BEYOND OUR WALLS

    August 2006                     Missions Bulletin of First Presbyterian Church, Las Cruces, N.M                 Vol. 8, No. 7

 HOW DO OUR MISSIONARIES SPEND THEIR TIME?  HOW AWARE ARE WE OF HOW THEY SPEND THEIR TIME? 

            We try to let you know a bit about this through this bulletin and in other ways as we can, and we have a newsletter from Andy and Judy Carrick in Japan that helps some in their case.  Here is an adaptation, with comments, from  the letter that Andy sent recently.

            [Andy and Judy are listed as PC(USA) Youth Evangelism Specialists working with the Reformed Church in Japan (RCJ)]

            Andy notes that he and Judy came to Japan for the first time twenty-nine years ago for the purpose of teaching English.  At that early point, Judy’s cultural anthropologically- trained eyes took note that the Japanese college students were the category most open to change–the group that would be most open to the Gospel.  Waiting to get to their ministry to college students has seemed long to the Carricks, but they believe that God, in His providence,  has been patiently preparing them for the task over the years. [One does not just rush into such things.  Missionaries have to be readied for such tasks, and rushing into things can often result in a loss of ground]

            A major  break came a year and a half ago, Andy writes, when he gave a chapel talk on one of the Japanese university campuses.  The chief chaplain at the university  had Andy come into his office and told  him, “I want you do any kind of evangelism you want to on this campus.  You tell me what you want to do, and I’ll open the doors for you.” 

            The chaplain has made good on his promises, and Andy has been spending his time teaching several relaxed English classes to university students.  He leads the students in the kinds of basic small talk that Americans characteristically engage in when meeting with others.  “So where are you from?”  “Tell me about your family.”   So, what are you planning to do when you get out of school?”  Who’s your favorite (athletic) team?  And so on. 

            So what kind of things does this lead to?  In May a young Japanese woman in one of the relaxed English classes behaved in such a way that Andy felt she was wanting to change the subject, so he soft-pedaled his teaching program and tried to listen more.  As the class continued, she announced, “I want to be a Christian.”  Andy then asked “Do you know how?”  When she said she didn’t, Andy explained it to her and invited her to their home.  He felt it best that Judy be in on praying with her to receive Christ. 

            The following Saturday, she came to the Carrick house for dinner, along with a good Japanese Christian friend of the Carricks who was baptized just a year before and now teaches the Carricks Japanese.  All of them prayed together as the girl declared that she was giving her heart to the Lord. 

            [That sounds pretty wonderful, doesn’t it. What could missionaries want more than to have the people they minister to choose to become followers of Christ.  Other things, not so wonderful, can happen] The very next week the girl came to Andy, deeply troubled and  asking, “Can I take that prayer back?”  When he asked her what happened she explained “My father is against it.  He said I cannot come any more.  I will still come to chapels, and you can e-mail me, but that is all I can do.” The girl has dropped from sight and no longer answers e-mails.  Andy never did tell her whether or not he thought she could take back her prayer of commitment.   He feels that it is a matter between her and the Lord and reports that it breaks his heart to realize how hard  it is for her. The Carricks spend time praying for her and ask that we also pray for her. 

            The relaxed English classes continue, and three young Japanese women have been coming to their home on Saturday evenings to learn cooking from Judy, to eat together, to study the Bible, or just to chat about other things.  One time Andy talked to them about three kinds of love: “I love you IF, I love you BECAUSE, and I love you ANYWAY.” Two of the young women felt quite uncomfortable with “I love you ANYWAY” because , they said, it made them feel as if it meant something was wrong with them.  Both preferred “I love you BECAUSE,” since they are, in fact, beautiful young women.

            In talking to them about that, Andy asked, “What would happen if you were in a horrible accident and lost one eye?  Would ‘I love you because you’re beautiful.’ still work?”  He also went into how many young men use the “I love you IF” approach.  Commonly, he pointed out it’s “I love you IF you have sex with me.”  Finally, he tried to show them how “I love you ANYWAY is the only one of the three approaches that is totally unconditional.  Within this context, he mentioned a young couple the Carrick’s have been counseling.  The new wife is a Christian who married a Muslim against her pastor’s advice, and they are having the roughest time one can imagine, reflecting the impossible expectations Muslim men usually  impose on their wives. [This, obviously, fits the “I love you IF concept] At this point, Andy issued a severe warning against Christian young women becoming involved with Muslim men.

            At this point one of the young women sat back and began to shake.  “Are you reading my mind?” she asked.  “What?  Of course not.” Andy responded. “Well, just yesterday,” the girl told him, “I was shopping for a hat and saw an elderly woman who was missing an eye.  Then you mentioned two other things that were going on with me. And finally, to top it off, A Muslim young man has been chasing me. How did you know all that?”

            “I never knew anything about any of those four things,” Andy assured her. “But I do know that God cares for you and probably used my words to reach out to you.”  The girl was white and shaking and said, “I won’t be able to go to the Saturday evening meeting tomorrow.”   Andy responded, “No problem.   See you next week, though, eh?”  The Carricks ask for prayer for this young woman as well.

            Such conversations, then are part of the ministry of  missionaries Andy and Judy Carrick.  Is there reason for awareness on our part, and prayer? 

            Other things are happening, too. A high school girl, the daughter of a pastor in one of the churches, asked to start a youth group in the Carrick home.  About every month-and-a half they go to the Carrick  home for a meal prepared by Judy, followed by a Bible study.  About a year ago “Andy did a “true love waits” program for them. 

            For several years Judy has been teaching two English Bible studies for women, one in one of the churches and the other in their home.  One of the interesting things that has come from this is that supposedly non-Christian Japanese women tell her how they are praying for their families or other situations they are concerned about.   Judy is impressed with how close many of them seem to crossing the threshold of faith.  She asks for our prayers about this, too.

            In this and other ways the Carricks spend their time in ministry to the Japanese.

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