While we were visiting in the US this summer, I learned a lot about Japan! I listened to a missionary to Japan who is now serving in the US among the “diaspora” Japanese. He is a very passionate Christian and hardworking missionary. I was encouraged by his ministry with Japanese in Japan. He modeled Jesus’ way of meeting people one at a time, deliberately investing in the lives of people one at a time, and this still works! Why am I surprised? He told us of his personal crisis a few years ago when he recognized he had failed to “make disciples” and instead had made “pew warmers.” When he began the process of raising Christians who would replicate themselves, he saw Jesus working to expand His kingdom. Now, these ordinary Christians are living out their faith and inviting others to join them.

Another former missionary to Japan told me stories of hope from Tohoku, the disaster area in northern Japan. She related accounts she heard on a recent visit to the area of incidences of Japanese people having visions of Jesus just like Muslims have had! What?! Yes! One example was a man in Ishinomaki who dreamt that Jesus was at his bedside. Jesus told him he would find the answer to his questions if tomorrow he would go to a certain street corner at a certain time. There he would see a white van and he should inquire of the people in the van. He went to the location and saw a white van approaching. The van had “Samaritan’s Purse” written on the side. Samaritan’s Purse, a Franklin Graham ministry, was active in Tohoku for a year and a half after the 3/11 earthquake. They first brought supplies for the survivors and then organized volunteers to clean and repair houses. The man waved the van down and asked the people inside to tell him about Jesus.

Incredible! Ishinomaki was constantly in the news as a place hard hit by the tsunami. What if the concentrated prayer from around the world for Ishinomaki won a spiritual battle in the heavenlies? What if prayer has opened a way for Jesus to come down and meet these people?

God is making a way in the desert of Japan. “The people living in darkness will see a great light.” Please pray in the spirit of John the Baptist: prepare the way, make straight paths, smooth rough ways for Jesus and his followers to walk on! Beseech (implore, beg, plead, demand) the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the field. Pray warfare prayers for the hearts of the Japanese because it is God’s desire that none should perish. Pray for us that “whenever we open our mouths, words may be given us so that we will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.”

Thank you for your prayers. Please continue with renewed fervor. Thank you for your financial support which allows us to continue working here in Japan. God is doing something new in Japan. We are anxious to see what He will do!

Would you consider a donation to World Mission Offering now through October? Please know that your part in the body of Christ is extremely valuable. Please donate at your local American Baptist church or visit www.internationalministries.org, and see how you can touch lives all over the world!

 

With God’s Love,

 Lee Ann Hwang