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

A crowd of witnesses

Hi friends!

So God just showed me His amazing encouragement! In my devotionals, the passage of focus was from Philippians 3:10-16.

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained."

The whole concept was how this Christian life is a race. Day after day, I trip and fall in my sin, and I have the choice to give up and walk away or to get up and press on. However, God doesn't expect me or you to do this all on our own; God gives us His strength and He sends us people to encourage us.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

I've actually memorized this passage twice in my life- first as a requirement to finish my church fellowship's "Amazing Race" event and second as a Bible Memory workshop in my university fellowship's "Couch Hop" event. I never really sought out this verse on my own, so it's funny and amazing how God reminds me of this verse once again just to stress the importance of it. I've always been confused about the "great cloud of witnesses" because I couldn't quite grasp the metaphor. But after the explanation of the verse in the devotional, I've come to interpret it as God's witnesses cheering me on from a cloud. My imagination depicts this crowd of God's people, sitting in a cloud, watching me run the race of a Christian life, and cheering me on as an athlete. (It actually reminded me of the cloud guy from Mario Kart, which makes me laugh, but that's irrelevant.) Knowing how the body of Christ, made up of all believers, encourages me to get up after I fall is amazing! I've realized that this truth will be important to remember when I prepare and when I go to Japan. I might get easily frustrated when I must wait on God to answer prayers, when the team is not united, or when the people there are not receptive of my faith. Please pray for me to remember these verses and to continue pressing on whenever I encounter these frustrations.

Lastly, the devotionals challenged us to look up Isaiah 40:28-31 and fill in the blanks:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the ­­­­______________ ______, the _______________ of the ends of the earth. He will not grow ________ or ___________, and his __________________ no one can fathom. He gives ________________ to the _______________and increases the ____________ of the ____________. Even youths grow _____________ and ____________, and young men _____________ and _____; but those who _________ in the LORD will ___________ their _____________. They will _________ on wings like eagles; they will _______ and not grow weary, they will ___________ and not be ______________.”

And as I was doing that, I realized that my theme verse was in this passage! I was like, "Wow God! The way you work, the way everything falls into place (almost like a coincidence, but not really), and the way you encourage is beyond awesome!" Now I'm super super encouraged that God will be there in my weakness and weariness to strengthen me always. I hope you can all be encouraged by these verses too!

Love,
J

I've been JUST renewed!

Welcome to JUST renewed!

This is a blog for me to share with you how amazing God is and how He is working in my life as I embark on a missions trip to Japan this summer!

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40: 31

My theme verse is centered on renewal, which is provided by God everyday. He first renewed me by covering all my sins with Jesus' death on the cross. I put all my terrible, sin-stained clothes in to God's hands and He renewed me with a new, pure clothes. Now, as I struggle with sin from morning to night, God's grace and mercy renews me every time I confess my sins to Him and I get to receive His forgiveness. As I prepare and go on the missions trip to Japan, I know that God will renew me through my prayers, your prayers, and His Word so I can face each struggle, frustration, and disappointment with His strength. Even though I think I am strong, determined, and able, I will get tired on my own. But, like it says in the verse, God will renew my strength- He is almost like my fuel!- so I can keep walking, running, and flying to fulfill God's purpose for my life.

Please also pray for my 'twin sister', Renee, who is leading a missions team in El Salvador! Her blog is at: http://justrenewed.blogspot.ca/. We'll be keeping each other accountable and sharing our stories along the way.

Love,

J