Looking Back at Japan

My time in Japan finished up much better than it started. One day after being stuck in the guest apartment running a fever, I was feeling much better and was able to get out and see Tokyo. (Thank you everyone who was praying!) I was able to visit a few churches, sit in on an English class for school children, and take in some of the cultural aspects of Japan and get some good orientation into its background and history.

Japan is where OMS got its start in 1901 with Charles Cowman joining a Japanese pastor in reaching every home in Japan. The initial success of evangelists in Japan was tremendous but during the ensuing world wars, many of the Christians in Japan were killed and those who survived the persecution were forced underground.

Now days, economic success has given the Japanese a false sense of security in their own resourcefulness much like what is present in Western Europe and the United States. Because of this, the church in Japan has been very slow to grow and is considered one of the more difficult fields that OMS currently operates in. OMS missionaries in Japan find themselves teaching at the Tokyo Bible seminary, working at the Christian Academy of Japan (an international K-12 school), planting churches, and working in sports ministries amongst other duties.

Despite the apparent well being of Japan, it doesn’t take long to see there is a real need for Christ. More than 60% of all pregnancies in Japan end in abortion, and the suicide rate has been increasing in recent years. Last year there were more than 30,000 suicides. In fact, the day after I left Japan, one of our missionary kids whom I had just been with was standing at a train platform waiting to make his way home from soccer practice when he witnessed a suicide right in front of him. All of these things are signs that people in Japan are living without much hope.

There is hope in Christ, however, and during my time in Japan I got to see first hand three new churches were people are finding that hope. One of these churches is a third generation church, having just been planted by a church that is itself very young. This new church has had two lay members of its congregation step up and take initiative in the new church and they have kept it going. It was greatly encouraging to see church members taking a proactive role in their church and not just relying on their pastor to do everything.