Japanese Americans- A Powerful Potential

Yesterday at the Asian American church we attend in the afternoon I again glimpsed at the potential. The person came up to me and asked about our recent trip to Japan. He expressed his interest in going to Japan again with his young family.

I asked him about his Japanese roots and he said that his father's side connects with Kumamoto and his mother's with Niigata. His interest in going to Japan stems from his Christian faith and Japanese heritage, but didn't seem to connect with at interest in either Kumamoto or Niigata.

So I started my usual sermon, challenging him to 1) become familiar with his family roots; 2) pray for the towns where his parents came from; and 3) try to visit those areas in his trip to Japan.

Sadly, many Japanese Americans have even less interest in their roots than my friend has. But what a potential! There are over 1,200,000 Japanese Americans. That means there are at least 1,200 Christians among this group, probably two or three times more than that. Just think what a powerful force it would be if Japanese Christian Americans would 1) become familiar with their family roots; 2) pray for the towns, and churches in that area, from which their ancestors came; and 3) try to visit those areas to express Christian interest.

Here is the challenge. Whenever you meet a Japanese American Christian, use my three point sermon to turn their eyes and hearts back home.

Don

RJC is about networking

Last weekend I was in Los Angeles for a planning meeting with RJC Southern California. That was on Friday, September 28. Then on Sunday I visited two different Japanese church in the area. In all these meetings I was impressed again of how reaching Japanese for Christ is a team task, a network of many people sharing Jesus and love. Here are a few examples:
1. A Korean American young man who attended one year at Waseda University in Tokyo to learn Japanese. Now he is back in Los Angeles attending a Japanese church in the afternoon, burdened for Japanese. He plans to return to Japan to share Jesus through English teaching.

2. A Japanese who came to L.A. for college, met Jesus through the Korean Campus Crusade for Christ ministry on her campus. Now she is on staff with KCCC reaching out to Japanese students in Southern California.

3. A Japanese student who has recently become a Christian in a Japanese church here. He has never attended a church in Japan.

All around the USA and Canada good people are reaching out to Japanese students, business people and their families, and short-term visitors. And together we participate in God's Kingdom work.

Japanese and American Church Culture

At our recent trip to Japan I heard Pastor Katsuhiko Seino of Tsuchiura talking about the problems that new Christians have when they return to Japan. He shared an extremely important insight. He said that we must remember and teach that the basic Japanese and Western church cultures are different!

1. At times we hear North Americans say that most Japanese churches are dead and not healthy.

2. However, the truth is that there are sick North American churches as well as Japanese churches.

3. The main issue is that there is a basic difference in church cultures, which take the characteristics of the broader culture.

4. I don't remember all the differences, but here are some of them.
1) North American culture (and church culture) tends to be horizontal; Japanese is vertical.
2) NA is informal; Japanese tends to be formal.
First names or honorific titles
3) Those who experience large active churches come back to smaller churches with fewer activities.
4) Western learning tends to be by discussion, but in Japan lectures are the accepted method.
5) The Western method of debate and speaking the "truth" no matter what is different from the Japanese desire for group consensus.

5. It is important to prepare the Japanese as he/she returns. Perhaps they will remember the general cultural differences, but if they have never experienced Japanese church life, they will expect a Western church culture.

Lets toss away the idea that the Japanese church is dead. It is alive and well! Lets remember to prepare people as they return to Japan.

What do you think?

Japan Trip

JoAnn and I just got back from Japan yesterday. After a good night’s rest we are just about able to pick up a pair of chopsticks or a fork and quickly determine which end to use.
I was able to attend a 24 hour long Japan Evangelical Association Missions Forum. One of the components was a discussion group called the Diaspora and The Church. “Diaspora” here means the Japanese who are spread around the world.

Here are some of the highlights that relate to RJC.
At the JEA Mission Forum there were 60 or so leaders. I was surprised and please that many were aware of RJC.
I was able to see a number of leaders who have spoken at RJC: Pastors Seino, Watanabe, Saoshiro, Gushiken; Setsu Kuroda, Masahiro Takata.
I was able to see several who will be coming to RJC. The newest one is Ichimura Sensei who represents VIP. He will be presenting the VIP ministry and principles for reaching Japanese men. Pastor Seino will be the main speaker at the Southern California RJC Conference in January.
After the JEA meeting I was able to visit the JEMA (Japan Evangelical Missionary Association) Executive Committee. We talked a little about RJC and also presented the Operation Japan CD project. This is to put on CD all of the material that has appeared in the Operation Japan book, plus pictures and internet connections. They were very positive about this project.
Masahiro Takata also volunteered to be more active in the RJC Academy preparations. If you have not joined the Yahoo Discussion Group, I would encourage you to do so. Go to Yahoo.com, open a free account, and then go to RJCNetworkTraining, and sign up.

Reaching Japanese is a team event

Today I came across a letter from Gordon Kaneda, pastor of the Lynnwood Japanese Church in Washington. He very clearly shows how English speaking people and Japanese churches can work together.

A high school exchange student - Yuka - was brought to our church by her host mom last Sunday.
The host mom said, "She recently accepted Christ!"
She had been to Westgate Chapel with her host family, and even though she didn't understand she liked going to the church.
The host mom shared the Gospel with her, and when she asked Yuka about receiving Christ, Yuka said, "Yes."
The host mom also showed her the Jesus video in Japanese. At the end of it, as the narration led the viewer to prayer, Yuka simply mumbled because the narration was telling her to do so.
As the host mom saw that, she was so excited. "You just prayed the prayer!!!!"
The host mom was very excited again that Yuka had accepted the Lord.

Well, before the service when my wife was talking to Yuka, she said, "I'm a Buddhist."
After the service, I asked her about what I had heard from her host mom.
Yuka said, "I couldn't understand what she was saying, so I just kept saying 'Yes'."
She also said, "I was a Buddhist, but I didn't think much about it, so I thought it was okay to change my religion."
So...she didn't understand the Gospel. What she understood was that she was asked if she wanted to "change her religion."

I went through "Knowing God Personally" with her and explained what Christian faith is all about, and her eyes grew large.
And at that point, SHE ACCEPTED THE LORD!!!!

The host mom did exactly what she needed to do for Yuka.
She took her to church.
She shared the gospel with her.
She showed the Jesus video in Japanese to her.
She did everything she could to communicate Christian faith and love to her.
Then, SHE BROUGHT HER TO A JAPANESE CHURCH.
These were all very crucial. As a result of all of these acts of love and passion, Yuka was very open and ready to hear the Gospel in Japanese when she came to our church.
It would have never happened without the host family playing this important role in the whole process.
Yuka later emailed me and said, "Thank you so much for explaining in a very understandable way. I enjoyed so much, and I'd like to come to the church again."
The host mom was so happy to hear the news, and she is really looking forward to bringing her to our church again next Sunday.
Now it is our responsibility as a Japanese church to guide her to baptism and help her to grow as a Christian before she returns in July 2007.

Connecting the Returnee

Making sure that Japanese find a good fit into the Japanese Christian fellowship is crucial as they return to Japan.
You will find good help at our www.RJCNetwork.org. Look at the articles and audio section.

You can also find lists of churches in Japan that are eager to help the returnee. Dale & Liz Halligan have several church suggestions at https://www.isiwebnet.net/sites/dhalligan/International%20Friendly%20Churches . Liz Godwin at also is continually adding churches to her list. I also have reference books that list every church in Japan, and you can contact me. But remember to give me your email address directly at don_wright@comcast.net .

However, my strong advice is to first contact Japanese Christian Fellowship Network (JCFN) at http://www.jcfn.org/english.htm, then click the "Follow Up Request" link. Most likely they can not only get a good church fit, but they can also connect the returnee with former returnees and returnee fellowships that will greatly help.

Japanese Western Weddings in Japan and Elsewhere

Yesterday I was working on the new "Operation Japan" Prayer Book which will come out as an expanded CD only edition. Here is what we had in the 2004 edition, pg 52:
--------
Some missionaries say that the wedding ministry in Japan is the most effective mass evangelism method today. Here is the reason they are saying that. Of the 750,000 weddings performed yearly in more than 3,000 wedding chapels and other locations, up to 75% or 562,500 are Christian or Western services. With an average of 50 guests per wedding, this means that in a year up to 268 million people come in contact with God’s Word. They sing two Christian hymns, hear two prayers and a short Bible message.
---------

There are at least four levels of Western (Christian) weddings for Japanese taking place in Japan, Hawaii and elsewhere.
1. Pure secular business weddings. These take place in wedding halls, hotels, etc. and are often conducted by non-Christians.
2. Secular business weddings conducted by Christian missionaries, pastors. These ceremonies often allow 10 minutes with the couple before the wedding in order to explain something of the meaning of the ceremony.
3. Western weddings, conducted by Christian ministers with counseling. Those getting married may or may not have had previous contact with Christianity. During the counseling there is opportunity to explain the gospel. In some cases there is follow-up after the wedding.
4. Western weddings conducted only under the authority of a Christian organization, like a church, only for Christians.

My personal feeling here is that we need to pray for those getting married at each of these levels. Even #1 weddings conducted on the beaches of Hawaii allow the name of Jesus to be used, the Bible is read and a hymn is sung. May God use these unprecedented opportunities to bring many to Himself!

What do you think?

DW