Reflections : Joanne

Although the time seemed to fly by, I am still thinking and praying about everything that happened and everyone we met during our two weeks in Japan. This is my second time on the Agape mission trip, but this experience was totally different and opened my eyes even more to the challenges that arise from reaching the Land of the Rising Sun for Christ. The trip was filled with illuminating events and amazing encounters, but I will just focus on one that really stood out to me.

On our second day at Oecho church in the Yamagata prefecture, four members of the team went to spend time with local kids while Sato and I passed out fresh produce to a neighborhood in the disaster area. It was heart-breaking to see empty fields where there once had been houses, stores, and trees; the seashells that littered the ground beyond sight of the shore were evidence of how far the waters reached. As we went door to door, sharing lettuce and potatoes and God’s love, we often were greeted with the recipient gratefully accepting the vegetables with surprise and a deep thankfulness. We were told that Christians are the only ones still visiting and asking about how the locals are doing. I was struck with the thought: What makes Christians different from any other relief organization? What makes me different? I was confronted with the idea that God’s love extends past what a normal person might be expected to do. I struggle with how to express love in a way that shows I am a follower of Christ, and this helped me see in a concrete way that His love is faithful and persevering even when others have given up.

I am very thankful for my church family. This could easily have been just a fun trip where I got to meet lots of nice people. But God opened my eyes to see how wonderful it is to have such a large community of believers praying for our health and safety, how blessed I am to know that I have the support of so many who know what it means to be free in Christ. It is only through God’s power that we could experience so much love, and I hope that everyone we met was likewise blessed through us. Thank you for praying for the team and for Japan!