Summer Internship in 2003:
Rachel Starr

"I don't want to go to a developed country, I don't want to be in a big city, and I definitely don't want to do street outreach." Those were Rachel's "conditions" when she signed up for the SOS (Summer Of Service) missions internship program at her school, Northwestern College in Iowa, a program which is a required for graduation. But as often happens when we try to tell God what is best for us, He uses the occasion to show us that only He knows everything completely, and therefore it's foolish to try to attach our own rules on God's plans. Some might even say it's God's sense of humor, but if so, let's remember that He knew before the beginning of time that Rachel would feel that way, as well as what would really be best for her. The result: Rachel ended up doing her SOS program in Japan (a country that is "developed" at least in the sense that Rachel was thinking of), in Osaka (which possibly rivals Hong Kong for the title of most densly populated big city in the world), and because her stay overlapped other teams whose talents were well suited to street outreach, guess what Rachel did a lot of?

During her 10 weeks with us, she got several chances to share her testimony, and she often started out by sharing that bit of irony that brought her here. Then she would talk about how her walk with Christ had been like riding a bicycle with a basket - when she finally stopped putting Christ in the basket and controlling the bike herself, but sat in the basket and let Christ be in control, her life's paths became very different from the way she would have chosen, but also became a wonderful adventure.

Rachel arrived just a few days after the dedication of Grapevine Cell Church, and so became a "sempai" (Japanese word for someone with more experience in something and therefore serves as a mentor) and guide for the MTJ Gospel Choir, the Father's House team, the OSM English teachers, and the Outsiders team. If you look at the photos on the pages about those outreaches, Rachel's face also appears frequently. In this photo she is helping OSM teacher Kim Beam lead a round of "Hokey Pokey".

But she had ministry of her own also. She was majoring in music ministry, and was talented in voice, flute, and piano, so she performed a classical music concert at OIC, and was called upon to sing and/or play praise music from time to time. (Even once she was asked to play organ - not really her instrument, but she did well!) Her college's sister college in Japan is Osaka Jogakuin, a Christian-founded girls' college right next to OIC, so she got an invitation to go there and share in some classrooms (sorry, no photos - she did that completely without our help, so Karen was not there with her camera). We put her in charge of the International Coffee Time on Wednesday nights, and she not only ran it well, but made many friends. Below are two photos from ICT nights: on the left, she is describing her life in American (including her faith!) to some interested girls using a small photo album she brought, and to the right is a group photo taken when her ICT friends bid her farewell and gave her gifts (including the pink critter you can see on her shoulder).

Partway through the summer Dan began to call Rachel his "summer daughter", and the nickname has stuck. We have stayed in touch as Rachel has gone on to other adventures (including studying in Wales in 2004!), and she still signs her postcards and emails "your summer daughter". She was a terrific ministry partner and friend, and we hope she is led to come back to Japan sometime!