Lucy: learning a lot about living authentically

I’ve been having such an AMAZING time meeting our missionary partners here in Japan. Not only are they super nice and helping us see the sights this past week (I am so overwhelmed by all the Hello Kitty dolls in the stores! And Pokemon and Power Rangers and Super Mario brothers too!), I am encouraged and even inspired about how they are seeking to live authentically as a followers of Christ. We met with Koichi and Shirley Tamura, Gerald May, Richard Nakamura, and Larry and Alma Oline, and all of them have talked about how reaching people is not about programs or handing out tracts, but building relationships and letting people see how their lives are different because of Jesus.

They got me thinking about what we’ve been learning back home at LCC, like how most people nowadays who start following Jesus do so because they’ve been friends with a Christian who lived authentically loving Jesus. I guess I kind of thought that missionaries were somehow superhuman or something, but meeting them has shown me that they are just like us with the same struggles and challenges, like finding a good education for their kids or how to make ends meet. But what’s different is that they love Jesus enough to hear His calling change their lives and live out here, and they let themselves be seen by those around them.

This is making me think more about what my life is like back home. Am I (we) living authentically? Can those around us see what our lives as followers of Jesus are like? Things like saving face, avoiding conflict, busyness, and distractions are talked about as barriers to Jesus here in Japan, but I see those things as also barriers at home and in myself sometimes. I'm thinking that being here is not so much about what I do in Japan, but about how being in Japan for this short time changes what I do when I get back…