Fukuin - Japanese word for "gospel" Proverbs2525.org - Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land.
Home       Prayer & Praise       "Moshi Moshi" Prayer Letter       Contact Us

 
The Call to Japan (Karen's essay)
When we came to the conclusion that God was calling us to come to Japan as missionaries, another missionary asked us if we could write down what constituted that "call". It is presented here unedited from when it was written in March 1994.
THE CALL TO JAPAN
Desire to be full-time for Him
         It seems that God was preparing my heart from the moment that I gave my life to Him, in April of 1987.  I was working at Hewlett-Packard at the time, and although it was a good job, I had a yearning to be able to spend that eight hours doing something specifically Christian. I had a hunger for His word, so Bible school was one thing that I wished I had the time to do.  But I also dreamed of working with Christians, doing something that would matter more for the kingdom than whether HP's customers were happily using their plotters.  Maybe it was partly the yearning for fellowship; Dan was not yet a believer, nor were most of my co-workers.  But I think it was more than that.  Although I was proud of my job, I sometimes felt like it was a waste of time.  I know that's not true, and I even saw fruit from my witness at work, but I wished for more.  Recently I have felt even more like I'm not doing all I can for God, as I think about New Testament Christians and others through the years whose whole lives were used for the Lord.  I felt that I should be doing that.

The first call to Japan
         We had been in Oceanside for 2 1/2 years and had been assured repeatedly that at 3 years Dan would be "rotated" to another job across the base for another 3-year tour, so we were getting comfortable in Oceanside.  I had been walking with the Lord for about 8 months, and Dan still hadn't come around.  I loved my church, and especially enjoyed the music ministry I was involved with. We had just finished some creative improvements to our home.  One afternoon Dan called me at work with evidence that "being assured" doesn't mean much in the military.  He had now been told with more certainty that he was going to Okinawa, with a choice of a one-year "unaccompanied" tour (the Marine Corps provides only for him to go alone) or a three-year "accompanied" tour (they provide transportation and housing for the whole family and belongings).  It was up to us to decide.
         I got off the phone in shock.  My first response was to wave to Dan and say, "See you in a year!", but it was clear that Dan didn't want to spend a year apart.  I just couldn't bear the thought of leaving the home, job, and church I was so happy in.  Over the next 24 hours, I asked every Christian I saw to pray for our decision.  The funny thing was that I didn't stop to pray myself; I was in such a whirlwind that I was not listening for His answer.
         The next afternoon, He cornered me -- away from my office, in a deserted company cafeteria waiting for a group of people who were delayed by about a half hour.  With nothing to do, I finally realized it was time for God and I to have a talk.  It started as a question, but quickly turned to an argument that ended something like this:
         "But I've grown so much in this church!"
         "Yes, you have. So now it's time to move on."
         I finally resigned. "OK, I'll go. But please give me a peace about it."
         At the time I said that prayer, I was so far from peaceful that it would have been hard for someone to imagine that changing.  But before I left work that day, I had such a peace that I was calling local colleges to see if I could find a Japanese course to take, and the next six months I excitedly looked forward to the trip.

My first taste
         Our pastor in Okinawa always reminded us that we were missionaries. He said we were not there because of the Armed Forces, but we were there by a mandate from God at the convenience of the Armed Forces.  He strongly felt it was not coincidence that Okinawa was within 1500 miles of a third of the world's population, most of it unreached.  It didn't take long for me to sense the heavy spiritual climate that covered the island.  It was there that I learned that in God's army today, just like in Old Testament times, the musicians are the first into battle.  I did an incredible amount of spiritual growing.
         It is strange that my memories of Okinawa are so fond, considering that by worldly standards life was hard.  Since we opted to take the "unaccompanied tour" and go on our own, we had to live off base, with less financial help from the military than we would have gotten to live in, say, Kansas (the yen rate made it a far cry from living in Kansas).  The church we attended had wonderful people but was struggling to make it, and folded soon after we left.  For two months the whole island's water was turned off every other day to ration it, making it non-potable even on "on days".  Dan was sent on several trips to other parts of Asia, for a total of almost half our time there.  I crashed our vehicle twice, once into the parked car of our next-door neighbor, who spoke no English.  Four months into our stay, it was apparent that Dan's son was not going to begin cooperating with school without additional supervision, so I began to homeschool him (one of the most stressful things I have ever done).  Eight months into our stay, I had emergency surgery for a tubal pregnancy -- Dan was in Korea on duty and my pastor was in the Philippines on a missionary trip.
         But those things are not what I think of when I look back on our experience.  I remember the promise God gave to me, so clearly I could hear it, that my step-son, as impossible as he then was, would one day be a man of God.  I remember the love of my church family when I was in the hospital.  I remember the YWAM team that got stuck on a small, unreached island while trying to sail on to a scheduled visit on a bigger one -- they made use of their time and took considerable ground from the enemy, perhaps spiritual control of the island as a whole.  I remember spiritual victories in worship every Sunday.
         I remember that the officials said we would not get enough water to go off water rationing until we had a normal typhoon season (which hadn't occurred in three years), so the churches on the island began to pray.  It started raining.  We kept praying, and it kept raining -- not typhoons, just constant, gentle rain. In two months we went off rationing -- what a testimony to the power and grace of God!  I remember many other miracles in my life that God did either to sustain me, teach me, or just bless me.
         I also remember my contact with the Okinawans, like the woman at the end of my street who invited me into her home several times to exchange English learning for Japanese.  Neither of us knew enough to converse, but somehow we communicated.  When I prepared to leave, I was privileged to present her family with a bilingual New Testament, and even exchanged a couple letters with her from the States.  I also remember the Okinawan Christian guitarist I met while street witnessing, who came to our church to learn some of our worship songs.

Lasting Impressions
         Because of the hardships of daily living, especially after my surgery, I was anxious to get back to "the land of the big PX", but I recall admitting that I wouldn't mind the Lord sending us back.  I think I liked being on the spiritual front line -- I didn't feel so fat, dumb, and lazy, and I stuck close to the Lord.
         After we returned and moved to Monterey, I still had a strong interest in continuing to learn the Japanese language.  The one course I had in Okinawa before I started homeschooling Larry whet my appetite.  Part of the reason was that I have always wanted to be able to really speak a second language and had only learned small parts of three.  But I recognized that there was more to it than that -- I did not have any interest in further studies in German or Estonian, just Japanese.  Even then, I believed that God had put this interest in my heart for a reason.  Unfortunately, I never pursued the golden opportunity to audit classes at the Defense Language Institute, only 10 minutes from our house.  It didn't fit very well into my schedule, but if I had been determined enough I could have made it work.

The Mid-life Crisis
         After Dan's unusual spiritual search that through his lifetime included Catholicism as a child, his own version of deism, and even three years in Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (a point to note), he committed his life to Christ four months before we went to Okinawa.  He immediately understood the importance of submitting to God's will for his life, and asked if he should stay in the military.  His Okinawa orders came a few days later, in answer to his question.  He grew quickly, and even served on the Board of Directors of our church in Monterey.  Even then he began examining the question of what he should do after retirement from the Marine Corps.  Two people at separate times along the way had told him he might be destined for the ministry, but "ministry" doesn't necessarily mean pastoring a church, and he knew that.  But he also knew that lay people who make good money and support others are perhaps more rare and needed than those who desire full-time ministry.  So he didn't know what to do.
         I'll let him tell the decision process from his point of view, but I know that probably in the fall of 1993 I knew that he felt he really was supposed to do something ministerial full-time.  He loves school (on both sides), so considering going to seminary was easy for him, and he even thought he would like to teach at a Bible college.  He also would love to write.  His gift of teaching would be needed as a pastor, but in other pastoral areas he wasn't sure about his abilities.  We mentioned missions, but at the time it didn't seem like a serious contender.
         Then Dan found out about Urbana 93, and somehow he felt he should go.  We discussed the question of missions again, in the form of "If we were called to missions, what ministry focus and areas of the world interest us?"  We found that we were on the same wavelength -- our ministry interests differed but made a nice blend, and our geographical preferences were very similar.  Early on we determined that neither of us felt drawn to Latin America or Africa.  We acknowledged that Dan's fluency in German would be helpful in some European countries, but we didn't see that area as one of the most in need of missionaries.  We agreed that we liked Asia, especially Japan, but thought it was just because we had been there and liked the food, culture, etc.  That would be too easy!  Both of us had a mindset that caused us to think primarily of third world countries as serious candidates.  One day Dan announced that India and Burma stuck in his mind for some reason, but I did not share that feeling at all (in fact I thought he was a little goofy).  So with that, he went to Urbana.
         At Urbana, he ran into Greg Fletcher, a missionary to Japan whom our church supports, who happened to be staying in Virginia on furlough (I hope you don't believe in coincidence).

Operation World
         Dan came back from Urbana with the predicted excitement about missions (when I picked him up at the airport and asked him if he was fired up, he said, "I don't even need to unpack!"), but he was not sure that God was calling us.  He showed me a sort of prayer almanac called Operation World, that guides you through praying for all the nations in the world in a year.  We decided to pray together through the book during 1994, hoping of course that the Lord would speak to us in the process.
         It has been wonderful to, for the first time in our marriage, have a consistent prayer time together.  Not only is it something we should have been doing anyway, but I believe the binding together of our hearts and the consistent lifting up of our desire to hear from God and go where He leads was critical in the path to our "call", especially a call so clear to both of us.  We didn't actually discuss whether we knew any more about God's will as time went on; we just prayed for it every day, as well as lifting up the country of the day, the missionaries we knew, and loved ones.  I did not feel that I had any more information as time went on, but I was getting more and more eager and willing, and would not have cared what He told me to do, as long as He would please tell me.
         Dan contacted Greg and Brenda Fletcher and invited them to lunch after church on February 20th.  They told us about Japan and practically their life histories at Dan's urging.  At one point in the conversation Dan talked about praying about whether missions was for us, and said to the Fletchers (as if I already knew this) that he really believed that God was calling him into missions but he was just in denial.  My jaw dropped -- I had never heard that!  After lunch we began to discuss mission strategies in Japan, and with each new topic it was clear to Greg that Dan had a remarkable perception of the Japanese culture and way of thinking.  He even had a couple creative ideas for outreach techniques that bring in yen in the process, and Greg was all ears.
         At one point, Dan mentioned the India/Burma idea he once held.  He said that after thinking about it more honestly, he realized that his motive for leaning toward countries like that had been a warped sort of pride -- if he was going to be a missionary, he had to go all out and pick a real rough place.  I guess his criteria for rough was only in regard to living standards or political persecution, because it's just as rough to share the Gospel in Japan as anywhere.  Well, once he admitted that, Japan became a contestant, and the more we talked, the more pieces of the puzzle came together.
         After the Fletchers left (after a 5 or 6 hour "lunch"),  Dan and I just looked at each other and asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"  The more we each thought about the idea, the more it made perfect sense.  The next morning I could think of nothing else while getting ready for work, and when I came back to the bed to kiss Dan goodbye, he said, "I've been lying here thinking about Japan."  Keep in mind that I am the emotional one in the family, not him.  For him to be as fixated on something as me is remarkable.
         At that point I was pretty convinced, but Dan took a couple more days to pray about it.  He said that every time he asked again for the Lord's will in this matter, he felt God was saying, "I already answered that question!"  Thursday evening Dan asked me again what I felt the Lord was indicating to us, and our impressions matched exactly -- we knew we were to be missionaries (career), we knew Japan was the country, but on matters of where in Japan or whether on the Fletchers' team we had not been given an answer.  It was amazing how clear this all was to both of us!  That evening, in prayer, we officially acknowledged and accepted this call.

The Pieces of the Puzzle
         Now I can't wait to go.  God has given me such an excitement that I have to keep reminding myself that it will be hard, that there is a high cost.  That doesn't slow me down at all.  As I look back on all the little details that the Lord put into place to prepare us, it is mindboggling that we didn't notice until He actually called us.  Most of the more obvious ones have already been mentioned, but here are some more subtle examples:
  • The whole complex process of bringing Dan and I together, even before we knew the Lord, is another story in itself, but obviously He wanted us as a team.
  • I was raised to be comfortable with travel and meeting new people.
  • Dan's military career brought him to Japan three times, and he learned much of the culture.
  • Even before Okinawa we both liked Japanese food, and even ate with chopsticks at home.
  • I feel that my lack of interest in raising a large family is a helpful step for career mission work at 105 yen/dollar (although I'm not saying that one can't do missions with kids).
  • A year and a half ago we started implementing a strict budget, not knowing that we were developing a habit that would be a necessity as missionaries.
  • Early in our marriage we seemed to expand our extracurricular activities, our "stuff collection", and house size; but the last six months or so both of us have been keenly interested in life simplification, stuff reduction, and less house to fix and clean.  Some of the stuff changes have made a lot of sense, like when I sold my motorcycle and used to proceeds to buy small, portable musical gear.
  • Although it is not part of the call that we are certain of, I have a feeling that my musical training, specific call to the worship teams of four churches, and current participation on a team to introduce and teach contemporary worship style to more traditional churches will be used in a country whose few Christians have a limited understanding of worship.
  • Obviously the fact that Dan will have a military retirement pension at age 37 is a big financial help.
         I could go on, but you get the idea.  God's ways are definitely higher than our ways, and He saw fit to prepare us for a long time before actually calling us to the mission field.  I could say that I must have been blind not to notice the direction He was leading us, but I think rather that, like Jesus walking to Emmaus unrecognized by two disciples, God chose this point in time, no sooner and no later, to reveal this part of His will to us.  I also believe He was waiting for us to be truly ready to receive it, after lifting it up consistently in prayer and opening our hearts to following Him with our whole lives.  Watashitachi wa Nihon e ikimasu! ("We're going to Japan!")
This site is maintained very simply by - please write with any comments.