When the Israelites were finally about to enter the Promised Land, they were commanded to look back over the 40 years in the wilderness and to recollect the entire journey. As I look back over what is now exactly 40 years since I was baptized in December 1960, I realize that I have been able to make this journey because of the help and support of those who have been my mentors, my co-workers, and my friends. As I recall what I have received from each person, I perceive the hand of God’s mercy and guidance. When I started going to church, there was a woman, Mrs. Hara, who always spoke to me and prayed for me. We walked together every Sunday night on our way home from evening worship that met on the opposite side of Sumida River, parting at the edge of the Kototoi Bridge. Her parting watchword was always, ‘See you in 168 hours!’ She visited my parents who were devout Buddhists and witnessed to them and all during my student years as I struggled with decisions about my future, she prayed that I would be led to be an evangelist. Whenever I think about the hardships and suffering she experienced in her life and of her clear faith, I feel as though I can almost hear her habit of saying, ‘It’s only the beginning!’
Rev. and Mrs. Yoneda, who commuted every week from their residence at the seminary to minister to us, discipled me as they came along side of me with warm, pastoral care. When I gathered up my courage and went to their house to tell them that I was giving up my plans for college and wanted to go directly to Bible college, they doused me with cold water, as it were, and urged me to go out into the bigger world to have meaningful encounters with many different kinds of people first.
In college, I became interested in world missions and during my student years I went to the Middle East. However, near graduation when my dreams seemed to fall apart, I lost my confidence and felt my plans were frustrated. When I was at the point of leaving everything to chance it was the General Secretary of KGK, Rev. Hisashi Ariga, who spoke to me and encouraged me to pray one more time. It was also Rev. Ariga who met with my parents when they were strongly opposed to my becoming a KGK staff worker. He talked with them extensively and removed the obstacles that stood in my way. A few years later, he also encouraged me to attend seminary in Singapore at DTC (Discipleship Training Center) and made it possible for me to go.
When I think about my experience serving on the staff of IFES for almost 20 years, my experience as a KGK staff worker and the great opportunity I had to study at DTC with people from all over Asia, I begin to discern the importance of the door that was opened to me through Rev. Ariga.
The friendship and fellowship I enjoyed with people I met at DTC in my late 20’s has been a treasure to me throughout my life. By far the most significant person I met there was Dr. David Adeney. He went as a missionary to China before the war and worked with students in China during the revolution. His life-long motto was, ‘Not disobedient to the vision from Heaven.’
As we shared life together for those three years, he modeled that motto for me in the way he made his relationship with the Lord the basis for everything in his life, and in his humility before the Lord and before people, and also in the way he related to each brother and sister in Christ on the same level, valuing them equally. Even as a teacher, he was willing to acknowledge his errors and it was especially in this attitude of repentance that he modeled for us true spiritual authority that was recognized by all. Whenever I met him, even after graduation, he would encourage me. He often exhorted me through letters and prayed continually for me. I will never forget his encouragement and prayer for me around the time I was struggling with the decision to work for IFES or not. Dr. Adeney was truly a mentor for my soul.
I have been blessed with many deeply meaningful relationships through the international fellowship of IFES. For my life and my faith, the most meaningful relationship for me has been with Dr. Hans Burki from Switzerland. In these articles, a great many of the experiences I have written about are experiences I have had through my fellowship with Dr. Burki. Since I first met him at an IFES General Meeting in 1971, we have had almost 30 years of fellowship. Dr. Burki was the General Secretary of the Swiss Christian Student Association for many years and then served as Associate General Secretary of IFES for nearly 20 years.
He has come to Japan many, many times and through what we have called Integration Seminars, he has opened our eyes to what it means to live in the grace of the gospel and how wonderful it is to do so. It is impossible for me to express in words how great has been the help and support given to me by Dr. Burki and his wife, Dr. Ago, at each turning point of my life and each time I faced a crisis of life and faith.
For me the life mentors and soul mentors I have been given are concrete expressions of God’s mercy and grace toward me. They are evidences that the Lord truly is my shepherd.
The God who has been my Shepherd all my life to this day. Genesis 48:15