One Step at a Time

I'm home now!

“Home...” That word rings in my ears – it sounds so wonderful! It's an idea I've longed to experience for three months – looking forward to the day when I could hear with my own ears, “Welcome home!”

Well, now it's a reality. I landed at Portland International Airport on Saturday, November 14, at 7:30am, greeted by friends and family. At church Sunday morning, I was overwhelmed by the love and kindness demonstrated to me by my family in Christ. And so, “I'm home.”

...But am I ready for this?

I would describe my emotions as “bittersweet.” It's a bright, new season in my life... but I keep dwelling in the past. There's so much for me here in America. Yet I poured my heart into my work in Japan and then left it... My experiences were so incredible! I would re-live them if I could!

But I can't.

This year can't be like last year. Everything is going to be different. I might see the same faces, but I know that people's hearts have been changed; I know that I'VE been changed. And so, I must move forward, not knowing exactly where the next step might take me...

Right now, I'm easing back into daily life here -- picking up last year's piano students, planning my college career, and getting a job and an internship. But most importantly, taking the time to just be and to soak in God's love and His grace. It's definitely a different season in my life, but as always, I know that the Almighty, Sovereign King is reigning, and He gently leads me each step of the way. Just as Isaiah 30:21 says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'” God promises to guide me. He just asks me to patiently follow Him as He guides me...

...One step at a time...

Rachel  <><

Sophia's Helper

For the past three months, I have been helping my student, Sophia, transition into her fourth grade class at the Christian Academy in Japan. For the first three years of her life, Sophia was completely deaf. This is symbolic of all of us before salvation -- we are all spiritually deaf. When Sophia was three years old, she had a cochlear implant -- it took surgery to transmit audio stimuli to her brain. To give an idea of the hearing impairment Sophia is challenged with at this time, think of it this way: A normal hearing person has 32,000 points of stimuli with both ears combined; Sophia has but a mere 22!

Yet Sophia's implant has given her a wonderful gift -- her brain is now able to have sound waves transmitted to it! This has not been easy, however; Sophia was deaf for the first three years of her life, so to have sounds suddenly transmitted to her brain took getting used to. For a new Christian, there are also adjustments.

She has had to learn how to distinguish sounds, and now, all these years later, she has been learning how to block out the other classroom noise and focus on the task at hand. As Christians, we too have to learn to focus and to block out all the other distractions.

Dealing with deafness has its share of grief. Both Sophia and her parents have experienced pain and devastation. However, spiritual deafness is far worse! The repercussions will last for eternity. For months, I was praying that Sophia would see with her eyes, hear with her ears, understand with her heart, and turn and be healed spiritually (Isaiah 6:10).

We all need spiritual healing. We need for God to work a miracle in each of our lives so that we will not be deaf to the truth. And that was exactly what God did for Sophia! God worked everything out in His perfect timing so that she could hear His words over those three months, then hear them again directly, repent from her sins, and decide to trust Christ as her Savior before I left!  He didn't need to allow me to see Sophia come to know Him, but in His grace He blessed me with that privilege, giving me such awesome peace and closure for coming home.

The best part of this is that Sophia is now secure in Christ! I had been worried about what would happen to her once I left... who would help her? But in His wisdom, God provided her with the best help she could ever have: the Holy Spirit dwelling in her! 

One step at a time...

Rachel  <><

The Privilege

In response to the missionary challenge of General Douglas MacArthur, my mother’s grandparents – Joe and Margaret Meeko – were called to Japan. Leaving their comforts behind, they prepared for a life in a foreign country in which they would be surrounded by suffering: sickness, hunger, homelessness. 

Disease was widespread in Japan – cholera, typhoid, smallpox, scarlet fever, and polio, among others. In 1947, over 146,000 people died of TB alone. The Meekos sold their home and used the money for outgoing expenses and thousands of dollars-worth of medicine to be distributed.


Everyone was hungry. Although the government’s standard for necessary calorie intake was 2200 calories per day, rations in 1947 only supplied 1/3-1/4 of that. People who bought food on the black market were prosecuted.


Thousands were homeless. Even homes in major cities lay in ash. In Nagoya, 89% of homes were destroyed by fire.


Suffering was widespread, yet it was a time of incredible opportunity. The very country that had severely persecuted Christians was now wide open – and my great grandparents leapt at the opportunity.


My great grandfather was a man of vision. When he first came to Yamagata, he climbed the mountains above the Yamagata basin and looked out over the city; from there, he was moved to exclaim, “Millions of unsaved Japanese souls and not a single church!” That's when God gave him the vision to plant churches in Yamagata. By the second year in Yamagata, a beautiful church was being built on one of the best pieces of real estate in the whole prefecture – the first of 14 churches that they planted in Japan. 

Overlooking the Yamagata Basin 

Yamagata First Baptist Church as it looks today


In 1949, my great grandmother became the founder and the first principal of Higashi-Hara Kindergarten. At first the kindergarten had nothing but a building, but it eventually became the most sought-after school in the entire prefecture. (The Japanese consider the school that you attend [even in kindergarten] to be extremely important – it even determines the level of your job potential as an adult.)

 

Students from Higashi-Hara Kindergarten!

Current principal of Higashi-Hara Kindergarten.

My great grandparents demonstrated Christ’s love to the Japanese. My Great Uncle Andy has expressed it well: “They loved enough to give up their lives, their possessions, their families, and homeland. Everything. It was a staggering sacrifice. But in all my years growing up in our home I never sensed that they considered it a sacrifice. Rather, I would say they considered it a privilege – the greatest privilege of all. The privilege to give one’s entire life up for a Savior who Himself had given up all – even His life’s blood. That’s the kind of love that turns enemies of the war into family for Heaven.”

I had a really meaningful weekend in Yamagata, seeing with my own eyes the result of my great grandparents' devotion and vision. It is extremely rare to witness individuals who radically give up their lives, very unusual to see the cross so eagerly taken up. Yet, making sacrifices for God is the greatest privilege of all – a privilege with a time limit. May I catch a glimpse of my grandparent's vision, eagerly take up my cross, and leap at each opportunity to serve my Great Redeemer.

One step at a time...
Rachel  <><

The First Stepping Stone

Discouragements. Doubts. Fears. They raged through my mind.

I had resolved to share the Gospel message with my English class of fourth grade Japanese girls. I had been planning it for weeks. Then last week, God made other plans – the class was shut down because of Swine Flu. That only left this past week...

So, now here I was, coming to my final opportunity to share. But I was tormented by doubts. Only two girls had said that they would attend class this week (the others were celebrating Halloween). They would have a hard time understanding English, and I can't speak Japanese. They would probably just smile politely in their Japanese way and leave – unfeeling, unmoved. Maybe it wasn't worth all the effort...

As I left my house for class, I began to earnestly, desperately pray. God filled me with great hope and joy as I sought His face. He reassured me that no matter who was there, He would be faithful in drawing us all closer to Himself. In fact, He gave the the peace of knowing that a small class would be beneficial in that I could talk more one-on-one with each girl.

My heart less heavy, I rejoiced the entire hour-long commute, also knowing that this class had been bathed in prayer. For weeks, I had requested peoples' prayers for this class. Many people prayed – my host family, CAJ staff, HiBA, the Senior Six, church family at Southwest Hills, many missionaries here, and other supporters... This class was completely in God's hands, and I rested in that knowledge.

Upon arriving at class, I found three students plus my cousin all eager and ready to have class. We played games and “learned” English for the first half hour or so. Then I began review of the Bible stories I had told them in previous weeks. All three students had attended class consistently every week and remembered the stories of Creation, the Fall, and the Flood. This week, I delved into Salvation.

As I began describing how each of us were sinners, how we were separated from God, how when we die we'll either go to Heaven or to Hell, how nothing we can do can save us, how Jesus took our punishment on himself by dying on the cross, and how Jesus is the ONLY way to God – the girls all nodded their heads, one girl even got tears in her eyes. I know that it was all God who worked in their hearts and spoke His words directly to them because when I asked them, “Do you believe that Jesus saved you?” they replied, “Yes” in English before it could be translated!

Thinking they couldn't possibly have heard the message, understood, and believed that quickly, I repeated the message again quickly. When I asked again, they all emphatically replied, “Yes!” Then I asked them, “Do you want to pray?” Again, they all nodded their heads, yes. Since their first language is Japanese, I asked them to pray one at a time in Japanese. I told them to just talk to God – telling Him that they believed in Him, saying that they were sorry for the wrong things they'd done, and thanking Him for saving them. I told them that He is eager to visit with them – they could tell Him anything. Then I knelt on the floor with them, amazed, as uncoached, each girl prayed in her own way. Misuzu. Yuuka. Yuri. All three girls just unashamedly talked to God.

When they all finished praying, they exclaimed “Yea!” and began to clap! I just knelt there, overwhelmed by God and His power displayed right there before my eyes!

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  As God's fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.  For He says, 'In the time of My favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.'  I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."

--2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2

That was the first step in their new life in Christ. In His grace, God has provided Christian friends involved in their lives to follow up with each of them and their families every single day, despite the fact that I am leaving. More than likely, I will never see those girls again this side of Heaven, but God allowed me to be a part of their life and to help them make the leap to that first stepping stone.

One step at a time...

Rachel <><

Sisters in Christ: Yuri, Misuzu, Yuuka, me, and Serene!

Kamakura

Christie Epley and I took a trip to Kamakura.  We saw so many idols, and it shocked me to see so many people truly worshipping those idols!

Most famous of all is the Great Buddha.  Amita-Buddha was cast out of bronze in 1252 and housed under a roofed temple.  It was cast in thirty separate pieces which were pieced together to form the statue.  Buddha has even been repaired a couple different times!  In 1498, a tsunami swept away the temple, leaving only the foundations but not harming the body of Buddha.  In 1923, the big earthquake destroyed the statue's base but again did not damage the body.  

For a petty fee of 30 yen (about $0.35), I walked on the INSIDE of the statue of Buddha.  Inside Buddha's stomach, the darkness was not only physical but also a sense of real spiritual darkness.  Buddha sat -- sleeping.  Unmoving.  Uncaring.  Unhearing.  Water dripped from the cracks in the bronze.  I was so saddened by the fact that people were worshipping this statue made by mere human hands.

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to Your name 

be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness. 

Why do the nations say, 'Where is their God?'  

Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.  

But their idols are silver and gold, 
made by the hands of men.  

They have mouths, but cannot speak, 

eyes, but they cannot see; 

they have ears, but cannot hear, 

noses, but they cannot smell; 

they have hands, but cannot feel, 

feet, but they cannot walk; 

nor can they utter a sound with their throats.  

Those who make them will be like them, 

and so will all who trust in them" (Psalm 115:1-8).

But we worship the true and living God.  He hears our every prayer.  He cares for our every need.  He blesses us beyond our wildest expectations.  I'm so thankful for the truth I've heard and believed in!  

One step at a time...
Rachel  <><

Karuizawa

I love adventures. And after a slightly stressful week, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to set out on one!

This weekend, I took the Bullet Train (Shinkansen) up to Karuizawa!

I visited the Senior Six – who are doing work projects on the missionaries' cabins up there.

 It was great to see their ministry first-hand!


On Friday, after a ramen dinner in town, we had a “movie night” with some of the other missionaries here.


Saturday was relaxed; I joined the other missionaries for hiking to see some waterfalls. 

Sunday we visited Megumi Chalet, Swan Lake, and Sunset Point before going to church at an international fellowship.

My time flew by all too quickly... but I think that God knew I needed to have a little breath of fresh air. As I took a walk one morning, I looked to the Psalms and was blessed by Psalm 66:1-4:

“Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

Sing the glory of His name;

Give to Him glorious praise!

Say to God, 'How awesome are Your deeds!

So great is Your power that Your enemies come cringing to You.

All the earth worships You

and sings praises to You;

They sing praises to Your name.'”

It was so special for me to spend this weekend in Karuizawa!

One step at a time...

Rachel

TEAM Prayer Day

Monday, October 12, I was able to participate in the missionary Prayer Day at the TEAM Center in Mitaka.  I was incredibly blessed by the time of fellowship and focus on God!

The message that day was from Joshua 1:1-9, and I felt like it was directly from God for me...

 ¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: ² "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
 ⁶ "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. ⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

• I should reflect on what God has done in the past -- His incredible faithfulness!
• Based on my knowledge of His faithfulness and power, I can step out in faith and follow His leading.
• v. 5 -- God is always with me  :)
• v. 8 -- I need to be careful to keep my heart continually meditating on the Bible.
• v 9 -- I don't ever need to be afraid or discouraged -- I can always be confident to continue on the path God is showing me if I'm in His will.

I was refreshed and encouraged to single-heartedly continue following God's leading.

One step at a time...
Rachel

Me with Nadine (an intern from Germany)

Mitaka this weekend

It was so special to get to travel out to Mitaka, Tokyo on Saturday and Sunday (and Monday... but more on that later...) to visit some very special friends!

On Saturday, I met with the Keefers, Williams, & Sundquists -- affectionately referred to as the "Senior Six."  These friends from my church back home have come to Japan numerous times to use their skills to repair cabins used by missionaries.  Seeing them was like having three sets of grandparents.  They are so wonderful!  We all met at TEAM Center, and then headed upstairs to have dinner with Tom and Ginna Sloan.

Then on Sunday, October 11, I attended Hope Bible Church, which my home church is partnering with.

Pastor Tom Sloan preached in Japanese

Makai-san (90 years old!!!) and Manabu.

Mr. Sundquist with Kay, who was the translator for the Jordans.

It was great to see many familiar faces at HBC!  The church has grown deeper and matured in the past two years since I last visited.  I was so pleased to see a new worship leader, along with several instrumentalists!  Manabu also did a great job as MC.  It was exciting to see the growth!

One step at a time...

Rachel

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!

Typhoon Melor over Japan

This is a 5-day weekend for me! Fall Break was scheduled for October 9-12, but school shut down a day early because of Typhoon Melor, which was supposed to be the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in over 10 years! Thankfully, the typhoon dissipated and only stormed overnight and in the morning, giving me two absolutely GORGEOUS days yesterday and today!

God knew I would need the break, too.  I've been enjoying extended prayer/Bible reading times, walks, naps, and reading.  A true time of refreshment!

One step at a time...

Rachel

Darkness

I visited the temple at Sugamo on Sunday afternoon, and I have not felt so touched in a long time...

 

Many people were visiting the temple that day to receive "healing" by the "power" of this idol.

The worshippers poured pure water over the idol, purchased a small white cloth, rubbed the cloth on the part of the statue where they're feeling pain, and then put the cloth to that same area on their own body.  They did all this in eager expectation that they will be healed.

As I stood and watched dozens of people repeating this ritual, I was in shock.  I just stood and stared.  All these poor souls!  They are so lost!  I was almost in tears.  When I finally turned away, I saw the monks standing under the gated entrance to the temple, chanting over sick people.  There was such spiritual darkness in that place!  I felt frightened... but I was thankful that God is far more powerful than anything in that darkness.

How great to trust in Him!

One step at a time...

Rachel

Forever 21

A four-story Forever 21 at that!

Now, I'm not really a shopper... but the very famous 4-story Forever 21 in Harajuku?  I needed to experience that!

Well, I got to experience it!

There were throngs of people EVERYWHERE!!!  Pushing, shoving, sweeping me off my feet like a strong river's current...  I couldn't even dictate my own steps!  Wherever the crowd went, that's where I went, too!  I couldn't even choose where I walked -- let alone look around at the clothes!

That's downtown Tokyo -- crowded, busy...

And that's Japanese culture -- go with the flow; don't fight the current...

Quite an experience!  Even in a little thing like that, I realized how much I have to learn...

One step at a time...

Rachel

I've moved!

These next few posts come from a very reluctant writer, but since it's been almost two weeks since I last gave you an update...


After spending one month with my Japanese hosts, I moved from their home into the home of the Epleys, a missionary family who live near CAJ. While I truly enjoyed my time with my Japanese hosts, it has been a good transition for me to live with the Epleys.  This is not the first time that the Epleys have shown this kindness to us;  when my mom was in 10th grade, she stayed in Flossie's parents home while Flossie's family was on furlough.


CAJ's high school department was closed October 2 due to large numbers of students coming down with swine flu. Then October 8, because of increasing numbers of middle school students contracting the flu, that department was scheduled to close. So far, the elementary department has remained fairly healthy (although 3 students were absent on Wednesday...).


One step at a time...
Rachel

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Please always let me see In everything befalling me, A spark of light that I may know That through it all You will it so.

May every silent pain I bear Become for me a golden stair, That rises high above the woe Our human hearts were meant to know.

May every little heartache felt, Each disappointment roughly dealt, Uplift my soul that I may be A fire that brightly burns for Thee.

And through life's waters dark and deep, May Thy blessed presence keep Afloat the boat in which I ride Until I reach the other side.

For I am but a timid soul In need of Thy dear hand to hold, Ever trusting Thee to lend The strength on which I can depend.

Amid the trials Thou has sent, However plaintive my lament, I know my tears and sighs and groans, Are only little stepping stones.

(poem by Grace E. Easley)

What Has God Done?

“God?!” he shouted indignantly, “What has He ever done for me?”

Slamming the door, racing down the stairs, and grabbing his bike, he took off for his friend's house. I watched in quiet sorrow. His words stabbed straight to my heart; they have lingered in my mind. They're the words spoken by a 19 year-old Japanese Christian who feels like he's “all alone” in his distress, discouragement, and disillusionment.

So, what HAS God done? What has He done for each one of us?

'When I think about the Lord -- How He saved me, How He raised me, How He filled me with the Holy Ghost, How He healed me to the utter most. When I think about the Lord -- How He picked me up and turned me around, How He placed my feet on solid ground... It makes me wanna shout, "Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus! Lord, You're worthy of all the glory, all the honor, all the praise!”'

That's what He's done – And that's the response each of us should have.

It's easy to become weighted down in discouragement, though – and that's why 1 Kings 19 is one of my all-time favorite Bible passages. Elijah was discouraged – he even wanted to die! But God helped him overcome his discouragement by helping him to 1.) catch a glimpse of Who God is, 2.) hear the task God had for Him to do, and then 3.) go out and follow God's leading.

It's the same for us. If we are feeling discouraged, it's because we have lost sight of how great our God is – we're focusing on striving to do things in our own strength. But if we continue to catch a glimpse of Who God is, continue to seek His leading, and continue to trust and obey Him, then He will help us overcome all our discouragement.

Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus!

One step at a time...

Rachel <><

True Love

What does it mean to truly love someone? I keep asking myself that question. Working with Sophia has proved to be quite a challenging blessing. While I want to do everything in my power to see her succeed, I have also been having to re-evaluate what success truly means. Is it in Sophia's best interest to hold her hand through every challenge and never let her experience downfalls? Is that truly loving her? I've been realizing more and more each day what true love entails.

--True love means putting aside my own thoughts and desires to care for someone else.

--True love means staying up late and getting up early, even when I'm exhausted, to pour my time and energy into someone.

--True love means giving everything I have for someone else's benefit, even if I never get anything in return.

--True love means confronting someone when they're in the wrong to help them find the best way, even if they don't always appreciate it.

--True love means distancing myself from someone and letting them find their own way, even when it hurts.

And that's the kind of love that God has been teaching me to have – towards Sophia, my homestay hosts, and others I come into contact with each day. True love is sacrificial; true love is HARD; true love comes only from God.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:7-12).

Please pray that God's love would overflow from my heart and be apparent to everyone I come into contact with.

One step at a time...

Rachel <><

One Month!!!

I'm one month into my stay here in Japan! Already I've experienced so many things – the generous hospitality and servant's attitude of the Japanese people, the threat of Swine Flu, the contrast of smoggy Shibuya & Shinjuku with the tree-laden “rural” town of Motokaji, the cultural pressures, the discouragement and fear associated with sharing your faith, and the reality of loneliness in the midst of thousands of people.

But I think the greatest discovery God has given me during the one month I've had in Japan so far is this small but monumental fact:

I've been paralyzed.

It's a deep, dark spiritual paralyzation that has stealthily crept over me: silencing my praise to God, blotting out my witness, and suffocating my joy. Quietly. Almost unnoticed. It just happened. (NO, I ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN.) But praise God that He has put people in my life who pointed it out to me and that He has kept my heart sensitive enough to Him that the problem has been pin-pointed: I lost sight of God.

In this religiously apathetic culture, I have been depending on myself to keep my fire going. All too soon I lose my zeal, forget to look to God, lose sight of His majesty, and then fail to give Him the glory He deserves. Most people would look at my life and think, “No, you're serving God so much – it's great!” But honestly, I have the same fears, the same doubts, and the same sins as anyone – and that keeps me from serving God to my greatest potential.

“You are holy, great, and mighty! The moon and the stars declare Who You are. I'm so unworthy, but still You love me. Forever my heart will sing of how great You are” (“Cannons” by Phil Wickham).

That's my desire: to sing of the greatness of God forever! But even when I fail to praise God, creation continues to praise Him. To me, that shows even more how unworthy I am of God's love – and it makes me think how it must break God's heart when I become spiritually paralyzed and don't praise Him!

I don't want to be paralyzed any longer; I don't want to get caught up in the things of this world and lose sight of God's plan. I don't want to place anything or anyone (including myself) above my relationship with God.

I give up my own desires, and I give myself fully to God's master plan as I learn to trust Him...

...One step at a time.

Rachel <><

The Difference is Jesus

1 Corinthians 9:16b-17 – “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.”

I knew what I had to do...

“But he doesn't speak English,” I reasoned, “He won't be able to understand me anyway.”

I knew it wasn't a good excuse.

“Well, at any rate, I'm his guest and so much younger than him; I have no right to preach to him – I might offend him,” I continued, “That might turn him off to the gospel even more – and we can't have that, now can we?”

I still hadn't sold myself.

A battle raged in my mind. I tried to fight any emotion, but alas tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about the kind, elderly man who had been hosting me in his home.

“He is going to hell, and you are more worried about yourself than him,” I chided myself.

I ran into the bathroom, latched the door, turned slowly to examine myself in the mirror, and watched as streams of tears flowed down my cheeks. Splash! They plopped into the sink. My breath came in gasps as I choked on that thought. How could I be so selfish?! Finally, I prayed, “Lord, I surrender to You! I'll do whatever You ask me to do – but help me! It's too much for me; I'm overwhelmed!”

My heart was heavy as I walked into the dining room at 6:00pm. “Hai, doozo,” he motioned for me to take a seat at the table. I sat. I don't remember what we ate – it could have been chalk for all I knew. In my mind, the battle continued.

My heart pounding, I prayed for courage. “I don't know what to say, Lord,” I choked, “But I'll dive in and open my mouth – please fill it with Your words!”

“Shimamura-San?” I blurted out. There, I had taken the leap. He looked up, surprised. Then I continued, “What do you believe?”

“How stupid!” I thought to myself, “He doesn't know English...”

To my surprise, he answered. In English. Not only did he understand what I told him, he answered in English. We talked for half an hour – about God, about creation, about Jesus, about absolutes, and about other religions. I shared the gospel as clearly as I could, but after listening politely, Shimamura-san told me what he thought.

“Jesus was a good person, but He was not God,” he stated, “There is no difference between Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.”

“The difference is Jesus,” I told him emphatically, “All those other religions rely on working your way to God – doing enough good things to reach God. But that's impossible. So, that's why Jesus came – to make it so that we can have a friendship with God again.”

Firmly, he set down his glass. “It's over,” he informed me.

Stunned, I looked at Kyoko-san. “He no want talk anymore,” she said, “Very sad for me.”

Pushing back his chair, Shimamura-san stood stoically and walked out of the room. I didn't see him the rest of the night.

Kyoko and I talked about it a little after he left. And I prayed. What was he thinking? Would he remain hardened forever? Had that gotten through to him at all? I was relieved to think that it's not my responsibility to save souls – I can leave that up to God! But I was obedient in doing what God asked me to do... and I can only pray that Shimamura-san was taken one step closer to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, even as He travels along his pathway...

...One step at a time...

Rachel <><

Sayama Kyokai

In 1947, Douglas MacArthur said, “Japan is a spiritual vacuum. If you do not fill it with Christianity, it will be filled with Communism. Send me 1,000 missionaries." He asked U.S. missionary societies to send "Bibles, Bibles, and more Bibles.”

Both my mom's grandparents and my dad's parents heard MacArthur's plea for missionaries to Japan's impoverished land and responded through the love of Christ. In the fall of 1950, my dad's parents arrived in Japan by ship. As she stepped onto the pier in Yokohama Bay, my grandmother said, “I feel like I have just come home. This is where God wants us to live.” For their first year in Japan, my grandparents learned Japanese, did street preaching, and taught at the Tokyo Bible Seminary.

However, in 1952, God opened the door for my grandparents to found the Sayama Church of Christ.

This Sunday, I went to visit it! Now, Sayama Kyokai is a well-established, thriving church that supports its own Japanese pastor and his family.

Pastor Takeshi Aida.

Pastor Aida & his wife Donna with the youngest of their three sons.

English Class

Me? Being a teacher? Well, that's a scary thought... but it's true.

I began teaching a beginners' English class today to seven 9-10 year old Japanese girls. My cousin, Serene, helped me a lot by translating, as the girls don't speak very much English, and I don't understand Japanese. We had a blast!

Since it was the first day of class, we had introductions; I told the girls about myself, and then I learned as much as I could about each of them. I had each of the girls write their name on a piece of paper, and then write/draw some of their favorite things in each of the four corners. It worked out pleasantly.

We sang the song "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes" and then used those vocab words to play "Simon Says." The hour-long class went by far too quickly, which was a good thing.

The purpose of this class is twofold: to reach out to the girls, and to minister to the mothers. Three mothers actually stayed to visit with Aunt Junko during today's class! One of the ladies was even interested in attending the international church on Sunday! Almost unbelievable... but I know that that's God working, right there! How neat that I get to be a small part of it!

One step at a time...

Rachel <><

Outsider

Early morning at Kotesashi Train Station. I meet Sophia, and we catch the Commuter Semi-Express train bound for Ikebukuro. Thousands of other people are commuting to work and school as well. Everyone has such a dismal, miserable, worried, hopeless yet blank expression on their face. Each expression is the same.

I glance around the crowded train, taking in the atmosphere. No one talks. No one looks around. No one laughs (heaven forbid). Only the clickity-clack of the train can be heard above the nasal tone of the intercom.

Nishi-Tokorozawa.

Tokorozawa.

Akitsu.

Kiyose.

Higashi-Kurume – it's our stop.

As I hurry through the throngs of people, someone's reflection in the glass of a shop catches my eye ...

...It's me...

Taller than most of the people, wearing “American” clothes, and confidently striding along with my head held high and eyes scanning the scenery around me, I stick out like a sore thumb.

“Obviously a foreigner,” Kyoko-san (my hostess) tells me.

There's a famous Japanese saying that goes like this:

出る杭は打たれる。

Deru kui wa utareru.

Literally: The stake that sticks out gets hammered down.

Nothing and no one should stick out or be different. Everything has its place. There's an order to everything that needs to be followed without exception.

But not me. I don't stick to the rules, and despite my best efforts, I never fully will be able to – I don't even KNOW the rules! It hit me today – I'll always be an outsider. It reminded me of Philippians 2:14-15, which says I'm to “shine like a light in the darkness.”

For the time being, God has placed me in Japan. I'm here for a purpose – to stick out. As an outsider, I am excused from the expectations that are placed on the rest of society. Japanese can let down some of the walls & barriers in their lives and share deeply & honestly with me from their heart. I have been given such a privilege! And so, I push forward.

One step at a time...

Rachel <><