Japanese exchange students set foot on Minnesota ground and didn't know what to expect. By their 3rd week here, somehow they ended up at a church where they met my neighbor, Masumi. She invited them over for dinner and invited me as well. I felt a tug in my heart that I needed to be there, so I took work off and hung out with them for a while.

I told my mom about it and she invited them to come to a Japanese outreach that we hold at our church once a month. Most of them came and my mom talked about how God is love and for us to feel loved and love others, we have to believe and accept the love that comes from God. One of the guys sitting next to me started shaking a little bit and got up to ask my neighbor some questions. Another guy went to talk to my mom. The other, my dad. I started talking with one of the girls about what my mom was talking about and helped answer some of her questions. I could feel that night that God was definitely on the move.

I told them that they could call me that weekend so I can drive them places to go shopping or whatnot and invited them over for dinner at my house then go see my dad play at orchestra hall. During dinner, some of them were asking my mom and I questions about God and it was pretty intense. After the concert, two of them came and hung out with me and my family. I shared my testimony and my mom talked about having purpose in life and God being our direction.

Their last week here approached and my mom invited them over again for dinner at my house (which was 2 Thursdays ago). I randomly saw Stas Roberson in chapel (whom I barely ever see) and he mentioned that he had met 10 Japanese exchange students who were studying at the U of M for 6 weeks. This is when our "SHUT UP!! Are you kidding!?" type moments started occuring. haha. Exactly. He had met them and kept seeing them. So I invited him to join me at my house the next day for dinner.

We were all eating and started asking them to reflect on their stay here and talk about it. They all had mentioned all the weird encounters they had with people and we were all connected somehow. Then Stas talked about his experiences in Russia and shared a little testimony about that. We started talking about God and my mom shared the gospel. We gradually all kind of split off into little groups to talk more God and what they thought about God. Stas and I went to a different room (since it was soo loud) and talked with 2 of the girls. We asked them that if they believed that God really did exist, what they would ask God if they had an opportunity. Their question was "What does God think of me? Even though he knows our past, our mistakes and everything about us" We asked them to close their eyes and asked them to ask God themselves. We prayed outloud for them and as we were praying, one of the girls started crying. She started saying that there was a darkness which was her loneliness, mistakes, regrets which was all in a clump in her life, but she felt God wrap his presence around it and said "don't worry." We finished praying and we asked them if they want to believe in God and wanted us to pray with them. They said yes and so they came to Christ! We went to another room where one of them was trying to nap on my couch and as we approached him, he said "I believe in Jesus!!!" I couldn't believe it. He had already talked to my mom about it. We were all chillin in that room and I could hear my mom praying with 2 of them and they were repeating back to her the sinner's prayer. I was SCREAMING inside. I was soo amazed. So they also joined us in the room afterwards then my mom was then praying with another guy. I was going CRAZY! OH MY GOODNESS. So that night, 6 of them came to Christ! SOO crazy. I have never seen a group of people be SOO pursued by God! All this time, people from Chi Alpha were praying for them (in which I found out later that a few people from North Central has met them and have been praying for them). Somehow these students met soo many Christians as they were just  here.. it AMAZES me.



Back tracking a little bit, I had told Jolene that I was going to Japan for 3 month to do a missions trip. Then, she asked me if I would consider maybe leading a ninedays missions trip to Japan in 2008. I told her that I would pray about it and get back to her on it. The fall term started and I met with Jolene and told her all about what God did on my trip to Japan and at that time I also told her that I was willing to lead a trip to Japan for this next year. I was soo excited! As time has passed this semester, I had many people asking me if I was going to lead one to Japan and they were interested in doing ministry in Japan. It has been soo cool to see that God is putting burdens on people's heart for Japan!

During chapel yesterday, God really put a vision in my heart to do a children's ministry AND campus missions if the ninedays thing works out. I started crying and my heart grew heavier and heavier for the people there. Ryan Cragg started praying for me and it was soo cool because I never see Ryan during chapel, but yet God put him in my heart during chapel to ask him consider going on this trip. Ryan was going to tell me that he wanted to come to Japan with me, but I asked him before he could tell me. AHH! so CRAZY.

I turned in my ninedays leader application this week and I have a interview on Monday! I'm praying that everything would go the way God wants it.



See? God opens doors. It's just totally AMAZING to me how much each door is preparing me to do something greater. I can't even start to imagine what God is going to do through me. Dave has definitely been an encouragement to me because he keeps telling me that he's a fan and that I won't even be able to comprehend what God is going to do. He also said that after One Accord, I need to record a full-length original Japanese album....coming from DAVE, it's just.. crazy. I'm a little scared to know what is going to happen to me, but at the same time I'm soo freaking EXCITED! It's so crazy that I only have 20 credits left to graduate.. I graduate May of 2008!!

Thank you for those who read what is going through my head. I pray that you guys will all continue to pursue what God has for you and aim high!