The Beginning

Where do I begin?

Currently, I'm sitting in the main room of a building about the size of an average house that serves as the church building with my two other team mates. At the end of today, Bailey, Jon, and I will have been in Japan for nearly one week.

I don't really feel the time though. So much has happened in that one week that you could tell me I've been here for three and I might believe you. Then again, I sat down to write this blog and surprised myself: "Has it really been a week already?" It's fast and it's slow. That's what life is like, I guess.

We touched down safely in Shizuoka, Japan around 6pm on Tuesday (local time). Thank you to everyone who prayed for safe travels. With roughly 20 hours of total flight time, we needed it.

We wouldn't make it to our destination until about 9pm because I had gotten pretty sick on the last plane ride. Some bad food poisoning from the airport in Taipei and the exhaustion from the trip had me spending an hour or so without the strength to stand. I'll spare you the details, but suffice to say, I had enough sickness symptoms to merit the assistance of the quarantine nurse.

She tested my temperature, asked me some questions and watched me for a bit. After a while she declared me okay (at least as far as needing to be quarantined goes).

In the process of my sickness, I'd ruined my favorite tie and a nice pair of khakis (not to mention what I must have smelled like). My own imaginations of a good first impression had dissipated, but the people of Japan were about to make theirs.

I was wheeled around the airport in my wheelchair (that I refused once, then humbly took after stumbling my first two steps) by a kind air hostess from our flight. In fact, I had my own entourage of security guards, flight attendants, and other caring people helping me through customs and even filling out some paperwork for me (as my hands were too shaky to write properly).

Brother Kawasaki and Brother Yoshida were waiting eagerly in the arrivals lobby. One look at Brother Kawasaki (the missionary in Oigawa), and I could tell he was a kind gentle man. He had a quick conversation in Japanese with the hostess pushing my chair while I did my best to catch what they were saying (those two semesters of Japanese have really come in handy).

I was rolled outside into a cool refreshing air. Even in the dark, my first look at Japan was beautiful. Stars faintly lit the sky down to the darker background of mountains in the distance. We got in the car and drove past rice fields and rivers on a gently winding road that most Americans would claim was too small for one car, let alone two.

Sick though I was, I felt loved and welcomed from my first moment in Japan. That fact still holds true a week later.

We spent the next day with Brother Kawasaki. At the beginning of every day, our team leads of with a short time of devotion to God. We'd started this day out of a devotional book that used Luke 21:19, "By your patience possess your souls," as its key verse for the day. We had no idea how much patience we would need that day.

Our goal was simple: Change some money, buy some groceries, and get Bailey a phone card. Complications arose, and hours were added to our outing. We were all still jet lagged (when your night time becomes your day time as quick as ours did, your body doesn't react well) and I was still feeling sick, especially towards the end of the day.

I was glad for the opportunity though. I think the times when we can most show patience are the times when we're able to see and grow the most as well. Patience brings out the best in everyone. It not something a suffer through anymore; it's rather something I enjoy getting the opportunity to exhibit and especially to see in others.

We made it through the day intact, and that evening, we had our information meeting where we met our readers for the first time. At the start, we had 12. In three days of reading, we gained 3 more. I hope the trend continues.

I have 4 readers myself (all assigned to me by the drawing of lots). Their names are Sone, a 68-year-old man who is a Christian and speaks often of his grandchildren; Miyoko, a 42-year-old woman with all the energy and interest of a child; Himeno, a shy, 16-year-old high school student who wants to practice her English before she goes to Canada in August; and Kinuko, whose age we didn't get around to because we spent so much time talking about other things, but she's the sweetest older lady you'll ever meet.

After three days of reading, I can tell I'm going to miss them a lot when I leave. For now, I get to spend nearly everyday talking about what I love the most with my newest friends.

Since Oigawa has been hosting LST missions for around 14 years, we have an interesting mix of readers who have been coming for many years and have a good knowledge of the Gospel and new readers who sometimes have never even heard of Jesus.

Life becomes something else when you speak the Gospel every day. All Satan can do is fill you with anxiety in all the moments before because he knows the moment you start talking with people about the most powerful things in the world--things I've grown up with, things I love--all the joy of the simplicity of devotion to Jesus Christ comes bursting through.

I hope everyone reading this can take that to heart.

I'll be sure to write to you more about my readers next week when I have more stories to share. For now, things are beginning. There's still much more to do, see, say, and hear. Please keep us in your prayers, and thank you for the many that you've said already.

Peace.