"What Does It Say?" I Asked My Wife for the Five Hundredth Time.

It has been little over a month since my family and I arrived in Aomori, Japan. During the past month, we registered ourselves at the local government office, finalized our housing in Hirosaki City, switched our driver’s licenses to Japanese ones, set up our bank accounts and phone numbers, and purchased our family car. For the most part, the process of newly settling in Japan has been very exciting and fun. God called me to serve for Japan mission, and I have been dreaming about it for years. We now have taken our first step in Japan to obey God’s calling for us. It almost felt surreal to me that this is actually happening. However, as expected, the past month has not always been fun and exciting. There were various challenges for us. The enemies attacked us. Our weaknesses were exploited. In this blog, I want to share the biggest challenge that I had to face during the first month and how it helped me to grow.

(The view from Atago Park, Noheji-town)

I recently watched a YouTube video titled “12 Reasons Not to Move to Japan” (click HERE to watch the video). Don’t be surprised but rest assured! It is not that I intentionally looked up a YouTube video because I was homesick (it may be too early to be homesick). The video was featured in a YouTube channel called “Abroad in Japan” which delivers positive contents about Japan, which mostly promote living in or traveling to Japan. But this time, the channel decided to highlight a few facts based on the personality’s own experience living in Japan that others should consider before moving to Japan. The twelve listed reasons thankfully did not surprise me, but one of them heavily touched my heart when I watched the video. I would not have truly understood it in my heart before coming to Japan, but now that I am in Japan, it hit me hard.

As one of the twelve reasons, the video lists, “Goodbye Independence.” Chris, the YouTube personality, explains that as a fresh-out-of-a-boat foreigner, you would need help in almost every aspect of your new life in Japan: from filing paper works at a local government office to using a microwave at home. This was exactly my experience; saying goodbye to independence has been a huge challenge for me. Although I could speak quite well and read Japanese a little (for example, I didn’t need help using a microwave although I could not read everything on the microwave), the question – “What does this say?” – has been the number one question that I have had for my wife. I kept asking my wife this question over and over again to the extent that I seriously irritated (or am irritating) my wife. In reality, without my wife’s help, I could not have done anything for the past month. Finalizing our housing in Hirosaki City? Difficult. Opening a bank account? Very difficult. Filing paper works at a local government office? Nearly impossible.

This issue is actually broader than my reading comprehensibility in Japanese. Yes, I can preach in Japanese, but I have rarely ordered food in Japanese at a restaurant or done shopping at a local grocery store. The problem comes with not only language but more with cultural differences. I just didn’t know how Japanese people “normally” order food at a restaurant or buy groceries. With this "goodbye independence" experience, at the end of the first month, I felt helpless. I felt restless. I felt I lost control in my life.

(Losing control)

As I meditate and pray about this challenge, God taught me that this is not simply a physical issue but a spiritual one. In fact, God taught me that I could spiritually grow from this experience. The world that we are living in, intentionally and unintentionally, imposes the rule of “survival of the fittest” on us. It instructs us to work hard and achieve what we want with our own strength. It says that we would have to fight for it. It insists that if we are not in control, others would take advantage of us. We would then fail the nature’s test and thus would not survive to last or "receive inheritance."

However, Jesus says in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” According to English dictionary, the word “meek” means “quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.” It essentially describes a person who depends on others (in Matthew's context, God) and not on his own strength, either by his choice or by necessity. In God’s eyes, God considers meekness “very precious” (1 Pet. 3:4). When a person is meek before God or relies on God’s strength rather than on his own, God will let the person inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). Therefore, contrary to the world's teachings, God wants us to be helpless before him. God wants us to be completely dependent on him. God wants us to let go our own control of our life to him.

("Meek as a lamb")

My experience in Japan as a newcomer mirrors closely to my experience when I first moved to the States from South Korea. Like now, I had felt helpless because of the cultural barrier. I had felt I could not do anything by myself. Back then, I had no choice but to depend on God. When I surrendered before God, Jesus came to me as my friend, savior, and lord. I came to know Jesus and to love him for the very first time. Like then, I believe today’s experience in Japan will be a catalyst for my spiritual growth as I return to the love I first had, which is the love for Jesus that led me to completely rely on God. I find myself helpless in Japan, but God is my strength and power. “For when I am weak, then I am strong” in God (2 Cor. 12:10).

Would you also choose to surrender before God and completely depend on him today?

Taeho