A dream, delays, and a book
How God used various circumstances to inspire a project of sharing Japanese testimonies
In early 2023, after ten long years of waiting, we finally had a trip planned to visit Japan! It wasn’t the long-term stay we’d been dreaming of, but we hoped God would make some connections that would open the door for us to return on a long-term work visa. Just before we took our trip, I received a phone call from my mother saying she’d had a dream we wouldn’t go to Japan long term until we completed a book with 100 testimonies. It seemed so random and specific, and, honestly, we weren’t sure if we should believe her, but if it was a dream from God, we wanted to be praying about it.
Delays
After two long but beautiful months in the land we’ve so longed to make our home, we returned to the States a bit disappointed that no door had been immediately opened. Then we found out we were pregnant with another baby! We were excited but also felt that staying in the States for a while would be wise since I had struggled deeply with postpartum depression after our daughter Hannah was born. We didn’t want to jump into a new language, culture, and place if we were going to face that challenge again. At the same time, my husband was offered a construction/carpentry job, which was the dream work he’d been hoping to do in Japan. All of these delays started to add up in my mind as confirmations of my mother’s dream, and I began considering it more deeply.
Seeing the need
Two things came to mind as I thought about what this book could mean for ministering to the Japanese, things we’ve learned over the years and have heard from missionaries in Japan. First, Japanese believers often have a difficult time sharing their faith with others due to fear of sticking out and being ostracized,1 and second, Japanese who are not believers often think that being a Christian means giving up being Japanese or that belief in the God of the Bible is more of a Western thing.2 As I pondered these things, I began to see the need for this book. It could serve as a tool to encourage people that being Japanese and being Christian are not incompatible—that God is truly the God of all nations, peoples, and tongues—and to embolden Japanese Christians to share their testimonies. So, regardless of whether my mother’s dream was from God or not, I could see the potential for this book to both plant seeds for the gospel and inspire believers to share how God has worked in their lives.
The book’s beginning
The testimonies with this article are representative of what the book will look like in terms of content. May you be blessed by these beautiful stories of God’s handiwork in the lives of two Japanese brothers! They are a beautiful start to this little book-writing journey God has us on. However, this is just the beginning, and we need more testimonies! If a Japanese brother or sister you know has a story to share, please reach out at japanesetestimonybook@gmail.com. An online submission form will then be sent to collect the testimony and other important information for the book. Please pray for this work God has started to be brought to completion and to bring many Japanese to Christ!
1. Brent Kooi, “Why Are the Japanese so Resistant to the Gospel?” Mission to the World, https://www.mtw.org/stories/details/why-are-the-japanese-so-resistant-to-the-gospel (March 24, 2014).
2. Kelly Malone, “Doing Evangelical Theology with the Japanese,” Missio Nexus, https://missionexus.org/doing-evangelical-theology-with-the-japanese/ (April 1, 2009).
Illustration by Jackie Peveto