Fruit born of isolation

I arrived in Japan on March 26th this year for my second missionary term. After two weeks of “normalcy,” Japan entered a state of emergency. For the first couple of Sundays I was able to attend church, but then the government recommended—and my organization mandated—that we only go out for essential items and not interact with anyone outside of immediate family. As a single, that meant I spent the next two months predominantly alone. All the new partnerships, community building, and ministry-start dates were pushed back, temporarily put on hold, or indefinitely postponed.

I was frustrated, especially about not being able to go to church, as my Japanese-led church in Hakodate was still meeting. I was also uneasy as I had just arrived and was worried how my lack of attendance and participation at church and the school where I work would be perceived. Because I couldn’t help with ministry, interact with the community, or form any kind of friendships with the people at work or at church, I was afraid I was not making a good first impression or giving a Christ-honoring testimony. However, as I started to hear about and see many churches and ministries coming to a full stop, God convicted me that many of us missionaries, as well as a great number of the Japanese churches and Christians, were thinking about and addressing the pandemic the wrong way. God brought Paul to mind, and I realized we can learn a lot from Paul and how he dealt with being in lockdown.

First lesson: seek how God can use you

Paul was arrested and imprisoned three times. He was first detained with another evangelist in Philippi in AD 49 for less than twenty-four hours (Acts 16:19–23). [Editor’s note: there are varying opinions among scholars about the exact dates in Paul’s life.] An earthquake made it possible for him and the other prisoners to escape, but Paul chose to stay. I think this is the first lesson we can learn from Paul about isolation: we should not be trying to find the quickest way out of the situation, but we should be trying to see how God can use us in the situation.

Since I could not attend church, the pastor and I set up the option to attend the service via Zoom. Along with me, a young lady who had not been able to attend church for over half a year and another couple who had not attended for over a year began to attend weekly via Zoom. I was able to help the church create its own YouTube channel, Twitter account, Instagram account, and web page, as well as update and revamp its Facebook page. I could not do in-person ministry, but God allowed me to equip the church and its leaders for social media ministry, which allowed the church to expand its reach, and plant and grow seeds in many hearts.

At the school, COVID-19 also provided opportunities that previously didn’t exist, including a LINE prayer group with the other Christian teachers.

Second lesson: God will bring people across our paths

Paul was then arrested and put under custody in Rome for five years from AD 58 to 63. After spending a little more than two years in a Caesarean prison, the apostle was escorted to Rome by a centurion and lived under house arrest, awaiting his trial and ultimate acquittal in the spring of 63.

During five years of detention, Paul had his first encounter with the Roman judicial system regarding his teachings, his first face-to-face meeting with Caesar, his first personal confrontation with the Sanhedrin, and his first confrontation with the high priest as a Jewish heretic (all found in Acts 22–25). He also encountered Roman soldiers and Jewish people. The second thing we can learn from Paul is: even in isolation God will cause our paths to cross with others and open doors of opportunities to share and defend our faith.

Through our Zoom church service, God connected me with a young church member in her thirties who could not attend church due to work, as well as another in her twenties who was currently in the US. We began to have weekly Bible study and prayer times together. Our paths would not have connected had it not been for COVID-19 and the church’s openness to using Zoom.

OMF Japan also began to hold weekly prayer meetings via Zoom. This allowed us to connect and pray with those we seldom get to see.

Through being at school without the students, God also allowed me to have more connection and conversation time with the teachers and staff that our normally busy teaching schedules would not allow for.

Third lesson: ministry must go on

Besides direct encounters and discussions with the people God brought across his path, Paul continued to minister to those who visited him and to encourage local churches via letters he wrote. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon—Paul’s four “Prison Epistles”—were written during this time. The apostle wrote his last epistle, a heartfelt letter to Timothy (2 Timothy), during his third imprisonment while awaiting a verdict. Imagine if Paul had just decided to sit and wait out his isolation period. What if he had never written these letters? What great teaching would we Christians today have missed out on!

Which leads to the third lesson we can learn from the Apostle Paul about isolation: ministry must go on. Even if the form, method, and delivery changes, God’s Word must continue to be proclaimed. God does not only create opportunities for new encounters while we are in isolation, he also creates new ministry opportunities.

In addition to what I’ve already mentioned, during this enforced time of isolation, I had more time to read, write, and do preparation for future ministry.

Fourth lesson: isolation allows us to equip and prepare others

Paul was arrested for the third and last time sometime during his final missionary journey in either late AD 67 or early 68. He was imprisoned in a jail cell in Rome where he was incarcerated until martyred by the Romans in mid-68. During this time Paul wrote a second letter to Timothy in which he forewarns and prepares Timothy for Paul’s impending death.

The thing I most appreciate about Paul is his focus on encouraging and equipping local churches and believers. While Paul was imprisoned, the ministries he had started continued and, in many ways, grew because he was removed and others had the chance to lead. The letter to the Ephesians is believed to have been delivered by Tychicus, Philippians by Epaphroditus, Colossians via Tychicus and Onesimus, and Philemon via Onesimus. In Paul’s isolation, Timothy and others stepped up and took on greater responsibilities and experienced more ministry roles. They pushed forward with spreading the gospel and growing God’s Kingdom. Even during his isolation, Paul equipped them, encouraged them, and released them to do God’s work. Which brings us to the fourth lesson we can learn about isolation from Paul: being removed allows us to equip and prepare others for God’s work.

Though I brought up the idea of Zoom first, my church pastor caught on quickly and participated in many Zoom meetings. He took the lead and, with feedback from the church members, created the church website all on his own. With the lack of church-based Bible studies, the members initiated their own studies, as well as holding one another accountable—calling and praying together on their own. The understanding that Bible study, prayer, and evangelism is not just to be done within the church walls by the pastor or a missionary, but also done outside the walls by all has taken root more strongly.

At the school the students also pushed forward, creating a student-led chapel every week and weekly volunteer activities. Now the school religious department works as a body and not just one person, and personal and schoolwide fruit can be seen from it.

The Bible records the Apostle Paul spent roughly five and a half years in custody in total. At the time of writing, I had spent roughly two months in social distancing and self-isolation. In this time, just like Paul, I also have seen fruit born of isolation. I hope and pray that you all have, too, and will continue to see it as we continue to navigate life and ministry during this difficult time.