Potpourri

I was lying on the bed reading my Bible the other day, and I slowly started to notice that something smelled really good. It wasn’t overpowering, but it was noticeable. I ignored it for awhile, and then I got a bit curious as to what it was. It didn’t take me long to figure out that it was a little wall-hanging that my parents had sent us for Christmas, filled with potpourri.
A verse came to mind: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ…” It was a subtle and powerful reminder of what our task is. This has been something that we have both really struggled with and questioned during our time here. In a job where discussing religion is considered one of the taboo subjects, and in a country where our communication ability is anything but passable in even the most everyday of conversations, how can we share the News that we have? I’m sure this is a question that many Christians struggle with; we are not unique. And yet, when words are not available, this task seems, if not greater and more challenging, at least more puzzling. How can the forty minutes we have in lessons reveal to our students that we have the Good News? How can the ten minutes between lessons show our coworkers that we are different? How can our time in Japan be not only a time to teach, but also to minister…without words? How can we be the sweet-smelling perfume that we are called to be?