As I write this, my family and I are in the final stretch of a six month missionary journey in Takamatsu, Japan that has proved to be one of the most challenging, frustrating, enlightening, stressful, uncomfortable, loving, and most of all, life-changing journeys of our lives. I am thankful to National Christian Foundation Indiana for giving me this opportunity to share my story.
My family and I actually started this journey back in December when my wife Jessica and I attended Youth With A Mission’s (
YWAM) 50
th Anniversary celebration in Kona, Hawaii. YWAM is an incredible organization that includes people and youth from more than 150 countries and is based on the purpose of “
Knowing God and Making Him Known.” My company, DEFENDER Direct, has enjoyed a strong partnership specifically with their
Homes of Hope program, which works with businesses, church groups, schools, etc. to facilitate home builds for the poorest of the poor in Mexico. To date, DEFENDER has built more than 100 homes, adding to the 3,000+ homes already built by the program.
During our stay we were surrounded by people that were constantly listening to God and we grew to know a couple who were very similar to us; owned a successful business, had children our ages, lived extremely hectic lives. Then they told us how they had just completed a six month YWAM discipleship course and it changed their lives. Jess and I looked at each other thinking, “
Wow, that’s cool, but WE could never do that! We have too much going on; too many commitments, responsibilities and obligations.” But in that week, God told us we HAD to do it and we had to do it as soon as possible. Those few words were all it took to light a fire in our hearts. So, like the words from our favorite song, “
Here goes nothing … here goes everything”, we took a giant leap of faith!
April 2011 - We moved the family to the YWAM base in Kona, Hawaii to attend YWAM’s Discipleship Training School (DTS). This school is broken into two parts 1)
Working on our hearts at the base in Kona, Hawaii for three months and 2)
Being Missionaries, which includes a three month relocation. People come from all over the world to participate and influence the DTS program! We heard prayers, songs, and met people from the countries of Tajikistan, China, Japan, Denmark, West Africa, Norway, France, US, Korea, Switzerland, Spain, Mexico, and Australia. Wow!!!
Our accommodations were meager, yet adequate. Our family of five shared a small one room apartment that was not equipped with the luxuries we had so easily taken for granted back home, such as AC. The lack of distractions such as TV, cell phones, and video games created the opportunity for us to truly enjoy being together as a family. With life’s busy school, social and work
schedules, quality family time is something that we didn’t even realize we had truly been missing!
Within the first 24 hours of our arrival, we had already returned to that peaceful feeling of being in God’s will in that holy place. We knew in that moment, and still do, that we were where we were supposed to be and that He had a plan for us. The next few months would only further confirm this.
One of the proudest moments of this journey was actually seen through the servitude of our youngest daughter, Jackie Ray, who is only 8 years old. She came up with the idea to create a “Fun-Raiser” that offered colored hair spray squirts in exchange for donations. She raised more than $40 for her teacher to buy a ticket to fly home and see his mother before she passed away. She ended up giving her teacher $60 toward his ticket; $42 from her Fun-Raiser and $18 from her allowance savings. You can’t buy lessons like that!
The first three months flew by, as we were kept busy with classes, cleaning, praying, chores, and constantly getting the opportunity to serve others. By the end of the day, our backs were tired, but our hearts were full!
One of the biggest takeaways from my experience in Kona was learning to tune in and really listen to God’s voice; allowing Him to completely lead my life. Learning to die to myself and live for Him every single day.
"Freedom to me is NOT going out and doing what you WANT to do. Anyone can do that and lots of people are doing it. Freedom IS 'to have the power to do what you know you OUGHT to do.' Most people know what they ought to do but they don't have the power to do it. They're in bondage." - Josh McDowell
It’s crazy, but the more I follow Jesus' example and do what He said, the more powerful I feel to do what I ought to do. The more I read the Bible, treat my body as a temple, ask others how I can pray for them, die to my own wants, put others before me ... the more powerful I am feeling to do what "I know I ought to do" with the blessings he has given me. I struggle sometimes with BELIEF, but Jesus asked us to simply FOLLOW. He is the perfect example. As I follow Him, my belief and power for good simultaneously increase. The energizing feeling of knowing and being completely in love with the Lord only fueled us for the uncertainty that awaited us.
Before we knew it, it was time to find out where we would be sent to spread God’s Good News! When we left home, it was right after the devastating Tsunami occurred and we said to all our friends, "
We have the option of India, Japan, Tahiti or Papua New Guinea... but there is no way we are going to Japan with the kids!" Little did we know that God had a different plan in store for us!
July 2011 - Japan welcomed us with a small earthquake the night of our arrival. When we arrived to Takamatsu, our accommodations made our Kona apartment look like a palace! Here we slept on the floor in a one room building with another family and only one bathroom! As stressful as the daily life of a missionary can become, we kept the attitude that
Everything is for God’s Glory, ALL the Time. This phrase helped keep us in the right mindset for the moments of glory.
During our stay in Takamatsu, God was constantly giving us “signs,” which reconfirmed that we were in the right place during this time. While we were in Hawaii, we were taught to pray and look for the
Person Of Peace (POP). This is a person that has a heart for God, even if they know nothing of Him yet, plus they have influence and access to the community. On our second day in Japan we actually met our POP and her name was Keiko (Cay-koe). We had been praying and asking God for her for months and like an angel she just walked into our lives. We were helpless, but with her we grew in spirit and relationship. Keiko even worked at the building across the street that displayed a similar logo to that of our own business, DEFENDER Direct, located in Indianapolis! Since our arrival to Japan, doors were opening for us and we weren’t even trying! We were just doing the possible and He was doing the impossible!
Being in Japan has given us the opportunity to evangelize to a sleepy nation, where only 1% of the nation is Christian. Being here and being able to share our translated testimonies, “doorknocking” through the countryside to spread the Good News, learning about the local culture, serving the hungry in the literal and spiritual sense, and growing closer as a family have all been made possible through the love and grace of God.
It was hard to leave our comfortable life in Indiana; it was hard to become missionaries, but throughout this experience, listening to God brings me great peace. Like it says in Proverbs 3:5-6: "
Trust in the Lord with all your heart." I believe that by trusting in God and asking for His direction that He is in control of my life and everything happens for a reason. So when good things happen, I thank God. When bad things happen, I know God has a plan and I look for the good in the situation. Finding the good in everything gives me peace in my heart. When I ask God every day to guide me, I know I am exactly where I need to be, doing what I need to be doing. There is no second guessing, no wishing things were different, or blaming others. That is why my family and I are here in Takamatsu, Japan. We listened to God and obeyed God. We are so happy to be here and this is the closest our family has ever been. We were so busy in our lives back home that we hardly ever saw each other. God showed us what is important in our lives and that we can be happy no matter what our circumstance may be.
