Beste ,
Oorgangstye kan tegelyk vol onsekerheid en opwinding wees. Groot veranderinge bring nuwe uitdagings, én vars geleenthede. Ons beleef tans iets daarvan …
Ek is oppad terug na Japan ná ‘n blitsbesoek aan Suid-Afrika. Die hoofdoel was om ‘n konferensie by te woon van die International Association for Mission Studies, by UNISA in Pretoria. Dit was ‘n betekenisvolle geleentheid vol nuwe ontmoetings en leersame gesprekke, waar ek ook kans gehad het om ‘n aanbieding te doen. Verder kon ek ook ‘n paar van Missie Japan se leiers ontmoet tussendeur, en het ek gepreek by NG Riviera-Jakaranda gemeente in Pretoria. ‘n Bemoedigende ervaring!
Maar ek kon ook ‘n rukkie by my ouers (albei in hulle 80’s) vertoef om hulle te ondersteun in hulle groot skuif na ‘n aftree-oord in Jeffreysbaai, waar meer versorging en ‘n kleiner leefruimte beskikbaar geword het. Ons is baie dankbaar en die drie dae saam was kosbaar.
Oppad na Suid-Afrika het ek ‘n ekstra dag vertoef om ‘n span van Singapoer te ontmoet (foto bo) en meer oor ons werk te deel. Dis ‘n groep saam met wie ek verlede jaar in Kanazawa ondersteuningswerk gedoen het ná die aardbewing daar. Hulle gasvrye ontvangs en geesdrif om in Japan betrokke te wees, was besonders.
Die ander oorgang wat ons deurleef is Annlie, ons oudste dogter, se skuif na universiteit. Sy is slaggereed vir die nuwe, groot tree op haar lewenspad. Carina verdien alle krediet, saam met Annlie, vir meer as ‘n dekade van toewyding, opoffering en vasbyt! Genade op genade. Eerder as wat ek nou iets verder kwytraak, lees gerus hieronder wat Annlie self geskryf het oor haar ervarings tot hier en haar verwagtinge van wat voorlê.
Intussen maak ons as gesin ‘n ander oorgang … na rustyd. Ons jaarlikse verlof is om die draai en ons sien baie uit na ‘n kans om te herlaai, te reflekteer en met vars krag terug te keer na Kobe. Met die huidige hittegolf in Japan is dit dalk bietjie makilker gesê as gedaan, maar ons gaan dit beslis ‘n ‘go’ gee!
Bid saam met ons vir die Here se sorg en leiding in:
- Die uitdagings/geleenthede op die pad vorentoe vir ons ouers, en Annlie.
- KRTS studente wat landwyd besig is met afloswerk in gemeentes (Jul – Aug).
- Ons tyd van verlof, rus, gemeenskap met mede-sendelinge in Sendai area.
- Bedieninge van De Wets in Tokushima-Wes gemeente en wyer Shikoku ring. Hulle sluit later by ons aan vir hulle verlof.
- Onderskeiding en helderheid oor die aard van ons bediening, saam met Missie Japan se leierksap (bestuursvergadering einde Julie).
- Nuwe teologie studente wat die groot behoefte aan gemeenteleiers in die RCJ kan aanvul.
Seën en sterkte met die nuwe kwartaal wat pas aangebreek het in Suid-Afrika.
Met diep waardering vir elkeen wat bid, bydra, versorg en omgee.
Stéphan, Carina en gesin
Annlie remembers and looks ahead
I was homeschooled in Japan. This already makes me peculiar. I am also often the only foreigner and Christian in my environment. Contrary to what people might presume, these very factors, with the help of my family and community, are what really shaped me into who I am today.
When I was small, I was always acutely aware of how different I was from all the Japanese around me and how I stood out without having to do anything. I often didn’t understand what people were talking and laughing about and I never said anything without being absolutely sure that I wasn’t making a mistake in Japanese. But I have always liked challenging myself. Feeling a great desire to be able to understand and be understood, I often forced myself to go to camps or to interact with people. Because of all the activities, I grew in my ability to make friends with people of all ages, I lost a lot of my fear of performing in front of other people, and I realized that I don’t have to be afraid to make a mistake because everyone already accepted me as a member of God’s family. Much different than my younger, uncertain self, today I would proactively go out to start friendships and readily accept any ministry that I can do.
My family has always been an integral part of my life. I have three younger brothers, and like the barefoot children of Africa whose feet become almost bulletproof on the rough red roads, I became stronger by running around with them. Surprisingly, however, at the same time I also somehow developed a great love for beauty — I painted, made dresses, played the piano, and most especially loved to dance. Being the only other woman in the house and my teacher, my mother and I have a very intimate relationship, and she taught me how to think critically and to always examine every possible angle of a problem. My father, on the other hand, always knew what I was feeling without me saying anything, and he would often remind me to go outside or rest, testifying to the benefits of balance through his own life as well. In the end I have come to realize how powerful a loving, robust family can be. Although it is hard, I can definitely say that I have become more patient through my family, and it is true what Jesus says—if you are faithful with little, you will be given much.
A vital part of my community is our home church in Kobe. Our church is very small and there were times when it was only us at Sunday School. Often, I found the sermons to be beyond my comprehension, the liturgy too stiff and everything moving just too slowly for me. At the time I did not realize how big an impact our sizeable family of six made on the church, but everyone always seemed to love having us there. As I got older, however, I started to become friends with all the older ladies of the church, and I even opened a sewing and knitting club where the ladies would teach me how to make things while they talked about their daily struggles and sipped some tea. Through them I have discovered what a privilege it is to have such wise and supportive older friends, but also what a big difference I can make in their lives as well. I still regularly go to their homes to encourage and perhaps bring a little bit of sunshine into their otherwise lonely lives.
There are few things in life that mould people as much as real-life relationships. In this technologically advanced but lonely world today, I feel the indispensability of flesh and blood relationships all the more strongly. Most importantly, my environment has taught me how to have confidence. It is not from what I have achieved, but from an inward joy that believes that the joy of the Lord is my strength.
My goals for my tertiary studies at Tokyo Christian University (TCU) are to cultivate a thorough understanding of the Bible from a wide array of subjects so that I may be fully equipped to work in ministry, as well as to meet a lot of new people from various countries so that I might develop strong ties between Japan and the rest of the world. Building life-long relationships with people with whom I can serve the Lord and my neighbour is very important for me. The course I am planning to take at TCU is mainly a liberal arts course based on a biblical worldview. Not many people understand what a liberal arts course entails today, and many may view the phrase quite negatively. Ironically, however, a traditional liberal arts course may be getting increasingly more relevant to our technologically driven and AI-powered world today. People who can think critically and discern what is true and what is false are much needed. People who can serve other humans in a holistic way, from a whole range of viewpoints are essential.
I think it is an amazing privilege to study liberal arts with the wide range of topics and future opportunities it presents. Because of my many interests, delving deeper into a variety of subjects would really help me to develop a solid basis first so that I will be able to discern more clearly where I should specialize in the future.
One of my future aspirations is to work with kids, possibly helping orphans or children who have physical or mental problems or problematic issues in their homes. I would also like to be able to use the interests I have in art, music, crafts, dance, plants, and photography to engage children in activities that could help them therapeutically or provide them with a safe space where they know they can be themselves. I am very much interested in the possibility of becoming a teacher where I can freely educate children from a biblical perspective.