My Path to Becoming a Missionary
How I Became a Missionary
Joyce Kitano
Jeremiah 1:4-9
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.
Surrendering to God in His Guidance
It has been a privilege to be a missionary in Japan for about 35 years now and my testimony of how I became a missionary started from before I was born.
My mother, a second-generation Japanese American born in Hawaii, came to Japan as a young, single missionary and she met my father who was a university student at the time. He became a Christian, was baptized in the Holy Spirit, answered God’s call to full-time ministry, and he quit university to go to Bible School in Komagome. After he pastored for several years, they finally got married, nine years after first meeting.
After marrying, they moved to Kyushu and were pastoring and there my mom became pregnant. But there were some complications with the pregnancy and when I was born the doctor had to do an emergency Cesarean Section. The doctor called my father into the operating room and told my him that they had discovered a large tumor in my mother’s womb and he said both my mother and I might die, but he would do his best to at least save my mother’s life. So my father and others were praying fervently and God graciously spared both of our lives. Life is truly a gift from God.
A year after I was born, my parents and I moved to my mother’s home in Hawaii so my father could continue his higher education. He became a US citizen and a US AG minister there. I was raised there in Hawaii where there is a wonderful mix of cultures, and all my friends were like me . . . Americans who grew up speaking only English, but with Asian ancestry.
But when I was nine years old, my parents left Hawaii to become missionaries from America to the Philippines, to teach at the AG seminary (now APTS). There I was thrown into an American school, where I was the only Asian in a whole class of white kids. I experienced a lot of prejudice and I hated being Japanese-American. I would come home from school crying and I would tell my Dad, “Why didn’t you give me blond hair and blue eyes!” And my Dad would tell me, “But God made you special!” But I would be upset and say, “But I don’t want to be special! I want to be like everyone else in my class!”
Because of the wounds in my heart, I would tell my classmates that I hated Japan and that I am American just like them. And I refused to learn to speak Japanese growing up. So now I am paying for my stubbornness and am struggling all these years to speak Japanese. No matter how many years I have lived in Japan, I will forever have an accent, and learning Japanese has been one of the hardest things for me as a missionary. I am kicking myself now because I could have been totally fluent and bilingual if I had learned Japanese as a child.
I hated the way I looked and did not like looking in a mirror at myself. I was jealous of my classmates’ big eyes and long legs. I felt inferior and I would compare myself to my classmates and felt that I wasn’t as good, beautiful or talented as they were. I felt that God could not use someone like me.
As I got into High School, sometimes I struggled and would go through times of doubting my faith. But as I entered university back in America, I gave my life completely to God and I realized that I needed a Savior for my sins, and my faith became my own and not just my parents’ faith.
I decided that I wanted to be a doctor and so I was a Biology major. I loved studying about the human body and the more I studied the more I was amazed at how complex our bodies are and how minute details are put together so our bodies function perfectly. And I realized that our bodies are created by a Creator and not here by chance.
I struggled all through university because I felt God calling me to full-time ministry but I argued with Him, saying that I wanted my own career. I wanted to become a doctor for my security and to be someone. But finally in the last semester, I was weeping in my dorm room, and I told God that I would say yes 100% to Him. And I would give Him my small dreams to get His big dream for my life.
I had been afraid to say yes to God because I felt that my life would become hard, poor, and lonely and I wasn’t strong enough to handle that. But God patiently worked on my heart so finally I said yes to Him. And in that moment, the heavy burdens fell off my shoulders and I felt so free. And I was surprised, because Jesus was there helping to carry my cross and it was not a burden, but it was joy and freedom to follow Him. And I have not regretted following Jesus all these years. Of course, there have been good times as well as hard times including a battle with two cancers, but Jesus has been walking with me day by day, and it has been the most abundant life following Him.
Jeremiah 1:4-9
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.
Walking in God’s Guidance in Ministry
When I first came to Japan as a short-term missionary I was mainly focusing on English Classes for evangelism and also I was the English secretary to General Superintendent Akiei Ito. But within a few years I began to focus on campus ministry, because we found that one of the most open segments of Japanese society to the gospel is the university student age bracket. Also, in looking back throughout history around the world, whenever there has been a major revival and awakening, it has often started with university aged students. This is true for the early Welsh Revivals, England, America, Korea, China, Indonesia, South Africa, Rwanda, and even the early Pentecostal movement. Thus, we feel that reaching students is one of the keys for revival in Japan also.
So most of my 35 years ministering in Japan have mainly focused on Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, the world-wide Assemblies of God university student ministry. In the Japan AG it is under the National Youth Department.
Bible studies have been started on different university campuses across Japan, and also we have outreach parties, concerts and discipleship at our Chi Alpha Student Center in Nakano-ku in Tokyo. We are thankful that we have seen some students come to know Jesus, get baptized in water and the Holy Spirit, and some have gone on to Bible School and become pastors.
Our desire is to share vision for reaching university students (including junior college and trade school students) and encourage churches to reach out to nearby universities, and so we have done University Evangelism Training Seminars on a national level, and also for some Districts and local churches. And we are thankful that there are some churches across Japan which are involved with reaching university students in their communities.
Over these 35 years it has also been a privilege to serve as an Assistant Pastor at International Christian Assembly (ICA) in Tokyo (an AG missionary church) and then as a missionary at Central Bible Church, and also teach at Central Bible College (Oral English, Missions and Cross-Cultural Communications), and serve on the JAG National Youth Department, World Missions Department, etc. I’m so thankful that the Lord has brought healing to the childhood wounds in my heart and allowed me the privilege to serve in Japan. I love this nation and the people here and I believe God is bringing revival.
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