Recently, Akio, a new Japanese friend from my church in Sapporo, invited me to a cafe to practice his English.* We are both single and have elderly parents. But we’re also different. Aside from the Australian/Japanese cultural differences, he is about 15 years older than me and we do very different things during the week.
I’ve been in Japan for less than a year, and I’m thankful God has answered my prayer for a Japanese friend. Akio’s been interested in English for decades. And he actually first came to the church years ago when he asked a missionary at a bus stop about practising his English.
So how was our first get-together? We met at the train station then headed out to a café where a friend of his works. We ordered sundaes as they were on special and briefly spoke to his friend. While we talked about hobbies and the usual things that new friends talk about, what I remember most is our conversation with the people next to us.
It was a grandmother, a one-year-old, a mother, and a three-year-old. The older child was asking us about the photos on the monitor above us. This led to introductions in Japanese and Akio told them I was a missionary. The mother looked confused and asked if I was Catholic. I said that I was Protestant and she looked less confused and shared how she had one Protestant friend at high school. Later that day, I kept thinking about how to introduce myself in Japanese in a way that might lead to the gospel without being too confusing. I will have talk to Akio and others about this.
As for my next catch up with Akio, it might be a visit to his house to help with shovelling snow. This is a challenge for his elderly parents and also for Akio who has his own health challenges and it’s something that I could do on Saturdays when I don’t have language classes. Can you pray that I would encourage Akio? His parents aren’t Christians and I imagine that Akio is the only Christian who they are close to. Please pray that his parents would see their need for Jesus as their Lord, Saviour, and friend.
*Not his real name.
By Darren, an OMF missionary
