Our ministry in Japan looked a little different than anything I had ever done before. It was called “Treasure Hunting”. In World Race culture we call it ATL (Ask The Lord), but this was even a little more specific. We were living downtown in an apartment and we would begin each day by worship and seeking God for a specific word or picture. We discussed whatever we got and then went out in the city to find those things and the people they were associated with, the people God wanted us to encounter.
The first day we did this I (as usual) was a little skeptical. Shocker right? Here’s what I’ve learned about skepticism: it’s ok! The God who created me knows my thoughts. He KNOWS how I feel, I can’t hide anything from Him, so why would I try to put on a mask and make Him believe I wasn’t a little weirded out by stuff like this? I think when we bring our doubts to God, He honors our transparency and longs to increase our faith by showing us there is nothing about Him we should ever doubt. So I told Him if I was going to do this I needed the clearest word or picture in the history of words and pictures. Sure enough I saw it in my mind plain and clear, and felt the wave of peace I always feel when God speaks to me.
The Statue of Liberty.
It came so suddenly and out of the blue. As I pondered it I remember seeing a statue of liberty on top of one of the buildings near us. It’s not really an odd thing for an American to see, until you remember you’re in Japan. I told my team what I saw and we agreed we would start on that block first. Lauren saw neon colors and a yellow door, and LaShon saw a vision of a woman who was very child-like, with pigtails in her hair and just a very naïve demeanor. As we set out I began to look at the city with new eyes. I was looking intently for the things we saw and found I was seeing things I hadn’t noticed before, details in the city, every interaction going on around me. I began to notice Statues of Liberty everywhere! On shop logos and signposts, mini statues, everywhere! As we were walking we saw a display of neon sweatshirts. Across the street was a staircase that led to some shops upstairs. We went up the staircase and saw it: a 5 foot tall Statue of Liberty right outside a toy shop. We went in the toy shop and there she was, a woman with bright pink pigtails working behind the counter. How cool is God?! We talked to her and explained Jesus had shown her to us and we wanted to be friends and she got so excited. Her name was Apon, and she became our ministry for the next few weeks. We got to eat with her several times and even go bowling with her. We connected her to the local church and shared the gospel with her a bit.
As we were leaving the shop that first day, we saw another shop across the street with a yellow door. I think God gave us so many clues so if we missed one we would have still found her! Each one tied in perfectly with the others, even though different people had heard different things from God. Needless to say, my skeptical doubts were put to rest, as they always are when God shows up.
So this whole experience got me thinking, why am I not doing this in my everyday life at home? As a Christian I feel like I live with good intentions, trying to have a good attitude and helping people when I see need, when I actually need to be living intentionally. What if at the beginning of everyday I asked God for a word or picture to look for throughout the day so I would keep my eyes open for people to impact? My interactions with people would become so much more important, I would be so much more aware of everything going on around me. Life is one big Treasure Hunt, we should be looking for opportunities to serve others and share Christ everyday.
When I grasped the concept of this lesson it reminded me of the NEEDTOBREATHE song “Keep Your Eyes Open” so I figured that would be an appropriate end to the post.
