Slow is Fast

Take 8 recent college graduates who are praying for a way to share Christ with students in Japan but aren't given official permission to live there and add 1 teammate soon to finish a semester of ministry in Tokyo. We were prepared for a stunningly efficient public transportation system, astronomical prices for rent and food, a bewildering linguistic environment (most of us), Biblically disinterested students who keep to themselves and some of the densest urban living possible on the planet.

Given our expectations and prayerful preparations, where would you have considered reassigning us?

Through Cru staff, who were incredibly helpful in the transition process, we believe God's will for the remaining six months is that we live and work here on the big island of Hawaii. True, it's a great contrast with where we were headed before: a mere 43,000 laid-back inhabitants who often embrace others when meeting them; full domestic cell phone and postal services; car-dominated roads with few reliable buses; and an abundance of the Lord's glorious creation from beaches to rain forests. But there are also great opportunities ahead.

Yes, Hawaii is part of America since it was annexed in 1898. Yet the culture here, particularly on this island, is strongly tied to the traditions of the native Hawaiians as well as Japanese immigrants. This doesn't just mean that living in this non-touristy small town will involve culture shock, but also that students who here surrender their lives to Jesus may head to serve in Asian countries rather than the mainland given their cultural affinity to the former. In a strange way, then, coming here may be a bigger step in reaching Japan (if, as we think, it's the Lord's will) than if we had been able to go directly ourselves. We are at least praying that this will prove true.

The realization of this dream, though, will have to wait until students return to UH Hilo the second week of January. For now, we are mostly accustomed to the time difference, PST + 2 hours, and attempting to get used to the incessant bouts of rain--anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours in duration. (Just to put things in perspective from the averages: 90% of days in a year are at least partially cloudy here, with 278 days on which a total of 126.3 inches of rain fall.) Since students have yet to return, we are locking down the logistics that the transition left undetermined: where will we live? And how will we get to campus?

The staff couple here has been super helpful, even letting us housesit during this period of transition as long as we feed their animals. That said, the days tend to flow like molasses: little to do which, given the island mentality of those managing apartments etc., takes lots of time--so different than the hurry-hurry lifestyle I've adopted in the Bay Area. I have to remind myself that part of this process of waiting (still) is being used by the Lord to grow us in patience and ground us in His love & a shared team mentality (best born out of frustrating and trying times!) so we can be maximally effective together come January.

The title of this post is a maxim one of the staff, a Hilo native, quoted to us in our re-briefing. Things do indeed run at a different pace here, but to best minister to the locals we must adapt and speak into this context. After all, didn't our Savior do the same in His earthly sojourn?