Over a month ago, I visited an area of Japan near Tokyo with a small team. We had the goal of seeing how our church communities could better support or partner more with a pastor in Japan that we each already support over there. If we sent people to serve the church in Japan, what that might look like, and what their needs have been. I went with one other person from my church community, and we teamed up with a couple of men from a nearby church who shared our desire and goal.
A bit of background into my shoes before continuing... I attempted to go with a team from my former church at the time to somewhere in Japan when I was a High School student. I was not ready for that trip, did not go, and henceforth considered Japan a place God did not want me to go. I also felt a large disconnection from my Japanese heritage, being a fourth generation Japanese-American person.
I had heard for so many years that the Christians in Japan number only a percentage of the population. I had concluded that God must not be doing much in Japan since this number had not changed in my 20 years of hearing this statistic. I saw the movie Silence and heard a report from someone close to me that his family had become and remained Christians through the persecution of the Church during the Edo period of Japan.
When the liaison to a Pastor we support over there said that there was space for a small team from our church to go and see what God was doing over there through his service and ministry, I immediately said "here I am, send me!" I love seeing what God is doing anywhere and everywhere in the world. Even though I did not think that the Spirit of God was very active for whatever reason, I wanted to go. Side-note: I stepped foot in Japan with the intention of going to somewhere in Africa long-term, to serve and be served by a different people.
When I got to Japan, I saw clean streets, clean and quiet trains, many people walking to and from the train station, and people bowing in deference to others. I saw with my own eyes what I had heard for years about the Japanese people, that they know what to do, and when to do it. "The nail that sticks out gets hammered." The Japanese code of etiquette is complex and has crafted a people who don't stand out, stay in line, and do what is expected of them. I felt a pressure myself as a person with Japanese heritage to try to do the same, even going so far as to try to perfect my pronunciation of "arigato gozaimasu," but I had to accept that I did not know what was expected of me in every situation, and I realized that, even before attempting to speak Japanese or ask for English, people could see that I was a foreigner in the land of my ancestors. I stood out, and I felt uncomfortable with that realization.
The first full day of my time in Japan took place on a Sunday, the Christian day of worship. I went to the apartment complex that our supported pastor preached at. That day, a pastor and member of our vision trip team from the other church community spoke, translated by our pastor friend into Japanese. We sang praise songs, we ate, and spent time together. Before the service, I sat in an English bible study for the other missionary team members. My friend and team member from my church lead the study through the next part of the book of Hebrews, which they were already going through. The service fascinated me. My elementary school Japanese reading level helped a bit during the praise time, and my spirit praised God, even if my lips did not understand the words it was reciting. And compared to the masses of people outside all fitting the same mold, I saw, simultaneously, individual people and a single united community free and full of worship toward the King of Kings.
Throughout the remainder of the week, I kept seeing people who felt pressure to conform through etiquette and orderliness, contrasted by stories of hearts being freed and refreshed, families transforming, and people responding the call of the Christ, to repent and submit their lives to God, so that He would break the cultural chains binding them to the pressure and despair of being Japanese, and to receive Jesus' yolk, which is much lighter on their shoulders than the massive yolk of Japanese culture, (Matthew 11:28-30). I saw a school that was made for children of missionaries and Christians that stands apart from the intense and oppressive Japanese education system. I saw children, of many races and ethnicities, playing and praising God through song. I saw God doing something. But I also heard mentions of something tragic that happened in 1995 that roused a strong spirit of suspicion toward all forms of religion or belief that stood apart from Shinto or Buddhism. This horrific event is still in the minds and memories of the Japanese people, especially around Tokyo. Once I learned about this, I felt sorrow and compassion for the lost in Japan, and the obstacles the Church in Japan by the power of the Spirit of God need to overcome to speak words of hope and truth to Japan.
In the middle of the week. I felt my heart break for Japan, and like all of the other short term missions trips I've been on, my heart wanted to be part of God's work among the people whom I was looking at. But my time there was meant to be short and focused on observation. Knowing the tendencies of my heart, knowing that I was going to desire to stay for the glory of God, I made an agreement with a friend, and with God. If I met a long lost relative with my family name, I would take that as God telling me to change directions toward Japan. That did not happen, and I hated this feeling of internal tug-of-war between Japan and Africa, between my heart and my spirit.
May the Lord not let your sufferings go unnoticed! Talk to you all soon!