Japan???

In the past few entries I tried to share some important stories and insights from my year in Quebec. God was working in my life then, but He hasn't stopped! In January 2007, I was researching opportunities for the coming fall. What would I do? Where would I go? I really wanted to be teaching in a Christian school, as I had been trained to do. God has given me a passion for discipling children in this context. While I was looking around at different organizations, a good friend from college phoned me from Japan. Yisel told me that there was a grade 6 teaching position available at her Christian school in Japan. Would I apply?

I had never really thought about Japan, but I did want to go to Asia. I even had a vision while praying, two weeks before this phone call, in which Jesus helped me organize my "dreams" for life. Every dream was written on a piece of paper, and we had some sorting to do. Some were placed in a filing box for later. Some were placed in His hands, and I don't know if/when I'll see them again. He gave one paper back to me at the end of this vision, with one phrase written on it: "Teach in China." I believe this referred to my dream of teaching in an Asian country. I'd always imagined it would be China, because that was the first country I thought of, but I knew it would be very unusual to teach in a Christian school in China!

On top of that, I'd always joked with Yisel about coming to Japan -- but only if there was a grade 6 position. Too many things lined up for this to be just a coincidence - I know that God was at work.

I applied, and two weeks later I was hired to be the grade six teacher at an international school located in Japan. (If you want specifics, email me. I'm not posting anymore information on a public website) While I was reading the Bible, God spoke to me from Isaiah 55:12 --

"You will go out with joy and be led forth with peace, the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. This will be for the LORD's renown..."

A couple of weeks later (in early March), a woman who was praying for me found and shared this exact verse, confirming what God had already said to me. I was walking in peace and confidence, preparing for a move to Japan.

Getting on with Life

God had placed me in this same region, where one man's life had been a seed. He planted the word of God in people hearts. Over time, God had made it grow. Krystal's grandfather had no idea of the fruit his life would bear. It would be the same with me. I would be obedient, content to be where God had led me and taking advantage of every opportunity He gave me to demonstrate His love or speak of His grace. My seeds would be planted, and I would trust God to make them grow.
Once these things had been settled with God and my attitude changed, I started having a wonderful time in Quebec. Things got better at school: I went on a hiking trip with some of the classes, and I made more connections with both students and teachers. Things got better at church. Although God had provided a couple good and very welcoming friends at church, I hadn't felt like I belonged. A week before Krystal arrived I decided to switch churches, to be in a place where I could be involved in the ministries I was already passionate about. I was excited to see children worshipping at this church. I could teach a group of English-speaking Native children each week. I was asked to play keyboard for worship. I started to build some wonderful relationships with here, and this church became my home. Hiking trip - crossing a really high, narrow bridge

Enjoying outdoor beauty with Genvieve, my first friend :)

A beautiful, welcoming couple - Emily & Louis

I've never seen anyone so competitive at Monopoly!

Melanie - who knew such a great friendship would start by going out for "coffee"...especially when neither of us drink it!

Maude, another great friend, and Allison (aka Lysol) - Two beautiful brown-eyed girls!

The cute kids from church

Hiking with school - crossing the high bridge at Parc Aiguebelle...

...over trees, rocks & water

My church - during a special event, partnering with Native believers

So beautiful!

I thank God for the many blessings He gave me and lessons He taught me. Looking back, I see how this whole year in Quebec really laid the foundation for what comes next for me -- teaching in Japan.

The Other Strings

In September 2006, I arrived in Val-d'Or, Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Quebec, with great expectations. And September was the best of times; it was the worst of times.

I was fulfilling a dream: learning French, living in Quebec, positioned to “make a difference” in the world.

I had one overwhelming problem: I didn't know what difference to make, or how I could make that difference.

(OK, I also had other problems – like I'd never gone grocery shopping before and I didn't realize that bags get REALLY heavy when you have to walk home with them brimming full of meat and cans and frozen pizza. I knew how to cook but I didn't know how to cook a meal so everything was ready at the same time. I knew how to do laundry but I didn't know how to get grass stains out. So there were some things to learn...cough cough...understatement!)

But for all of these “problems,” God had solutions.

For the life problems, He answered me before I asked, by inspiring Gail Musselman to give me a book called “Help! Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?” as a going-away present. This answered about 97% of my questions. :) The rest, I learned by experience or by actually phoning mom.

For the deeper question of how to make my life matter, He had some deeper answers.

First, I spent some serious time in prayer, and every day God seemed to bring me back to John 15. “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, the relationship intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Apart from me, you can't do a thing.” There it was. If I wanted my life to have an abundant harvest, if I wanted to make a difference, I had one thing to do: remain in Him, keeping the relationship intimate and organic. This was not the ground-breaking, world-changing task I dreamed of, but I knew it was the truth. "Jesus, You are My “raison d'etre” - my reason for being," I prayed. "If you brought me here to pray and worship You, that's enough."

September and October passed, with small glimpses of how I could be an encouragement to others here, but no earth-shattering revelations and much homesickness. When Krystal phoned me to say that she and her parents were coming to visit, I told her she was mean to lie to me and get my hopes up like that. But she wasn't lying.

Krystal and her parents came to search for her grandparent's old houses, churches, and friends. I tagged along and heard some incredible stories of her grandfather's work in the region. He had begun three churches, constructing the buildings himself. He had preached on street corners, telling others about the love of Jesus and God's plan of salvation. Although some turned to God, others turned on the preacher. He was beaten by angry crowds, subjected to insults, and even thrown in jail. Still, he persevered and God used him to establish His church in the region.

This is the jail where he was held

Krystal & me

The more stories I heard, the more I realized that my life and my passion was not the beginning of God's work in Quebec. He had been at work, years before I was born, calling people to Himself. Krsytal's grandfather had paid a high price to plant seeds of the gospel, but those seeds bore fruit that can still be seen today, in the fellowship of believers that exist in those towns. Pastors and evangelists have come from those churches, and God is bringing light to dark places.

God had called me to Quebec, but I was not the whole story. I was one string in a huge tapestry of a Master Weaver. Krystal is another string. Her grandfather is another string. I could see other threads beginning to come together: people I had worked with at camp, people I had met at church, people I had met at work. He has plans for something beautiful, and He had been working for a long time. His plan involves people, and it's bigger than I can imagine. His plan involves the whole world.

My Life as a (Red) String

My story is one of a million, yet fits into one grand story. I often picture my life as one tiny string in a beautiful tapestry, woven together by a Master Weaver. He sees all the colours, lines and shadows in the pattern, and I am willing to let Him guide me through His tapestry as He lovingly chooses. He has created me a certain “colour,” and He knows when and where my colour should be used. At times, I may be a key colour in the grand design. At others, I may be hidden in the background, so other colours may be accentuated. I do not know His final picture, but I trust the Weaver – my Maker, my Hero, my Friend: Jesus Christ.

I kind of hope I'm a red string. I like red. Red gets noticed.

Let me share a story of how I began to understand this tapestry and gain a glimpse of the part I play.
My “string” crossed another “string” in my grade twelve year. I met a girl named Krystal at church. She was new and around my age, so I invited her over to my place for the afternoon. I sprawled on my bed and Krystal lounged on a chair as she shared her story. “I just moved here from Smiths Falls, but my grandparents have lived here for several years. They moved here after my grandpa retired from his ministry as a pastor and church-planter in Quebec. We'll be here for a while...probably for good.”
I didn't know her grandparents, but I loved Quebec. After two summers of working at a Christian camp in the Eastern Townships, the spiritual needs of this province weighed heavily on my heart. Quebec's suicide rates were the highest in the nation, spiritual hunger revealed itself in curiosity about the occult, and less than 1% of the population claimed to be evangelical Christians. In Quebec, there is one church for every 50 000 people. In the rest of Canada, there is one church for every 2 000 people. I wanted to see more churches in Quebec filled with passionate disciples of Christ. This girls's grandfather, more than thirty years ago, had laboured for the same cause. Coincidence? Maybe. If you believe in those.
I didn't recognize this as a God-incidence until five years later, when I applied to a government-funded French immersion program, my heart still burning for Quebec. The “Odyssey” program involved moving to Quebec for nine months to work as a Language Assistant for English teachers in public schools. With my passion for Quebec, teaching, and learning French combined, I am convinced God God led me very specifically to this program. I opted to be placed in a rural community but had no further control over where in the expansive province I would be asked to go. But the Weaver was holding tightly to my string—He (partnering with the Odyssey program) placed me in Abitibi-Temiscamingue, the same region where Krystal's grandfather had worked years before. Coincidence? Maybe. If you believe in those.

I don't. I believe the Master Weaver was at work.