Journeying with Japanese churches in evangelism

Missionaries can act as catalysts in Japanese churches to encourage evangelism as they support and work alongside them. For that to happen, it is important to be patient and willing to learn from their Japanese brothers and sisters.

This is because evangelism is hard in Japan. Although the gospel has been preached in Japan since 1549, starting with the missionary efforts of St. Francis Xavier, Japanese churches are still small and numerically few. At the same time, there may be church members who don’t see evangelism as something they need to do. They may regard it as the work of a missionary. So a gentle challenge about evangelism may be needed to encourage each member to follow the Great Commission and make disciples of all nations. Everyone has a role to play and something to contribute to the work of evangelism.

Listening is important

In order for evangelism to be culturally effective, it is essential that missionaries spend time listening to Japanese Christians share their understanding of and suggestions for evangelism. They can learn about Japanese culture and how to communicate in a way that will touch the heart of a Japanese person. At the same time, missionaries and Japanese Christians can gain mutual understanding and serve each other in prayer to advance the kingdom of God.

For those who are doing evangelism work in Japan, either as an independent/affiliated missionary or directly working for a Japanese church, it’s important to prepare with prayer. Assess and identify the understanding of evangelism in the Japanese church you’re journeying with, ask what kind of help they need, and be patient and celebrate every little success.

Prayer and preparation

For a missionary who plans to come alongside a Japanese church, prayer is crucial, both for themselves and the church they hope to work with. Learning a new language to serve the local people and journey with a Japanese church is not an easy task. It may take many years to succeed. It is important to pray for long-term commitment and be dedicated to serving in Japan. During the preparation time, the prospective missionary could ask the Japanese church they plan to work with for prayer points and perhaps share their own prayer needs so they can serve each other in mutual prayer.

Even when a missionary and church are ready to start working together, patience is needed. When Japanese churches make plans, they do it at their own pace and time. They like to spend a lot of time to understand, discuss, and evaluate everything related in detail before committing to a plan. To plan carefully is not wrong, but it does require patience from those who are not used to it. It can take several years for mutual understanding to grow. It is an opportunity for a missionary to wait in patience.

A deeper understanding

It’s important to spend time with the Japanese church to identify their understanding of evangelism by asking and observing what they know about evangelism, how they feel about it, what kinds of problems they are facing, and what changes might help to reach the Japanese heart. Japanese Christians have their own understanding about appropriate evangelism methods in the Japanese context, and effective evangelism methods in other cultures cannot simply be reused in Japan. One-size-fits-all evangelism methods sometimes cause more damage than blessing.

Japanese Christians need to be willing to share their understanding about evangelism and to offer suggestions for changing evangelism methods to be more culturally appropriate. If local Christians can help the missionary gain more understanding of the culture and Japanese learning style, both can grow in understanding evangelism in the Japanese context. That may lead to an easily understandable, multipliable, and culturally appropriate evangelism method or plan.

Type of ministry

Having established a foundation of prayer together and a deeper understanding of Japan, missionaries and churches can consider what ministry might meet the evangelism needs of the church.

The missionary could ask questions to define the need: What do you sense God is doing in your area? If you could make changes in your church, what would they be? Why do you want to change? What is the need behind these ideas? What kind of help do you need? How can we serve you and your outreach in this community?

Once the true need is defined and understood, the missionary and church could spend time together praying and talking until a common understanding is reached. Taking time for this process will help to develop a good long-term relationship of collaboration in ministry.

Patience and celebration for every little success

The Great Commission is a long journey. Each and every step of moving forward toward the goal should be celebrated. On the missionary’s side, little steps such as making a friend with a nonbeliever or taking the chance to get involved in a local activity and work with locals, all the way up to being able to use the Japanese language to preach and share the gospel in Japanese, are all things worth celebrating.

In the Japanese church, each step forward should also be celebrated, such as being willing to pray in the prayer meeting for unbelieving friends, having the courage to talk to family and friends about their faith, and inviting nonbelievers to a church event.

Conclusion

Japan is hard ground, but God still does amazing things. To fulfill the Great Commission well, Japanese churches and missionaries need to pray together, talk, work together, and learn from each other. That will deepen their understanding of evangelism so that they can advance the kingdom of God.