And then I spent 15 years as a missionary in Japan before meeting Jim. So many in my cloud of witnesses are from those years.
Starting with Rev. I, a Japanese pastor who faithfully planted and pastored a small congregation for decades, and at age 78 has just now gone to a new city to plant a new church. He and his wife are two of my heroes!
There’s a hymn we sang often in Japan:
however dark it be;
lead me by thine own hand,
choose out the path for me.
Smooth let it be or rough,
it will be still the best;
winding or straight, it leads
right onward to thy rest.
I really encourage you to look up this hymn ("Thy way, not mine, O Lord)”. It is such a great hymn, and there are 7 verses.
In general the Japanese aren’t known for being emotionally expressive, but every time we sang that hymn in a worship service, I saw tears streaming down the faces of Japanese women. I can think of dozens of Japanese women who are your sisters and my sisters in Christ who are following Jesus no matter how hard it is.
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