While I still have about a month and a half left on the field, and I want to stay present, completely focused on the ministry God has me doing in Swaziland, I thought I could share with you what I want my life after the race to look like too.
So, for a really long time I have felt a pull towards missions. I used to read missionary stories as a kid and dream about going to some far off country when I was older and becoming a radical missionary with the wildest stories of how the Lord worked. As I got older I realized missions within my own borders was very much a route I could pursue, and my mind shifted from missions abroad for awhile, but I don’t think my heart ever moved.
In high school, I played with the idea of doing animation, but I am now going to college to become an art therapist, something for which I have a real passion. Then I decided that, while college didn’t really sit right for me at the time, going on a nine month mission trip abroad did. God is a real wild guy, let me tell you. I went on this trip knowing that I wanted to and planned on going to college this fall, and that hasn’t changed.
However, while I was in Asia I recognized a passion, a love I had for a place, that I hadn’t even thought of as a desire God might have placed within me. That maybe this far off dream wasn’t apart from the plan that God has for me, but rather might be the plan God has for me
See, I have always loved Japan. It’s culture and people have had my heart, beyond just a mere fascination or curiosity, more so than any other place. So, my plan is to go to college for art therapy, using at least part of my summers to visit Japan to feel it out, practice the language, potentially set up contacts or connect with organizations, and keep my passion ignited. After college I want to go there for a vision trip, and my goal is to live there long term working as an art therapist, teaching art classes to adults, and helping plant churches in some way shape or form. I don’t know the logistics of how this is all going to fit together, but I know these are the ways I want to serve the Japanese people.
Japan has often been called a “missionary graveyard” due to the high rates of returning from the field. It’s a country with less than 1% of professing Christians, and the people are very unwilling to cause upset in their community by accepting Christ, even if they believe it would be the right thing to do. Their culture is a rich mixture of traditional roots and foriegn influences that occurred throughout their history, and I cannot wait to go and learn and experience more!
I know that my life will most likely turn out a lot different than I could hope to predict. Yet, I know whatever happens is God’s perfect and wonderful plan, but this is what I want to work towards at this point in my life. Our whole lives are these crazy adventures with God, and even when we can’t see the next turn, or we end up at a completely different destination than what we had planned, I for one am excited for the journey! For some reason I am reminded of this quote from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings; “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” I want to be swept off my feet into whatever dreams the Lord has for me. I know He has been preparing and equipping me, and that throughout all the struggle He is and will forever be right there beside me, sustaining, protecting, and encouraging me!
