What I’ve Learned In My First Few Months as a Missionary

Six months ago, I moved from North Carolina to serve as a church-planting missionary among the second-largest unreached people group in the world: the Japanese. 

My first few months in Japan have been both joyful and challenging in ways I wouldn’t have expected if not for the training I received leading up to the move.  Thanks to wisdom from mentors and other experienced missionaries, I was able to better shape my expectations and felt equipped to navigate the initial challenges of moving overseas for mission work. 

At just six months in, I still have a couple of phases of culture shock ahead of me. But if I could rewind the clock six months to better prepare myself for my first few months of life overseas, here are some of the things I would share.

PREPARE TO BE CHILD-LIKE

Living cross-culturally has been immensely humbling. I was told in one of my pre-field trainings to expect to operate at about 30% of my normal capacity: things that were effortless and natural for me in America, like going to the grocery store or paying my utility bills, would be overwhelming and time-consuming at first. This proved to be true, as I found myself constantly calling on my teammates (and ChatGPT) for help with daily life. 

As an independent and generally self-sufficient person, my first months as a missionary humbled me and forced me to rely more deeply on both my teammates and Christ himself. With the vocabulary of a toddler, I feel that I tangibly understand childlikeness in a way that I didn’t before moving overseas. 

The shift out of cultural competency and into childlike neediness has tugged my heart in two opposite directions—one towards frustration, which can lead to disillusionment, and the other towards humility, which leads to a fuller childlike reliance upon my Savior in this unfamiliar land. Choosing the latter has been essential in these first few months.

FAITHFULNESS LOOKS DIFFERENT

In many American ministry settings, there is a tendency to equate faithfulness and fruitfulness with a certain set of metrics: things like church growth, baptisms, or event attendance. Many missionaries enter the field with wide-eyed zeal and hopes of explosive evangelism and church expansion. While these aspirations can be godly, and sometimes come to fruition, the reality is that for much of a missionary’s first term, faithfulness looks different.

In Japan, language acquisition and cultural fluency are absolutely critical for reaching the Japanese. When serving in a country with countless unspoken rules and a particularly difficult language, “becoming all things to all people” takes time and discipline (1 Cor 9:22). 

I’ve been advised by dozens of experienced missionaries from various backgrounds to dedicate my first few years primarily to language acquisition and cultural competency. When I first heard this advice, I thought it sounded like a bit of a stretch. After all, I felt called to evangelize, disciple, and build up the local church! But now I realize that faithfulness in my first term means putting in the work—digging the well of language fluency and cultural attunement—so that I can best share Christ, make disciples, and serve the local church body over the long haul. 

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I haven’t been active in day-to-day ministry. It simply means that faithfulness looks primarily like devotion to crossing the long, cultural-linguistic bridge that more fully connects me to my Japanese brothers and sisters in Christ. As I’ve embarked on my journey across that bridge, the Lord has faithfully provided ministry opportunity after ministry opportunity.

BE A SPONGE

“Outside of the spiritual disciplines, the number one thing that makes or breaks a missionary is if he or she is hungry to learn.” I distinctly remember those words of wisdom from a veteran missionary, and I’ve made it my aim to be a sponge during my first few months overseas for that very reason.

There is so much to learn as a new missionary. Beyond language and general culture, there are team dynamics, church cultures, religious contexts, denominational layers, and so much more. My first term has felt like a constant inflow of new information—intentionally so. 

When I first arrived in Japan, I made it my aim to meet up with as many people as I could, both believers and unbelievers. This practice was not only helpful in building connections and friendships, but it also gave me a wider view of all that the Lord is doing in Japan. In these meetings, I aimed to be intentional in asking questions that would better inform my ministry and expand my cultural understanding. 

Ultimately, the concept of “being a sponge” extends to all areas of life as a first-term missionary. From observing social interactions to appreciating cultural differences that the American mind simply can’t grasp, everything is a learning experience.

JUST SERVE

In one of my early meetings with a young Japanese pastor, I asked him what makes a good missionary from his perspective as a national. He responded, “A willingness to step in and serve.”

While that might seem obvious, it can’t be forgotten. Just as Jesus entered our world “not to be served, but to serve,” the missionary is called to maintain a posture of servanthood. One can be fluent in the language, competent in the culture, and even an expert in the Bible, but if he or she lacks a readiness to serve in whatever way the Lord might ask, the ministry is compromised.

I’ve learned across my limited time in Japan that serving often means stepping outside of my comfort zone or even my giftings. As any missionary would tell you, the mission field requires a lot of flexibility. This principle applies in our servanthood as well. Particularly for first-term missionaries who are often limited by language, it’s important to learn to love jumping at any opportunity to serve the team, the church, and the community.

While my journey as a global worker has just begun, I pray that I and the next generation of missionaries would learn to embrace the advice of that Japanese pastor in all that we do. Let us serve humbly and wholeheartedly so that Christ would be exalted among all nations!