The misconceptions of a missionary sponsor

“Just a few more weeks and they’ll be back in Canada,” I thought happily, reading Laurence and Leona Hiebert’s missionary report last spring.

Thinking MINA meant “missionary in North America,” I wanted this precious, much-prayed-for family to have a respite from their endless work in Toyota City, Japan.

I soon learned otherwise. First, MINA means “ministry in North America,” and second, it’s one of the most hectic times in a missionary’s life!

On a pedestal

When I was young I romanticized travelling to some far-off country to reach lost souls for Christ. I lionized missionaries, put them on a pedestal above mere humanity, assumed their feelings were much more godly than mine.

It wasn’t until taking on the task of writing to missionaries 15 years ago, sponsoring missionaries, and receiving their newsletters that a “new missionary” emerged in my mind. This missionary was a human who was also often bogged down with the daily tasks of putting food on the table, worrying about the children’s education, needing to save time for relationships, plunged into feelings of defeat when so few contacts actually commit to Christ and are baptized.

As missionary sponsors, we’d been praying along with the Hieberts through the past five years as their young church bought a property (from a stubborn Japanese millionaire whose name translates in English as Mr. “Big Bridge” – a bridge only God could topple!) and birthed a church building.

Laurence and Leona Hiebert and family

Laurence and Leona and their three children also struggled alongside a young woman making the decision to become baptized, thus ostracizing herself from her family; the loss of one of their faithful, serving church families to a job transfer to Hong Kong; deep concerns over their younger son’s learning difficulties.

The Hieberts watched the church building rise from the ground, a testimony to God’s love, grace and power, and the faithful provision of many people. But they were tired. And it never entered my head that leaving Japan for MINA would not be the break they longed for, the season of refreshing they needed.

Now I was about to get a new picture of what it was like being back in Canada.

Provision, concerns

There was the miracle of the fully furnished house in Calgary for 11 months and the provision of a car. This was our God, wasn’t it? But what about the money needed to send Trenton to a special school for children with educational difficulties and Brandon’s expenses at Bible college? When Leona heard the school Trenton had applied for was full, she cried all evening.

Others prayed, and a school better suited to Trenton’s needs opened up. Financial help came through. When they visited in Langley, B.C., where we live, on their way to a speaking engagement in Vancouver, Laurence and Leona said they were exhilarated and encouraged. But she had a cold, his voice was hoarse.

And what about adjusting back to Canadian culture when they’ve spent so little time here since making their home in Japan 18 years ago? The family had turned on Japanese Christian music on the way to church, Leona said; they had “a Japanese moment.” They miss Japanese food, eating together after church, their friends. Is Canada really their home any more?

When we asked Laurence if they plan to return to Japan, he said they “hoped to return.” I wondered what he meant, then realized missionaries are responsible for raising their support. They need their missionary partners in order to reach the lost people of Toyota City for Christ.

Most Japanese are not active spiritually but their lives are deeply influenced by Shinto and Buddhist customs, practice, and beliefs. Ancestor worship, and the pursuit of material things and education, make it difficult to reach the Japanese for Christ. The men are especially challenging to reach as they have committed their lives to the “company.” The women of Japan carry great expectations from their husbands, their parents, and society around them. Because Japanese want to belong to the groups around them, it’s difficult to choose Christ when hardly anyone else does.

But the MB church with its lighted cross on the high traffic street in Toyota City stands as a monument to God’s power, to people’s giving, and to a couple’s vision for Japan.

Belong to others

My perception of a missionary, and now of MINA, has been drastically changed through knowing Laurence and Leona. We knew them first as a young married couple attending our church. But they don’t belong to us any more; they’re Canadians only by birth.

They left their hearts and their church family in Japan. During this year they are relating to us in North America, trusting God to move us to support their work. Laurence is doing some studying. When, and if, they return to Japan, they’ll leave behind one son and their aging mothers. A big question in their lives that needs our prayers and an answer from God is their youngest son’s educational struggles. Without God’s intervention, and the funds to continue their mission, the question is like a heavy brick in their hearts.

These are the realities of “missionary/ministry in North America,” and like the work in the ministry country, it’s good to be reminded how real and human it is.

Vonnie Mostat attends South Langley MB Church, Langley, B.C.