The FAQ.

Still busy shopping, filling out forms, and adding to my ever-growing pre-Japan to-do list. Meanwhile, here are some questions I've often been asked about my upcoming service, and my answers:

Why Japan?
Short answer: It's the country I've been studying academically for six years.

Long answer: I'd had a passing interest in Japan ever since finding out some of my favorite things like Super Mario World and the movie Kiki's Delivery Service originated there. But my interest would have stopped at Nintendo and Studio Ghibli if not for my friends in high school.

Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan, April 2007. I'm in the front row in
the purple. Aforementioned friends are to my right. We'll be together
in Japan again someday soon, guys!

They were the ones that convinced me to sign up for a spring break trip to Japan my senior year. And they were the ones that took a semester of Japanese with me at a community college the summer beforehand. By the time I returned from my week-long whirlwind tour of such cities as Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Hakone, Kamakura, and Tokyo, I was hooked on Japanese language and culture. In college I ended up majoring in Asian Studies (as well as English) with a concentration in Japan Studies, and I had the opportunity to return to Tokyo for three weeks in January of 2009.

Problem was, being in Japan for such short periods meant that all I could really do was shop and people-watch. During both visits I was always in an American bubble, and while I did have the opportunity to meet and converse with Japanese people my own age, there weren't any opportunities to form any sort of deep relationships. That's one of my hopes for the next two-and-a-half years in Japan--to meet and connect with people there in ways I couldn't before.

Why not Presbyterian mission if you're Presbyterian?
My answer to this is no more complicated than "I was looking for mission work in Japan, and God opened a door with the ELCA." The PC(USA) has a fine mission program, and many Presbyterian missionaries are working hard to spread the Gospel all around the globe. A good friend of mine recently finished a year with the Presbyterian Young Adult Volunteer program. But the PC(USA) doesn't have anything like the J-3 program. And I figured we worship the same Jesus, so...

Why not JET or a private English school job?
I first heard about the J-3 program less than a month into my freshman year at St. Olaf from a ELCA Global Mission recruiter who spoke at a daily chapel service. Afterward I asked her if the ELCA had any programs in Japan. She handed me a flyer for the J-3 program. It seemed like a perfect fit for me and it has been in my mind ever since.

The J-3 program flyer. I had it up on my
bulletin board for the rest of the year.

Fast forward to my senior year. I actually applied to the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Program at the encouragement of one of my professors. It's a solid program backed by the Japanese government that's been in existence for decades, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to apply. I didn't even make it to the first round of interviews, but being rejected from JET so early turned out to be a blessing.

I mentioned my summer camp in the previous entry, describing it as "super awesome." I completely understand if you took that as clichéd hyperbole, but I meant every word: my three summers of serving on staff at that camp have had a huge impact on my life and spiritual growth. Westminster Woods was the first intentional Christian community I'd ever lived in. Think the last part of Acts 2 about the fellowship of the early church, praying and eating together and praising God. It was like that with my fellow staffers, except with more campers, silly costumes, and pool noodles. Working there stretched my limits, brought me to tears, and fulfilled longings I never even knew I had. I saw the Holy Spirit do amazing things in the lives of campers and staffers alike at that place.

With the JET Program or a private English school, it would be very hard for me to find Christian fellowship anywhere. With the ELCA J-3 program, I would have Christian fellowship at my very workplace. Now I realize I wouldn't have it any other way.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)