Last Sunday I went to the Japanese Buddhist temple near my home.

I went because I wanted to learn more about Buddhism. Since it is, along with Shintoism, the main religion of Japan. I went also in the hopes of meeting new people, and perhaps learning more about Japan from them as well. What I didn’t expect was that God would be confirming my call to Japan.

But, as I sat in the temple, listening to a Japanese transliteration of Chinese texts, smelling the faint yet permeating smoke of the incense, I was struck with this deep longing to return to Japan. To hear the noises and breath in the smells. To visit with people and to share the gospel. And I remembered. This is why I was support raising, why I had spent almost two years doing something I don't think I do very well. Because at the end of it all, after all the calls and the fumblings and the missed letters and the discouragement, I was going to Japan to show people the love of Christ.

It’s been a difficult time for me, and with the state of things I know it might have been a difficult time for you too. But God is working, even in those times when things feel especially hopeless.

I’m only at 10% of monthly support and, after almost two years, it has been quite disheartening. But God has been working in me through this time, helping me learn one main thing. Trust.

Do I trust God enough to keep going, even when things seem impossible?

Do I trust God enough rely on him, even when I’m not sure of the outcome?

Yes, now more than ever,

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14