Yukako, on left, in conversation with one of the Korean students Joon Bae Hong photo

Yukako, a Japanese student at a U.S. seminary, didn’t want to help with the English Mission Training (EMT) Camp in Korea. “You know,” she reminded us, “how the Japanese people mistreated the Koreans. It was awful. They would hate me!”

But God overruled, and Yukako joined the teaching team. One evening, while giving her testimony, she paused, took a deep breath, and then apologized for how her people had mistreated the Koreans. Silence hung in the room. My husband Geoff began his message, continuing a series in the book of Jonah. He explained that the cruelty of the Ninevites gave Jonah a good reason to not want to be a missionary to them.

After the message, a Korean seminary student at the EMT camp, stood up and in his newly acquired English prayed, “God, I go to Nineveh. I obey. I go to Japan!” Before the end of camp, two other Korean men expressed the same willingness. At the same time, we received word from the SIM International Director that Japan had officially opened as an SIM field.

Yukako’s humble obedience became a platform from which God called Korean missionaries to go to their “Nineveh,” Japan!