My Story

In the summer of 2006, I was sitting in an eight and nine-year-old Sunday school class listening to a lesson about Jesus being both God and man. It was heavy material for a young class but I understood that God became a man, He died on the cross and rose from the dead to save me from my sins. I prayed silently in the back of the classroom by myself, thanking Jesus for dying for me and asking Him to forgive me for sinning so that He could come into my heart. I was instantly filled with the Holy Spirit and by the end of the week I had gone to all of my neighborhood friends and talked with them about who Jesus was until they were convinced they wanted him to come into their hearts as well and then I helped them ask God to come into their hearts too. 

I do not think that the act of prayer saved me or was motivated to turn to Christ out of fear of burning in hell. I believed then and now that it was the Holy Spirit's work of conviction and a genuine response of repentance that led me to receive a salvific faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross and resurrection. The legitimacy of my rebirth was evident through my immediate obedience to the great commission, the sacrament of baptism, and the practice of spiritual giftings.  

God’s calling on my life to go to the mission field. 

On July 17th, 2011 I watched as the women's World Cup was being decided in a shootout between the United States (the defending champions) and Japan. It was the closest thing I had ever seen to a David and Goliath story in real life. It was staged just 9 months after a 9.1 earthquake, followed by a tsunami, had struck Japan. The disaster took 20,000 lives and displaced half a million Japanese people. I had been living in Okinawa, Japan when it happened and witnessed the shock, fear, and grief of the people in the moment and in the following months.

At the same time Japan’s soccer team was traveling to the US to play on a world stage, I had moved with my family from Okinawa to North Carolina. I was sitting on the floor of a new home that was still littered with boxes and suitcases, my eyes glued to a TV. Japan’s efforts seemed futile. Their struggle was an impossible challenge. I watched for 120 minutes as they took two strides to match every one of the Americans. 

No matter how helpless their situation became, these small, polite, selfless people refused to quit. They never stopped leaning on each other, continually choosing to have hope in one another against all odds. I was moved so much by their effort that I eventually found myself cheering on what seemed like the entire nation of Japan. Seeing the Japanese women's incredible fighting spirit was a perfect reflection of the strength, courage, and determination I had witnessed while I was in Japan.

After the Nadeshiko (撫子) scored their final penalty to secure the victory there was no doubt in my mind that I had just witnessed a miracle unfold before my eyes. These women who worked full-time jobs and played soccer on the side had just conquered the world while carrying the weight of their people’s plight on their backs. I was inspired by the way they handled the greatest struggle of their time, both on the flood grounds and the sports field.

A few months passed before I was convicted to ask myself if I was striving as intensely in my commitment to Christ, the church, and the great commission as those women had in their pursuit of becoming a source of hope to their nation. I knew I hadn’t been as decided to live all in for Jesus, to “ichimon-nashi ni iku!” or “Go For Broke!” as they say in Japan. I was a “good kid” but all my desires and life plans were my own. 

I decided to give the Lord a chance to weigh in on what He wanted me to do with my life as I surrendered my life’s future to Him for the first time. told God I would do anything, even become a missionary in the slums of Tripoli if He asked me to. After voicing it, I thought mission work sounded like a good fit for me, so I earnestly told God I would go to the nations and asked Him where He would send me.

How have I prayerfully and spiritually discerned this call and affirmed it within yourself and through the Holy Spirit? 

I had always wanted to be in the Marine Corps, like my father and grandfather before me, but I shelved my will and plans to become more sensitive to the Spirit's leading. If I was willing to do missionary work, then it would make the most sense to me that God would call me to a rough, hard-to-access, and/or dangerous corner of the world. I prayed and asked God if He wanted to send me to any place on my list of top recommendations: Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Peru, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Russia…

I ran out of recommendations without hearing anything back and started listing off random places to fill the awkward silence. The real idea behind why I was showing off my extensive geography knowledge wasn't to do so until I felt a warm, fuzzy feeling about a place. I was laying down my life in every nation to prove my unconditional commitment to be obedient to any and every call of God–no matter what. 

I was going along without a hiccup until Japan came to mind. I didn't want Japan to be on the table and quickly dismissed it. The language was impossible, the culture was impenetrable, the people were so strong, it was a first-world nation, and I didn't like Anime or Pokemon. If there was one place I didn't want to go it was the place where I knew every weakness of mine would be exposed.

To my shock and horror, the Holy Spirit filled my whole person with a “warm fuzzy feeling” like the one I’d had when I’d gotten saved. I was convicted and agreed with God that even if He told me to go to Japan, I would go. I said amen knowing my prayers were well at work but wanting more than ever for them not to be. For three days I felt sick with anxiety. All I wanted to do was forget about Japan but, instead, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

The following Sunday, a missionary from Japan unexpectedly walked up to the podium. I sat sweating in my seat for his entire thirty-minute presentation. Toward the end, I began to feel relieved and thought this may have just been a coincidence. As I finally let my guard down the Holy Spirit blindsided me through his closing remarks: 

"Thank you for your prayers and support, but what Japan needs more than anything is for God to send more missionaries." 

I was filled with the Spirit and undeniably changed to go to this unreached nation to share the good news of Jesus Christ. In response, I never talked about this encounter and spent the rest of my sophomore and Junior years of high school running away from having a relationship with the Lord. 

When it came time to apply to colleges I tested God (not something I recommend doing). If God was real and this calling was real then I didn’t have a choice as to whether or not to obey Him. I only applied to one school and it was one I knew I couldn't get into if I was honest with all of the application’s questions. I told God that if he wanted me to go to Japan then He'd have to also equip me with this prestigious school’s training. 

I was accepted by Moody Bible Institute’s online program, on-campus program, and Master's program. Every acceptance letter the school had available to send in the mail was sent to me even though I had only applied to the on-campus undergrad program.