“I’m sorry to call you, but your daughter is crying and wants to talk to you,” said the teacher. I comforted and encouraged my daughter, thanked the teacher, and hung up the phone.
We had just moved to Japan a month prior with three young children. None of them spoke Japanese. Our eldest, Alice,* started Year 1 at our local elementary school. Her days were filled with Japanese language and her inability to communicate and connect was distressing.
After that phone call my heart ached as I thought of how isolated she must be feeling. I prayed, and asked our family and friends to pray with us. She persevered in going to school.
A couple of weeks later, Alice came back with a letter.
It was written in English by the mum of Emi,* one of Alice’s classmates, who wanted to connect. Alice was very excited as we made plans to meet. What an answer to prayer! Since our first meeting, this mother and daughter duo became our first Japanese friends and have been our insiders in the school system. Emi’s mum often checks in on us and offers advice and reminders on school-related matters.
I believe that God led us as a family to serve in Japan, not just me and my husband, but our whole family unit. Moving to Japan, leaving behind familiarity and comfort for uncertainty and discomfort, as hard as it was to see our children struggle in new environments, it helped us and our children to grow, become more resilient and depend on God. As we look back over the past two years since we arrived, we see God’s faithfulness in all our lives.
Alice has grown so much, made good friends, and I suspect her Japanese is better than mine! Seeing our children struggle is hard, but as James wrote: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3 NIV). We can trust in God’s goodness and his sovereignty as we face challenges and difficulties and we can trust him to take care of our children too.
Would you pray for new missionary families and their children?
By Cindy, an OMF missionary
*Not real names
