Living, loving, and serving in Japan

“Well, one thing I know is, I never want to be a missionary!” I told my mom when I was 16 years old. She patiently and lovingly countered by asking why I felt that way. I replied that I felt like they were people who couldn’t get any other job. “I don’t feel that way at all,” she said. “They have to be able to do so many different things.” Little did I know that I would soon regret my words and up spending 60 years of my life as a missionary!

In June 1954, upon arrival in the Yokohama, we were welcomed and taken to TEAM Center. Someone in our group said, “Hey, look, there’s a sink.” Nobody took responsibility for that statement, but I guess seeing running hot and cold water and everything so modern was a pleasant surprise. After all, Tokyo had been severely bombed, so we really didn’t know what to expect.

We boarded a train and headed for the mountains to a little village called Karuizawa, where TEAM sent new missionaries for language study. Learning Japanese before coming was discouraged back then. We lived in a big, two-story house which we quickly dubbed “The Girls’ House.” There were spent many special days, and lifelong friendships were established. We studied from a course which was taught to American girls, and quickly learned sentences like “Tabako wa doko desuka?” (Where can you buy cigarettes?) Mr. and Mrs. Yamamoto were our helpers in this big house, and we were especially grateful for them since we didn’t know enough of the language to even shop.

One day Mt. Asama erupted and we all ran out to see what was going on. Down below were some Japanese people looking up at us trying to tell us something. We stood there mute not knowing what was going on until Pat Junker, always the daring one and anxious to use her newfound Japanese, said to them, “Wakarimasen keredomo, tabun shirimasen,” which means something like “we don’t know what you’re asking, but we probably don’t know the answer anyway, even if we did understand.”

Karuizawa had not been hit by the war, so it was a delightful little place, with luscious greenery all around. During our time there, we rode bicycles everywhere. We usually studied with a teacher and by ourselves for about eight hours a day. The evenings found us very tired but not too tired to have lots of fun and excitement. Karuizawa Union Church was the gathering place for Sunday morning services and I loved singing there. I also played the piano or organ for meetings here and there.

In time, our Girls’ House members scattered around Japan and in August of 1955 I married a fellow missionary named Kenny Joseph. I remember the first time Kenny came by for me, he took me to one of the few nice restaurants in the area, and when we arrived, the waiter handed each of us an aspirin. I never figured out why, but I can only guess that they took one look at us and thought we needed something!

As we developed our ministry in Tokyo, we began holding church in our home. You might think it’s simple to have a home-church, but I discovered it was a big job. To turn our living room into a church every Sunday meant a lot of work! Welcoming people with open arms and making them feel at home was very important. This also included listening to people’s problems, and trying to help. Sometimes we would have a good turnout, and other times just a few. One day I thought to myself, “Oh God, you can’t even save Japan!” And that very day, in walks a Japanese lady doctor whom I led to the Lord many years before. It was as if the Lord reminded me that it was His business, not mine, how He chose to work in Japan.

God’s not finished with me yet, and I intend to use whatever time He has left for me to serve Him with all my strength. Through it all, I’ve found that we can either be dragged down by life or rise above the challenges we face. Three hundred sixty-five times in the Bible God encourages us to “fear not”–one for each day. I’ve found that love and optimism and hope have provided me with great strength to face the challenges God has allowed in my life, and through it all, He has been faithful.

This article is excerpted from her book, Keep On The Sunny Side: Reflections on Life’s Journey (Ripe Books) available at Amazon.com. Her website is www.Lilajoseph.com