The train crawled to a stop, but not at a station. While the conductor explained about a signal light, I realized that it was going to be a long train ride. Earlier, when I arrived at our station, I observed a train delay notice. When getting on my train, I hoped that the schedule must be catching up, since a “person accident” had taken place over two hours earlier. Unfortunately, we reached the 1/3 point of the ride about the time our train usually arrives at my transfer station.  

At one of the stops, the information signs indicated that it would be around an hour to get to my transfer station. I calculated that I would miss almost all my shortened class that day and left the train before the lines of people boarded our already crowded train.
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“I won’t be coming to class today,” I sadly texted my teacher. I then walked around the station for a while, waiting for the right train to come that would take me back home. I also contemplated the meaning of “person accident.”
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​​As the year ends, many people reflect on the past year and look to the future. Though a good and helpful practice, for Japanese businessmen this may bring sorrow. For some, the previous year was in the red, and there seems to be no hope for their company’s future. For others, the next year brings more of the same of what they consider monotonous, insufferable work. For yet others, their jobs, and therefore their life meaning, will be coming to an end. They have no hope, and therefore some choose to end their lives by way of a speeding train.

​During this time of year, Christians remember hope, both fulfilled and future. The hope of the centuries was fulfilled when the Christ, the Messiah, was born. The hope of Jesus’ return and the resulting restoration will happen because God is faithful and has proven Himself from the beginning. Through Jesus and His death and resurrection, every life has meaning and purpose. This is the message that these Japanese businessmen need to hear, and this is one major reason we came to Japan. There is hope found in Jesus and among those who follow Him.

“Don’t try to figure out how [a grammar point] fits in the sentence. The Japanese language simply borrows the structure when expressing a desire.” “You are correct, that word also has that [completely different] meaning, but only when written with other characters.” “Let’s do a three-minute speech. Please think about how you would answer the question, ‘What is the Good News?’”
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Our lives are filled with these sorts of statements. In July, we joined the Tokyo Academy of Communications Language Institute to learn Japanese. We had a great Japanese foundation thanks to our previous time in Japan, but we knew we still had much to learn. TAC specializes in conversation-based learning, which means that our class time is primarily spent speaking, listening, and responding to teachers and classmates. This has allowed us to utilize what we already knew, while learning more grammar within natural sounding contexts.

TAC specifically caters to missionaries, so they try to be as flexible as possible to help train missionaries how to successfully minister in Japanese. However, anyone may join the school, which creates some great conversations in class.
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We love watching God fit all the little details together for His glory and work here in Japan.