Before coming to Japan, I spent as much time as I could spare learning about the culture, different Japanese ministries, the language, and other things that I thought would be helpful during my time here. I studied numerous books on missions, and on living in a different culture. Despite all of the time I invested in these things, coming here has been so different in many ways than I had anticipated, and has opened my eyes to so many things that I never expected.
One of the biggest things that I have realized since coming here, is just how different ministry is in Japan than in the States. While the truths of what the Bible teaches can never be compromised on, many of the methods we use in America, and other western countries, are ineffective, and many times even counter-productive here in Japan.
Ministry in Japan is very delicate due to how closed the people here are to religion, as well as the other aspects of Japanese culture. Having suffered a great deal at the hands of various religions, and having seen the corruption and manipulation of religious groups, Japanese people as a whole are very opposed to organized religion. Beyond this, they are trained in a non-religious way of thinking from a very young age, where they visit buddhist and shinto shrines out of ritual and tradition rather than out of religious devotion.
One of the pictures at the bottom of this email is of around 20 elementary school children gathered at a local shrine, about four minutes from where I am staying. From a very young age, the standard Japanese mindset is constantly reinforced. These children, and the majority of all people in Japan, have no concept of a Creator God, nor of a personal God, nor of sin, nor of many of the other truths that the Bible teaches.
Because of this, sharing the Gospel cannot simply be “Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead.” (I Cor. 15) This doesn’t mean adding to the Gospel, but rather, it means that to share the Gospel here, we must start in Genesis. To share the Gospel with a Japanese person means establishing all kinds of aspects of a Biblical worldview that we take for granted in the states. It means explaining so much that we simply assume people understand in the States.
Beyond this, the people of Japan think very differently than we do in the States. Kazu, one of the missionaries we are staying with, has spent a lot of time helping us understand how thinking of Japanese people that is so different than our own. I don’t understand it completely, but it is enough to say that it is very different from Western thinking, and that it means many of our typical approaches to ministry among the Japanese people will not work.
In many ways, all of these things have been frustrating to me. Add to these new challenges a great language barrier, and you have what many would call one of the most difficult to reach people groups in the world. I had known that many said this was such a difficult mission field prior to my coming here, but I am learning a great deal more of why they would say this.
But, we serve an awesome God, whose powerful Word is relevant and effective for all people, of all cultures, creeds, and backgrounds, and across the span of all time. I am confident, that, although the Japanese people are a challenging people group to reach, they can be reached with the truth of God’s Word. Also, I believe that Tokyo Kirisuto Dendoukan Church, where we are spending most of our time here, along with other ministries around Japan, are being effective in reaching the Japanese people. We should not expect the same results as we see in the U.S. as this is a different mission field. Here, relationships are so crucial, that sharing the Gospel will almost always only come through well developed relationships, which take considerably more time than we are used to in America. But, many Japanese people have trusted Christ and are passionate about reaching their own people.
Adam and I are both spending a great deal of our time considering how we can become a part of the ministry here in Japan if we were to come back long-term. Tomorrow, June 27th, we will be leaving for SYME (School of Youth Ministry in English) which is a powerful ministry of Word of Life here in Japan. This school focuses on teaching Japanese students (typically college age) English, while giving them a solid Bible education through a discipleship based ministry. This is a ministry that has played a crucial role in many of my Japanese friends’ lives, and I am very excited to be a part of it for the next two weeks.
Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek the Lord’s leading during our stay here in Japan. We want to be faithful with our time here, having servant’s hearts, and we also want to be open to the Lord’s leading of how we could/should serve the Lord here in Japan in the future. Pray also that we would be faithful in continuing to invest in our own personal relationships with the Lord during our time here. Also, continue to pray for doors of opportunity for ministry, as well as an awareness and willingness to take advantage of these opportunities.
Thank you so much for your prayers. It’s been a real blessing being here so far, and I am excited to see all that God has in store for us in the future.
– God bless, Paul Mackey
Mackeys in Japan 