In 1989 my parents received a call to Mito City, Japan. I was born three years later in a small hospital down the street from our house.

My parents lived in Japan for ten years. I went to a Japanese kindergarten in the morning and an English Lutheran kindergarten in the afternoon. Hundreds of kids attended the Japanese kindergarten, but the Christian one-room school only had eight kids. In Japan I was always surrounded by kids and teachers talking about Buddha and other gods.

The Japanese school held religious festivals and ceremonies in the back courtyard where the kids played. I watched plays and rituals of teachers dressed as gods chasing demons. I thought it was strange that I was cleansed with "holy" smoke and taught many things about Buddha. I would always go home and tell my parents about the bizarre things that happened at school.

Being an American in a different country has many benefits in the missionary field. When my dad would take my family to the supermarket, crowds of people swarmed us. My brothers and I had blonde hair and big eyes. We looked different from all the other young Japanese children, so they wanted to touch and pet us. This was the perfect opportunity to tell these lost souls the good news of our Savior. Many questions were asked and answered about Christ. Going to the supermarket was not just to buy a ten-pound bag of rice anymore. My parents called my brothers and me "good evangelist tools."

God's hand was with my family in Japan. There were many times I remember being ridiculed for not participating with my friends in little practices that were sinful. I would come home crying because I was made fun of at my Japanese kindergarten. My two brothers went through the same thing, but they were old enough to attend the Lutheran school full time. I attended the Lutheran school only half a day.

Because of the hardships and persecution my family went through, at times it seemed like God was not with us. But at the end of the day, we would gather together and say prayers of thankfulness. God called my dad to be a pastor in a foreign country for a reason. Through my dad's work, the Holy Spirit converted many Japanese people to believe in the true God. My dad was kind and caring to all the people he talked to even if they refused to listen to him. He traveled up to the highest mountains and biked through the worst weather just to spread God's Word. My dad inspired me to share the good news with my Japanese friends. My brothers and I invited our friends to vacation Bible school and Christmas services we were in. Some of them came back the next Sunday, while others went home and told their parents. God used my family as six little "evangelist tools."