End of a semester, graduation, and South Korea

Greetings!

So it has been a little while since I posted. Last time I posted,I had just come back from a mission trip in Mississippi and found out that I am going to Japan for Journeyman. Since then, life had piled up and became super busy as senior year kicked my rear end... Fortunately, as you can tell, I am still alive and now free from the shackles of higher education (at least for a while).

The end of my last semester was pretty hectic with major presentations, papers, a week with 3 all-nighters, and preparation for graduation. I came out of my classes with all A's and B's, so I am thankful to be done. Graduation was sweet and memorable. We had a local business leader (the founder and CEO of Rayla Corp.) as our commencement speaker. Surprisingly he brought in the importance of faith, steadfastness, and God into his speech! It was very welcomed to my ears and I'm glad he was our speaker. That evening was fun since me and several of my friends went down to the Marietta Square to hang out with a bunch of people in a tiny room glorifying God. It was actually a fundraiser concert for several of my Echo friends going to Haiti.

Before the ceremony. From left to right: Cotis Hammock, Camille Drummond, Brent Cox, Jessica Finder, Me.

One of my best school friends, Jeremiah! What a humble man of God.

Me, Mom, and Brother

Haiti Benefit Concert in Marietta Square

Yesterday I returned from South Korea with a new experience, a new family, and a new best friend. I definitely left my heart in Busan, but am 100% sure that part of the reason I was to go to South Korea (aside from bringing God glory and sharing the Gospel) was to meet me new family. Joon, Amy, and Bella of the Busan BSU are now my family in East Asia. They are going to be a huge resource of love, support, encouragement, and rest for me while I am serving in Japan. I would not be surprised if I ended up living in Busan with these people serving our God. I love you guys!!!!!!

From left to Right: Me, Amy, Bella, and Joon

Over the next couple of days I will be posting journal entries from each day of my trip in South Korea. This will be the best place for information on what me and my team experienced each day, so if you can't reach me or you really want to find out before I can talk to you, check it out here! :)

D-Rice

Japan Update (03/23/2011) "Still going to Japan?"

Hey everyone,
So some of you may be wondering "are you still going to Japan with all this nuclear worry and evacuation happening?" And the answer is as of right now, yes.  I have not heard anything from the IMB about changes in our plans. Some good news I found out is that I now have definite dates of departure. I will be moving to Virginia on October 17th for training for 8 weeks and then move to Japan on December 30th. That is almost half a year from now and anything could happen. If any of those nuclear power plants explodes, I believe it should happen by then, but more than likely everything should be stabilized and life in Tokyo should resume.

This morning I read an article about IMB missionaries in Japan from the IMB website. IMB Japan Missionary Article :
This article is of double importance to me because it not only talks about Japan IMB personnel, but it specifically mentions MY SUPERVISOR. My supervisor has been officially relocated, which means If I were to be going to Japan right now, it definitely would not be in Tokyo.  Please read this article to see what it is like for my supervisors family and fellow Japanese baptists.

Please Pray:
•    that the relocated missionaries will be a witness in their temporary locations
•    for the ministries and partners they left behind
•    for those missionaries who are living in “tight quarters” and sharing homes

Daniel

It's Official

:Spoiler Alert!:

I received the call Thursday from the IMB where I am headed for Journeyman. I am officially going to Tokyo, Japan!
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These last couple of weeks have been quite interesting no doubt. I started off this time with the summer missions Send Me Now interview weekend in mid February. That weekend was packed with prayer, friendship building, slow jams, worship, and excitement. From that weekend, I was assigned to South Korea from May 14-31. There I will be working with university students at the University of Busan.  I will be going with 1 campus minister, 2 other guys and 3 other girls. We will disciple, encourage, and share our testimonies in many ways while there.

-I love having my life being missions!-

In late February I went up to Richmond, VA for the Journeyman Expo for the last step of the interview process.  This was a life altering experience for me. I came into the expo with not only my mind set on a certain place, but my heart was also content with where it was overall (particularly in the area of purity).  Up to this point, I had been talking with a ministry team leader in Wales and God had done some pretty remarkable things in opening a door to serve in the UK with the Celtic languages Team. Since that opportunity was the only one I knew of, so I had invested a lot of my heart and desires into it. I tried my hardest on my own to approach the conference with an open mind and spirit to other opportunities in case God had other doors or a specific door He wanted me to do. I couldn't do it on my own and it took me being super humiliated (in a good sense) in my personal interview to be knocked of rhythm of my tunnel vision.

Finally I was able to look at all the options and affinities with spiritually openness and equality. long story short, God showed me 2 other doors that I could maximally glorify Him through.  The first was in Tokyo and the other was Helsinki, Finland. As you can tell, I have a heart for both the peoples of western Europe and east Asia. God gave me some pretty sweet options, but no doubt, He never fails to put me in my optimal environment.

This last Thursday, while in the shower in Mississippi on a mission trip with my school's BCM, I got the call from the IMB.  Once I got out of the shower, I checked the message and checked my message.  I will be serving in Tokyo with my new friend and fellow interview group member, Jose Medina. Jose and I will be serving as Urban Young Frontliners.

Job description: Focus on university students and young adults who either go directly to work after high school, or do only part time jobs and seem to have no purpose in life. We will be making friends, learning Japanese, witnessing, baptizing, and leading bible studies.  Basically, we are reaching the 18-25 age group (kind of like Passion) in relational ministry and incarnational ministry in the best ways we know how using our past experience, education, passions, gifts, and talents. The good news is that this is a low security assignment, so I will continue to update this blog.  You can also keep up with my Blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and pictures at www.flavors.me/drice13. 

Something that is kind of crazy and that I am still processing and seeking understanding is what God's plan is for this earthquake in Japan. It was coincidental that I got the notification of my assignment in Japan the same day as the quake. What does God have in store for my life and future ministry? How will this affect the hearts of a post modern and post religious nation? 

I will post again in the next few days with some thoughts and hopefully answers. I have a lot more to tell you all about too like my a recap of my mission trip to Mississippi with the BCM and what not. Check back here in a little while.

Daniel

Welcome!

Thanks for checking out my blog! I created this blog because I was recently accepted into the Journeyman Program through the IMB. Check back here often for updates! I will make a legit post soon.