At the beginning of this year, I listened to the sharing of a Korean missionary at his church in person. His family has been engaging in the evangelism ministry in Japan for 22 years, during which they experienced many difficulties and graces. Their work is really an example for us to follow. He also gave a great number of tips and advice to those who would embark on the same path.
God called their family to work as missionaries in Japan at their own expense, so they accepted His mission in 1999. After arriving in Japan, they had dealt with many hardships. First, they were homeless, thus they had lived on the streets for about two months. The whole family had nothing to eat but a little flour for more than a week. Then, the younger son, Joseph, had a heart problem, for which he underwent more than a dozen of surgeries. After the doctor said that the child would not live past 20, all of them had been praying and relying on God for it. Now he’s 24 years old and his heart disease gradually alleviated from Level 1 (the most serious) to Level 2, 3, and finally 4. The doctor said that usually this kind of illness would progressively become more and more serious, from Level 4 to Level 3, 2, 1 and death eventually. However, they had experienced God’s grace that their child was getting better and better. Though medical practitioners said that patients with this disease wouldn’t live past 40, they believed that every day was a new life given by God. The rest of their lives were ready to be used by the Lord, so they thought it didn’t matter how much time God gave to them and that their lives would be meaningless till they were of use to Him.
Later, the eldest son, John, had a medical condition too. John recently suffered vision loss in his right eye, which was diagnosed as corneal deformity and the treatment needed a transplant. Fortunately, the son was also optimistic, saying that he still had one eye to see and at least he wouldn’t die from it. With the experience of the younger son’s surgeries, the family were brave enough to face and accept such adversities.
We all cried at hearing their testimony. The missionary wondered, was their family cursed by their ancestors so that they had to experience all these tribulations in Japan? Or was it a spiritual war in Japan? In any case, every day they pray at the altar hoping to be used by God.
Thanks to God, all the five family members have always been serving in evangelism. When delivering a sermon, the mother plays the piano, the eldest son leads singing hymns, the younger son plays the drums, and the youngest daughter sits to listen to the sermon. From time to time, they are in financial difficulties. It has been more than two years since these three Japanese came to faith. The church venue they rent costs 200,000 yen a month, with several million yen on renovation. The rent for their own home is 100,000 yen a month. Taking living expenses and the high tuition of the youngest daughter into account, the monthly expenditure is close to 600,000 yen. But they are grateful that since they have always looked up to God and relied on Him, God has moved some family members to give them offerings. It hasn’t been easy for them to persevere until now.
The wife also shared, saying that she personally only spread the gospel to about 100 Japanese in Japan, which was too few. Her husband preached the gospel whenever he saw Japanese people, even to the decorators every day during the church renovation. Another testimony she shared was about a Japanese churchgoer who was arrested for drug use. Later the pastor was asked to testify in court. Because of his testimony and guarantee, the sentence was very light. The judge asked the pastor how he would change the defendant. The pastor said, "I would rely on the words of God that I believed in and my prayers." The judge advised the drug addict that he had to believe in God who could change him. What a wonderful testimony.
The husband also shared his 20 years of experience and his advice on evangelism ministries in Japan.
Japan is the most developed country in East Asia and has always been ahead of its neighbors in many aspects, for which the Japanese are proud of themselves. Aside from that, Japanese idol worship is a powerful temptation. As Shinto and Buddhism are intertwined in Japanese culture, it is difficult for them to accept foreign religions.
Last, there are many overseas missionaries in Japan, especially those from Europe and the United States, who have not achieved much either. Historically, Japan invaded Korea and China. Consequently, Japan waits for Chinese and Korean missionaries to preach the gospel. Yet, the current Korean missionaries in Japan are mostly pastoring and preaching to Koreans. Meanwhile, there are very few Chinese missionaries. When there are more Chinese missionaries in Japan, at the same time Korean missionaries preach the gospel to Japanese people, God will remove the hardcore in the hearts of the Japanese.
May God be here, and bless Japan through the Chinese missionaries, who can love the soul of Japan with forgiveness and the love of Jesus Christ. Are you and your church willing to bless a country that has hurt us with love?
CCD reprinted with permission.
- Translated by Shuya Wang
