Foreigners

By the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, & even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.   

1 Corinthians 14:21

When I first came to Japan 22 years ago, I did have dreams about being some kind of missionary. No church or mission agency sent me, I just went with my gut. 22 years later, in what Christians often call the missionary graveyard, I have very little to show for it. Maybe one or two converts in 22 years? I have been too lustful, too angry, too proud, too lazy to be much of a missionary. But it's possible even if I was a saint most Japanese would not have been interested anyway. Great men like St Ignatius & St Nicholas of Japan, whose names I am not worthy to even mention,  did make an important impact, but 98% or so of Japanese remain stubbornly Buddhist/Shinto/not much of anything spiritually. That will change eventually, but I suspect it may take a major disaster to shake the complacency here. Jesus said "Blessed are the poor..", but most of Japan is very rich. To be fair, my 日本語 is still not up to having a spiritual conversation in Japanese. It is the kids I feel sorry for. Brainwashed into a muddle of Darwinist Buddhist Shinto nationalism, they have little chance of hearing the truth at an age early enough to make a difference. Our hearts grow harder as we get older. Still God will make a Way where there is no Way.