Hello everyone—
It is with some regret and disappointment that I must write this particular post. For those who have been wondering why I haven’t posted here in quite sometime, you’re about to get an answer.
Unfortunately, I am writing at this moment from the quiet town of Waynesboro, VA—My time in Kobe, Japan has come to a close about five months early. The past few of weeks have been stressful for me, as you can probably imagine, and so there have been a lack of updates for this reason.
A couple days after my last blog post, I was informed by TEAM that I would be leaving the country within the week. As you may know, the the Trims would soon be leaving for America themselves and I was going to be left to hold down the fort. TEAM told me that though this was the original plan, they were unable to find supervision for me while the Trims would be gone. Many Japanese, upon hearing the news, offered me their own help and supervision, but TEAM insisted that any supervision I received would have to be through a registered TEAM missionary. My home church also intervened, attempting to work a solution out with TEAM, but, in the end, TEAM seemed rather unwilling to seek an answer, and supplied me with my plane ticket.
It’s easy to be bitter in times like these—And I’d be lying to you all if I said I’ve experienced no such feelings during this time. But more than anything else, I’ve learned during this time what it truly means to trust God when you see no sense or purpose in a situation. I was forced to end this ministry early, to end the Bible studies, and end other face-to-face relationships I had established. Where could the glory to God possibly be in that sort of sad ending?
I don’t need to know. As long as He knows—It is enough.
I want to thank you for all your prayers and support during my ministry in Japan—Especially those of you who followed this blog regularly and kept a constant gaze on what God was (and still is) doing in Kobe. I hope you’ll continue to pray for me as God paves my future, and I hope you’ll also continue to pray for the Japanese that I made relationships with, as you have been.
If anyone is unsatisfied with the explanation given here, please feel free to e-mail me at ethan.mcgonigal@gmail.com, and I’ll be happy to answer any and all questions in a prompt manner. Thank you all for reading.
終わりです。見ましたか？ その偽光。
—Ethan
