Seto Church, Japan

Pastor Song EulSub

My wife, the eldest of three, and I, the eldest of four, have a one-year-old son, the first grandson from both families.  My parents and in-laws were against dedicating their son and daughter to God as missionaries, let alone their grandson, but they finally saw us off with tears on March 23, 2004.  That was the day my family arrived in Japan as PMM missionaries.

I felt at a loss all the more when I arrived here.  The appearance of Japanese people was strange to me; not only that, but their fashion and makeup were quite different even though they’re also Asians.  I couldn’t communicate with them at all and their food was strange.  I prayed, “O God, I look forward to the miracle You will show me here, even though I can’t see any signs of what You have prepared for me.”

There was a warm welcoming party for my family, and I started studying Japanese in April.  Three teachers were there to teach me Japanese.

“おはようございます(Ohayo Gozaimasu)” (Good morning.)

That was the first sentence I learned.  At last, I was able to understand the greetings I had memorized a few days before.

So I said to myself, “Learning Japanese is a piece of cake.  God, you have granted me the gift of tongues after all.  Thank you so much.”

But I couldn’t understand anything after that.

“God, I have been so proud.  I promise You that I will study Japanese with a humble heart.  So please grant me the gift of tongues.”

Six months passed, and it was September.  There were various ways to study Japanese.  One of them was to preach four sermons in a local church between September that year and February the following year.  Of course, these sermons were for the Sabbath. At last, my turn to preach came in September.  The first place I did so was in San-iku Gakuin College Church.

I became extremely busy after the time and place were set.  Indeed, I prayed much about it.  I continued to accompany my Japanese teacher as if he were my private tutor, and he corrected my pronunciation and sentences.  I was so nervous the night before the sermon that I couldn’t sleep at all.  Finally, the time for my sermon came.

The president of San-iku Gakuin College led the opening prayer on the pulpit and told me to relax.  He said he would be hesitant when he preached in English even though he had done so several times.  Then he encouraged me to preach the sermon in peace.

I began my first sermon with tension and strain.  Interestingly, the church members were much more nervous than I was.  As I continued, I was privileged to experience the wonderful miracle of the gift of tongues.  I was able to share with them what I had prepared in Japanese and even tell them some illustrations that were not in my script.  An hour passed so quickly that I didn’t realize it.

After the worship was over, the members told me with big smiles that they understood everything I said and that I did a good job.  They also encouraged me, saying that I was now very good at Japanese though I couldn’t say a word in Japanese six months ago.

It was God that prepared a wonderful miracle for me and called me.  All I did was say yes to His calling, but He gave me the privilege to experience this miracle and participate in His feast.  How thankful I was!  I can’t wait to see what kind of miracle God will prepare for me in the mission field next year.