Lynna’s Adventure in Japan: Part 3

Hello!

The last half of lecture phase passed by far too quickly. I’ve been so busy. I’ve heard that our lectures are just a bit longer than other DTSs, mostly because of the time needed for translations. I don’t mind, though. I like the dimension having translation adds.

From the Kawagoe trip.
From the Kawagoe trip.
I got tayaki with chocolate filling. It was delicious.
I got tayaki with chocolate filling. It was delicious.

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Our tight schedule didn’t stop me from doing things, though. We have weekends off, and I’ve been trying to make the most of them. I went to Kawagoe one Saturday, where there’s a lot of beautiful Japanese architecture, and street food like dango and tayaki. Another day I went to Shibuya with a friend, where I crossed the busiest crosswalk. I also went to Harajuku. It’s been lots of fun to see more of Tokyo. Higashikurume is still my favorite place, though. It’s less like a city here: more easygoing and quiet.

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For all you know, this entire column could be a subtle advertisement for Japanese snacks.
For all you know, this entire column could be a subtle advertisement for Japanese snacks.

One of the most impactful ones for me of the second half of lecture phase was Freedom week, where we talked about spiritual strongholds, curses, and original design. Original design is about how God created us each with with certain characteristics in mind as a work of art. It wasn’t a topic I was very familiar with, and God really worked in me that week. We also had a two-day lecture on the Kingdom in the Arts, in which we discussed finding Christian aspects in stories, something we regularly do on this blog, so that was really fun. Our speaker for that lecture was a director named Yu Shibuya, and I wish it had been longer!

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The past few weeks were mostly focused on preparing us for outreach, with an emphasis on showing God’s love for others and practical advice. My team and I are going to be working with children in Thailand, and we have been working on a kamishibai (It’s kind of like a paper theatre?) for them, though we don’t know what age group we’re going to be working with yet, so we may end up doing something else instead. I’m really excited to apply what I’ve learned! When I went into this DTS, I thought Outreach would be the most interesting part, but I’ve actually been so caught up in the lectures that I haven’t even had much time to think about Outreach. It’s going to be a glorious adventure!

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It’s hard to believe there are just a bit over two months of DTS left. Even though Outreach is where we’ll really put things into practice, I already feel like I’ve learned more about God in such a short period of time than I have in years. I’ve also bonded with the people here far more than I ever expected to. I am already a different person than I was three months ago. I can only image what Outreach is going to do to me. I’m looking forward to it!

Thanks for reading!

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