In the summer of 2024, I participated in ETEAM, traveling to Tokyo to help several churches in their efforts to spread the gospel. While there, I encountered God in countless ways, but certain lessons were woven throughout every service, conversation, and destination. ETEAM allowed me to see the Great Commission realized, understand the importance of missions, and appreciate the sacrifice of becoming a missionary.
One opportunity ETEAM provides is seeing the Great Commission realized. As a devoted Christian, I’m familiar with Jesus’ commands in Matthew 28:18-20. I tried to witness in my hometown, but I come from a rural community where most people already identify as Christian. Therefore, the necessity to evangelize had become less urgent. I caught the “plague” of comfortable Christianity.
According to Mustard Seed Network, in Japan, less than 0.5% of people identify as Christian. We shared our testimonies with adults and children who had never seen the love of their heavenly Father. We also taught English and learned to worship in Japanese. On crowded streets in Tokorozawa, we passed out church flyers and performed a short skit on the sidewalk, praying to reach even one passerby. Ministry came to life. I realized sharing the gospel was never meant to feel comfortable, and I brought home new skills as a Christ-follower.
Moreover, ETEAM helped me understand the importance of missions. In Japan, I encountered a culture with beautiful architecture, delicious food, and kind people. However, I also encountered a culture without Jesus, driven by shame and entangled with empty religion. One day, we visited a popular Buddhist temple with an immense prayer wall at its center. Papers crowded its surface — pleas for good health, happy marriages, and successful careers. I watched people pray in isolated corners, pouring out their hearts to man-made gods who could not hear, care, or make the sacrifices required for true love.
Before we left, our group stood in a circle outside the temple, preparing to pray over things we had witnessed. As we shared our thoughts on the experience, a missionary’s child whispered to his father: “What happens to the people who never hear about Jesus?” This innocent question weighed on my mind for the remainder of our trip. I tried to digest the truth, but it only settled in the pit of my stomach. I know God is just and kind, but I also know the Son is the only way to the Father. ETEAM enabled me to realize this tension is what makes missions so important.
Finally, ETEAM helped me recognize the sacrifice of becoming a missionary. Before, I had few interactions with full-time missionaries or their families. I listened to missionaries visiting my church and saw them walk across the stage at national conventions. I understood what they did, but I could not understand the reality of their sacrifice.
ETEAM allowed me to perceive missionaries in a new light. I met families in Japan whose submission to God required them to give up lifetimes built in the U.S. They left their homes and spent years learning a new language and culture to bring others to God. I met a missionary woman prepared to give up marriage for missions. I met children spending their childhoods as foreigners in a new country, giving up normalcy to accompany their parents as they followed the Holy Spirit.
Most importantly, I saw countless lives changed because of these faithful Christ-followers. I watched Japanese church members resting in Christ’s embrace, knowing they may never have accessed this faith if not for the obedient sacrifices of missionaries.
Whether students realize through these experiences they are called to become missionaries or called to support them, ETEAM presents students with examples of Christ-like love, enabling them to hear God’s voice, feel His Spirit, and obey His direction.
Regardless of the moments I shared with my teammates, the lessons I learned from missionaries, and the revelations God offered me throughout my ETEAM experience, it seems impossible to explain its true significance. Perhaps this is why Jesus emphasized missions with a call to action: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19-20).
About the Writer: Josephina Wieczorek-Bettendorf is studying English and Political Science at University of North Dakota. She and her husband Jonah were married in March 2025. Learn more about student missions at IMInc.org/go.
