Displaying items by tag: Japan

A man screaming ‘I will kill you’ and carrying a knife in each hand attacked Catholic schoolgirls waiting at a bus stop in Kawasaki, slaughtering two and wounding 16 others. He then stabbed himself in the throat and died. Most of the victims attended a private school founded by Soeurs de la Charité de Québec, an organisation of Catholic nuns in Quebec City in Canada. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, ‘It was an extremely harrowing incident in which many small children were victimised, and I feel strong resentment. I will take all possible measures to protect the safety of children.’ Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

The 2011 earthquake prompted new mission awareness in Japan’s churches. Churches reconsidered how to evangelise and develop the church. In northern Japan, people who previously showed no interest in the gospel became receptive and drawn to Christianity after seeing Christ in volunteers who, without demanding anything in return, kept coming to provide aid and support. By 2017 Christians had begun to be called Kirisuto-san or ‘Mr/Ms Christ’, with respect and appreciation. Over time, people asked about the Bible, and doors opened for sharing testimonies. Operation World reports that Japanese missionaries are increasing, in Japanese and English. The Overseas Missions Association has a membership of over twenty agencies. YWAM Tokyo started ten years ago, with a handful of amazing people. Now they have forty staff, and outreaches all over the city. They need your prayers! See http://www.operationworld.org/country/japa/owtext.html

Mudslides and flooding caused by torrential rain have killed 195, with the toll expected to rise further. 75,000 responders have been deployed for search and rescue operations. Further storms and landslides are expected, causing additional danger. Prime minister Shinzo Abe cancelled scheduled trips abroad to focus on disaster relief efforts. The UN was ready to provide support if Tokyo requested it. Parts of Japan had received 20 inches of rain, with Hiroshima, Okayama, and Hyogo inundated with even more. In two hours some cities were completely flooded as deluges fell across mountains and then funnelled down, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Those unable to leave took shelter on rooftops as water and mudslides buried houses and vehicles. Pray for a Christian presence among the fearful and grieving.

Three Japanese whaling ships returned to their home port in Shimonoseki on 30 March with 333 minke whales killed in Antarctica. They attracted international protests and condemnation. Supposedly, these sea mammals were harpooned ‘for scientific purposes’. The International Court of Justice ordered a suspension of Japan's ‘scientific whaling’ in 2014, which led the country to cut its whaling programme. Minke whales are categorised as great whales, and commercial hunting of great whales was banned in 1986. Japan wants whaling to be permitted once more, and its steadfast participation in whale hunts continues to provoke protests worldwide. In its defence, Tokyo points out that the International Whaling Commission allows whales to be killed for ‘research’ purposes.

The Japanese are considered the largest unreached people group in the world, with over 120 million still waiting to hear the Gospel. Enormous hurdles stand in the way of the Japanese putting their faith in Jesus. Five of these hurdles are: - spiritual forces of evil, idolatry, and ancestor worship - the Bible and Christianity are viewed as Western and anti-Japanese - busy-ness and materialism - hopelessness, with more than 30,000 suicides per year - the Church's low influence in society. However, a low birthrate, an ageing society, natural disasters, economic decline and feelings of social isolation have provoked a recent resurgence in spiritual searching. The Japanese are now increasingly open to the Gospel, and many believe Japan is ready for an unprecedented awakening to the Good News of Jesus. Only a move of God will bring the freedom, joy, peace and hope that the Japanese desperately crave.