Inspiration

Hi everyone! みんなさん、こんにちは！

I realized a while ago that people might be wondering why, out of any place in the world, I would choose Japan to witness to. Here is a bit of history of how I've been inspired come to this area of ministry. But first. I'm saying inspired, not called, because I find it difficult to say whether or not God has called me to Japan. I could really be called to anywhere, knowing my true purpose on earth. As the verse I live by tells me,

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

Therefore, as long as I'm testifying the gospel, I am doing my calling! However, the calling of God to a specific area is equally important to discern. As my uncle advised me, I should step through the doors God has opened- in this case, Japan. Only after working there can I discern God's calling based on whether my heart has the urgency and the passion for the salvation of Japanese people.

Now on to Why Japan? My interest in the Japanese culture began, of course, with anime, specifically Yu-gi-oh and Inuyasha. Don't worry, anime's not my thing anymore! In high school, I actually immersed myself in Korean pop music and Korean dramas and wanted to learn the language. Sadly, (but not that sad!) language school didn't offer Korean, but Japanese was the next language I wanted to learn. I enrolled in class and began to learn not just the language but the culture as well.

I admired much about their culture that I couldn't find in North America. The Japanese bow their heads to greet friends and colleagues as a sign of respect and acknowledgment. Here, I may ignore a friend on the way to school if I'm in a rush or I will keep silent if I don't feel like small talk with co-workers. Another aspect of their culture is their collectivism or group-centred behaviour. Japanese feel it is rude to exclude others and care more about their in-group than themselves. This selflessness is hard to come by in North America and I often fall in to selfishness and individualism too. Japan also interested me because it holds one of the world's largest business hubs. As a business student who is considering working abroad, Japan became a country that I could see myself doing business in.

Urbana 2012

I continued learning Japanese in university during first and second year and thought of pursuing opportunities to vacation, teach English, or become an exchange student in Japan. No doors opened for me to travel there until third year. Urbana 2012, a student missions conference, introduced to me the idea that students my age can go on missions. I always imagined missions as a radical lifestyle for someone else or for an age when I'm retired, but I discovered that I have so much freedom in my role in life to go on missions. I was not tied down with a relationship, with family (as in, spouse and kids), or with money. At Urbana, I committed to serving both short-term and long-term in God's mission field. It was then that I considered going to Japan for missions rather than for pleasure. I connected with a Japanese organization, called Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society (JEMS) and learned of this summer opportunity.

As I did more research, Japan became increasing important as a mission field. For over 150 years, Christianity has stayed at below 1% of population. This pressing statistic shows how strong spiritual warfare exists in Japan and the potential for so much growth. Other urging statistics include high suicide rates and depression rates. It has become so terrible that there are websites online where people can meet up to commit suicide together. If only they knew how valuable their life is to God!

Therefore, my hope for this missions trip is to introduce to kids their creator, God, and His great love for them through Jesus. God can give them the hope that forgiveness covers all in their shame-based culture, joy so there is no reason to be depressed, and the love that they may not receive in a conservative home.

I hope that explains my passion for this mission for you!

Love,
J