Several times this past trip, I found myself overwhelmed by recognition and appreciation, and tears just came. I don't know how else to say it. And now that I think about it, all four times had to do with those who are walking with God in their golden years.
The first time was when I fellowshipped with the "retirees" of Missionary Acres (I know missionaries don't really retire altho' they leave the field; their prayer life remains in "active service" the rest of their lives; pulling down the Power of Heaven).
The second time was when I met the senior Sunday School Class at my home church...some in the group prayed for my mother, still single when they started church. I would not even be here without God's answers to some of their prayers!
The third time I felt tears come to my eyes was when I met a retired missionary from Nigeria whom the Lord allowed a crushed vertebrae to heal sufficiently so we could meet and talk--and within minutes, it seemed she had sensed some things needing prayer that had not even been mentioned.
The 4th time, I was in bed, and just thinking about it made my eyes moisten. In 2016, God told me to go to a church in Tokyo for an English prayer meeting, and when it was about over, I heard Katie Sisco mention a relative's funeral in Vancouver, Canada; so I asked if she might by any chance know my father, Roy Oshiro, who was from Vancouver also.
No, she was sorry; she did not, but would I know Dorothy Ridgeway, who knew many Japanese Canadians. I about fell out of my chair; Dorothy Ridgeway was the founder of the mission board under which my Dad came out to Okinawa in 1955. I'd heard her name many times. "Dorothy Ridgeway was my aunt," she said! And God, knowing this, had whispered to me in Saitama, 2 hours away, to go meet her.
The Ron Siscos retired from missionary service to Japan and were back in Canada when they heard missionaries needed help in the English department, so they rushed back--I met Katie then. That was 8 years ago. Could it be I was in her home now, and tomorrow, she and her husband would be seeing me and my sister off at the coast? About 70 years ago, her aunt saw my Dad off at the coast to go to Okinawa. This time, we wouldn't be going straight there, but to Kauai and Tokyo first.
God's faithfulness hasn't changed since 70 years ago though, has it? Ron's eyes often "leaks" in his messages when he speaks of his Lord Jesus. "It doesn't stop with us reaching up for God, but HE REACHES DOWN TO US--can you believe it?!" Ron affixed a 6-pointed star at the top front of the garage to be able to mention God's love. It was with wet eyes and thoughts of a shining star I drifted off to sleep.
