by SUE PLUMB TAKAMOTO

Challenges of Japanese culture and the unique role of community

These are the words of a female missionary:

"I want so much to belong. Sometimes I think I kind of belong and then I realize that I really don’t belong. The scary thing for me is that I don’t belong in America. I go back to America and I am totally out of it and I don’t feel like, in America, that I belong. So it’s like I don’t belong anywhere. . . . Oh, not belonging is the hardest thing to deal with in my 19 years here."

Analysis of the individual journeys of forty missionaries serving in Japan from sixteen different mission agencies has revealed noteworthy and often surprising adjustment patterns.¹ Unfortunately, it takes 7.8 years for the average missionary to adjust to Japan! The statistics are discouraging; in fact, many career missionaries end up only staying two terms, meaning they leave the field just as they are about to finally begin to feel more at home and able to move towards effective ministry.

A3 Advent Devotional Entry • Sue Plumb Takamoto

Christmas in Japan is one of the busiest times of year for A3 missionaries. It is the season when Japanese are the most open to hearing the Gospel because of their interest in Christmas and its origin.

A3 Advent Devotional Entry • Eric Takamoto

A crack in the sky appeared. A sliver of neon blue light poured out from it...

Decision-Making and God's Perspective

• "Oh no… It's been several weeks since Urbana, but I haven't signed up with a mission agency yet. Am I out of God's will?"
• "How will I ever decide?!"
• "I think God and my parents have very different ideas about what's best for my life…"
• "Urbana still doesn't make sense to me."