Read what some who have gone have to say. Short-term missionaries have gone to Japan from Arizona, California, Virginia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Ohio, Maine, and a number of other places. You too can go. Read on.
I had always wanted to go on a mission trip. Several years have passed since I first told myself I wanted to go. And, now, I was signed up to go to Japan. Tickets had been purchased and departure was only a couple of weeks away. Suddenly I had developed mixed emotions – I wanted to go, but I was beginning to get “cold feet.”
I found myself asking such questions (of myself), “How could one person have any kind of an impact on complete strangers who live halfway around the world? We wouldn’t even be able to understand one another’s language. However, I overcame my fears and within a few days after arriving in Japan, I got my answers.
David Spurdle and Kevin and Nozomi West, the missionaries I was to work with, my co-missionary, Jack Sombrio, and I were invited by a Mr. Fukuda san and his wife Mieko and their son, Jun, to eat an authentic Japanese meal with them at a local restaurant. Dinner was enjoyable and the conversation was interesting. As we were leaving the restaurant, David told Jack and me that the Fukuda family asked if all of us would come to their home that evening and pray for their oldest son, whom we found out had just recently committed suicide.
This request brought a twinge of inadequacy in me as I had never been asked to do anything like that before. After all, I had just met these people and I had never met their departed son.
It seemed to me that this family was looking for some type of closure to this tragic event and they thought we could help them accomplish this. I didn’t want to disappoint them, so while David maneuvered the car through the narrow, rain slick streets, I prayed. I asked the Lord to give me the right words to say that would make this family feel better and to help them understand the full depth of His love for them.
David shared with us that he had tried to reach this young man with God’s Word on several occasions, but that when he would knock on his bedroom door, let’s say that he was less than hospitable. David continued that he did not know if the son had found Christ before he died as he had not indicated it to anyone in his family.
We arrived at their home and shortly found ourselves in his bedroom, a very small room in which we all had to squeeze together for everyone to get in. His parents had put a small table in one corner and placed a very nice picture of him wearing a suit and tie. He was a very good-looking young man. On the table they had placed some flowers and some of his favorite snack items and his favorite CDs.
We all took turns praying, Kevin played softly on his guitar, and we then sang a song. In a little while we said good night to the Fukuda family, they thanked us, and we stepped out into the dark, rainy night. As we drove back to our local home I felt good about the experience we had just had. On the other hand, I wondered if we had really reached the family and eased their pain for it was difficult to read the expressions on their faces.
A couple of days later, we were at J-Lodge for a “Wonderful Night Party” and we were cooking a big pot of chili to enjoy together with the young people that evening. I stepped outside for some fresh air when Mieko Fukuda came around the corner of the building. As soon as she saw me, she began jumping up and down and she had the biggest smile on her face. She was so excited and her excitement raised my own level of excitement as I was eager to find out why she seemed so excited!
She began to tell me that she and her family were so happy and grateful to us for coming to her home to pray with them. She wanted me to have a small gift she had brought. I was so happy for her that I began to cry. I understood better now that the Lord had given us the opportunity to bless these new believers. In so giving of ourselves, we too were greatly blessed.
The next Sunday at Chigasaki Church, I was sitting a couple of rows to the right side just behind the Fukuda family. Mr. Fukuda had not yet given his life to Christ. While the congregation sang, I noticed Mr. Fukuda sitting with his hands folded, his eyes closed, and his head bowed. I thought to myself, he is praying. I stopped singing and began to pray that the Lord would send the Holy Spirit to him that he might give his life to Christ that day.
After we returned home to the U.S., Dave Spurdle called to give me an update on some of the results that had occurred since we had come home. He said that the entire Fukuda family gave their lives to Christ shortly after we left Japan. I feel so blessed to have been able to go and be a part in this family’s decision to come to Jesus Christ. There is still much work to do in Japan, and I want to go again, for the rewards are so great! Will you also answer the call?
Patricia Martin, Team Japan (June, 2007) 2007-08-30