March: Funny Group Pics

These pics will depict all of our individual personalities :o) The first one, we are all trying to jump. I'm a little embarrassed because there are other Japanese people in this important government building. And they are probably thinking, look at the funny Americans....But anyways, the olympics are coming to tokyo!

March: God Definitely Takes You Places

In Yukoska, we got to take a tour of the USS George Washington - an aircraft carrier. All of the pilots on the team took a picture next to the F-18. (Josh, me, Daniel, John)

For our last night, we did some sight seeing. We got to take a ride on this farris wheel. It never stops and it takes about 15 minutes to come full circle. Josh and I were lucky enough to get our own booth. The city was pretty at night.

Here is a picture of the screen on the airplane home. We are in the middle of the Pacific, going to Chicago first before Dallas.

Since we didn't get a lot of ministry pictures to show what we actually did (makes sense, right?), I share a little more about that. We visited 2 churches and 1 youth group, and 1 Bible study with the Navy sailors. We lead worship, shared testimonies....We did street ministry - handing out Bibles in Japanese comic strips, called Monga. We also handed out baseball players' testimonies on DVD after a baseball game. We visited two universities to see about setting up an exchange program with LeTourneau. We helped with projects at The Lighthouse - a ministry house for the Navy sailors in Yukoska. The people we talked with were really blessed with how God had provided a way for us to come and that a group of college students would want to do this during our spring break. Another young woman was majorly blessed by Josh and I sharing our testimony of how God brought us together despite our past hurts. She had also experienced similar pains as she is now waiting for God's timing with marriage and future plans. Josh also shared with a young man at one university about his story before meeting me, which again encouraged this man as he had a similar story. Its just so cool how God set up appointed conversations between us and those who needed to hear from us.

Our last fligth from Chicago to Dallas, 3 of our team members got stuck in Chicago as the rest of us made it on the plane to our destination. We prayed that God would use this turn of events. He did! Josh Lubbers was the last to fly in. It just so happens that he sat next to an older gentleman who needed to receive Christ as his personal Savior. Josh talked to him and lead him to Christ. Another answer to prayer and another victory for God's Kingdom! It's His power, but He still chooses to use us.

March: Spring Break Continues

We got to take a ferry ride up river.

Here is most of our group. The girl in front is Maasa, our team translator. To the right of her is our team leader, Daniel. The man in the back is our faculty member - Dr. Compton. As you can see, Josh always enjoys adding spark to the group. Josh helped with leading worship. To the very left, Greg - helped with finances as a business major as well as with communication between the President of LeTourneau, Dr. Lundsford, and our group - since he was the student body president. To the right of him is Josh Lubbers, he took charge of the team's money as well as worship. Dr. Compton met with ;eaders from two universities while we got tours of the campuses. Behind Dan and Josh, John - he journalled about the events leading up to the trip and during our time in Japan. John also got to share his testimony with the high school youth group which was very powerful. Another team member, Chuck is missing from the picture. Both him and I were "fill in" people that helped with whatever was needed. I (Emily) ended up helping with worship, cooking, hosting our group for a meal before we took off for Japan....We all got to share devotionals during our weekly meetings as well as each day on the trip. It was neat hearing about the Lord's work in each team member's life as well as seeing the events unfolding through a different perspective.

Check out the crazy train routes! With help, over time we began to figure it out. A little difficult with most of it in Japanese....I could get used to public transportation though.

Guess whose tongue that is! My husband's! All of the guys decided to eat an octopus leg - doesn't it just look yummy. Josh was pretty brave and tried all of the odd Japanese food and interesting seafood. I opted to just hear and watch, not taste.

We gave my husband, Josh Lyon, and the other Josh on the team, Josh Lubbers, a bad time since both had last names that started with "L" and both were from Texas...so at times, it was difficult for people to distinguish who they were talking to. They enjoyed leading worship together though.

March: Japan Here We Come!

Now, Japan is one of those events in our lives that we can look back to and testify without a doubt how God is our sole Provider. He is so faithful to us and continues to guide us despite our lack of understanding. In previous posts, I have mentioned the possibility of going to Japan for Spring Break - yet what about the money? the passports? the faculty member that's required to be a part of our group? the contacts in Japan? the lodging and transportation? the cost of food? What will we do each day? How should we prepare? What about he language barrier? And so the questions went on in each of our minds as Satan threw at us the reasons why this trip was simply impossible for us college students.

Yet, as we prayed and met together week after week during January and February. Our faith grew stronger. And more so, God began to answer our prayers. A LeTourneau faculty member agreed to join our group; passports came in for all members that needed one; support money began to arrive from family and friends and anonymous people; plans began to form of what we could do while in Japan and who we could stay with; we had time for a brief lesson in the language, culture, and religion as well as instruction on how to present LeTourneau University to the schools we would be visiting.....the praises just continued on and on! God raised over $20,000!!!! We even had $ to give donations to both of the missionaries who housed us. God even blessed us with some money for some souveniors. I'm telling you....God is SO GOOD and SO ABLE TO PROVIDE for HIS PEOPLE!

I think this trip resulted because there was a great need in Japan, God's people were willing to go, God's people were trusting and believing in God, and God's people used the power of prayer and fasting....and God is faithful to answer and provide for His people and is so ready to reach those in need.

The first picture is of Josh on the plane in Dallas. We got to bring a drum to use for worship which is in his hands. This would be his first international flight! A very long flight!

Here we are in Japan. Just a little tired as we make our 2 hour trip by train to the missionary's home near Tokyo.

Look at this two-way street! Yup! We walked from the house to the train station everyday for the first half of the trip. Considering we had to walk back as well, we walked that distance (40min) 2-4 times. So we got our exercise in!

This last picture is overlooking part of Tokyo city from a skyscraper - like on the 50th floor. This is just a view of one sliver of the city - it just goes on and on as far as you can see, which ever way you look. I'm impressed with how well the Japanese use space - no yards around the homes/apartments, just gardens; the top of buildings are sometimes used for helicopter landing pads or even golf courses; some play grounds were located under bridges. They are pretty creative and innovative people.

February: The Semester Builds

I can assure you that many times during these months we were praying for God's strength, guidance, and rest.

School-wise, Josh had a lighter semester load with no more flying and only one lab. However, we had a lot on our minds and hearts concerning the Marines and our future plans.

We had learned that Josh could not fly for the Marines because he had cornea dystrophy. Flying in the Marines had been his dream for all of college. And up to this point, God had helped him through two 6-week sessions of Officer candidate School, numerous physical fitness tests, and various other hoops. Yet, God had proven Himself faithful through those challenges and would remain the same for this major change in events. He knew this day would come and used this news to force us to really talk about and consider our future in the Marines. Josh was offered a ground contract, meaning that he can be an officer in the Marines, but can't fly for them. This decision weighed heavy on both of us, but especially Josh.

Besides this decision, I was busy with a loaded semester between four upper level courses and my practicum as well as work and learning how to be a full-time wife.

Yet, God continued to His work in us and helped us through each day. And trust me, there was some pretty rough days.

Oh yeah, we were also preparing for our Japan trip. A group of 9 students and 1 professor came together. We met each week to plan and pray and encourage one another as well as learn about the customs in Japan. Luckily, we had a team translator who is also a student a LeTourneau. At this point, money was slowly coming in for the group. Each person needed to raise $2,000. Therefore, we spent a lot of time praying to the God who owns all the resources in the world!

January: God Continues to Shower His Mercy in the New Year

We sent letters out to update friends and family as well as to ask for support with an upcoming missions trip: JAPAN. ??? That's what we said, when a friend asked if we would think about coming on a trip to Japan for Spring Break. We were like....we don't have the money...we were just blessed by people giving us many gifts for our wedding (how can we aske the same people for more support)....its a busy time of year....BUT, we were willing to go and knew that God would provide the money if this was a part of His plan. So we sent out the letters in faith, believing in God's plan.

While Josh was away for a flight physical for the Marines, Kristi stayed with me and we got to bake an apple tart. Super good. I'd say we are quite the cooks. Kristi has been one of my close friends since freshman year and we hope to stay in touch :o)

For my LAST semester, I got to do a 60 hour practicum at two different sites: The Presbyterian Children's Homes and Services and VOW/Twogether in Texas. The first site, I observed a social worker during home visits where she assessed familes; the second site, I observed various couple sessions for the purpose of teaching people better tools to improve marriages in the state of Texas. Both experiences gave me great insights into marriage, parenting, as well as working with people.