Pentecost

Pentecost….  the Jewish Feast of First Fruits. But also, the day the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus’s disciples and the church began.

The church of which we are members celebrated today by joining with a church in the nearby city of Goshogawara for special meetings.

The reading was from Mark 10:32-45, and the speaker spoke on verses 42-45:  …. whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

It was good, really good. And very much what we have been thinking – The values of the Kingdom of God are very, very different than those of the world about us.

I thought about this the other day as we walked along the river talking about sin and forgiveness.  My husband said something very profound,  “God sets the limit of forgiveness for each person wherever they set it.”

Where do you set the limits? 

Because God says, “…in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  (Matthew 7:2)

People say “You brought this (what I am doing to you) on yourself (by doing what you did.)”

But God says something very different!

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25) 

"Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." (Hebrews 10:17)

And the verse I thought of that day, “…her many sins have been forgiven--as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."  (Luke 7:47)

Which brings me back to today’s meetings. Our speaker declined to define service for God as he was billed to do. Instead, he repeatedly emphasized its not what or how much we do for God that matters. Its our attitude that counts.

And now as the day and this “Journey to Pentecost” draw to a close, I wonder what is my attitude?

Good Advice

It was BEAUTIFUL weather yesterday – and today, too for that matter. Perfect for painting the church. But without the the scaffolding that wasn’t going to happen and the scaffolding was still up at the camp.

So we made an unexpected run to the Aomori Christian Center. And stayed overnight. And today while the men cut trees, we women talked and talked.

The sun shone in, and the fire burned gently. And sometimes we had 5 or 6 kids (the neighbor girl was there, too) hanging about and sometimes we sat in the quiet and went on talking.

And we concluded that its really true….  “there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.”    Ecclesiastes 7:20

And people like to complain about other people. They are not kind. And its hard to be the target of their criticism.

But people don’t always mean what they say. Or perhaps they do mean what they say. But that doesn’t mean they will still feel the same way next year – nor even in a few months. They might not even feel that way next week.

So how does one keep from taking offense.?

I like the Teacher’s advice:  “Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you-- for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.” Ecclesiastes 7:21-22

Can’t get much better advice. But neither of us are very good at it, yet.

God is Kind

Yesterday I wrote, “God doesn’t shame. He lifts heads.”

I haven’t read all the books my husband has read on the subject.  His “favorite” was Jeff Van Vonderen’s Tired Of Trying To Measure Up. Although I wonder if favorite is the way to describe a book he once threw at the wall in frustration.

And I didn’t read shame expert Brene Brown’s books either. (Although I did watch her rather interesting video lectures on vulnerability, shame and empathy.)

But for a while now I have been collecting verses about shame (as well as other topics of interest) in a little book my daughter-in-law gave me. 

There are a lot of them!

There are prayers like Psalms 31:1:  “In you, LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me….”  This particular one is oft repeated!

But there are also beautiful promises like Psalm 34:5  “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.”

And there whole chapters like Psalm 35, Psalm 70, Psalm 40:11-17…. and more.

Today it struck me that Psalm 25 is really good! We probably should have sung it yesterday.

25 A (Psalm 25:1-7)

1. To You I lift my soul;

LORD God, in You I trust.

O do not let me suffer shame;

And let my foes not boast.

Yes, those who wait on You

No shame will ever see;

Let shame be theirs who without cause

Behave with treachery.

 
2. Instruct me in Your paths;

LORD, make me know Your way.

Teach me and make me follow You,

That in Your truth I’ll stay;

Since You have been my God,

The One who rescues me,

For You I’m waiting all the day;

I wait expectantly. 

 

3. Your tender mercies, LORD,

Your steadfast love recall,

For these are things that have endured

Throughout the ages all.

My youthful sins, my faults,

Do not bring these to mind;

O LORD, remember me in love,

For You are good and kind. 

It is so easy to just quickly skim through the lyrics. Go back now and try singing it. The tune is here: Psalter.Org

Although I recommend learning it from the very good album “Communion” which can be bought as a download from Crown and Covenant. (You can also download a PDF file of the lyrics - for free.)

I love the last two lines.

O LORD, remember me in love,

For You are good and kind. 

He remembers me in love! And surrounded by God’s tender mercies I need not fear shame.

Serendipitous coincidence – God in my life!

This morning my niece FBed me this poster.

Our brief and unexciting “conversation” was as follows:

Me: Uncle John and I read this in devotions today! Very comforting!

She:  I was reading this as well, really encouraging.

Just a little co-incidence. But it kept me in mind of the reading all day. And these are words to sustain:

The LORD will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The LORD will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore. (Ps. 121:7,8)

I had a similar experience as I crawled into bed last night and started through the Prayer Mate with John.

My eyes flooded with tears and I could hardly get the words out as I prayed:

O LORD God, arise and have pity on us!

Surely it is time to favor us! Surely the appointed time is come!

Do not turn a deaf ear to us. We call to you our Rock. Hear our cry for mercy – … and the lifting of our heads.

Maybe you don’t recognize the words. But they are right out of my blog post from yesterday. It felt like God was saying to me, “Yes, I will lift your head.”

As yet, just a promise. But surely He will do it!

The One who lifts my head

Today was a Psalm singing sort of day. No sun. Full of frustration that brought to mind that old Yiddish saying, “If God lived on earth people would break his windows.”

We sang 79B, 85A, 124, 70A (Oh yes, LORD!), 50A, 10B, 62A (O yes!), 140A. And as always, we came back to 3B.

You are my shield and glory, LORD;

You are the One who lifts my head.

I cried out, “LORD!” His answer came,

Yes, from His holy hill it sped.

The One who lifts my head.

God doesn’t shame. He lifts heads.

To be honest. I wish His answer would come speeding from His holy hill tonight!

But we’ve been listening to Kenichi Nakagawa’s messages on Genesis in Ajigasawa Church lately. And I think its pretty clear that it doesn’t pay to rush God!

Deliverance comes from the LORD;

He works salvation – as He will.

O may the blessing You have shown

Be granted to your people still.

We wait on You, LORD. We want Your blessing.

What happened?

In July of 2014 I wrote:

When the crowd moves on to the next Beginning and the next … and so many “New Beginnings” (that so seldom work out as first anticipated and, sadly, are often abandoned by their most earnest propagators) … may my colleagues then fix their eyes on Jesus and still run with perseverance the race that they have so recently begun.

Until it yields the true glory of a race well-finished!

- The Middle Time–Continuing to the End

Last week the Elliots and company talked a lot about what happens to brilliant New Beginnings when the missionaries run out of steam. Daughter # 1 feels passionately on the subject. So do we all.

And so today I’m approaching (though perhaps not arriving at) a blog post that I’ve been working up to for many, many months. What happened to us?

In the same 2014 blog post I wrote:  Of course, other things would come bubbling up…  Worldly, unworthy thoughts and yet, truly my thoughts.  “They get 4 workers (2 singles and a couple) for their team. Why can’t we have 1 or (too wonderful!) 2 workers? They get this infusion of workers (6 in one church) for a ‘jump start.’  Why can’t we have workers for a ‘jump finish?!’” 

I felt these things. There was a faint dissatisfaction with the missional status quo. A sense of unfairness. But after all, as we’d always told our children, “Life isn’t fair, Princess!”

And more importantly, I had begun to see God’s Sovereignty in mission in a different light – I had finally stopped striving.

I was well aware that my husband had not. But I did not realize the depth of his feeling. In his own words (from the a talk he gave on “Deadly Bitterness” at a Men’s Breakfast this last February):

I realized I was angry- very, very angry, and had been for some time. I was resentful and bitter, feeling that the work I had done for almost 30 years was being brushed off as not important enough to warrant personnel to continue it. Please understand that this is not just an unsupported notion of mine. An OMF director, in response to my appeal for someone to replace me when I retired, said to me, “Maybe you have to see this church differently. Maybe God just wanted it here for a time, and it has fulfilled it’s purpose already.” During a series of council meetings, the same person also said to me one day, “We don’t have anyone to send to that situation (Ajigasawa).” And the next day, speaking of another place, a new church plant, said “I would send two couples there!”

It is hard to explain just how deeply this affected me. The sense of rejection, of futility, of voicelessness, was profound.

Is there a story someone in your life tells again and again despite your greatest efforts to suppress the telling – yet again?!

For my husband it was the story of those council meetings where he was told we got no one but our colleague deserved two!

He told me when it happened. And he told me when he got home. And he told everyone in the house – there were a lot of people in the house. And I tried to shut him up because to me it just sounded like bitterness toward our colleague.

But he kept telling the story. I must have heard that story every week, sometimes every day and sometimes three times in the same conversation if he was talking to someone who would listen.

But I didn’t get it. I didn’t sense his deep pain.

And he kept telling that story.

Until last November. By God’s grace when I turned to the woman behind me after church one Sunday we fell into conversation. As the conversation progressed it developed that she was medical Doctor, had been a family doctor but now specialized in psychotherapy and worked specifically with burnt (and burnt out) Christian workers.

She listened to us. And she prayed with us - through our pains and through our sins. And it really made a difference. A big difference.

My husband doesn’t tell that story anymore. Well, almost never.

God has healed the hurt.

And through His servant, God has given us hope. We’re not finished yet!

In 2014 I wrote:

Truly we are “unfinished people with unfinished work in unfinished times.”

May He keep us from sinking, from ceasing, from wasting!

And now I know that He will keep us!

Yes, kindness!

Golden Week is over, everyone has gone home and it is somewhat quiet again. But there is no question but that Daughter #1’s visit last week was just what we needed!

Our long and lively discussions have put a lot of things into perspective for me.

As I tried to sum up the gist of it I thought back over the week  … and another visit stood out. On Tuesday we met up with a colleague and her husband. We, in this case, being my husband, myself, our daughter, our daughter-in-law and 14 children!

A warm welcome – perhaps the first from OMF colleagues since our return – and hugs, much earnest conversation, laughter, tears…   The kindness of God.

I’ve thought a lot about this in recent months.

We are charged, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience and to bear with each other, forgiving as the Lord forgave us. And over this compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience we are to put on love, which binds them all together.  (Colossians 3:12-14)

I’m not sure how well I’m carrying out this charge.

My husband and I pray every night for God to sweeten our spirits and keep us from picking up offense when offended. But most nights I feel like I still have a long way to go.

There is an awful lot of offense in the world.

Foolishness, bad decisions or just plain disobedience, deceptions – big and little, enslavement to passions and pleasures, malice, envy and hatred … and in the midst of all this offensiveness, the kindness and love of God appears – to save us. (Titus 3:3-6)

Kindness!

Perusing FB (or reading the news!) tells me this is not the way of the world!

And yet it struck me again tonight that kindness is so much more likely to bring about repentance than condemnation. This is Biblically true (see Romans 2:4). Its also true to my experience!

A gentle word, a look of love motivated by a compassionate heart….  this is what brings about real change.

Love Kindness

Saturday morning Daughter # 1 came down from Hokkaido for Golden Week with her 5 children. So although I have had many thoughts I’d like to share there really hasn’t been much time or leeway to express them here.

Conversation - though punctuated by childcare– has been stimulating. And centering. But yesterday by the time evening rolled around we adults were ready to fall into bed. (Unfortunately the children didn’t seem to share our fatigue!)

My husband and did manage to pray though – using the Prayer Mate app on my tablet – and I was struck by these words:

Our Heavenly Father.

We pray for OMF missionaries all over Asia. Preserve them from the harm that comes from ever changing leadership. Preserve them from competition with one another. Preserve them from bitterness. Preserve them from the desperation born of focusing on success and achievement. Help OMF missionaries everywhere to remember that all you require is that they do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with their God.

Please keep John and me alert to our own duties. Show us how to "do justice" wherever we are and may we always love kindness and walk humbly with You.

In the name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

And, as sleep overtook me, I reflected on the importance of kindness.

Yes, Lord!

Psalms 130

A song of ascents.

Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;

Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,

Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

I wait for the LORD,

my whole being waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

I wait for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning. 

Israel, put your hope in the LORD,

for with the LORD is unfailing love

and with him is full redemption.

He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

Oh, yes!  We look to you! 

Our Shield and Our Defender!

Of Covenant Mercy

It would be difficult to say what was the best part of our trip to Europe for Sarah’s wedding – we enjoyed so many new and wonderful experiences, and received so much comfort and encouragement. But certainly one of the highlights was mealtime around this table where after we ate each meal we read from the Bible, sang and prayed.

Another Toplady hymn to which we were introduced in this home was “A Debtor to Mercy Alone”, which like yesterday’s hymn can be sung to TREWEN.

1.  A debtor to mercy alone,

Of covenant mercy I sing;

Nor fear, with Thy righteousness on,

My person and off’ring to bring.

The terrors of law and of God

With me can have nothing to do;

My Savior’s obedience and blood

Hide all my transgressions from view.

2. The work which His goodness began,

The arm of His strength will complete;

His promise is Yea and Amen,

And never was forfeited yet.

Things future, nor things that are now,

Nor all things below or above,

Can make Him His purpose forgo,

Or sever my soul from His love.

3. My name from the palms of His hands

Eternity will not erase;

Impressed on His heart it remains,

In marks of indelible grace.

Yes, I to the end shall endure,

As sure as the earnest is giv’n;

More happy, but not more secure,

The glorified spirits in Heav’n.  - sing to TREWEN

The wording may be a bit difficult to follow at first – especially for those unacquainted with old books – but these are lyrics well worth pondering out. I use the phrase ponder out because I think that the the concepts are perhaps just as unfamiliar as the wording.

The words struck me immediately and I wrote them in my Bible. And I pondered, “Does my Saviour’s obedience and blood really hide all my transgressions from view?”  “Whose view?” “When my colleagues and I tell seekers and troubled believers in our churches that Jesus died for our sins why don’t they respond the way we want them to respond?” “And what do we really believe about their sins anyway?” “We Christian workers use the word grace all the time, but what do we really think it looks like in real life? What does it feel like?”

It is difficult to say whether I would have been drawn to this hymn in another time of life. But given where I stand now, it touched me more deeply than I can say.

Those of my readers who have followed me for a number of years will know of my interest in the history of Christianity in Japan during the Meiji period. At that time Christianity flourished to the extent that in the 1880s many thought Japan would soon be a Christian country. This blossoming of Christianity is often attributed to the desire for westernization.

Another blossoming took place in the years immediately after World War 2 and this likewise is explained as a consequence of the socio-economic influences of the times.

But as read I began to suspect something more was at work. I saw a frankness in earlier generations that I don’t often see now. An ability to look sin in the face and speak grace to it.

And as 2013 drew to a close I wrote in a little notebook I was keeping entitled “2015 – Who Will I Be?”:

When I’m 60 I want to be able to explain the gospel of grace to anyone anywhere without embarrassment – winsomely and in a way that connects with the listener.

…  (There followed here a description of how I planned to attain this ability.)

But mostly I want to “get it.” I want to be able to explain the gospel from any and every angle.

Shortly after my 60th birthday

Now that I’m 60…  As I talked to one of my sons-in-law (a Christian) about this the other day I had the feeling that my powers of explanations could still use some work! But I think I “get it” now. However, I didn’t learn it in the nice safe way I had laid out in my notebook.

When I explained my prayers for 2014 and showed my notebook entry to a dear family member last year they responded, “What on earth did you pray that for?!”

What for, indeed?!

Its a question worth answering but its prayer meeting night and guests are arriving for supper.

My Sovereign Protector

For over a year and a half now my husband and I have read through the Psalms and Proverbs together once every month.

Since my husband was away last week helping with an OMF construction project we read separately. But somehow we were both impressed by this verse from one of our Psalm readings:   for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. (Psalms 107:16)

It fits well with a verse that impressed me from my own Bible reading last week: Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:5)

And this puts me in mind of the beautiful old Toplady hymn we learned from Daughter # 4’s new in-laws while we were in Holland for her wedding in January.

A sovereign protector I have,
Unseen, yet forever at hand,
Unchangeably faithful to save,
Almighty to rule and command.
He smiles, and my comforts abound;
His grace as the dew shall descend;
And walls of salvation surround
The soul He delights to defend.

Inspirer and hearer of prayer,
Thou shepherd and guardian of Thine,
My all to Thy covenant care
I sleeping and waking resign.
If Thou art my shield and my sun,
The night is no darkness to me;
And fast as my moments roll on,
They bring me but nearer to Thee.

Kind author, and ground of my hope,
Thee, Thee, for my God I avow;
My glad Ebenezer set up,
And own Thou hast helped me till now.
I muse on the years that are past,
Wherein my defense Thou hast proved;
Nor wilt Thou relinquish at last
A sinner so signally loved!   - sung to TREWEN

That message - “And walls of salvation surround the soul He delights to defend” – was one we needed just then. And God in a most amazing way brought it home to our hearts through the Psalms we sang at church – nearly every day during Christmas and New Year.

No, He won’t relinquish A SINNER SO SIGNALLY LOVED!

Safe with the Lion of Judah

I think I have tendonitis again.

Definitely in too much pain to type anything (or do anything else) the last few days. In fact, yesterday I was so bad I actually stayed in bed most of the day – very unusual for me! But I used my time well listening to another Chautauqua book (not part of the series but a related book) and thinking about mission.

The book I was listening to yesterday

I’d like to share some of my thoughts but my husband has strictly forbidden me to type any more today – he thinks I probably got the tendonitis from typing.

So here is a prayer letter I wrote when we first discovered the Chautauqua books:

A few years back we noticed that the beautiful evening hymn "Day is Dying in the West" was written by Mary Artemesia Lathbury the "poet laureate of Chautauqua." What sort of Bible conference we wondered was Chautauqua

Last month I discovered the newly re-released Chautauqua Series:  a 6 volume set of novels following the lives of 4 young women who come to the Lord at Chautauqua in - a that time a Sunday School teacher training convention. It has made for a fascinating read in the spirit of C.S.Lewis' essay "On the Reading of Old Books" and in the light of our passionate prayers for the rebirth of the Aomori Christian Center.

As I finished up the 6th book in the series on Friday, I was very, very moved by the following passage:

The speaker was telling a story; and of all stories in this world for a preacher to tell at a religious meeting, it was about a little trained dog in a circus! Eureka felt scandalized. She made no pretensions, she was counted always outside the circle of good Christian people, but she knew nevertheless what was fitting at a religious meeting! Yet she could not help listening.

The little dog, the speaker said, had not done his tricks, and had been unmercifully whipped by his master. In his agony and terror, looking about for a way of escape, he rushed to the cage of the great Numidian lion and squeezed his little body through the bars. A moment of awful suspense; surely the dog had gone to his doom!

Straight up to the monarch of the forest he ran, and that king of his tribe put out his great paw and gathered him gently inside the circle of his protection, uttering as he did so a low, ominous growl to the people outside. The owner of the dog, who had feared for a terrible second that he had lost a treasure, now recovered himself and said gruffly to the lion’s keeper: “I want my dog.” The keeper looked at him for one disgusted moment, then he said in significant tones: “Oh, all right; I’ll open the cage door, and you can go in and get him if you want to.”

“I tell you, brother, you who have fled for protection from the blows of Satan to the offered Refuge, remember that the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’ is your protection; and those looking on if they but understood it, could afford to say to the evil one; ‘Get him if you can!'

Have you, too, been suffering from Satan's blows? Remember the Lion of the tribe of Judah is your protection and ours.

Wrapped Up in Gladness

As I look back over the last couple of years – actually, the last 40 years - I want to thank God for so many praying friends and their timely words.

Tonight as I reworked what I had written last night, the phrase “who gives songs in the night” brought to mind an email from a dear friend and former colleague who knowing next to nothing of our circumstances, still seemed prompted time and time again to send a timely and encouraging word.

One email stands out in particular:

“You have been especially in my thoughts since your email and last night while I was dreaming (though I have no idea now about what!) the words “though weeping (or it might have been “sorrow”) may come, joy will come in the morning”.  When I woke up I felt that the Lord was prompting me to share these words with you. I looked them up and saw that they come , more or less, from Psalm 30: 5.”

Timely words…  There have been so many. But we have come back to these particular ones from Psalm 30 again and again.

In fact, we often sing 30B from The Book of Psalms for Worship and I love these words from the last verse:

You turned my grief to dancing

From sackcloth set me free:

You wrap me up in gladness

I shall not silent be.

They bring to mind Corrie Ten Boom’s happy, peaceful face towards the end of a long life as she says, “And I have told to anyone who would listen: No pit is so deep that He is not deeper still. With Jesus, even in our darkest moments, the best remains and the very best is yet to be.”

That is what I want to be:   “wrapped up in gladness” as I talk about God’s goodness – for He has been good to me.

God My Maker, who gives songs in the night

My husband and I are trying to sing through the psalter – the whole psalter and not just our favorite songs.

A few nights ago I was really struck by 79b  probably because the first verse ends, “Come quickly meet us in our need, We are brought low.” And that was the prayer of my heart that night.

1. O charge us not with former sins,

But Your compassion show,

Come quickly, meet us in our need;

We are brought low.

 

2. O God of our salvation, help!

To Your name glory take!

Deliver us; forgive our sins

For Your name’s sake.

 

3. Do nations say, “Where is their God?”

Let nations know instead

Your vengeance for Your servants’ blood

Which has been shed.

 

4. O let the prisoner’s sighing groans

Ascend to You on high;

Preserve them by Your mighty arm

Those doomed to die.

 

5. And back upon our neighbors turn

In sevenfold reward,

Reproachful words which they have cast

On You, O Lord.

 

6. So we Your people, Your own flock

Forever thank Your name;

We will to generations all

Your praise proclaim.    (Sung to FAIR HAVEN)

So grateful for a God who delivers us.

Journey to Pentecost–from the foot of the cross

26 days until Pentecost… beginning now.

A number of years ago someone shared (on FB) one of Beth Moore’s blog posts  “Something on My Mind” and it has really stuck with me.

In Beth Moore’s words… “listen. GIVE GOD HIS GLORY! When He does something for you, don’t sit there and wonder if that may have been Him. GIVE HIM SOME GLORY!! Jump up and down about it. Get excited about it! I don’t know about you, but I want God to ENJOY doing some things for me. I want Him to think I’m fun to get a reaction out of. I want to dang well NOTICE. Can you imagine when we thank Him for something that He’s up there on His Throne shrugging His shoulders and saying, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I didn’t have anything to do with that”? Does Phil. 2:13 not say that God works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose? Ain’t no doubt, Girlfriend. It is GOD.

Beth Moore doesn’t speak (or write!) like I would, but I feel the same passion to give God the credit for what He has done.

Because God has done SO MUCH for me in the last couple of years and I want Him to feel it was worth it. And – to be brutally honest - I want Him to feel its worth doing more for me in the future.

With that in mind, I made a tentative stab at writing last December. I tried again in February.  And last week I thought this time I really must write. So I started writing this last Saturday.Its now Tuesday!

I never got farther than:

Most years I try to choose some sort of activity for Lent that will increase my consciousness of God’s work in my life. A few years ago, I blogged about my blessings.

This year I didn’t do anything. In fact, I felt like what with the transition back to Japan, I almost missed Easter!

At that point the weekend overtook me. A special weekend – the 50th anniversary of my baptism and the 37th of our landing in Japan. I decided to celebrate by attending a violin concert at Asunaro Church, the first church my husband and I trained in after language school.

Enjoying the Music with Granddaughter

But really, the problem was that I didn’t know how to go on….

I kept coming back to this joke my husband often tells to illustrate cultural barriers:

Q. How did the first Newfie get to Toronto?

A. A bunch of Newfies were playing hockey on the frozen-over Gulf of St. Lawrence, and one guy got a breakaway.

What’s a Newfie? What’s a breakaway? There was a time when I would have also needed Toronto, St. Lawrence and hockey explained! (I was pretty ignorant when I left New England for Bible School in Saskatchewan as a just barely 17 year old.)

Perhaps I can illustrate the connection between the joke and my dilemma.

A really key experience for me occurred in the fall of 2014 as I was sitting (stark naked) in the bath at Kappa no Yu in Aomori City. The woman next to me asked me what I did for work.

Right here I’ve probably lost many of my readers – I imagine you’re wondering why I was sitting stark naked in the bath with this woman (to say nothing of the half dozen women with us.) But this detail is important to my feeling of wonder at the way God works.

My physical nakedness accentuated my feelings of vulnerability… and at that point in my life I felt very vulnerable! How could I say to her “I’m a missionary” when my life was in such confusion?!

However, I did say it and moved on quickly, “But this week I’ve been thinking about…  ‘

And sitting right there stark naked in the bath we talked about sin and grace and God. It was amazing. And it was God. God saying to me, “Don’t fret. You can still speak about what matters. They can’t take away your voice.”

That experience in the bath stuck with me through all the dark days of confusion that followed.

And in one of those little twists of circumstance – coincidences that I’m sure God takes pleasure in planning – on my first visit to Kappa no Yu after our return to Japan last month, again sitting stark naked in the bath, I had another opportunity to talk about what matters.

Yes, God has done amazing things for me – and I want to give him credit!

So I’ve decided to embark on a “Journey to Pentecost” – I will to try to write something every day for the next 4 weeks. For some readers my words may not make much more sense than my husband’s Newfie joke makes to me. But I hope that for some others my testimony will give a glimpse of God.

Through many danger, toils and snares

I have already come,

Tis grace has brought us safe this far

And grace will lead us home.    - John Newton

God’s Amazing Grace!

John Elliot Family in Sapporo, Japan 1979