Hot. Humid. Beautiful. These are the three words I would use to describe our missions trip to Japan. It started off with a twist and turn in our itinerary. A global IT systems failure canceled our flight into Nagoya so we flew into Hong Kong and then to Tokyo. Then we took the Shinkansen bullet train to Nagoya. We lost a day but we were still able to walk in late to church service at Logos Community Church. We were exhausted. The weather was 97 degrees with 80% humidity. But we immediately got to work preparing for the 5-day VBS program. Our team led the teaching, life (small group discussion), crafts, games, snacks, kindergarten and music. We had a lot of help from many moms volunteering throughout the week. As I led the songs and looked out at the kids singing, I saw a beautiful scene. I saw 50 kids (most who don’t know Jesus) singing songs about Jesus. I heard them sing lyrics like “Jesus you’re all I need” and “Do not fear because God is with us”. I heard moms who were nonbelievers comment on how touched they were singing these lyrics. There is beauty in the gospel going forth because God is beautiful. I was able to see that first-hand in Japan.
It was a joy to walk alongside the team and the staff of Logos Community Church to serve in putting on the Kids Summer English program so that the kids and the parent volunteers in the community would hear the gospel and about who God is. God sustained us and provided for us through flight cancellations, long travel days, language barriers, scorching heat, illness, and much more. Even with one short week, His gospel will go forth for His glory. I was greatly encouraged in getting to know Pastor Hide, Pastor Toshi, and Pastor Tim and their families and how they were ministering in Japan. While ministry may seem unfruitful at times, God is good and His grace is shown in small ways with growing exposure about Christianity and in biblical counseling to the people of Japan. Thank you for supporting us!
The trip to Japan was a huge blessing and I am very thankful for all of the support and prayers throughout the week. Praise God for getting us to Nagoya and sustaining us through the VBS week. It was a joy to serve and play with the kids all week! Despite any language barriers, I was able to connect with the kids there through more nonverbal expressions. Being able to match their excitement each day is not something I expected I would be able to do, but by God’s grace I was filled with energy each morning when the kids ran into camp. I didn’t anticipate being so sad to leave but at the end of the week I didn’t want to say goodbye. Many of the parents were also very welcoming and wanted to practice their English with us. I could see their love for their nation and culture through how much and how excited they were to share in English. I’ll continue to pray for Japan and for many more faithful ministers to be sent to Japan. Many of the people there are searching for God but they have not yet heard the gospel. One example of this was during our prayer walk at a local shrine in the middle of the week. Locals were active at the shrine and to see how deeply ingrained Shintoism and Buddhism are was saddening. Overall, this trip has opened my eyes to the deep need for missionaries in Japan and also the privilege and blessing God gave me by being born in the United States.
Some of the most things God taught and retaught (more important) me:
To have faith in Him and not my works
That those I speak to do not need to know all this knowledge of God or have all this theology. All they need is faith in Jesus Christ.
That the same Gospel that saved me is the same Gospel is what I am sharing with others. Nothing extra. It is simple and easy to understand. That God does the work in their heart, not how many boxes I check off in my explanation. God is powerful enough to use my lacking messages to still do a work in their hearts.
That God answers prayers. Thank you God for the work you have done, are doing and will do for the Logos Community Church and All Nations Fellowship / Christ Bible Institute in Nagoya. Thank you for showing your faithfulness to those in Nagoya. Thank you for the humble leaders you have placed in Nagoya: the Kawai family, Juro family, Burns family, Gonzalez family, Eguchi family, and the Kang family.
This trip revealed God’s kindness and His sovereign hand in a number of ways. Our team truly needed to lean on the Lord as we traveled, fought sickness, and evangelized. Serving in Kids Summer English was just as much of a blessing for me as I pray it was for them. I got the chance to lead the Yochien (kindergarten age) this week and help with the dancing. Through crafts, teaching, snacks, and games, I was so encouraged by the kids willingness to listen and engage. Despite a language barrier, we still connected through all the high fives, hugs, and smiles exchanged. It gave me so much hope to see God working in these little lives in such an unreached country. My heart longs for their salvation but it also trusts that God is doing so much more than I could ever imagine or hope for. So blessed by the support to be able to go and thankful for all the prayers!
I started off at the end of last year. I was approached by a couple of brothers in Christ asking if I’m willing to serve on a Japan mission trip in 2024. I was hesitant at first because I had recently gone to Japan and didn’t think I had a reason to be there. Well, it seems like God had a different plan for me. He used people to encourage me to sign up and go, so I answered.
Fast forward to the time it is time to depart from LAX. Crowdstrike had a malfunction which caused many of the airline systems to shut down which they were not able to operate. Luckily I happen to know a thing or two because of my experience with the airline industry and went straight into work mode. Thankfully the rebooking system on the airline end was operational and not all flights departing from LAX were canceled at the time. I managed to secure a flight to reroute us from LAX to HKG and then to TYO. We had very little time to checkin and go to the gate but we managed to get it working.
Once we were on the flight, and managed to make our connecting flight from HKG to TYO, the next thing on my mind was getting transportation to go to our final destination in Nagoya. Shinkansen (bullet train) is a wonderful means of transportation to get almost anywhere in Japan. Once we got there, we were able to attend the afternoon service and were able to have the time to greet and meet the folks who usually attend Logos Community Church.
I was in charge of the Life group for the KSE (Kids Summer English) program. My main focus was to think of questions and lead discussion for older kids (grade 3-6) to understand who God is and his teachings. Daniel did an awesome job of making the curriculum and I felt a bit of a pressure on my end on what would be good questions, and how it would make the children think. Thankfully, I had some help from Toshi, Daniel, and Mark to proceed with the questions. I was able to have a glimpse of what these kids think about life and christianity in general. It was definitely a blessed time together. I got close to the older boys (including Shoma) during our times within KSE.
It was one of those moments where it felt long, but our time was short. Created many new memories. Lots of laughter, and lots of noises. It felt like a marathon race sometimes, where I was to rest but only when I was sleeping. Throughout the day, I was helping out with the translation, playing and teaching with the kids, talking to the moms, and even learning how to drive on the other side of the road. More than anything at some point, it felt like I was a part of a marathon, but by God’s grace, I was to input my energy whatever I can, and thankfully manage to return back to the States.
