Clare Chen: God of Possibilities

 

Ms Clare Chen, a final year MA in Intercultural Studies student, recently went for a mission trip to Kyoto, Japan, a most unlikely place for her. Clare’s initiative to spend her term break for missions resulted in a mindset-changing missional experience for her. Read her reflection from the trip – why not Japan, what she had learned more about God, the Japanese people and herself.

“I would go anywhere for missions, but Japan” was the mentality I held for many years because it is a place of hard soil. But we all know too well what typically happens when you claim a “never” statement such as this: God laughs, and things happen. This December, I was led to go on a mission trip to Japan with a few schoolmates. Despite the challenges, God reminded me of his sovereignty. God is a big God and is there anything impossible with Him (Luke 1:37)?

I fell in love with Japan when I arrived in Tokyo on December 8th. It is a fascinating country, distinct from the rest of Asia. Japanese are impeccably well-dressed. They say it is rude to stare at people in Japan, but I constantly find myself doing that very rude thing. People-watching in the streets of Japan was one of my highlights and my guilty pleasure. From their unique fashion aesthetic to their attention to detail, the Japanese reflect aspects of who God is. God, who created beautiful Japanese people—cares about even the tiniest details— such as the number of hairs on their heads (Luke 12:7). I shared this with one of my teachers at EAST, and she said, “But we must keep praying. Beneath the beauty and order, there is a lot of spiritual darkness…”

On the first two days, my team and I joined a local Cru team for an evangelical outreach on university campuses. We grouped into pairs and off we went to chat with students. On the first day, I was with Joy, a missionary from the Philippines who has been in Japan for many years. We approached a group of five girls sitting and giggling together in the cafeteria. Joy asked those students many questions, and one interesting one was, “From Joy, Peace, and Love, which one would you want for your life?” I was surprised that most girls chose peace, as that would not have been the popular choice in my culture. Joy said most Japanese students she has encountered desire for peace. Perhaps, like what my teacher said, beneath the order lays disarrayed hearts that yearn for true peace that only Christ can offer.

After our conversation ended, Joy and I returned to meet our teams. On the walk back, Joy told me that she has had the opportunity to witness thirteen Japanese students receiving Christ over the span of five years. I was amazed and shared with her my preconceived notion that Japan is hard soil with little or no fruit. Joy wisely said, “Clare, you know there are four types of soil in the “The Parable of the Sower.” Besides the hard soil, there are also the good ones.” A seemingly simple truth that I had not grasped until then. Through Joy, God showed me that He is a God of possibilities. The truth is whether in Japan or a country like Iran—the fastest growing Church—we will find all types of soil. Moreover, “the type of the soil” should not be the reason whether we go or not. We go by faith because God has called us, and we stay for the same reason.

 

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