When someone leaves a job or a church it is customary in Japan to have a “Sobestukai”. We knew when we left for our 1 year home assignment in the States and finished our 7 years of working at Saitama International Church in Japan we would have a "Goodbye Party". Our’s was the day after we moved; we were exhausted. Being physically tired and emotionally drained made for many tears. Each song we sang during the worship service was beautiful. It felt like a taste of heaven where just like at our international church in Japan, heaven will be filled with people from all nations who will gather before God’s throne and worship Him.
After the worship service the goodbye party began with a
potluck. People had lovingly brought our favorite foods just for us, like sushi
for Tim and my favorite sesame chicken. The microphone was passed around and
many people shared a memory or what they were thankful for. Quite a few shared with
us that they were challenged by Tim’s Bible messages. Others shared how God had
used him to protect the church from difficult people and difficult situations.
Others shared how they were encouraged to see us as a Christian family, with
boys that loved Jesus and were friendly and connected to the church. Others
shared they were blessed by what I shared about Biblical parenting at mom’s
group.
Again the tears flowed. Their’s and our’s. Through this
Japanese custom of a goodbye party, God gave us the chance to hear from people
that we had poured our hearts, prayers and lives into. We heard them give an
account of God’s work through us in their lives. Again this too was a taste of
what heaven will be.
Many missionaries work for years and don’t get to see much fruit. Many cross cultural workers don’t get thanked for their years of faithful service. But here we got both. We got the privilege of seeing people come to Christ and grow strong in their faith. We got the privilege by God’s grace, of leaving behind a strong, growing, unified, vibrant church.
We know our final reward is in heaven waiting for us. We work faithfully for a “well-done” from Jesus when this life is over. We look forward to seeing eternal fruit for what we have worked hard for on earth. We look forward to singing praises to our great God with brothers and sisters from every tongue and people group. In the sadness of leaving, our hearts were full and joyful of this earthly blessing which is a taste of heaven to come.
