Author: Nathaniel Reutter

In the last couple of months, several words have taken on a new meaning. Corona used to mean a certain type of Mexican beer. Now it means a terrible virus that has shut down the world. Social distance used to refer to the space that an unfriendly or awkward person created between themselves and others. Now it means physically spacing yourself from others. And another word that has changed meaning is quarantine.

Quarantine by definition is a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that may have been exposed to infectious disease are placed. However, just like the words above, definitions have morphed and changed. It is still a period of isolation, but it now applies to those who are suspicious of being exposed to a disease. It is not just a reactive state of quarantine, but a preventative state of quarantine. (People now quarantine themselves to prevent exposure.)

And if you’re returning to Japan in 2021, then prepare yourself: you will be quarantined. But it doesn’t have to be a bad time — in fact, it can be a positive experience if you look at it that way. And that’s just how we approached it. 

Before 2020, it was relatively easy for any American to visit Japan. You just had to show up at the border with a valid passport and receive your tourist visa. Now, times have changed and if you’re not a returning resident, it’s nearly impossible to get into the country. We’ve wished it were a bit easier, because we would love having our parents visit us here and other loved ones, but at the moment that is not possible. What is possible is for us to visit them (which is why we went to America over Summer vacation).

But now that it’s time to come back, we’ve studied up on the entry process and prepared as much as possible. We want it to go smoothly and quickly, but is our preparation enough for the what we will face?

Our trips to America are always about one main thing: people. Whether it’s overdue time with family or visiting friends and churches, whatever we do revolves around other people. It’s the connecting thread through it all.

So it’s no surprise that our last 2 weeks in the States was filled with people — family and friends, trips and experiences. All of these things help keep our connections strong with our loved ones in America. The worst part of these trips isn’t leaving America, because we really love living in Japan. It’s saying goodbye to the ones we love! But it’s fun to have this video memory of a very special summer in America, and we’re already looking forward to the next time we will be together, wherever in the world it may happen!

One of my favorite parts of the YouTube community is the interaction you get with people. I love building bridges between people, and even though we’re enjoying vacation in America, it’s been especially fun to bring our Japanese viewers along for the ride, so to speak. Many have never had the opportunity to travel abroad like this, so they can via our online family.

With all of our videos, people become more and more curious about the missionary life. Being a missionary is about the broadest vocations that I can think of. Missionary can mean a social worker or disaster response, it can be a doctor or nurse serving in a missionary hospital, it can be an accountant or administrator making things work behind the scenes (think my dad or my good friend John) or an orphanage. It can mean running a coffee shop or it can be a church-planter who lives abroad and helps get things started (think us). It can mean a traveling speaker or evangelist, or a local pastor — and the list goes on and on!

But perhaps the greatest thing all missionaries have in common is that they live internationally, inbetween two (or more) cultures, building bridges and traveling frequently over them. As missionaries, we give up a normal life in our home country to move to another place and figure it all out there. Our main priority (after God) is people! Serving them and helping them in whatever capacity God has made us to serve. In order to do that, we have the support of many people all over the world.

Since one of a missionaries’ main priority is people, it means that traveling to see those people also becomes a priority — whether it’s in our home country to see family, friends or supporters (like this trip we’re on now) or when we’re living abroad, traveling, getting to know people and places, adapting to a new culture and serving. All of these elements go into being a missionary. A good missionary can feel just as at home in one culture as another.

Often, we give up things like new cars, big homes and other nice luxuries in order to have money for trips, hotels and ministry. Our priorities help us channel our resources of time, energy and finances accordingly, and we’re always striving to make the most of what God has given us, because we will all be accountable to God for what we did with the lives that God gave us. My prayer is that we can live our lives well before God and help others do the same!!