The Land of the Rising sun

Backround information to give some perspective (www.joshuaproject.net)

% of professing christians in Japan : 2.2%

Areas with the most significant growth of progress towards church planting and evangelical presence in Japan: Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama

"Revival is an act or instance of reviving, or state of being revived; restoration. renewed interest in religion after indifference and decline; a period of religious awakening.

Re-animation from languor or depression. Renewed flourishing state. To revive means "to restore or return to consciousness or life; to animate; to raise from languor, depression or discouragement; to render or become active, operative or flourishing again; to reawaken; refresh."

I had heard from many people that the spiritual climate and society of Japan was cold and disconnected, "the missionary's graveyard". Long term missionaries in Japan had been serving for decades with spiritual oppression and without seeing any apparent spiritual fruit until now.

This had caused many supporting churches to discourage missionaries from going to Japan. However, the nation's neediness for God, for the truth, is more evident than ever. Japan is one of the countries with the highest depression and suicide rates, sexual exploitation, and also being prone to earthquakes and nuclear catastrophes. All of these things factor into the inward building of dissatisfaction in the people of Japan. A desire for something more, something greater that can never be fulfilled in human relationships, in the work place, in any meter of success on earth.

Although the numbers are still low in comparison to Western nations, Japan has seen a spike in missionaries, church plants and practicing Christians over the past year or so. God is more than eager to bring His children of Japan back into His arms. He is stirring hearts, and bringing something fresh and new to Japan. He is awakening, and reviving this nation from it's long state of spiritual decline. He is raising up prayer warriors and missionaries to stand in the gap, and bring a revelation of who He is, so that Japan can find it's identity and purpose and be freed by the truth.

It is a weird concept to me that there are still people out there who have no idea who Jesus is. This should break our hearts. A country that is so close to breakthrough... we need to get excited and do our part. Through prayer you can stand in support of how God is moving in Japan.

Earlier this year, I spent two months in Japan on a missions trip alongside 10

servant-hearted friends of mine. Our time in Japan was split into three parts. We spent 4 weeks in Osaka, which is known for it's architecture, street food, and coffee culture. After Osaka we moved to a little town in the mountains called Myoko Kogen for 2 weeks, and our last 2 weeks were spent in the busy city of Tokyo.

I had never been on an outreach trip before, so I didn't really know what exactly to expect in this time, in terms of what our schedule, team dynamic, or ministry would look like. However I went into the season with full expectancy that God would use our willing hands and open hearts to bring joy and show love to a nation of people who for the most part, do not even know know His name. The people, the culture, the scenery, the food, the spiritual reality.. It wasn't hard to fall in love with Japan.

While we were in Osaka, we stayed and worked with the YWAM Takatsuki base. Which was cool because many of the missionaries there had been sent out from our base in Brisbane to "re-pioneer" the base in Osaka. Very early on, we were informed on cultural norms and how all ministry and evangelism needed to be relationship oriented. Since there was such a huge language barrier which just added to the fact that Christianity is basically unheard of in Japan, people needed to see Christ in us through our actions; how we loved them and how we loved each other, through the kindness and intentionality that we showed in our conversations with them, and how willing we were to serve them.

It will always be how we love so recklessly without expecting anything in return, that baffles non believers. No theology can debate or prove what is reflected in our actions. Through walking in the light, and spending time with the people we would meet, through listening to God's plan for every new day, either through teaching English, or by conversations in the train, or spontaneous worship in the streets, to leading a homeless church, to hosting english speaking events, it wasn't long until people started noticing that something was different about us.

They were confused as to why we would give up our own time, and actually pay money to serve in Japan. All of these questions sparked deeper conversations and led strangers to open up about to us about their lives and their struggles. In the early stages of our outreach, it became evident that our team was assembled so intentionally. What one lacked, the other one had abundantly, we used our our own individual talents and strengths to come together to form one unit that moved together, served together, prayed together, cried together, and rejoiced together!

In Myoko Kogen we stayed with a sweet older American missionary named Joyce. We travelled to Myoko via train. I remember listening to repeat until death by novo amor while the falling snow greeted our carriage as we passed through the mountains. Joyce had been a missionary in Japan for most of her life. As a team we recognized the importance of supporting and bringing encouragement and energy to long term missionaries like Joyce, who have committed their entire lives to the purpose of making God known. Joyce is a visionary. She owns a few homes in Myoko Kogen, that she uses to rent out to people that pass through for ski trips. She has huge plans to use her properties for God's good, dreaming of opening a YWAM base and cafe.

Most of our time in Myoko was spent deep cleaning Joyce's properties and finding ways to bless her and serve her whenever she needed. We led worship, gave testimonies, and led Sunday school for the kids. Looking back now, this is definitely the time on my outreach were I stepped out the most and started noticing my own personal growth. I gave sermons and testimonies in church! The idea of standing in front of a church body as an 18 year old girl who was fairly new into her journey with God, would've normally made me feel unqualified or nervous, but every time an opportunity arose, I was filled with so much excitement and eagerness to share about God's goodness and faithfulness in my life!!

We also did some English teaching and many hours of street performances in the neighbouring city called Nagano. We played a good combination of worship and secular music. Street performing was a little out of our comfort zones at first but my team was so joyful even after standing outside for 8 hours in the cold. We were amazed by how God used our talents to reach people in this time.

The experiences and connections that we made through street performing are such a testimony to how God can move in the arts, and how we could use our talents to create a sense of authenticity, understanding, and bring encouragement to those who chose to pause their busy lives to listen. We would play worship music and people who could barely speak English would be moved to tears, or would suddenly open up and to ask us millions of questions and further invite us to coffee.

Two of my team mates had the opportunity to build a friendship with this one local teenage boy who had stopped by to listen to our music. They started up a conversation and my team mates really invested in him, inviting him to have coffee later that week. During their coffee meet up, my team mates got to know the boy better and felt like they should share their own life stories with him. Long story short, this boy ended up getting saved at a church service that my team mates invited him too! How exciting!!!

Our time in Myoko was refreshing and encouraged so much growth!! Joyce cried, and then all 11 of us cried as we parted ways and hauled all of our luggage through the snow straight to the train station. Again, she thanked our team for being so hard working and full of joy. From all 11 of us cramming into her small kitchen for dance parties, to baking bread together every evening. I'll never forget the way her eyes would light up like a child every time she talked about God's faithfulness and love for Japan. I watched the mountains of Myoko Kogen slowly roll out of my sight.

In Tokyo we partnered with Guy Bishop and his family. They run an Christian school called Shion International School. Usually teams would spend time with the students and help teach classes while staying at Shion. However, our time in Tokyo happened to line up perfectly with the students' spring break. We never ended up meeting any of their students at Shion, but we were able to serve the Bishop's by deep cleaning the entire school, organizing, and waxing the floors.

Their family was so thankful that we were able to come and clean and bring relief to their family before the school season started up again. They explained that things were often so busy and hectic once the students came that they rarely got a chance to deep clean, so we were all very thankful of God's timing! Myself as well as two of my team mates had the opportunity to "babysit" two children for 3 days at the school. At first the kids were really shy and nervous around us foreigners especially because it was really difficult to communicate with them, but by the second day we were giving them piggy backs through the streets of Tokyo and playing with them at the park!

Guy Bishop pastors at a Church that is approximately 1.5 hrs away from Shion, and when our team first arrived, he had just received the ownership of a house that is close to his church. We had the unique job of staying in the new house for a week and preparing it for the Bishop's (deep cleaning and yard work). Again, Guy was so amazed by the timing of our stay in Tokyo and how we could be there to help them in such a transitional season of their lives!

At the end of our stay in Tokyo and with our outreach reaching it's final days, we did 24hrs of prayer as a team for the nation of Japan. We started and ended these 24hr with worship together as a team. It was a beautiful way to end our time in Japan, standing in unity and lifting our praise up to God in thanks for the ways that He used our hands to serve and our bodies as vessels to reach people. We danced and sung and cried.

I looked around the living room of Guy Bishop's new house, to all of our drawings and words of encouragement for Japan taped on the wall, I looked to these 10 other individuals who served so faithfully beside me, worshipping our Father together one last time, Mount Fuji barely greeting us through the clouds, it was undeniable to me that things are changing in Japan.