Meeting and missing milestones during my first year in Japan

On 14 February this year, I celebrated my first Japanniversary. Time seems to do strange things in the first year of settling into a new country. It feels like the year has sped by in a flurry of verbal conjugations and kanji drills. But it also feels like I have been here for ages, like there is more than just a year separating where I am now from where I was when I first landed as a new missionary in Kyoto.

As I approached the one-year mark, I became more conscious of the life events and milestones that I was missing in Australia as I built a life and ministry in Japan. Since arriving here, some dear friends have added children to their families, children whose siblings are my godchildren but whom I won’t meet until they are already toddlers. Recently, another dear friend got married. Although she generously organised a livestream to watch online, I really felt the cost of not being there in person, unable to give her a big hug and to celebrate as the occasion so deserved.

Meanwhile, in Kyoto, I have been fully occupied in learning as much as I can, becoming a part of my church community, and joining local KGK gatherings when I’m able. Everyone at church and my teachers at language school have been incredibly patient with me as my communication skills slowly grow. They all acknowledge that Japanese is very hard to learn, and they kindly correct me when I say or write something strange. But sometimes in the evenings, after a long day of trying to understand 50 percent of the conversation and express 30 percent of my thoughts coherently, my inner voice whispers, “Will they not run out of patience soon? Do they not expect more of someone who has been here for a year?” These doubts bite hard because of the fear that I am not making the cut and not meeting (normal?) milestones as I strive to learn the language.

When these fears arise, I remember how God is the author of every language and how he will use every language to build up, teach, and encourage the church. 1 Corinthians 14:10–12 reads,

There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. (ESV)

These verses highlight how intelligibility and accessibility is something the church should be concerned with, even if we have more spiritual-looking gifts at our disposal. Speaking in unknown tongues in worship of God has its place, but better yet is speaking intelligible words for the instruction and building up of the listener (1 Cor. 14:13–19). If this is the case, and I am praying for the ability to speak, evangelise, and teach intelligibly in Japanese, surely it will come to fruition in good time.

In the meantime, I am encouraged by the Apostle Paul’s insistence on the role of mutually understandable language in building up the church: “Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Cor. 14:19). As someone who is closer to the five words than ten thousand in Japanese, I am thankful for the encouragement to use my limited words well because the passage tells me they can benefit others.