The aircraft made its final descent. Its wheels skidded onto the runway. And with that, I had arrived. I was in Japan. I was a foreign missionary.

 

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My plane had just touched down at Osaka International Airport in Japan.

Now, as the jet taxied to the terminal, my work as a foreign missionary had officially begun.

 

 

I was a long way from home. But then, what does “home” mean, anyway? Isn’t it just the place where you hang your hat?

Or maybe the word “home” means my hometown in Wisconsin where I grew up.

Or maybe the word “home” means the university where I got my bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Or maybe the word “home” means the place you just left. In my case, it was Michigan. I had lived there for five years, serving as an officer in the United States Air Force.

Or maybe the word “home” means the culture and language and worldview you left behind.

In that sense, I was a westerner, a native English speaker, a U.S. citizen, a white man, an Evangelical Christian, and now, a foreign missionary.

 

I left all those “homes” in favor of a different culture and language. Now I was in Japan.

I had read that a few of the Japanese people kept the historical religious practices of Shintoism and Buddhism, but that most were not enthused about religious or spiritual things.

And I had read that the Japanese people didn’t see the world the way I did.

I didn’t even know their worldview, apart from knowing a kind Japanese woman in Michigan named Yuki who gave me some Japanese language lessons.

And also from watching The Karate Kid and other movies portraying Japanese people.

How did the Japanese people see the world?

 

I had given up my career as a Mechanical Engineer. I had sold my possessions. I had left my home country to travel abroad and be a foreign missionary.

Those were huge steps in action-faith.

Now I was in for an adventure. But I had no idea, even in my wildest dreams, of how big the adventure would be, or where it would take me.

 

RESOURCES

The image of Osaka International Airport (Itami) terminal was photographed in 2006 by Joe Jones. See Wikimedia Commons.

 

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