Now, where did I put it?
Why can’t I find it in my apartment . . . ?
Why, of course. As I get older, I sometimes forget why I entered the next room. But this time, I remembered I had left my cooler bag at a convenience store, on the chair next to where I was sitting while chatting with a local I had befriended.
I expected my bag to be gone since I would not be returning there for two weeks. However, when I went back to the convenience store, I decided to ask the storekeeper about my lost bag anyway. And lo and behold, she went to the back room and brought it out with all the contents still inside.
So many people entered and left that convenience store, and no one took my bag. The store even kept it for two weeks, not knowing to whom it belonged. Yet this is not an unusual occurrence in Japan.
I often see bicycles parked outside of grocery stores with merchandise from other stores in the attached basket. The bicycle owner goes inside the store to shop for half an hour, and when he or she comes out, the bicycle is still there, with all the items still in the basket.
On rainy days, stores place a divided container outside the doorway for the customers to place their wet umbrellas in before they enter. No one doubts that their umbrella will be waiting for them when they exit. Umbrella theft does not happen.
A delivery van parks outside a house. The worker gets out of the van with the motor still running, opens the back door to take a package out, and keeps the door open in plain view of the public, with all the other packages inside the van. The worker disappears, going to the house to deliver the package. After a few minutes, when the worker returns to his van, everything is still in order. He shuts the back door and drives away.
Japan is known for its graffiti-free, clean places and polite, kind locals. In some countries, people feel the public area does not belong to them, so they do not maintain it. Here in Japan, they know the public places belong to them. They take ownership. They have volunteers (not paid workers) pick up the trash around the train station. The neighborhood organizes a cleaning day to beautify the neighborhood park. You also do not see any trash cans in public places because people are expected to take their trash home with them for disposal. However, I hear things are changing rapidly, especially in the big cities.
Their technology is superseding tradition—“knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). Japan is known for a low crime rate, but the Japanese are losing their innocence. “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12).
The time is short. There are so many locals here who are losing their peace, and they do not know where to find the peace, truth and love that can fill the empty spot in their hearts. They do not know what they are missing. “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14). “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send for the laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).
So, I pray, Lord, please send more missionaries here to Japan and to many places in the world. The time is short, and we need more people who are willing to dedicate their time and effort to lead the people to You.
