Stories from the Field, 1 Oct 2024
Speaker: Daniel Lau
Daniel shared about his ministry in Japan over 10 years, serving in church planting with OMF. They returned to Singapore in 2023. In those years, he served in two cities—Hanamaki (actually quite a small rural town of 66,000) and Sendai. As he and his wife, Joy, focused on evangelism, discipleship and church planting, using the heart language of the people was an important part of their ministry. Even though they already knew some Japanese, they first spent a year in OMF’s language school in Sapporo to improve their Japanese.
He started by giving a snapshot of Christianity in Japan. Evangelical Christians are estimated at about 0.3% of the population, which makes the Japanese an unreached people group. As many Japanese pastors are elderly and there are few younger pastors, eventually many churches will be forced to close.
Hanamaki
After language school, Daniel and his wife were sent to work in a church plant in Hanamaki. They and their German co-workers ran all kinds of activities such as English classes, German classes and German cookery. They also ran children's clubs, mom's clubs, arts and crafts, culture nights… and at the end of each activity they would give a short gospel talk. By God's grace, the church grew. The Sunday worship congregation increased from five to 25 over the six years they spent there, and they were able to buy a church building instead of renting. Eventually, they hope the church will be financially able to support a Japanese pastor to take over the work there so the missionaries can move on to work elsewhere.
He told of one lady, Ashino, whom they led to Christ. She had been quite active in the church activities for over 5 years, but it was only after a crisis in her life that she began to study the Bible with his wife. After 6 months of weekly studies, she felt ready to be baptized. It took a lot of relationship building and just sharing their lives with her. Right now, she is also dealing with how the Christian faith ties in with her Japanese culture.
Sendai
They then moved to Sendai, a much bigger city with a population of about 1 million. One major reason for the move was for their children to attend international school and be educated in English, in preparation for their eventual return to Singapore.
Their ministry in Sendai was among university students, and also in a local church that had been planted by OMF 30 years before. The church ran a kindergarten, and because they had several English-speaking foreign teachers, it was attractive to many Japanese families. They were able to organise events such as picnics and sports, and invite their university student friends to join in. Unlike in Hanamaki, more people already had some knowledge about Christianity because of the work of earlier missionaries, which made evangelism easier.
"Soft" persecution
Daniel said that one challenge faced by the Japanese believers is “soft” persecution, such as the disapproval of family members, or being marginalised by society. Workers who identify as Christians may be passed over for promotion as they will not participate in company religious practices and are regarded as disloyal. This is an aspect where Singaporeans, being Asian as well, might be of help to new Japanese believers. Many Singaporeans have a similar experience of finding the middle ground between rejecting traditions that have religious roots, or giving in and compromising their faith. For example, they can help new believers plan how they can visit their relatives, help out with certain manual tasks, but gently, politely and respectfully refuse to participate in making the offerings. This may lead to opportunities to share the gospel, which they would not have if they refused to participate at all.
Prayer items:
Pray for Japanese Christians to be bold in sharing their faith with their family and colleagues.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to open the spiritual eyes and ears of the Japanese to receive the gospel.
Pray for Daniel’s family, especially the children, who are still transitioning back to Singapore culture and the education system.
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