Hey everyone,
sorry for such a late update. Im back from Japan now. Most of you have heard about the things that happened at Oshima this past week. Here is an email update I sent out as well as a few from my friends that put it in better words than I do and some websites about John. Thanks for keeping up with me and supporting me. God's been loving me and blessing me so much through all of you. Thank you.

For His glory,
Ojen


Hey Everyone,
This is really hard for me to write and I dont really
know how to express any of it but our team leader,
friend and brother John Lee passed away Monday.

This is the general story of what happened. John,
Mark, and Cole were swimming together at the beach.
They went exploring and decided to swim to a cave they
saw around a peninsula nearby. Mark and Cole made it
to shore but John didn't. They saw him struggling so
Cole swam back to get him but by the time he got to
John, he was unconscious. They tried CPR until the
ambulance arrived but he didn't make it.

All I can say is that we miss him so much and its just
been a huge shock to all of us. A big part of me still
can't believe it happened. We are taking comfort in
the Lord's sovereignty and knowing that he is home,
with the Lord. Please keep us in your prayers and keep
the students in your prayers as well. Just like his
life, his death is already glorifying the Lord here in
Japan. The students were mourning with us because they
loved him as well. Im sorry for the lack of detail,
its just kind of difficult for me to write right now.
I love you all. Thank you for everything and for those
of you who knew him, I'm sorry for your loss. We'll
see him again one day.

In Christ,
Ojen



Dear friends,
There are no words...
I have no words with which to tell you... our summer team leader and a man I met only a month ago but who quickly proved to be the most aimable and admirable man I had ever met, John Lee, died while swimming with two of our staff and two of our BEST club students.

Mark, Cole (a summer team member, one of John's guys) and John were swimming together on Monday. When Mark and Cole reached the shore they noticed something was wrong, the two Japanese guys were on the shore motioning to where they saw John, who was not swimming at that time. Cole reached John first but he was unconcious, so he brought John into shore. There Mark and Cole administered CPR for 15 minutes.
It was at this time, that I was back at our camp with students when my friend Masashi ran up to me shouting, "Jo! Jo! There's been a drowning."
I managed to jump into a car, heading down to the beach with our national director, Kusudasan. It was then that I tried to do a headcount of our guys that were there but I only saw Mark and Cole. I jumped out of the car and headed towards Mark. When he turned to me, I knew something was really wrong.
They loaded John into the ambulance and continued CPR on him. I ended up at the hospital with Kusudasan where John was later pronounced dead.

I only knew John Lee one month but one was enough to know that the man standing in front of me was the kindest, most thoughtful, fun-loving, God-fearing man. John lived a full life. He was full of love for his students (he was a teacher), for the men who he ministered with and for this summer team. He was committed to seeing this team succeed in loving the students and loving the Lord well. I wish I had beautiful words to tell you how much this man meant to me. But I have nothing...
I only knew him one month but I have been strongly impressed with the way he lived his life...

It's been interesting to look at how God aligned things that day and beforehand. For starters, our team was studying 1 Thessalonians and John really challenged us to live more excited for the Return of Christ. He was looking forward to being in God's presence and challenged us to live a life that would glorify the Lord. Another thing God aligned for me was a specific talk John and I had about his father and some things he had learned from his dad. One thing he had learned was how to love people, specifically the Japanese, because Jesus loves them. The last thing was that in his passing, we were able to share openly about death and heaven and our hope as believers with the students. Our theme for the trip was "faith, hope, and love" and hope was our last night's topic. How amazing that John's sold-out life which was evident to the students could paint a beautiful picture of hope in death.

I am exhausted right now and just emotionally raw... my heart breaks for the students who loved him, his family, his little elementary kids... there are so many people who John touched and loved. But I just keep thinking about how excited he was to be with Jesus and how he lived a life that was prepared. 1 Thessalonians says that we will be together with Jesus and we are not to grieve as those who have no hope... but still it's been good to minister to those around me. A Japanese believer, Norio and I were talking and I told him, "Norio, it's okay to cry. Jesus stood at the grave of his friend Lazarus and the bible says, 'He wept'."


PLEASE PRAY:
*for the team, the students, and Mark. Mark will accompany John's body back to the States in a few days and there are still many details to work out. Please pray for the summerteam as they are hoping to return in time for the funeral. One of my friends who is here this summer, Joni just said, "It will be a long grieving process as there are many people John impacted."
*pray for the Lord to use this in the lives of the students to put their faith in Christ. The students were pretty shocked as this is the first time for many, if not all of the students to see Christians go through a death of a loved one. Japanese experience no hope and comfort through someone's death- rather there is a great void and unanswered questions.
*I would like some prayer for my dear friends from this summer... most of our feelings can only be described as "waves"; meaning, one minute you are laughing and sharing good stories about John and the next you are crying because you just can' t believe it.
*Pray specifically for Cole and Mark as they were the ones who administered CPR and experienced the tragedy first hand. Please pray that the Lord would protect them from any guilt, and would surround them with HIS love and HIS peace which transcends ALL understanding.
*I just lift up Mark and his family and ask that you would do the same. Mark is currently separated from his family as there was a bit of a family emergency they rushed home for. Everything concerning that matter has been handled but it was easier for Mark to return alone to finish the summer program while Jin stayed with the kids in the states. But for Mark to be separated from Jin makes me sad and I just ask that they would be reunited soon.

John Lee was a good friend of Mark and Jin's and my teammate Eddie (who returned to the states to finish out his time here) and I am heartbroken for them. There are no words to express how much John loved the Lord and loved his friends. Please pray! I will try to keep you updated and informed but I may be away from my computer for this next week. Please pray!

Thanks!

Clinging to Him who knows all things,
Joanna

http://www.johnholee.com/

http://www.tokyobest.org/

Disappointments and Promises

This past week has been a little disappointing. I havent been able to meet up with Natsumi and a lot of the students were super busy with school. Finals are coming up for them and things have slowed down a lot. My first reaction was definitely a sense of discouragement and wonder at what the Lord is doing here. Is he doing anything?? Are we getting anywhere? My experience with the girls, so far, has been that we often get some great conversations going quickly and we make great connections but the next time we see each other it feels like that bond is gone and we are right back where we started. It wasnt long till the Lord readjusted my attitude and reminded me of His faithfulness. The Lord has brought these students so far. The fact that they are being honest and open is a miracle and hearing them speak of spiritual things and think about the questions that many of us asked before we came to know the Lord is so amazing (and unheard of for almost all of Japan). I know that God has his hand in all this and I thank Him for reminding me of His love and His promises through His word. Our work is not being measured by how many souls we save and our success is not determined by the number of people we are able to convince of the existence of God. God is at work in His own time and He has a perfect plan. I easily forget how much the Lord loves each Japanese here and longs for them to come to know Him. It's His work, not mine, and all glory belongs to Him.
Gods been speaking to my heart about prayer this whole year and one of the things ive been encouraged by while in Japan has been the fact that no matter where we or the students are in a few months, years, whatever the case , these students have been prayed for and the blessings which are being showered upon them as a result of prayer will continue to fall on them. God has heard our prayers and He, in His time, will carry them out. So I encourage you to keep praying. It doesnt matter how far you are or how little you know about these students, they will reap what you sow and that is such a blessing for them.
I love being here in Japan, being available for the students, loving them with the Love of Christ. I hope and pray that His mercy and grace will pour onto the students here and that they may see and feel the perfect love of Christ.

"and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun- scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well- watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. "
Isaiah 58: 10-11

Regardless of how things "seem" to be going, the Lord has promised that if we spend ourselves on behalf of the lost, our light, the light of the gospel, will rise in the darkness. Japan is dark but there are people boldly living for Christ. Ive been so encouraged by that. Thank God for His living word that breathes truth and speaks promises to His people today and for all eternity.


I just want to thank you all again for the support, please keep praying.

Here are some fun pictures...

Bake Night with the girls!


Playing Sardines


Sleepover, that's Miki


Keigo and Tye eating burritos


At the zoo with some of the students



Kie and I being scared of the crazy owl


Emi =)


Downtown Tokyo


Swing, Swing, Swing at Tama Center



And Finally... here is some sushi that I promised people I would eat. It was delicious and some of you will be very proud to know i ate all of it... even the squid (gross). =)

Priscilla, Natsumi, and Mayu watching How to lose a guy in 10 days.


Christie, Ty, and I eating ice cream after the Onsen


"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from EVERY nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb'" (Rev. 7: 9-10)

Before I came on this trip I began praying for at least one woman that I could invest in this summer. The Lord put a student named Natsumi on my heart. After spending some time with her I decided to ask her if she would read through John with me. Shes not a believer but she says she is searching. She told me that many Japanese see that there are many "paths" in life and they are confused about which one to take since they don't have a prominent religion in their families or culture. They are often raised and die without any religion at all.
Aside from that, one of the BEST club students, Keigo, shared how weird it is for a Japanese person to be a Christian. Its normal to meet foreigners who are (especially since they consider all Americans to be Christians) but to meet a Japanese person in Japan who is a Christian isn't acceptable.
It seems that they have so much more to lose in this life than the average American would in their society. Jin shared with us her feelings about this saying, "why should they miss out on the honor of being persecuted for Christ?" I understand Jin's heart more and more as i read through acts and see the joy of the apostles in every trial and persecution they have to deal with. We are praying that these students will see Christianity not as a way to lose everything "good" in their lives but as a decision that would give them life and love instead.
Praise God for their willingness to share and be honest with us. Please pray for our time with them.

Updated pray requests:
- Jerry shared the gospel with Yuri. ( You can read about it here: http://www.xanga.com/F_R_O_G). Pray for the Spirit to work on His heart as Yuri makes a decision.
- Reading the Bible with Natsumi
- Lord will guide our relationships with the students as we help them write speeches about love, life, values, etc.


Thanks for praying,
Ojen Aslanian

You can keep updated with the rest of my team at these addresses:

Christy: http://christyrandljapan.blogspot.com/
Ryan: http://rpm3japan2006.blogspot.com/
Mike: http://mikecainjapan.blogspot.com/
Jerry: http://www.xanga.com/F_R_O_G
Cole: http://www.xanga.com/CWRobinson

"Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."

Hey Everyone,
I wanted to share some prayer requests and use this blog to keep you all updated on what God is doing and what prayers we need. Thanks for checking in on me =). I miss you all so much and am so thankful to have you all praying and supporting this ministry.


Please pray for the students:

Natsumi
Megumi
Mayu
Tomoyo
Fuyu
Naoko
Kie
Chisato
Chiho
Ayano
Shanghai
Mitsuru
Tsugumi
Tomo
Ty
Keigo
Mikkun
Mamoru
Masa
Mamo
Miki
Yuri
Kaoru
Ayumi
Asako
Mai
Norio (graduate)

Whew. Ill be posting some specifics about the students soon (and some fun pictures =). Thanks for being faithful.

More Prayer Requests =)
- The team: John Lee, Joni, Jane, Priscilla, Christie, Jerry, Cole, Mike, and Ryan.
- Staff: Mark and Jin Rood, TJ and Kyong a Hayes (just left for 10 months in America).
- Midtermers: Joanna and Mary.
- Pray that our team will have the attitude Paul has in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 toward the students here in Tokyo.
- Our love for the students and for each other will be a testimony to them.
- Curiosity of Christianity and the Bible will turn into a desire to know Him in an intimate way.
- The team will be encouraged by the fact that God is sovereign and His plans are perfect.
- John Lee and Mark's leadership.
- Building relationships with the students will be quick (since we have a limited time here).
- We will be an encouragement to one another.
- Strength (physical and spiritual).