JAPAN | OKINAWA, KYOTO, + OSAKA

After a few days in Taiwan, we were off to Japan!

In Okinawa, we got to join the team at Calvary Chapel Ginowan and do ministry for a week and it was just the best. Us girls got to help with the women’s conference, gathering a girl band a leading worship, and my friend Emma and I had the honor of sharing at the conference which was a totally new but beautiful experience. 

In between the moments of ministry, we got to soak up Japan’s natural and cultural beauty, from the beaches and mountains to the artisans at work and years old architecture. 

From Okinawa, our Florida and California teams headed to the mainland to enjoy Kyoto. The majority of these photos came from our time of sightseeing! This time stood as a halfway point in the middle of almost a month of ministry in Asia. Though our time was incredible, we were a little weary coming off of a few weeks of ministry, and anticipating what was to come. While missions work is an incredible joy and privilege, it exposes so many weaknesses, too. 

I have noticed that the extravagant joy of doing missions paired with those hard moments just makes journeying through life all the more rich, and all the more human. What a gift it is that Jesus is not at all afraid of our humanity!

When we were walking through Kyoto, we saw so many waterways throughout the city. They were not stagnant canals — they were clear, bubbling, and flowing. They had a way of bringing life, refreshment, and rest into a more urban and rushed area. 

Not to mention — the incredible amount of green foliage, pockets of traditional history, and hidden artisans creating and selling their craft all around, yet, still in the midst of the hustle.

The beauty we got to see in Japan amidst so many fulfilling moments of ministry reminded me of what God does in our hearts on the day to day. It’s something that being weary gives us the clearer vision to see. 

When we’re feeling weak and dry, He’s so faithful to fill our cup with living water, make flowers grow in the dry cracks of our hearts, and bless our stepping out in faith.

Whenever we fall down, He picks us up.

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
‭‭John‬ ‭7‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ ‭