So it is about time for another update I suppose.  I have been sick for the last two weeks with what began as a cold then turned into bronchitis.  I have been on antibiotics.  So much fun!  Anyway being sick has not been all that bad except it has just made the daily routine a little more tiring.  And I hadn’t gone to the beach for a couple of weeks, until this past weekend.  I don’t really have anything really big to write about, but I guess maybe I will recount some of the highlights…

One night I was convinced by a couple of guys on my floor to go to the university show at Kennedy Theatre here on campus.  It really wasn’t that hard to convince me as I do enjoy a good show when I get the chance to see one, but I was feeling pretty lousy sick so it was not just a given.  Anyway, the show was A (Balinese) Tempest, and I must say it was quite exceptional in entertainment value (greater than the $5 I paid to get in), and in quality of production.  It was the basic story of The Tempest with a few original quirks and scripting, but done in Balinese shadow puppet throughout.  This was an experience a little like being at a cinematic show, but live.  And there was much distinct Balinesian rythm and percussion to accompany the whole thing.  Overall a good experience.

As an update for my thinking, and God’s plans for my summer as of now.  I don’t know whether I will be accepted on the Japan Summer Projects yet, but I am contemplating which project I should go on…the one that leaves in May and gets back in July, or the one that leaves in June and ends in August.  I don’t think God is particularly calling me to one or the other right now, so is it ok to just go with preference?  Which is? I don’t know.  So maybe a little more about Japan.  Japan is an open country religion-wise, and as such going in on missions does not require the same precautions as maybe some neighboring South-East Asian coutries would require.  Which is kind of why it is a surprise to hear some of the statistics coming out of Japan.  It is common thought that only 1% of the population is Christ following believers.  This number is astounding to me for a couple reasons.  First, it shows that God is needed desperately in this country, there is a spiritual cloud over the county (which might also have something to do with the highest suicide rate of young adults in the world).  While this is a sad thing to acknowledge, it is also very exciting because I think, and I know that it is high time for God to have a spiritual outpouring and revolution in this country.  I believe that God can and does do great works in the world today, and I truly believe that God will indeed do great things in Japan.  I am overwhelmed with the excitement of potentially doing God’s work in Japan and spreading Jesus’ love to its’ people.  With this in mind I ask for your prayers about the application process and acceptance to the trip if that is where God wants me to be this summer, if that is where He will use me most effectively.  Also that I can continue growth in self-control and spiritual maturity as I prepare my heart for bringing the Gospel to Japan. 

As mentioned I was kept from the beach for a couple weeks, but this weekend I was not going to let that happen again.  On saturday Dan, Kat, Wayne and I headed out to Makapu’u beach on the east side of the island.  It was fantastic.  The sun was shining and the swells were coming in big.  In fact scary big at times.  Especially for me who was trying to body board without fins (as I don’t own any), I got chased by a couple big waves that I couldn’t catch up to and ended up having them break on me pretty good.  Sending me tumbling like a ragdoll, trying to relax and wait for it to be clear to surface.  Of course surfacing only faced me with another break that would wash me out again.  So a little tumbling, a lot of sun, a few good rides, overall a good day at the beach, beautiful Makapu’u. 

So I guess that is about it for what has been going on…hmm and now that I look at the time I realize that there is one more thing.  It is now my birthday…Hazaa!  I am now 19, nothing really happens when you turn 19, except I am realizing that in one more years time I will no longer be a teenager, I will be the same age as when my brother got married, I will have lived for a good blessed two decades on this planet of God’s creation. But that is not for another year, I’ve still got this one left before all that happens, I’d better make the most of it!