“aaaaAAAAAAHHH!” I heard an increasingly loud half-yell, half-scream from behind as I rode my bike on my way to an evening community language class. Halting, I turned around and saw a high school student pointing at me. “You! . . . YOU! . . . YESTERDAY!” she shouted in English. I stared for a moment, unsure of what I had done. Then I remembered the events of the prior day.

Caitlyn’s family was in town visiting us. We had been enjoying showing them the various sights and sounds of our little corner of Japan. There is a library and café located on the bottom floor of our local train station, and we stopped there for a quick snack before a long walk home. I watched a group of high school students study at a nearby table. I wish I knew how to start a conversation with them, I thought.
Then one threw a pencil through the air, and another student stylishly caught it. Ahah! My chance!

“すごい！” (Sue-goy-ee) “Amazing!” I exclaimed as the students turned and stared at the foreigner who dared to try to speak a word of Japanese.

“いいえ” (Ee-ei) “No,” the students replied, humbly denying any show of skill. I began to pepper them with lighthearted questions. After a few minutes, I decided that I had disturbed their studies enough.

“頑張って!” (Gan-baht-tay) “Do your best!” I said, wishing them well.

“頑張ります” (Gan-bar-ee-mahs) “We will do our best,” they replied.

Caitlyn and I want to connect more with people in the area, and striking up random conversations and making yourself known as someone who lives there are great ways to get past the hurdle of being seen as a tourist rather than a resident. We especially want to connect with young people.

I did not think much more about the café encounter until I saw the excited high school student the following day. She clearly remembered who I was. I chatted with her and her friend for a minute. They were headed to the café to study. I wished them well and headed to my class.

Perhaps I can meet these students again by doing some work at the café and “just happen” to run into them while they are studying. I thought this was a great plan and proceeded to work at the station weekly, waiting and watching for the pencil thrower and friends.

Unfortunately, I have never seen them again.

God sometimes places people in our path many times, and sometimes we only see people once in a lifetime. Regardless, we can always pray for the people we see and meet, knowing that the God of heaven knows their needs and cares for them personally. Please pray that we will make friends, meet people of peace, and be able to point people to Jesus in some way, whether we see them one time or many.

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