SAYURI

Sayuri is the name of my waitress at lunch today. Though I've eaten at this restaurant close to our house many times, this was my first time to meet Sayuri. Lately, I've been engrossed reading, "What's so Amazing about Grace," and I intended to pour over a few more chapters while downing some fried pork cutlets. But, the girl behind the counter looked bored and the Spirit was prompting me to start some conversation. "What's the name of the cook?" I asked. "I always forget."

"His name is Fushimi."

"What's your name?"

"My name is Sayuri."

"I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you. Should I call you Sayuri, or should I call you by your family name? In Japan, you usually use the family name, right?"

"Yes, but you can call me by my first name. Where are you from?"

Pretty soon, Sayuri asked me what I do for a living. Like most times, when I say, "missionary," people ask questions about Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, etc. But God's message of love and grace is so mindboggling good that I wanted to skip over all that stuff and just cut to the chase. "Sayuri, we're all the same - Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, Buddhist, Atheist - we're all sinners and failures in need of grace and love. I have the best job in the world because I get to tell people that there is love and forgiveness and healing and freedom AS A GIFT from God through Jesus Christ! I have experienced God's FREE gift of life - what is better than sharing that?!" And pretty much the rest of the time was spent sharing the gospel with Sayuri. What was it that I saw in her eyes? Philip Yancey loves to say that "the world thirsts for grace." Was it hope in those eyes? Longing?

In the course of our conversation I came to find out that Sayuri began working here in January. Standing at only about 5'5" behind the counter, she does a good job of being unnoticed and only coming out when necessary to serve the guests. She's studying accounting and trying to make some money. She's never been overseas. She likes the taste of nattoh (fermented soy beans) but not the smell. Sayuri always looked me right in the eyes when I spoke of God's lavish generosity.


As I paid the bill, I invited Sayuri to church. I think that I used the word "tanoshii," which means "fun" or "enjoyable," so much in regards to sharing the gospel, that Sayuri's response was, "Yeah, I'd like to come and hangout (or literally, "play") sometime!" She caught herself when she remembered that she was talking about church.

"Don't worry, Sayuri. Please, come and hangout!" I said, and walked out the door with the receipt in my hand and a prayer on my lips. Mike Rush often told us that our job is to simply sow the seed. Oh God, please protect this seed.