Before going to Japan, one of my prayers was “Lord, allow me to see Your kingdom in Japan”.
When I prayed this, it was a hopeful thinking to see all of Japan worshipping God. Or that God would show me the salvation of Japan as a nation.
Guess what? God answered. God answered my prayer! Not in the way I expected though. But yes, He showed me His Kingdom.
Social Media Mobilizer
One of my ministries as a Serve Asia short-term worker is to make videos for the OMF social media team. My project for January is to cover all the main evangelistic ministries — church planting, youth ministry, homeless ministry, and returnees ministry.
I would need to interview the missionaries, film their actual job, and cover a testimony of a believer they directly help through this ministry, if possible. The purpose of this is to mobilize more laborers to come to Japan.
In the Philippines, we have small groups that meet weekly (regularly). However, here in Japan, it’s totally different. I think it’s the same for other countries as well, like South Korea and the UK. There is discipleship, yes, but most discipleship happens in a big group or at home.
So ministries like this are crucial. For most Japanese, this is the most discipleship and godly counseling they would get.
Side Note: The believers, obviously, still can contact and connect with an elder when they have struggles or questions.
Capturing the Front Liners
Holding a camera, which I will write about in a different blog is already a blessing. Seeing ministries in action, in a dry ground like Japan, is more than just a “blessing”. When I find the word for it, I’ll let you know. And filming them to show the world the work is the biggest blessing.
When I said the Lord answered my prayer to see His Kingdom, what I meant by that is God put me where His work is! Where He’s building His kingdom.
For the past few weeks, I traveled to different parts of the Kanto region to visit, get to know the missionaries and understand their ministry.
I saw the people they disciple, the churches they partner with, the communities they build, and the unreached they reach out to. I saw how God loves these people and the nation, which I used to dislike a lot for so many reasons, through the missionaries he called. I heard different testimonies of Japanese people converting to Christianity and knowing more about God through these ministries.
KGK Ministry
KGK is short for “Kirisutosha Gakusei Kai”, which translates to “Fellowship of Christian Students”. I met with Kelly, an OMF Missionary partnering with KGK as a KGK staff. She’s the first missionary and this is the first ministry I filmed.
She shared some of the challenges of student Christians in Japan, Christianity in Japan as a general, and a bit about challenges as a long-term missionary.
Before the day I took this photo, I hadn’t met one Japanese student who was a Christian. In the churches I’ve been to, Osaka and Tokyo, there was not one person who’s between the ages of 15 and 25. Most churches have members who are 30 years old and up, and most have their own families already. The rest are the kids and toddlers.
So seeing all of them almost made me tear up. This is just one group of KGK in Tokyo.
Three students shared their testimonies of faith and how KGK helped them in their walk with God.
Filming this ministry encouraged me that the next generation of leaders and Christians in Japan are pure, holy, and faithful. Their quiet spirit, gentle worship, and joyful fellowship are all a testament of God’s work in Japan.
Here’s a quick read about this ministry and the missionary’s prayer requests.
Church Planting
AJ is not the first church planter I talked to in Tokyo. I’ve met several church planters in OMF Office who shared with me how the Lord is actively moving in their communities, and comparing to decades ago, they commented that the church is growing faster today.
However, this is the first actual Japanese church service I attended. I had to use a Google translate to understand the preaching. In the past, I only attended international churches so there’s always a translator.
AJ and their team builds community from scratch. They are currently in the early stages to plant a church in a nearby town where there is no evangelical church yet. So, they are doing prayer walks, sourcing for a place to build a community, and equipping those who will be part of the ministry.
We also interviewed Eriko, a member of Hatogaya Evangelical Church, who’s helping AJ with church planting ministry.
AJ wrote a few blogs for OMF recently and I loved reading them! Expect to be humbled and Language learning is ministry.
Homeless Ministry
I’ve already said this statement more times than I can count, “I love this ministry”. This is one of the ministries I’m involved in.
My main work, though, is in social media which is a “support ministry”. Homeless ministry is one of the main ministries where we evangelize directly to Japanese people and preach the gospel.
We’d gather Thursday nights, buy and pack foods, and pray together before going to two locations in Ikebukuro. I also went to one Monday sidewalk chapel and another every Saturday.
Every Thursday, a volunteer shares a testimony, a leader preaches the gospel, everyone prays, and we’ll give out food and some other necessities if available. Over the couple of weeks, we’ve passed out bento meals, noodles, big mac, breads, warmers, scarves and gloves, and more.
We also hand out pamphlets with bible passage of the preaching and the weather/temperature for the upcoming week.
We would fill the bags with foods that will just be enough for the homeless to get through the night. These are nothing compared to what a salaried person would have on a Thursday night but if you are without home, this one pack of food and necessities would mean the world to you.
2 weeks ago, this ministry’s founder preached about baptism. They were given a chance to decide if they want to live for Christ, finally. Please pray that they will finally decide to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.
Returnees Ministry
The first time I talked to Liz, I was already moved by how much she loves people. Her ministry is mainly focused on relationships. Well, technically all ministries are focused on building relationships — with one another and with Christ.
Returnees are people who lived abroad for several years, could be for university, job, family, etc and have returned to Japan. These people return as a different person and, of course, have a hard time trying to fit in. Some of them, as Liz mentioned, would go back to the country they went to because they just couldn’t take the difference.
Some of these returnees are believers, some of them are not. For believers, Liz and the ministry would help connect with a Gospel-centered church and hold hands with them as they try to transition and settle in Japan again.
They have online and offline meetings, some with Bible studies, cafes, and more. Sometimes Liz would go to church with the returnees to help them adjust. You can just imagine how much energy Liz and the team needs to have to accommodate all these people. I remember her saying that the active Japanese Christians in the ministry are about 20 or 40? I’m not so sure. Nonetheless, I salute the Returnees Ministry in their service.
Blessed to Bless
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Genesis 12:2-3
I always hear this phrase in our church, we were blessed to bless. Personally, I find that this phrase is focused on the “to bless”. But one day, a friend told me this:
“We are not here to bless, we are here to BE blessed.”
We often think that blessings come from us. It does not. If we look at the verse, the Lord blessed Abraham and because of that Abraham became a blessing. It is also mentioned that it is God who will bless those who bless him.
This mission trip taught me that I should not focus on becoming a blessing. I have been blessed by these ministries and by the grace of God, they thanked me because they said they were also blessed!
I can only trust God that these films would bless many people and nations. For Him and His glory.
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