Written For Calvin College's Japanese Department about my life in Japan

The Van Farowe’s in Japan

I was one of the first Calvin grads to participate in the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program. Of all of the grads I am probably one of the few who have remained in Japan long term. Over the last 15+ years I have had 4 different types of visas. I have had a teaching visa, a Japanese language student visa, a missionary visa, and now a spouse visa.

During those 15 years I have lived in Hirado City (Nagasaki), Fukuoka City, Tokyo, Guam, and now the greater Nagoya Metro area. I have seen more of Japan than most Japanese people and this is what I have learned.

Knowing the language is not as important as knowing the people and knowing yourself. I have had many foreign friends whose Japanese is better than my own but who the Japanese people can not stand to be around them. I have seen foreigners running from who they are in Japan and it is obvious to everyone. The key to success in Japan is to not only know Japanese, and know the people, but most importantly to know oneself.

It is very easy in Japan to be an English Teacher and make $30,000 a year. It is very difficult to be anything else unless you know yourself. Today I work with the Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society out of California, formed by Japanese American churches after World War II. I work with several local churches including the Reformed Church of Japan. We have an English school with 120+ students. We have local contracts with Japanese companies, a Nursing College, an elite Junior High & High School, an elementary school, and many local community classes.

The secret to making it to where we are has been knowing who we are. This has allowed Japanese people regardless of their belief system to trust us. I am thankful for the start I received at Calvin College. In the end it was not the Japanese language courses that helped me the most in Japan but a Reformed Christian worldview which helped me to become someone others saw as trustworthy.