Settling into Koenji

Hey all!
So much has already gone on in the first two days that we've been here. My team of about 16 and I arrived in Tokyo Saturday night. We're 13 hours ahead so it was early, early Saturday morning back home. We flew in on Singapore Airlines which is just WONDERFUL! There are TVs with movies and video games in each headrest and we were given 2 meals and hot face towels and drinks and all sorts of things. I played Kirby and Mario a bit then watched Shrek, A Night at The Museum, and some other one I forgot.
Oh, anyway... when we got in, we had our first train ride which took us into Koenji (pronounce "Co-in-jee") where we have our appartment. The guys got 3 apartments and the girls got 2. I'm in an apartment with Joseph, David, and Chad (who's also called "Sugar," but I'm still not sure why). A lot of the members on the team come from USC, the University of Southern California, so they all already have known each other for a while. Despite that, they have done an EXCELENT job in welcoming us into the group without acting exclusive or anything even in the least.
Yesterday (Sunday), we were introduced to the Malaysian team who are also going to be working on some of the camuses during our time here. They'll only be staying for three weeks but are also trusting that God will use them in mighty ways.
Today (Monday), we were assigned our campuses that we'll be visiting and our campus teams. I'm on a team with Gen, Cheri, Christina, and Kris. We'll be going to Gakusyuin ("Gak-shoe-in") and Waseda ("wah-say-da"). We were scheduled to go to Waseda today but it was closed due to an outbreak of measles or something like that so we went to Gakusyuin, which was actually a good thing, as we were able to talk to a guy in the cafeteria who really seemed open.
Later, our team did some "team bonding" activites set up by the leadership in the city of Shibuya ("She-boo-ya") so we ran around the city and went in interesting stores and ate interesting food and such before we met up with the rest of our whole group and went to a sushi place for dinner. It was one of those conveyer belt places and was really cool! You HAD to have at least 7 plates of sushi (which contained only 2 small pieces each) and each plate was about 105 Yen.
Oh, yeah, also we converted like all our money into yen when we got into the airport. The rate we got was about 118.5 Yen / 1$USA and is fairly good for the past few years. We were given a food stipend for each week of 14,000Y so that's like $20 a day which is really reasonable.
I was also assigned to the "Heritage" group. That means that me and Kris (the other guy on the team) to find a way that we'll all be able to remember this trip. One idea was a group photo DVD (which I like) or make a group T-shirt (which I also like). We were given a fairly large budget so we'll see what we can do!
Oh, wow! So much has already happened in such a short time that I've gotten a bit overwelmed! Here are some things that you can pray for:
1) That the team would continue to be able to bond and work well together. We know that there WILL be conflict, but we need to make sure that is resolved quickly.
2) That God will bring people into contact with us who are open to receive the gospel.
3) That we would be bold in proclaiming the gospel with the people that we meet.
4) That we would all get more accustomed to the people, the culture, and the food! Nobody seems to have that much of a jet-lag problem (hey, we're all spirited, young college students!) but prayer never hurts.
Um, well, that's pretty much it! Once again, I'll try to post some pictures as soon as I can.
-Russell C.

Detroit Departure Pictures

Me and my mom

Me and my dad

At the airport

Still at the airport

Getting my ticket from the computer thing (wow! high technology!)

Going through the security checkpoint


After this my dad wasn't able to follow any longer and couldn't take any more pictures. I'll be sure to add more as I get them!! As of now, I'm unable to scale the pictures to nicely fit this webpage so you'll have to click the links to see the photos. Sorry!! I'll see what I can do later. We have dinner right now.
-Russell C

Van Guard University

Well, I'm here in California!
I left Detroit Metro Airport at about 9:30 am and had a brief layover in St. Paul, Minnesota. As I was coming down the exit ramp, I saw the most touchierng thing. A woman and her two young daughters were standing at the end of the gate with "Welcome Home Daddy" signs. I had to adjust my bags a bit so I got to see who came out: a US ARMY man in full camo. His daughters ran up to him and as he scooped them up in his arms I saw tears in his eyes. Anyway, that's all to say that we should still remember our soldiers who are overseas and such.
Anyway, after that, I continued on my journey to Orange County, California. I got there at around 1:40pm (local time) with no big deal but I couldn't find the person who was supposed to pick me up! After waiting about 2 1/2 hours for him, I found a cab that could take me to where I was supposed to end up at. Sheeeew! God is already teaching me flexibility! All we did for the rest of the day here was some group activities, go out to a Japanese restaurant, and then have a worship jam.
Right now, I'm in the dorm that they're having us stay in at Van Guard University for the few days here (we'll be doing some training and final fund raising tomorrow and the Thursday before the flight). The flight to Tokyo, Japan leaves on Friday so we're all getting down to the wire on finances and I still need help with around $1,400.
Right now, two guys are playing banjo and mandolin in the hallway and having an impromptu praise session with some other people.
YAWN!! Boy am I tired now! Locally it's only 10:30pm but my body still goes by Detroit time which says 1:30am! I think I'll hit the hay now and call it a day. I'll post pictures as soon as my mom emails me the ones we took at the airport. *hint, hint* *nudge, nudge*
-Russell C

The Day Before

Well, it's the day before I leave and I'm both nervous and excited! Right now I'm packing my big ol' luggage thing with all the clothes, toiletries, gifts, and such that my mom and I have already picked out; packing my carry-on backpack with books and other stuffs; and listening to some good techno by SuperGreenX (good stuff! Check out http://www.sgxmusic.com/ for free downloads of his music!)
I'm also gonna try calling some more people who I haven't heard back from about my trip. I still have over $1000 left so I'm really trusting God to come through here!!

Pre-trip thoughts

Wow! I can't believe that I'm actually going to do this! Way back in November when I heard about this I never thought that I'd be going overseas for a Summer Project with Campus Crusade for Christ! However, after hearing more about the trips I felt that God really wanted me to go on one! I was always interested in visiting Asia since I've met a bunch of people from that part of the world and interested specifically in Japan because of their reputation for being technologically advanced. When I read more about Japan on the CCC website and saw the need and impact that I could make there, I got really excited!
During the past few weeks I've been going crazy trying to raise support, study for finals, and prepare for the trip. It has really amazed me how generous people can be! God has really blessed me, so far, but I still have a bit more money to raise and it's getting really close to the deadline. Ahhhh, well.... God will provide, I know. I'm just a little bit nervous as I wait for His answer.