(For about four or five months, I was bullied by a coworker. Yet God completely protected my heart and enabled me to persevere with the attitude of “overcoming evil with good.” In the end, He gave me the victory.)
I found myself working for a Japanese company again. As a Sales Assistant, I handled export shipments, wrote English correspondence, translated documents, and coordinated communication between our U.S. branch office and the production and engineering departments. I was entrusted with a wide range of responsibilities.
The company was part of the amusement industry, so the work was exciting and full of possibilities. Even the unfashionable uniform that had bothered me at first was replaced with a new design within a month of my joining the company. I was even given the opportunity to appear on a television program called OL Club. It was a very interesting experience.
The fact that I was working for a Japanese company, which had initially concerned me, soon stopped bothering me. In fact, I came to appreciate the warm and friendly atmosphere. It was something I had not experienced in my previous foreign company. My immediate supervisor called me by my first name with “---chan,” which was a little embarrassing at my age, but it also reflected the relaxed and friendly environment.
However, for the first time in my life, I experienced open and obvious bullying.
During my first few weeks, there were only two women in our department, and we got along well. We even ate lunch together. But when two other assistants joined the company around the same time, her attitude toward me suddenly changed. I could not understand why. I thought about possible reasons, but none came to mind.
Many people enjoy gossiping and speaking negatively about others, but I have never liked that sort of thing. Perhaps I seemed boring or distant because I did not participate in such conversations. Whatever the reason, she began spreading negative stories about me. I later learned that she was speaking badly about me behind my back.
I constantly wondered whether I had done something wrong. I had always treated her with kindness and respect, and no matter what she said about me, I never spoke badly of her in return. Unfortunately, her feelings began affecting our work. Whenever I approached her about business matters, she would respond with obvious irritation. It felt as though she criticized me no matter what I did. I did not expect everyone to like me, but being disliked for no apparent reason was very painful.
Thankfully, the people around me understood who I was. Many of them did not approve of her behavior. Of course, I prayed to Jesus about the situation. I am the kind of person who can accept a difficult outcome if I know I have done my best. So I decided to continue living by the principle of “overcoming evil with good.”
After about four or five months, she suddenly resigned from the company. I heard that she simply said, “I’m tired,” and left.
The day before her departure, I approached her with an English-Japanese parallel New Testament that I had purchased in advance. I wanted to give it to her as a farewell gift.
“Thank you for everything,” I said. “Please accept this.”
But she glared at me and replied, “I haven’t done anything for you, and I have no reason to receive this.”
Even when I said, “This is simply my way of expressing my feelings,” she refused to accept it.
I was deeply hurt. Later, I spoke to my department manager about what had happened. He comforted me by saying, “Don’t be discouraged. People like her have trouble fitting in wherever they go.”
Much later, I learned something that helped me understand the situation. She loved English and had been studying it on her own by listening to English-learning cassette tapes. She had wanted a job that involved using English, like the one I had.
When I heard that, I thought to myself that things might have been different if she had approached life more positively and proactively. Jealousy, resentment, and anger do not truly harm the people toward whom they are directed. In the end, they return to the person who harbors them and prevent that person from finding real happiness.
Those four or five months were difficult for me. Yet God protected my heart through His Word and kept me from being controlled by bitterness or resentment. He enabled me to remain steadfast and gave me the victory.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
(Romans 12:21 NIV)
------ to be continued -----
p.s.
These testimonies are written in chronological order. Testimonies ①–④ tell how I came to faith in Christ, and the testimonies that follow describe my walk with Him. Please see the link below.
にほんブログ村
にほんブログ村
多言語学習ランキング
