The who, what, and why

Hello world! My name is Kelsey and I'm a college student. I've lived in Kenya, Botswana, and the US, but this blog is going to be a record of a new enterprise;I am standing on the edge of a great adventure- a summer trip to the land of the rising sun, or in Japanese, Nihon, better known in these parts as Japan. I have wanted to go to Japan for the longest time, so this is a dream come true for me. I can hardly believe that I am really going to be living in Tokyo for over two months! It is now only 5 days until I leave, and I can hardly wait! I leave on a plane for Tokyo 8:25 Monday morning and get there Tuesday at 9 PM(Tokyo time). American time, it'll be 7 AM. Almost a full day of travel!

This picture above is of the Shibuya crossing in Tokyo, near where I will be staying. It's apparently one of the busiest crosswalks in the world.


So, why am I jumping the Pacific? I didn't really know it when I watched and played these things, but silly monster movies like Godzilla and Son, sagacious martial arts films like Karate Kid, learning games like Hello Kitty, and anime like Rurouni Kenshin have been exposing me to this island nation for most of my life. Japan has really done a good job of exporting its culture. I would have learned about Japan in geography of course, but I don't think I would have had quite the level of interest I have now if it wasn't for its culture.


My interest in Japan culminated in high school, when I decided to start learning Japanese for myself. It was then that I became more aware of Japan as a nation(for starters, its differences with China). And it was then that I really started wanting to go and visit it for myself. I have learned many good things about Japanese culture and many bad things; it's amazing how much you can learn now in this internet age. I've also decided to take Japanese in college, so I've learned a lot from that as well. Throughout high school and now in college, I have begun to have a burden for the Japanese people.


What is a burden? In the most basic of definitions, I'm sure you know what it means: something that you have to carry. In my case, it is a real heart-felt, gut-wrenching desire to see Japan know and love and follow the savior of this world, Jesus Christ. Now, this isn't a desire for people to follow my religion, it's a desire for all people to enter into a relationship with the God of this universe, the very God who made all of us and knows each by name. Sometimes God uses his people's desire for his glory and I think he is using my desire to learn more about the Japanese so that I may share with them the greatest truth in the world.

Burden, truth? Maybe you don't exactly understand what I'm getting at here, but I want whoever is reading this to see exactly who I am and where I am coming from. You see, God revealed his true nature to the world two thousand years ago by dealing with something people don't like to talk about, but is very true. Have you noticed how everyone does selfish things and how they hurt others and themselves in doing them? Have you ever lied to your friend to make things easier? We've all see murderers and thieves every day in the news; don't you ever feel like they must have - wanting something you couldn't earn on your own or angry?

Almost anyone will agree that these things are wrong, but don't we still desire, in our heart of hearts, to do some of these things? God knows this and he has seen that we, in our core, left to our own devices, will do evil and have done evil. Please try to stick with me here. Isn't evil supposed to be punished? Don't we see that through our court systems? God also can not stand anything evil, but he also has mercy and knows that we can not help ourselves.
This is where Jesus comes in. You see, Jesus is God's son, a perfect man who never sinned, because he is God in human form. Jesus didn't deserve any punishment. All he did with his life was teach about his father and how we are supposed to live in love. But he allowed himself to be punished as a criminal. An innocent, perfect sacrifice. Because he never did anything evil, he was able to take our place in punishment; because he was God, he could take on the whole world's sin on his back. That's a loving God! One who will take the punishment we deserved and put it on himself.

But the story doesn't end in death, but in life: Jesus died for our evil, but he had more power than all of the evil in the world! He came back to life 3 days after everyone thought he was gone forever(including his closest followers). God is a God of power!

Now how does this relate to me going to Tokyo? Well, it's simple. God provided one way to himself, and that is through Jesus' sacrifice. Any other way can't take the burden of our evil, any other way is incomplete, man trying to reach out to God. But God in his love reached out to us. Praise God! Anyone who chooses to follow Jesus Christ has eternal life. I'm going to Japan to tell people about Jesus.

Have any questions? I'm always willing to talk about my faith. This is ultimately why I am going to Tokyo, although I also want to learn more about its people and love them, the ultimate love is to tell them of a God who has saved them when they didn't know they needed his help.

This is going to be a blog of those adventures, so you can follow along with me and experience something of this alien country,its customs, people, and sites. I'm hoping to be able to blog here at least once a week.