Why Do You Have So Much Hope?

THE CALL: 2023–2024    |    4 MINUTE READ
BRANDON KUBA, MISSIONARY IN JAPAN

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.”
Mark 4:26–27 (NIV)

Don’t try to change me

“I have been a Buddhist for my entire life,” our neighbor, Yaeko Ishimoto told me the first time we met. Like much in the Japanese language, what was left unsaid was equally meaningful: I know why you’re here, so don’t try to change me, all right?

When I first arrived in Shimonoseki at the beginning of both my married life and a new season of ministry, one of the first people to greet me was Ms. Ishimoto, a retired teacher of junior-high Japanese calligraphy. Her passionate pursuit of her many interests, her thorough knowledge of the neighborhood, and her boundless energy seemingly belied an age in the mid-eighties. Curious about the new arrival, the American with the Japanese face, she appeared at the door of the church one day. “I’d really appreciate it if you would teach me some English,” she stated matter-of-factly, “but I want you to know that I am a Buddhist.” 

Her implicit warning might have been echoed by millions of Japanese, where approximately two-thirds of the population profess adherence to Buddhism, as opposed to less than one percent who claim Protestant Christianity as their faith.

Brandon’s wife, Izumi (right), with Ms. Ishimoto

How could we reach Ms. Ishimoto?

All right, I thought. This is not going to be easy. From that first meeting, Ms. Ishimoto showed us impeccable manners and moments of genuine kindness, but there remained a portion of her life that was guarded with great care. At every encounter, she would refer to the gorgeous, gilded Buddhist altar in her family room she knelt before to offer incense and pray every morning. She was reminding us that any conversation about faith was off-limits.

We knew the best way to confront this God-sized problem had to be prayer. A prayer group adopted Ms. Ishimoto as one of their own, and week after week, they faithfully interceded on her behalf. God was listening and working.

Meanwhile, Ms. Ishimoto came faithfully for English conversation lessons every Saturday afternoon, in which she invested the characteristic enthusiasm for anything that interested her. She even invited her friends to join the small group. She would occasionally come to our church not for a worship service, but for a piano concerto or other community outreach events.

The shift

It was one of those events, about midway through our seven-year stint in Shimonoseki, that proved to be a turning point. Only six months before the worldwide pandemic, a team of eight students from Ohio Christian University arrived in Shimonoseki. They knew no Japanese, and some had never traveled out of the state, but their obedience was inspiring, and their enthusiasm was contagious. In a little over a week’s time, they spoke into the lives of thousands, including Ms. Ishimoto. 

The 2019 short-term team from OCU formed a special bond with Ms. Ishimoto.

With all the new faces coming and going from our church, the eternally inquisitive Ms. Ishimoto had to find out more. “We’ve never had so many visitors from abroad in our neighborhood,” she said, “and I don’t know if we’ll ever have a chance like this again. Would you all be willing to come to my house and visit?”

In Japan, where living spaces are limited and people are hesitant to even invite friends to visit in their homes, it was an almost unthinkable gesture. The students went with exuberance, and a few days later, when the team was preparing to move on to their next destination, a tearful Ms. Ishimoto appeared at our door to present a beautifully brushed work of calligraphy for their team. “You’ve been like my children,” she admitted. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

God continued to work in her heart

The ensuing years would prove to be seasons of trial and challenge in which God continued to work in the heart of Ms. Ishimoto. In early autumn of 2019, on the verge of a particularly large typhoon, Ms. Ishimoto confessed her fear to us. “Would I be able to stay with you?” she asked with hesitation. 

Of course, just a few months later came with an even larger trauma, the arrival of coronavirus. There were months of isolation and fear, and Ms. Ishimoto felt increasing distance from her family. “You all are like the only family I have,” she told us. It was heartbreaking but also a sign that God was moving, awakening a longing for filling the deep-seated void in her life.

On October 9, 2022, a sight we believed to be unimaginable at the start of our Shimonoseki journey, Ms. Ishimoto stood up in the middle of the morning worship service. Though she had attended a few church services at this point, it was the first time she had ever participated in one, and she proceeded to ask every missionary’s dream question: “Why do you all seem to have so much hope and joy?” It is for moments of victory like this that we thank the Lord for the way He has worked, even when we did not know how.

Yet paradoxically, we do know how He worked. It was a small group of prayer warriors who were not content to let their service to God end with their working careers. It was a team of eight young men and women from a university halfway around the world who, despite the odds, believed that God could do something wonderful through them. It is a legion of supporters who sacrificed their resources to ensure that, in that moment, we were there to give a reason for the faith that we have.

ACTION STEPS

PRAY: Invite the Lord to continue developing the faith of those like Ms. Ishimoto. Ask Him to provide consistent pastoral leadership so the church in Shimonoseki might thrive and grow. Pray that global workers like Brandon and Izumi Kuba can continue to share and live out the completely transformational message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

GO: The short-term team made a huge impact on Ms. Ishimoto’s life. God can use you to impact someone else’s life in similar ways! Learn more about our short-term trips!

Author Bio: After almost a decade of leading the Shimonoseki Church, Brandon and Izumi Kuba are prayerfully dreaming about how God would have them participate in raising up, encouraging, and training future leaders for His church in Japan at their new location at the Immanuel Bible College in Yokohama, Japan.