| Without the generous
grant I received from the PC(USA) Study Grant, I would not have
been able to make the necessary transition from being a full-time
working mother of a ten-year-old to a full-time seminarian mother.
I was a part-time student for the first two years, keeping my
full-time secular job as a translator to support my family and
to pay my seminary tuition in full. When I felt the Spirit's
tap on my shoulder to make this transition, I decided to become
a full-time student and apply for the Presbyterian Study Grant.
I would like to share my story behind this journey with you.
My life and faith experience has been that of standing at
crossroads of many kinds. Growing up a third-generation Christian
woman in Japan, I experienced early on the challenge of being
a religious minority as well as the wonderfully affirming experience
of being claimed by God as God's child over and against the
claim of the society that valued me less because of my gender
and at times alienated me because of my faith.
Ever since immigrating to the United States to enroll in a Christian
school at the age of fifteen, I have been at crossroads of many
kinds. I was no longer a religious minority but an ethnic minority.
I have been a part of diverse Christian communities of various
theological persuasions, from California to North Carolina,
Oklahoma to New York, experiencing first-hand the wide theological
spectrum that exists within the Christian Church in this country.
God continued to nurture my faith as I lived through Christian
communities of different and often conflicting faith convictions.
I witnessed the wondrous ways God worked in each of these communities,
as well as the horrific harm faith communities are capable of
inflicting upon other children of God in the very name of God.
As I lived through these diverse communities, I constantly
felt compelled to seek peace, reconciliation, and healing at
different levels — within an individual, within the church,
and between the church and the world. I believe God is calling
me to an ordained ministry; to be a servant leader as I work
together with this variegated community of Christ's Church,
healing the wounded and seeking peace and unity in the name
of God.
I am keenly aware that as I seek to serve the Church and the
world in this way, it is critical that I bring into it theological
integrity and accountability, firmly grounded in the knowledge
of the revealed Word and by continually seeking the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, I have chosen Pastoral
Ministry and Theology as my program focus at Union Theological
Seminary. It is a true privilege that would not have been possible
without the financial support of the Presbyterian Study Grant.
I would like to honor the program by committing myself fully
to this journey to which God' has led me. |
