How to Receive...

"Is it a love based on giving and receiving as well as having and sharing. And the love that they give and have is shared and received. And through this having and giving and sharing and receiving, we too can share and love and have....and receive." - Joey

So maybe Joey wasn't the best with words but I think he's on to something. At my orientation before I left for Japan, we were in one of our sessions and they were talking about our ability to receive as well as our jobs to give to those we serve. Missionaries often go into the field and think they are there to help everyone and are often hesitant to let others help them. Someone shared a story about a couple of missionaries that were in Africa. They would go to the store stock up on food, drinks and everything they needed to live and return home; thus eliminating the need to borrow a cup of sugar from their neighbor, or to share a cup of coffee with a stranger. They worked amongst the people but lived in solitude. If someone died, they needed comfort, or something went wrong they handled it themselves often relying on technology and the comfort of friends from afar. One night a neighbor from the village came over and asked to borrow a cup of sugar and they began talking. The villager commented on how the missionaries acted as if they didn't need anyone else. They never let the people there were there to serve help them; they never needed extra food, a shoulder to cry on or someone to help them. The people in the village felt they weren't needed and as if there was nothing they could do for these people who had come to live in their town. The missionaries weren't able to receive the gifts of the people they were working with. Human beings need to feel as though they are needed, we love to contribute and make others happy almost as much as we ourselves enjoy being comforted and being happy. With all this being said let me tell you about my Friday.

This past Friday in Tokyo was a particularly gross day. We woke up to about 40F and a wet and rainy morning. Yuck. I didn’t feel like going to school, but like a good student I went. I did not bring any rain boots or boots in general for that matter, with me to Japan so I was wearing my brown flats. (Not the best shoes for walking in rain). Usually the walk to school doesn’t have that many puddles so I thought I’d be okay….I was wrong. By the time we got to school my shoes were quite wet, but class went on like normal. After school I was going to the Hongo Student Center for their Christmas party. I took the train to 御茶ノ水 (Ochanomizu) and began my walk to Hongo. This walk was filled with puddles. On my walk there my shoes became drenched to the point I could hear the water sloshing around, and my pants were soaked mid way up my calf. I was getting really aggravated and was wondering what I had done to aggravate God so much that he would make me this miserable. Every time a taxi drove by I contemplated getting into it and going back home. I was a mess. I was cold, wet, angry, and just all around in a bad mood. I tried to shake it and reflect on a conversation I had with my friend Molly the day before. We were talking about how we believe everything happens for a reason, although its not evident at first…I believe it happens for a reason. I was laughing to myself thinking okay…so this happened because I didn’t buy that pair of rain boots…or this is a sign from God I need to go home…and then I started thinking there was no reason for this tortured walk. By the time I got to Hongo I was about ready to cry I was so frustrated.

Upon entering the building I took off my shoes (normally not done in this building) so I didn’t drag water all over the carpet. The Hongo staff took one look at me, barefoot with soaking pants and their faces looked shocked. Immediately the woman sitting in front of the heater offered up her seat to me in order to help dry my pants, and then offered me a pair of her slippers to keep my feet warm, another missionary poured me a cup of hot tea, I was given a doughnut, and countless numbers of mikon. The Pastor and another woman office worker helped me wipe off my shoes and then they sat there stuffing news paper in my shoes in order to soak up all the water. As I was sitting there with my pants drying, my shoes beginning to shed the water, and with my hot cup of tea in hand, I thought; Wow, I wanted to turn around and go home and continue to sit in my bad mood about the horrible walk I had had, but these people welcomed me with open arms and took care of me. I felt as if I was able to receive the hospitality and generosity I might have usually ignored, or been hesitant to receive. By the time the Christmas party was over and it was time to go home, my shoes and my pants had dried and I was warm again. I was able to receive the love and care that these people had to offer, and I think that is so important. (I took a taxi back to御茶ノ水 so I didn’t have the trouble again though)

This Christmas season people tend to worry about what to buy other people, time is always running out and so is money. We are often so stressed out to sit back and enjoy what we’ve already received; the true gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ. He shows us hospitality and gives us comfort whenever we need it, and I just pray that throughout all the hustle and bustle that is the Christmas Season we can take the time to sit back, in front of the heater (or the fireplace if you’re so lucky) and enjoy what we already have.

In the words of my dear friend Joey Tribbiani “Is it a love based on giving and receiving”

Amen

Why Japan?

For most of you it was no surprise when I said I was becoming a missionary and moving to Japan. In addition to my involvement with the church throughout my life, I've always had a passion for Asia. Several examples of what I mean; in Jr. High School my best friend was Laotian. I spent every weekend at her house for probably a year. Learning the proper way to make noodles, eating sticky rice, and understanding that a good bowl of noodles required a box of kleenex when eaten. Then I went to college and became best friends with a Cambodian. He and I celebrated Cambodian New Year with his family. In addition to that wonderful celebration we also often ate many home made Cambodian meals, his mom even taught me how to make egg rolls from scratch once. Then my sophomore year of college, I decided to study abroad. No surprise to anyone, I choose Asia...more specifically China. I fell in love with Asian culture up close and personal. So when I announced I'd be moving to Japan after graduation there were few people who were actually surprised. However not many people know what sparked my interest in the Asian cultures. It began long before China or college or even Jr. high, and has nothing to do with boys. Lately this story has been on my mind a lot and I thought I'd share it

When I was about 6 yrs. old or so, my mom took my brothers and I to the park that was attached to our elementary school in Milwaukee. (Our school also happened to be an Asian Immersion school) We were all playing on the playground equipment and then I found a pink ribbon hair clip. Looking around there were two other young girls in the park about my age and I wanted to see if this ribbon belonged to either one of them. The fact that I asked those two girls about this bow changed my life in ways I never would have imagined. One of those girls was named Wen and she was Chinese and the other girl was named Mariko who was from Japan. The bow didn't belong to either one of them, but from that moment on Mariko and I became very close best friends for years to come.

Mariko and her family were from Tokyo and temporarily living in Milwaukee while her dad, Tsueno Mizumura, who is a heart surgeon, was in the U.S. for research purposes. Mariko introduced me to Japanese culture and to another part of the world I had only briefly heard about in school. Her mom, Kyoko, gave me my first pair of chopsticks: they were pink Snoppy chopsticks, and spent an entire afternoon teaching me how to use them as I moved kidney beans from one bowl to another. I learned to take my shoes off at the entrance of the house and that hosts were always gracious and gave presents when friends came to visit. Mariko's family also had Japanese TV stations so we watched the Power Rangers in Japanese, she also taught me how to count and write our names in Japanese. Japan was my first Asian love affair.

Mariko and I stayed close friends, actually our whole families stayed close friends. Along with our siblings, we played together whether it was at her place or mine. Her parents even attended my moms funeral. Slightly after my mom died we moved to Arkansas and Mariko and I became pen pals. A few years later she moved back to Tokyo and we continued to write each other for years. Sending gifts for birthdays, pictures, Christmas cards and other things. We always talked about being able to visit each other whether it be in Tokyo or back in America.

Now I sit here 16 years later living in her home town of Tokyo.... But we somehow lost touch within the past year or two. I finally returned to my first Asian love affair, Japan, after all these years I finally made it but cannot find Mariko. I often find it crazy that my life has come some what of a closed circle for me. I have always dreamt of coming to Japan when I was little, which to a 10 yr. old is a HUGE dream to have. People kind of laughed and said, oh yeah? and where else are you going to go? But something inside of me always side I'd make it here one day.

God finally decided to let me in on his plan and called me here for mission work. Sometimes God's plan truly amazes me. I still have a hard time believing I actually live in Japan.