There are many reasons why a long home assignment (more than six months) can be worthwhile for missionaries and the ministries they are part of. But there are also challenges involved in making such a home assignment happen.

The practicalities and circumstances around home assignment often means moving out of one home and moving into a different one when you return. Packing up your life is a stressful and emotional task that missionaries are all too familiar with. Finding somewhere suitable and affordable to store all your household goods in Japan while you are away is an extra challenge that missionaries often face.

In OMF Japan, we are blessed to have some home assignment storage units that missionaries share. Recently, a warehouse was purchased in Hokkaido for this very purpose. Here in the Tohoku region, a fellow missionary is currently using his gifts and skills to convert an old house into a storage facility with space for several missionary families.

As my family, and other colleagues in Tohoku, prepare for home assignment, having this facility means one less challenge in the already emotional and stressful time of transition.

As you remember and pray for missionaries preparing for and going on home assignment, give thanks with us for this provision. Give thanks for the gifts and skills that the Lord has provided through our colleagues!

By John, an OMF missionary