Everything is different, everything's so different!

Lately the worship band at our church has been singing the song "Now that you are near" (Link to youtube video of english version). I've really enjoyed singing this song, because the lyrics resonate on so many levels with me.

The chorus is:

And now, that you're near, 

everything is different 

everything's so different Lord

I know, I'm not the same

my life you've changed

I wanna be with you, I wanna be with you

Everything really is different.

 Recently our worship band played at a Gloria Jean's Cafe in Osaka (its similar feel to Starbucks). It was an awesome set up - a great cafe with customers going in and out, free advertising for the church, the cafe manager handed out flyers to all the customers, and people walking by the cafe often stopped to listen and check us out too. I think our volunteers handed out 100 flyers that day!

During the music at the cafe, we did this song. While I was singing it, I was brought to tears of amazement at God. Everything in my life is really different because of him. Most importantly, my life is full of hope, peace, and God's constant presence because of salvation through Jesus. But also, he has brought my family to a foreign land, we are working among one of the largest unreached people groups in the world. Everyday is full of opportunities to represent Jesus. Now, Seth and I speak a foreign language, and I thought "here I am singing about how my life is different in the middle of a city of 17 million people, in Japanese".

Jesus has changed EVERYTHING. And its for the best.

My prayer is that he changes everything in the lives of my friends here too. And not just my friends, but the millions upon millions of people in Japan who have never heard a clear explanation of the Gospel.

Will you pray that everything will be different for them too?