Revenge

Nerd Alert: the word リベンジ、pronounced rebenji, is a katakana word. Katakana words are words that are borrowed from foreign languages. In this instance it is derived from the English word for revenge. Usually the pronunciation and meaning are similar to the original word, but occasionally they slightly differ.

Revenge is a word I've been using a lot lately. But it doesn't quite mean what you're probably thinking.

In Japanese, this word is used to mean to try something over again. There's no nuance of malice. Rather, it's a determination to overcome a previous failure.

Most recently I used this word in the context of meeting my friend at a “flower park”. This place is about an hour away from where I live, but I really wanted to go, so I invited my language exchange partner to go with me. We agreed to meet in front of the building since I was going by train and she was going by bus. Miraculously we arrived at the same time. Just in time for us to both have the same disappointed look on our faces as we saw a sign saying it was closed. I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t check the hours of operation ahead of time, and I felt so bad because I was the one who made the plans. Instead we went to a nearby cafe and talked about our next meeting, to which she said, リベンジしよう！Let's get revenge!

Thus we went a couple of weeks later and had a grand time taking tons of pictures and celebrating her birthday.

So whether it's making plans to go back to a place that was unexpectedly closed, deciding to make a new attempt at a failed house project, or generally taking another stab at any faux pas (which, let's face it, I make a ton of), I have used this word a lot.

Those times may be しょうがない (can't be helped/that's just the way it is), but Japanese people seem to be such a determined group that they also have phrases like 頑張って(do your best) and ファイト(fight) that they very commonly say to one another. So rather than getting bogged down and wanting to quit, they have a fighting spirit. And I have to admit, saying, “I'll try again next time” will never get me as fired up as saying “I'm going to get revenge!”

The Grass is Always Bluer

That’s how the saying goes in Japanese anyway.

Since I’ve gotten the chance to connect with more people from back in the US over the last few months, I’ve noticed a theme in many of my friends. Of course many people are itching to get out of the house these days, but there seems to also be a trend of people itching to get out of the country.

There is all of this talk about other countries that are “doing well” despite the pandemic. People can live life there openly, so why not move there to work or even do missions! That’s what I’ve been hearing. Granted, some of these people I’ve talked to have been thinking about missions long before COVID came along, but either way, there is something about this time in life that has people considering the idea of going overseas.

If that’s truly what God is calling someone to do – woohoo! We love hearing about more upcoming missionaries! However, we equally love to hear about those who find fulfillment in where God already has them, and our hope is that those people still find another way to be involved in missions (advocating, mobilizing, etc.). In the end, God has the final say, and if the Spirit is leading you to missions, then you just have to do it regardless of what I or anyone else says. However, for those of you who have a passion yet feel unsure about whether you yourself feel called to go into missions, please indulge me by mulling over some of the things I’ve been thinking about.

Perhaps what this questioning boils down to is God’s calling. People often ask us how we know God’s call. Well… I honestly can’t give a catch-all answer. I think that part of it can be how He works things together in your life. For the two of us, we can find various events in our history where we saw a pattern of God nudging us toward either first world missions or Japan specifically, and we only continued to find affirmation after making the decision to become missionaries. Then I guess I would say another part of it is knowing God’s voice. People, myself included, seem to have a hard time differentiating between something that God has put on the heart vs one’s own desire. To make it more confusing, those things often overlap! For instance, even if we weren’t here as missionaries, I could imagine living in Japan just because we find it awesome. We wanted to come to Japan so badly that at one point we tried to forge our own way of going so we could get there as soon as possible. Though that door did actually open for us, we both knew it in our hearts that it was not the way God wanted us to go. It was a little painful (self-inflicted) to let that opportunity go, but God definitely enriched us as we took the (albeit longer) path He intended for us. I am certainly not an expert in this and have made my fair share of mistakes, but I invite you to ask if you are taking steps toward something God is asking you to do or are you forcing/twisting a desire?

Before arriving in Japan, I remember hearing that it’s important for missionaries to really know and remember their calling. For any other missionaries reading this, you’re probably thinking, how on earth could I forget? I’ve only had to recite it a hundred times. Well, that’s probably a good thing because there are going to be times when we think “what on earth am I doing here?”. Well, you have your answer in your calling. Cling to it! If you’re in the mission field and don’t have a strong sense of your call, I can’t imagine how you’ll endure the rocky places down the road. When you hit a rough patch when you’re in your home country, you can turn to family, friends, and be home. But when times get tough and you’re in a foreign land, as much you may feel accustomed to it, you’ll just never get that same sense of a “safety net”. So it’s best that you hold on tight to the reason that God has brought you there! It’ll be your strongest anchor. For anyone who is thinking about going into the mission field without a strong sense of his/her calling, I advise you to consider this.

I understand if you’re feeling a lack of purpose where you are right now, especially when it’s exacerbated by the feeling of being trapped while the world is shut down. But trust me, not a lot is happening in the mission field right now either. I personally have been feeling increasingly like I can’t find a way to implement any ministry ideas I’ve been thinking about, which could be considered my “job”. But I trust God and His calling in my life. Just because this timing isn’t fantastic, that hasn’t changed the fact that He has asked me to be here. So right now I’ll do whatever things I can, however small or mundane the tasks may seem.

You may hear of these other countries that are “doing well”, but trust me, the grass isn’t greener over there. It’s just blue. It’s not better or worse. It’s simply different.

What may seem like a mundane day-to-day work life to you is so incredibly important to us. If everyone was a missionary or a pastor... well… that just wouldn’t work. Those of us with “clergy titles” can’t function without the mass of people who surround us with support. For some reason pastors and missionaries have tended to get the spotlight over the years, but the reality is that it’s you guys who allow us to focus on ministry without having to worry about much else. If anything, we left you to figure out how to juggle everything else! If you’ve been feeling a lack of purpose lately, I hope you’re encouraged by this thought that all the seemingly “small” things you do to just keep your family and coworkers in Christ afloat have a huge impact and purpose for His kingdom.