Pin-pon! The doorbell rang out loudly in our apartment, interrupting my frazzled thoughts as I attempted to morph together another Japanese sermon outline. I looked up from my computer and glanced at Caitlyn, who looked just as confused as I felt. I had no idea who had decided to visit us on this cold, wintery February day.
I opened the door slowly to be met by a man holding a giant box. Ah—our IKEA delivery had come a day early and on a Sunday at that! Although we didn’t have an IKEA nearby, nor a car to go and purchase items in-person even if our town had one, we had made some purchases online. I greeted the delivery man, and he began working with his co-worker to bring boxes up to our second-story parsonage apartment located above the Seventh-day Adventist church in town.
On his second trip up to our apartment, the man looked at me quizzically and asked in Japanese, “Are you a pastor?”
I replied that I was not a pastor—far from it. I was only a missionary and was not the church pastor, although I did help on a regular basis. He quickly responded, “Oh, okay. You know, I know a little about this church. I went to Saniku2 for school.”
Ah, a perfect missionary opportunity—an open door to ask the delivery man about his school experience or if he attends church, or to offer to pray for him, or to hand him some Japanese literature that would remind him of his time in school and would lead him to Christ.
My response? “Oh, good!” . . . followed by silence.
In a moment, he was out the door, and we did not have an opportunity to talk again.
I realized my mistake soon after he left. I had missed an opportunity to, well, do the very thing I came to Japan to do. I did not even catch the man’s name. I asked around at the church the following Sabbath and no one knew who the man was. So, his identity remains a mystery.
Although I choose not to beat myself up for this missed opportunity, it does remind me that I must always be ready to give an answer for the hope that I have (1 Peter 3:15) and to encourage others to get to know their Savior. So until we have another opportunity, we wait, hope and pray for more opportunities to share the love of Jesus in our small city. Please join us in those prayers, not just for this delivery man, but for the whole country of Japan, that each person may come to know and believe in their Savior and that we will be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that God brings to our door, whether we expect them or not.
