“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:14-16 The harvest is ripe in Japan. God is raising up more and more Japanese Christians and missionaries as the salt and light, to preach the gospel with boldness and power. No longer a “missionary graveyard,” Japan will be known as a land of revival, the land of the True Rising Son. 「你們是世上的光。城造在山上是不能隱藏的。人點燈，不放在斗底下，是放在燈臺上，就照亮一家的人。你們的光也當這樣照在人前，叫他們看見你們的好行為，便將榮耀歸給你們在天上的父。」（馬太福音5:14-16） 日本的莊稼已經成熟。神正在興起越來越多的日本基督徒和宣教士，作為鹽和光，大有膽量和能力地傳講福音。不再是一片“宣教士墓地”，日本將被稱為復興之地，真光升起之地。

The last ten days I was back in Taiwan. On Monday and Tuesday I filmed a live studio recording for my new Chinese worship album. The whole project came together quite last minute, but by God’s favor I was able to get all my favorite Taiwanese musicians and director into one studio 過去十天，我回到了台灣。週一和週二，我在錄音室錄製了我新的中文敬拜專輯的現場演出。這個整體企劃在最後一刻才完成，但因著上帝的恩典，我得以邀請到我最喜愛的台灣音樂家和導演們齊聚一堂

Before leaving the girls’ house, they prayed for me. “Lord, bless Melody’s trip back to Taiwan and the people she will meet along the way.” I remember at the time thinking, “Evangelism? I’m not sure I’ll have time for that.” Turns out God always has time for reaching the lost. The only question is if we will be His hands and feet. 在離開女孩們的房子之前，她們為我祈禱。“主啊，祝福Melody回台灣的旅程，以及她在路上會遇見的人” 。當時我記得我在想，“傳福音？我不確定是否會有時間”。事實證明，神總是有時間去尋找失落的人。唯一的問題是，我們是否願意成為祂的手和腳。

Some may think, “What’s the big deal? Just turn off the lights.” At the end of the day, it’s not about the lights. There are things all of us do because we think they’re the right thing to do, and we assume others agree—only to find out the hard way that we’re wrong. And it’s often these little things that, if left unchecked, build up over time and create a mountain of bitterness. 有些人可能會想，「有什麼大不了的？只要關掉燈就行了。」但歸根結底，這不是關於燈的問題，而是因為我們想要做正確的事情，如果我們假設別人也同意——只有通過艱難的方式才能發現我們錯了。而且通常是這些小事，如果不加以檢查，可能會隨著時間積累起來，形成一座苦澀的大山。

“Something you should know about Melody is that she thrives on challenges.” Wow, I thought. What a compliment. In some ways, that is also how I see myself when I face a new challenge… Well, at least for the first few weeks, or months at best. But isn’t that like most people? Consider February or March’s drop in gym attendance compared to January’s peak. I have a level of resilience, but I’m also just as susceptible to temptation as the next person. Just as flowers cannot stay in bloom year-long, so one cannot stay “thriving” all the time. Dips along the way are to be expected, but I suppose the main difference is between those who hunker down for the winter, awaiting spring, and those who simply give up, lay down and die, essentially resorting to an eternal winter. The truth is, it is very hard to give up completely. The human spirit is incredibly resilient. Even when you think you’ve lost all hope, it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to do great things. 「你應該知道，Melody是那種在挑戰中茁壯成長的人！」哇，我想。這真是個讚美！ 在某些方面，這也是我面對新挑戰時的自我形象，至少在最初的幾週，或最多幾個月。但這不是大多數人的情況嗎？健身房一月的出席率與二三月的來比較，我的確有一定的韌性，但我也和其他人一樣容易受到誘惑，就像花不能全年開放一樣。一個人也不能總是茁壯成長，途中出現低谷是可以預期的。但我想，主要的區別在於那些等待春天來臨的冬眠者，和那些完全放棄、倒下、死亡，實際上進入永恆冬天的人。事實上，完全放棄是非常困難的。人類的精神非常堅韌，即使你認為你已經失去了所有的希望，只要有芥菜種大小的信心，你就可以成就偉大的事！

Yes, you read that right! Since I’ve been back (because I was literally just there a month ago), I’ve been telling close friends and family. Reactions have been varied. Some said, “I thought you were going to New York City!” Others weren’t surprised at all, having sensed something from watching my recent videos in Japan. I must say though, personally, I am still quite surprised by the unfolding of these events. I did not expect or set out to find a completely new direction when I decided to go to Japan two months ago for vacation, but sometimes that’s how God works. When you think it’s Him, sometimes you realize it was just yourself. And other times you think He has nothing to do with it; turns out it was His plan all along. As the proverb goes, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9 NKJV). 是的，你沒看錯！自從我回來（因為我一個月前才在那裡），我陸陸續續的在告訴身邊的朋友和家人。大家的反應各不相同。有些人說：“我以為你要去紐約了！”有些人並不驚訝，因為從我最近在日本拍的影片中可能已經感受到了。不過，個人來說，我對這些事件的發展仍然感到非常驚訝。兩個月前我決定去日本度假時，我沒有預料到或計劃尋找一個全新的方向，但有時候神就是這樣工作的。當你認為是祂的時候，有時你會發現那只是你自己。而其他時候你以為祂與此無關；結果發現這一直是祂的計劃。正如箴言所說：“人心籌算自己的道路，唯耶和華指引他的腳步。”（箴言 16:9）