Our Calling

My wife and I are in the midst of transitioning from short-term to long-term missionaries. We have been serving here in Japan for 2 years now. Before Mother’s Day 2002 I had never really considered serving overseas. I believed that God was calling me to full-time ministry, but to me that meant in the U.S. At the time, I didn’t see the inconsistency of my position.

It’s not that I didn’t understand the Great Commission. It’s not that I didn’t have a heart for missions. We had been serving our church’s missions committee for several years. But, I had not really ever considered the possibility that God would call me to serve in ministry somewhere other than my home country. Then, it happened. On Mother’s day a missionary from Japan that we supported came to our church. After Sunday school I cornered him to ask him how he and his family was doing. We got to talking and he asked me about my future plans for ministry. He asked if I had ever considered foreign missions. I answered as honestly as I could. I said, “No. Not really. My wife would probably love it. But, me? God, would have to open that door and kick me through it!”

Little did I know…but, God was pulling on his boot!

Immediately after I said this the music that signaled the beginning of the worship service began. “Whew!” I thought, “saved by the organ!” The missionary preached. He shared many things about Japan. But, he also preached from Isaiah 60:1-3 and Matthew 28:18-20. It was a simple message not unlike many that I had heard from missionaries in the past. But, God moved in my heart that day. As he preached, it broke on me like a tidal wave: Here I was, saying that God was calling me to ministry. Yet, I was only willing to do so in my home country where we have an over abundance of ministers! In countries like Japan, there are very, very few. Oh! Don’t think that I immediately obeyed and said “Yes, Lord.” I struggled and fought. But, I knew that I couldn’t fight. finally, I gave in and prayed, “God, if you want me to go, I will go.”

Later, the missionary (without preamble) asked me to come to Japan. What do you think I said? …I didn’t say anything! I hadn’t even mentioned to my wife what I was struggling with. Not to mention, I was still fighting! On the way home, however, I told my wife, “I think God may be calling us to Japan. What do you think?” She said, “I think you’re right.” Now, ordinarily I am a very conservative Christian. But, this answer floored me. God was working the same thing in my wife that He was in me. Though, I don’t think she needed quite the kick that I did.

God has grown in us a love for the Japanese people and a deep desire to see them changed by the power of the gospel.

If you click the graphic above, you will see that the Japanese are the largest unreached people group. This info is from Joshua Project. This doesn’t mean that Japan has a smaller percentage of Christians than other countries. Although the percentage of Christians in Japan is extremely low, the statistic states that it is the largest, by population, unreached people group in the world.

Why are there so few Christian missionaries in Japan? Because it is expensive. Japan is the second richest nation in the world (in terms of per capita income.) So, who is going to reach out to this rich nation? Isn’t it the responsibility of the American church? We, the church of Jesus Christ in the richest nation in the world, with all our money and resources; we must financially and prayerfully support and send missionaries to Japan!

The Darkness and the Beauty of Japan

Living in a foreign culture like Japan is really an eye-opening, thought-provoking, and often heart-wrenching experience. It is easy at times to be deluded into thinking that “this isn’t that different from America.” Japan is a modern country. We have all of the technological conveniences that we had in America. Most people drive nice cars in Japan. We have many American based businesses in Japan like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and 7-11.

But, Things are so, so different! For one thing, when you order a medium size drink at McD’s it is a lot smaller than in America. But, more importantly the size of the church and individual churches are smaller. The church in Japan makes up somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of 1%. Less than 1/2 of a percent! The average church in Japan is around 30 members. The growth of the church in Japan is also very slow.

Make no mistake. Japan is indeed a pagan culture. It has deep roots in Shintoism and Buddhism. This is not to be read lightly or dismissed out of hand. It is easy to say, “yes, yes, we know. We’ve heard that countries like Japan and China worship false gods.” That is easy to say when you aren’t looking into the face of someone you have been preaching the gospel to for 2 years, when she says that she went to the Shinto shrine on Sunday to pray for a safe delivery of her new grand-son/grand-daughter. Who or what is she praying to!? I pray that God will open the eyes of the Japanese people to see that there is only one true God who can hear and answer prayer.

The temples and shrines in Japan are really beautiful. But, the longer I live here and the more I think about what they really are, the more I dislike them. The real beauty of Japan is its people.

Me and my dear friend and co-laborer in the gospel, Mr. Dedachi

Oyumino Alive, Update 1.21.07

Today (Sunday, January 21, 2007) we held our 3rd worship service at Oyumino Chapel. Oyumino is a town of 36,000 people and growing rapidly. This church plant will be the only church in this booming town! After worship we held a vision meeting to discuss where we are headed as a church plant and how we are going to fulfill our purpose as a congregation of believers.

It is so exciting to be a part of building God’s kingdom in Japan! God is so gracious that He is allowing us to be a part of His work!

The night before we held an outreach event. I built a fire outside (much safer than inside) and we roasted marshmallows, made s’mores, and drank hot cocoa. My kind of outreach!