If you have no idea what’s going on, here’s the scoop. I’m going to Japan for a year through the JET program. The departure date is July 24th, so I have just over 2 months left in the States. Hopefully this blog will allow me to share some of my thoughts about life in Japan as well as let you know I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth (or into a volcano) or been eaten by a brown bear.
Yes, I said “volcano” and “brown bear” in the same sentence. If you haven’t heard, I’m going to Shibecha-cho, Hokkaido, one of Japan’s most remote and undeveloped parts. WIN!
Now if you don’t know much about Japanese geography, Hokkaido is the 2nd largest island of Japan and is the “head of the dragon” residing at the northern tip of Honshu (the main island). Should you have the time and interest, go ahead and Google Earth my little town. You probably won’t see much because not much is there. Here’s a quick rundown of Shibecha (thanks mostly to Wikipedia):* Town located in Kawakami District, Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaido of Japan
* Estimated population: 8,567
* Area: 1,099.41 km2
* 5 railway stations along the Senmo Main Line of Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido)
* Dialect spoken: Hokkaido-ben (a dialect I don't know...even better, right?)
This basically means I’m in the middle of nowhere. Let me give you some perspective. From Shibecha Station, it will take 57 minutes to get to Kushiro Station, where I can change train lines at Kushiro Station to get to Sapporo (the major city on the island). From Kushiro Station to Sapporo Station, it will only take me 230 minutes with the total trip costing me 9760 yen. From Sapporo Station to Tokyo, well, that’s a whole different story. Let’s just say I probably won’t be making very many trips off my island.
I was hoping to be around Tokyo (since I studied abroad in a neighboring suburb in high school) and have a chance to get myself plugged back into my church out there. My pastor at church here (in LA) was excited because he wanted to me to meet up with our missionaries and find the “modern” Japanese church in Japan so we could direct young Japanese nationals in LA to churches in Japan. I was excited about the opportunity and was hoping that this was what God had in mind.
However, I found out Monday night that I wouldn’t be in Tokyo. I wouldn’t even be on the same island as Tokyo. Instead, I would be going to “the most remote part of Japan”— eastern Hokkaido. As soon as I found out, my heart sank and I wanted to shake my fist at God. “Why would You send me to Hokkaido? Why are You sending me to a tiny isolated town of 8,500 people in the middle of nowhere? How am I supposed to save Japan and do ministry if there’s no one to minister to? I was obedient and said I would go, so at least You could’ve returned the favor and sent me somewhere I wanted to go. Why God?”
I remembered the Bible verse I used for my last ADX (sorority) roll call (which is saying a lot, if you know me): Isaiah 6:8, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." God didn’t ask, “Whom shall I send to Tokyo?” or “Where would you like Me to send you?” God is God, and I am not…and we can all be thankful for that!
And I just sat there for a while in the silence of my apartment and realized how silly it all seemed. This was my chance to meet God…for a year. To have peace and quiet and a life away from the city. To recharge and renew my love for the Creator. To really learn how to trust God and have faith that He knows what He’s doing. And someone reminded me, God is going to trust me with the small things before He trusts me with the big things. I need to be faithful to my tiny isolated town and be a witness there and learn how to love and embrace them.
According to the OMF office in Hokkaido, there’s about 1 church for every couple thousand people in Hokkaido. There is a lot of opportunity to do ministry and share the Gospel with people who have probably never heard it before. With that being said, the likelihood of me finding a church to attend is probably slim to none. I have to trust that God has a plan for me going out that way and that far and that isolated.
I’m still trying to trust God with it. I’m still trying to be optimistic. I’m still trying to get used to the idea that the high in August is 70 and the average in January is 15 and everything is measured using the metric system. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the distance to Tokyo…and LA. I’m not trying to understand why God put me there (I think Charles Swindoll had the right idea, but not the reason I put the Charles Swindoll quote at the top of the page; it’s the same one from my old blog). I’m going to trust that I’ll be there at just the right time in just the right place with just the right people.
In the meantime, I’ll praise God for a chance to enjoy the time alone. I’ll praise God for a chance to have a break from the bustling city life and breathe fresh air. I’ll praise God for a chance to experience snow fall at Christmas. I’ll praise God for a chance to learn what it means to really rely on God alone. I’ll praise God for a chance to go back to the Motherland and share His love with my people. I’ll praise God for a chance to fall in love with snowboarding again. I’ll praise God for a chance to wear sweats everyday and have a legitimate reason to wear Timberlands.
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