Japan Reflection

Hello friends! As we prepare for more training in Cape Town, South Africa, I wanted to take a step back and reflect on some of the things God did while I was in Japan. There's so much I can write, but I'll keep this short, otherwise you won't read it!

Firstly, I want to recommend Japan as a destination for travel to anyone. Japan is such a beautiful country. The natural landscape is stunningly beautiful. You are never far from the shore, and you can pretty much always see mountains as most of the land is mountainous. Even the cities are works of art with huge skyscrapers, state of the art train systems, convenient stores and cheap, quick restaurants everywhere! Oh how I miss Matsuya! (my favourite fast food restaurant!)

The most beautiful thing about Japan are the people. They are a people who show respect, generosity, hospitality, and they work hard too. More than any other people group I've encountered. They may take a while to get to know, but if you take the time to listen, you'll have some of the deepest friendships you can have. The Japanese people are truly remarkable. 

While living in Tokyo and getting to know the wonderful country, culture and people, I realised that God's heart breaks for them. You see stressed and depressed people every day. People work from early until late. Family life is stretched. There is much unemployment. Cultural pressures are heavy. With no change in sight, many people seriously consider suicide as a viable option. The suicide rate is one of the highest in the world working out to be around one suicide every 15 minutes. Suicide is the leading cause of death among men aged 20 to 44. Another social issue in Japan is something called Hikikomori (literally "pulling inward, being confined") where people close themselves away from the rest of the world for over 6 months, sometimes even staying in their bedroom. The Ministry of Health estimates around 3,600,000 hikikomori live in Japan. 

As well as these issues, there is also an even bigger issue, which could in fact lead to the ones above. This is the fact that around 1% of the population know Jesus Christ as their saviour. He is the hope to the hopeless. He is the great healer. This fact is heartbreaking. Walking through the crowds of people in Tokyo and realising that the majority don't know there is a God who loves them is difficult. It is so constant that you can become numb to this reality. It is a reality nonetheless. This is the greatest prayer need for this people.

But there is hope! While in Japan, I got the privilege to live and work alongside wonderful people from all over the world at YWAM Tokyo. Here I spent time with people whose hearts truly break for the Japanese people. Prayer warriors who believe God answers prayer, no matter how humanly impossible. 

With YWAM, I was able to worship God on the streets. Talk to random Japanese people about God. Pray for healing on the streets. Walk around red light districts while praying for God's light to invade. I got to lead groups of young missionaries on university campuses and make friends with students. We also held Bible studies on campuses and organised prayer and worship meetings with existing student Christian groups to bring unity and encouragement.

I also helped plant a church in Tokyo called Cornerstone Tokyo which is linked to a church of the same name in Seattle. We started sitting on buckets on the busy streets of Ikebukuro, Tokyo, then grew quickly to rent a building. And finally had to rent an even bigger one in Yoyogi, Tokyo where they worship currently. At Cornerstone, we have seen many people learn about Jesus for the first time and there have been numerous people baptised in a residential stream, including a precious girl we met at lunchtime on a university campus.

On Friday, the 11th of March 2011, Japan experienced a devastating 9.0 magnitude megathrust earthquake with consequent tsunami of up to 40 metres high. This destroyed multiple villages and cities along the east coast of Tohoku (northern Japan). There were recorded 15,883 deaths, 6,145 injured and 2,656 missing people in what is known to be the costliest natural disaster in world history and the most powerful earthquake Japan has ever seen. The tsunami also caused nuclear disaster in Fukushima prefecture where residents within a 12 mile radius had to be evacuated. 

I remember walking down a street in Jiyugaoka, Tokyo with Naoko when the ground started shaking. We thought it was a lorry going past or something. But things started to shake and jerk wildly. People were running into the centre of the streets and screams could be heard. It really was a scary time and nobody knew what was happening. The telephone signals didn't work and the trains all stopped. We walked to the YWAM DTS house where we found out the details of what happened. It was really surreal and sickening. Over the next couple of weeks, the sometimes-too-powerful aftershocks kept me awake at night. There wasn't much we could do to help the people in Tohoku besides pray.

A couple of months after this happened, Naoko and I were given the opportunity to travel to the disaster zone with a group from YWAM and a Tokyo church. Though we wanted to help with our whole hearts, we found there wasn't much we could do. We prayed for people and helped a family clean their house of mud left by the waves. The devastation was horrific. So much destruction. Whole cities laid waste. It was as if it were straight out of a film scene. Anyway, even though we couldn't do much, we did make a wonderful friend. On that trip, a cool older lady opened up her home so we could spend the night and she cooked us amazing food. She is a buddhist who quite likes Jesus. Naoko kept in touch with her and we travelled up and stayed with her before coming to England. We are praying that she can finally believe in Jesus as her Lord soon. God can do it! The day after we left, she went to a gospel concert and got a CD! He is faithful. For those wondering, the people of Tohoku are making steady progress in rebuilding their lives and towns, though there is still much work to be done. Though nothing will ever replace what they have lost.

My time in Japan really opened my eyes to the work God is doing all over the world. And I feel as if I made a second home there. I have many friends and family in Japan and it will always be dear to me. It's also the place where I met my best friend, who is now my wife. I feel blessed and privileged that God led me to much a wonderful place. Please join me in continued prayer for Japan, that they may know the Creator who loves them. If you would like to keep up to date with what YWAM is doing in Tokyo, or if you would like to do a DTS with them (highly recommended!), please go to ywamtokyo.org.

Thank you for reading this. And thank you to those who have prayed for me and my work in Japan, and to those who have supported me financially. Japan came a little closer to God because of your generosity. We could not be doing what we're doing without your wonderful support and your prayers!

As for what's next for us, we're off to South Africa so that we can get a little more missionary training with YWAM so we can be more effective at sharing the love of God to those who don't know Him. We'll keep you up to date!

Gary