PERSEVERANCE
– Laurie Elliot
`Consider it pure joy, my brothers/sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ` (James 1:2,3)
Would you give these verses to your fiancé for a parting gift? How would you feel if he gave them to you? Well, I felt something less than enthusiastic!
I did consider it a trial to watch John head off to France on an exciting short term mission while I returned to my parents newest home in the smallest New England town they’d lived in yet. In fact, many trials as the summer progressed and I spent all my days with my siblings pulling up poison ivy from my mother’s garden in the seemingly uninhabited Berkshire Hills. I thought it was exceedingly unreasonable of him to suggest that I count it all joy.
I really don’t think that I ever once thought of these verses in James as God’s word to me, but only as a peculiar choice of John’s; perhaps his mind was a little blank the day he inscribed my brand new NIV Testament.
As for perseverance I’m not sure that I knew what it was.
It wasn’t a word we used often and it certainly wasn’t the sort of concept that appealed to me or many of my hippie peers. We assumed `If you don’t like it, why do it? ` And as often as not, we didn’t. I hadn’t yet encountered the claims of hungry babies, crying toddlers or church planting in Japan. Can you just walk away?
And so I certainly didn’t recognize what I’m now sure was God’s prophetic word to me.
`Count it pure joy because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ` The passage continues, `Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ` One might as well count the process a joy!
In our letters we talk much of trials – after all, we’re asking people to pray for us - and persevering, which is a rather a favorite theme of ours, but there is also joy.
Ajigasawa is a hundred times larger than the sleepy New England town where I spent that summer pulling poison ivy from my mother’s garden. But it is still not the size of Japanese town where OMF; or any other mission for that matter; usually works. In an era predominated by Urban Mission the only groups working in rural Japan seem to be the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Moonies. And it is only through our assignment to a church in the city of Goshogowara that we came to work in such a remote rural setting.
Remote only to urban eyes. In actual fact, we are the county seat. Our beach is the focal point of the Tsugaru Peninsula in summer, and the traffic passing by the church on every sunny Sunday from May through October often
interferes with the sermon. In winter the traffic goes the other way, up to the Ajigasawa Ski Resort - a Resort that our daughter tells us is known even to her friends in Tokyo.
We have culture too. Last fall, during the week long Aomori Music Festival in Ajigasawa, people came from as far away as Tokyo for music workshops with World-class Polish musicians in the large 5-story concert hall we can see from our dining room window. And then attended midnight concerts in the multi-story Grand Mer Hotel. I sat with the proprietress, a former English student of mine who once told me `I told the Buddhist priest that he ought to teach us something worthwhile like you do! `
Sometimes it seems to us like Ajigasawa has it all. As we walk along the Nakamura River every morning we can gaze at Mt Iwaki across the fields and villages to the south. So much beauty.
We have it all. We get to live here! And we have been given the challenging task, unparalleled by most our peers, of planting a church where there is no other church.
When we entered Ajigasawa 15 years ago we wrote: “God has obviously gone before us. May we not be slack at the harvest. Reputedly, Japan's Christian population is 1%. If God should grant us our 1% here in Ajigasawa- that means our 6 people should multiply to 175. That's about 90 here in town and 85 in the villages. May God grant it so.”
Then we started looking for our 175 people.
John did door to door tracting, noting down all the people with previous Christian contacts or some sort of interest for follow up tracting. Rieko Kudoh, our church organist, was the only immediate and obvious fruit of this tracting. But the task didn’t lack for interest.
Perhaps the most memorable of many interesting conversations John had was with an elderly orchardist, Mr.Kimura; everyone is Mr.Kimura in the village of Tateishi. It seemed a neighbor of his had had some sort of Christian connection and Mr.Kimura exclaimed, ` I don’t know whether he’s Christ’s friend or his enemy. ` Mr.Kimura went on John’s follow up list.
Meanwhile I started teaching English. This was to keep John free for what we saw as the `real work` of teaching Bible Studies. Actually we hadn’t planned to teach English at all. But people weren’t exactly breaking the door down for Bible Studies and since the demand for English was overwhelming we compromised I taught the Bible in English. Occasionally my students drove me to tears, but most of the time it was actually kind of fun. Certainly interesting!
Today Yuko, one of the students from that first unforgettable class of 20 Junior High students, often emails me from England where she is working on her second Master’s Degree in Renaissance Art. She’s culture shocked.
`After I came home yesterday, I noticed there's a power failure at my apartment. I saw lots of candle shop in London, I think candles are necessary to survive in this country. Anyway, I was staying in the dark for more than 4 hours. I really want to go back to civilized world! `
And I am able to put her in touch with Christians.
`I received an e-mail from Gordon. At first, his name was different from the name you told me (Tom?), I thought the mail might be delivered to wrong address or my data was stolen through the Internet. Actually, stealing e-mail is easy theoretically. Then, I wanted to make sure who is "Gordon," so I called him. In contrast to my preoccupation, he was your friend and very nice person. `
Both Gordon and Tom stayed with us as short-term missionaries. Putting them in touch with Yuko is an interesting way for us to follow them up too!
Yuko’s class folded in the 3rd year as they all became preoccupied with preparing for their high school entrance exams. It was followed by other classes and many deep conversations. But still I thought I’d try a new idea in evangelism.
Most OMF missionaries seem to teach language classes and cooking classes, my husband teaches woodworking, my brother-in-law taught stained glass, and my sister teaches wreath making. But why, queried one of my missionary colleagues, teach at all? Why not go to somebody else’s class?
So 8 years ago I embarked on my career as a Russian student. Today, with more and more Russians in Aomori Prefecture, it seems perhaps a God-inspired move. But that’s not why I did it.
This was fun. No heavy responsibility for me and lots of opportunity for evangelism and follow up. I walked home with backslider, Mrs. Hanada. I visited classmates. They visited me. As he stood smiling sheepishly in our entryway thrusting out his gift of food we discovered to our amazement that John’s Mr.Kimura was also my Mr.Kimura.
And then I remembered my English class parties. More fun. I like cooking. I like Russian food. I invited everyone to the church one evening for borscht and rye bread. Our kids now retired elementary school principle walked in and demanded `What shall I worship? ` While I picked up my jaw and collected my thoughts he walked to the front of the sanctuary and stood meditatively in front of the beautifully written poster proclaiming, `The LORD our God, the LORD is one Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. `
An apt reply I thought.
A few months later I invited everyone for Cabbage Soup and Easter Bread. I read the Resurrection Story and explained it. Afterward Mr. Ikeda told me `Thank you. They keep talking about releasing the Japanese hostages in Peru on Resurrection Day. I wondered what Resurrection Day was. I feel so warm inside when they say it, but I never understood what they meant. Now you have finally explained it to me. Thank you. `
85 years old - and at last he’d heard about Jesus death and resurrection!
With more men guests then women in a town where men traditionally leave religion to the women this method of evangelism - through the stomach; was clearly the way to go.
And it was definitely fun. I boiled up potatoes, wieners and sauerkraut for Reformation Day. I invited my Wycliffe friends to make a Turkish meal and talk about trials - doubly effective when Hiroko took the podium because her husband was down with a relapse of his MS. We wanted to reach our Filipino neighbor so we invited a group of Filipinos from the American naval base for a Philippine Day. And Martin Luther King Day inspired a Gospel Concert with more visitors from the Base; a chance for them to minister to the people of Aomori. But usually we just tapped the ethnic backgrounds of our many short-term workers; New Zealand Night, Australian Dessert Night, Oxford Night, and Texas Night.
This is fun for everybody; Christian and non-Christian. And meaningful as it creates a natural stage for serious conversation.
Sometimes very serious indeed. When our old friend Mr.Kimura told me, after interrogating me on my husbands drinking habits, that he couldn’t become a Christian because he couldn’t give up his carousing I turned away in embarrassment. But when a few moments later I steeled myself to tell him that Gospel is about the power of God to free us from the sins we can’t escape I found I had an eager audience in the owner of the hardware store John frequents. I followed up with a New Testament, which Mr.Kimura read.
Unfortunately, when questioned by a church member a few parties later, he replied that he was 'just too old' he didn’t mention that even though in his late 70`s he still lived with his mother and his home; in the Buddhist scheme of things; was his clans ancestral home.
How many more tracts how many more parties? After 15 years of witnessing to Mr.Kimura I wonder how much perseverance it will take to bring him into the kingdom of heaven.
As I watch 10 year old Ayako's face shining as she prepares for baptism I wonder if perhaps our missionary to the Japanese in Brazil was right when he told us that we must faithfully; monthly visit people where they are; for 15 years; 20 in a hard place; and then there would certainly be fruit in the NEXT generation.
But still, I hope against hope, to see Mr.Kimura in heaven
But you see the verse actually says `Perseverance much finish its work so that you may be mature and complete.` That’s me, my husband, and you as you persevere in partnership with us to bring the Gospel to Northern Japan.
God is working in us. Let’s consider it pure joy.