Another year of serving in Japan has come and gone. It is time to once again reflect upon the last year. Here is the theme verse of this year:
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” – Galatians 6:9 KJV
This year has been characterized by carefully plowing and planting gospel seeds in the rocky spiritual soil of Japan. At times it does not seem like much is happening, however God is always working even when we cannot readily see every detail. We have been reminded continually by stories of Japanese people hearing the gospel decades ago and finally accepting it in their old age. We have continued to meet people in our local community, form relationships, and share the gospel slowly. In a country that is the furthest away from the West culturally it certainly takes considerable time to communicate new concepts found in the Bible. In the last year many Japanese people have come to visit the mission, and for that we are thankful. A few have decided to continue relations by attending the Sunday children's school. Here we been using opportunities to teach free English and Bible lessons to children. We have also used this opportunity to teach Bible lessons to the parents attending. We also continue to consistently teach many adults English using the Bible throughout the week. The Bible is such a foreign concept to Japanese people, whose identity is deeply shaped by their culture, that it can seem completely alien to them. So, it is not surprising that it can take a long time for them to understand what is being communicated.
Many centuries ago their ancestors chose to reject God and taught their children to do the same leading to the situation that they find themselves in today. In a culture that has no concept of sin the first obstacle is always communicating what sin is and why it is an issue. The next issue is to communicate who God is to them, and their need to establish a relationship with Him. The people seem to understand that they have a void in their life, but are uncertain about how to find true peace. The final issue is encouraging them to follow through with making peace with God even if the group is opposed to God. Unfortunately, they appear highly skeptical of anything outside of the norms acceptable to Japanese society. This culture has taken every measure conceivable over many centuries to shield itself from God. However, it is not completely impossible to reach them, as we have been able to lead a few Japanese people to the Lord this year. Using biblical example, to us it seems as though the camel cannot pass through the eye of the needle, but to God nothing is impossible.
We have also been able to do various outreaches to the many foreign groups living here in Japan. Many foreign people here in Japan and online appear to be far more open to the gospel. This year with online ministry outreach alone we have personally led 171 people to the Lord. Through these experiences I have had a lot of interactions with Muslims enough to write a book on the matter called, “Four Paths out of Islam”. In the last year I have personally encountered Muslims from Indonesia more than any other time living in Japan. Japan itself is at a crossroads of deciding on what to do with the influx of foreigners as well as the critical issue of population decline. From the time that I came here in 2014 to now the population has gone from 127 million to 123 million, and that is even with the increase of foreigners moving here! Many Japanese people desire to return to the old ways while others realize that the old ways do not have solutions to modern problems.
This year many foreigners have visited Japan as tourists after many campaigns to promote Japan have been pushed for years by the government. The result has been over 40 million people coming to visit Japan this year. The Japanese people seem to be fatigued in general by the influx of people visiting. Rapid exposure to various cultures has caused many people from a historically isolation-oriented society to become increasingly fatigued with foreigners in general. An already overburdened public transportation system seems even more overwhelmed with tourists flowing into certain populated areas. The media has also consistently blamed foreigners for all of Japan's problems. In reality only 3.2% of the nation consists of foreigners. In the past Japan has traditionally closed itself off from foreign influx at various times, leading to isolation. In recent days it seems like the Japanese people want to make it more difficult to live in Japan, and more costly to visit Japan. As the Japanese economy declines more the average person is having a hard time paying the bills. When they see foreign people coming to Japan, traveling around, eating expensive foods, and having fun they become increasingly bitter. They have told themselves for years that their system is the best, but are faced with the hard reality that things are not perhaps as good as they have been taught to believe. Will these cracks in the system demonstrate that no system made by man can create a utopia on earth? For some looking for the truth these cracks will be what is needed to consider God in their lives, for others these cracks will mean that they need to try harder to maintain the system already in place. Systems will fade, but only God remains. We hope and pray wherever this is reaching you around the world that you have a Blessed New Year!
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