Working together to reconnect churches with the community

• Ariga Kiichi (Paul) — Ambassador for Asian Access
• Chito Fumikazu — Crossroad Nishinomiya, Hyogo
• Iida Katsuya — J-House, Osaka
• Kanemoto Satoru — Ōizumi Budō no ki Kyōkai, Tokyo
• Sakamoto Kenichi — Shion Kirisuto Kyōkai, Yamagata
• Yokota Pouro (Paul) — Aburayama Shalom Kyōkai, Fukuoka

Responding to emailed questions, six Japanese pastors reflected on how missionaries can continue to contribute to gospel work in Japan.

Their ages and experiences vary, and so do their answers. A common theme was the stress on encouraging missionaries to be willing to work with local churches and pastors and to learn from them. As missionaries do that listening, they can work on culturally appropriate and biblically faithful ways to reconnect churches to the community.

The pastors also said there were many opportunities for missionaries to use their different gifts to serve in Japan and approach non-Christian Japanese people in a way that many Japanese Christians find difficult.

How would Japanese Christians like missionaries to be part of gospel work in Japan?

The pastors said that much of Japan is unreached, and that means there is a wide range of work missionaries can do, particularly with a spirit of cooperation and a willingness to connect with the community.

“This work [of reaching Japan] won’t be possible for just Japanese people or Japanese churches to do,” said Pastor Yokota. “So we’re going to need the cooperation of missionaries and mission organisations.” Pastor Yokota also said that he would like to see missionaries use the gifts they have, whether that’s entertaining, teaching, or playing music. Pastor Ariga concurred, saying, “I think all sorts of missionaries could work in Japan.”

At the same time, the main task is clear, according to Pastor Chito. “There is a vision: make disciples,” he said. “So come join the church in that effort.”

Almost all the pastors talked in some way about missionaries working with or partnering with Japanese churches. Ultimately, an attitude of seeking to cooperate and learn will allow Japanese churches and missionaries to work together for the gospel in Japan. Pastor Kanemoto also pointed out, “The cooperation will change over time, but I think there are some really healthy relationships being established at the moment.”

Pastor Sakamoto expressed a need for churches to better connect with the broader Japanese community. “The biggest problem with the church is that Christians have drifted away from the social body.” He added, “Normal people don’t go to church. So I want to see people who can work with Japanese Christians to break down the walls between churches and the community.” Pastor Iida said that in one sense, missionaries should aim to do what all Christians are doing—look around and seek to reach the few people near them. “We talk about ‘Each one reach one,’” Pastor Iida said. “The way to revival in Japan is for us to evangelize one person at a time. If they ask why you’ve come from America, then share that and go from there.”

What the details of evangelism look like is likely to depend on the church, the pastor, and the missionaries involved. So according to Pastor Chito, it’s important that missionaries are willing to learn, particularly from pastors and older missionaries. “This can be hard if you’ve already been trained, but you need to be willing,” he concluded.

How do you think missionaries contribute to strengthening the church and to evangelism?

On one hand, different giftings and skills lead missionaries to help churches in different ways. “Depending on the missionary, what they can do will vary, so I think it is good that they serve in a way that is appropriate for them,” Pastor Yokota noted.

But all the pastors emphasised that building relationships is most important.

Pastor Sakamoto pointed to the opportunity foreign missionaries have to speak to almost anyone in Japan. “Japanese people are unlikely to speak to someone on the street who they don’t know. But many people are happy if a foreigner speaks to them and will even try to respond in English. This is a special ability that a visitor has.” Pastor Iida shared his own experience of visiting university campuses with his wife in the early days of planting a church and feeling the age gap with the students. He said taking an overseas mission team opened up many opportunities.

Pastor Ariga commented that the effectiveness of a missionary comes out of the relationship-building that can happen in a church. Pastor Kanemoto pointed to the faithfulness and commitment that past missionaries had shown, which was a huge encouragement to him. “Missionaries had a passion for mission and walked faithfully with the Lord in the place they served and had a positive influence on Japanese pastors and Christians.”

Are there mistakes in the past that you think missionaries should avoid?

The failure to get to know the culture before making judgements about how local Christians should respond to religious customs, failure to communicate, and pride were some of the common answers.

Pastor Sakamoto pointed to some unintended consequences of well-intentioned missionaries. “Missionaries taught Japanese people that you mustn’t attend Buddhist events.” Many Japanese people who became Christians interpreted this to mean that they had to leave the social group they had grown up in. Pastor Iida noted that this was an important issue that was ongoing. If a new Christian in Japan stops attending local or family religious events, there is a perception that they have just cut themselves off from the community. He said, “When their parents go to the family grave, I think they can help clean the grave and be there with their family and pray for their family at that time.” Pastor Iida concluded, “It’s really important to maintain the relationships that people have for the sake of mission in Japan.”

This points to the difficulty and necessity for missionaries to adequately understand the culture so that they can know at what point a cultural practice is idolatrous, which also underscores the importance of communicating with Japanese partners.

“I think communication is really important,” said Pastor Yokota. “I feel some missionaries do undervalue the local Japanese church while others seek to fit in with Japanese culture too much, smothering their gifts and character.” Within that context, communication is vital so that missionaries, pastors, and churches talk about the new perspective a missionary can bring and how it might be applied.

Pride and the perception that missionaries are looking or talking down to Japanese people, even inadvertently, were mentioned as issues all missionaries should be aware of.

“Not becoming proud is important, whether you are a pastor or a missionary,” Pastor Kanemoto said. A separate but related issue is that of control. Pastor Ariga mentioned that there were examples from the past when missionaries controlled an evangelism budget from overseas and ended up ruling over a church. Pastor Kanemoto also mentioned that the way missionaries have been taught to communicate the gospel—as teachers instructing students—can have the effect of coming across as proud. This goes back to the earlier point about being culturally aware, except this time, it is to be aware of the missionary’s own culture.

“Leaving aside whether something is wrong or not, it is important for missionaries to be aware of the cultural forces that shape us,” Pastor Kanemoto said. Pastor Chito agrees that missionaries need to be aware that they are also formed by the culture they grew up in, and those things may not be appropriate for Japan. “Not everything Western is wrong, but you need to be prepared to reexamine mission through the book of Acts,” he said. He added that Japan is not a place to bring pet projects and it is also a place where you need to be resilient.

What advice might you give prospective missionaries (church planters or ministry workers) to Japan? What about current missionaries?

The pastors wanted potential missionaries to Japan to be faithful in serving where they are now, investing particularly in relational ministry and persevering in language learning.

Pastor Chito said it’s important for prospective missionaries to be doing the things in their home country that they hope to do in Japan. “If you want to be a church planter, have you been part of a church planting team in Ohio [for instance]?” He wants to ask prospective missionaries whether they are faithful in their churches or have multiplied their small group. Pastor Iida wants people to examine their motivation for coming to Japan. “Are you coming because things didn’t go so well in your own country or you just like anime?” he said. “If you’re not evangelising or discipling in your own country, then you’re going to find it hard in Japan.”

He also challenged potential missionaries to maintain realistic expectations, given that results do not come as quickly as in some other mission locations. He pointed to Jeremiah, who for many years faithfully called on Israel to repent even though nobody did.

For existing missionaries, Pastor Chito said, “Don’t think programs. Think relationships. How many coffees, meals, etc. have you had with people?” Pastor Sakamoto agreed with the importance of relationships, saying that missionaries should spend time with Japanese Christians to encourage them, week in and week out. You can “encourage the Christians as you drink coffee with them and serve in church with them.”

Pastor Iida added that it was important to be specific when thinking about evangelism. “Think in details. Pray in details,” he said. “Pray for Tanaka-san and Yamamoto-san and how they might change and what you need to do to help them change.”

Pastor Kanemoto had observed missionaries giving thanks for things they had learnt in Japan, and those same missionaries tended to have friendships with Japanese people of different backgrounds. “If we are able to be friends with those who have different values to us, I wonder if that also means that we are walking well as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.

Pastor Yokota pointed to the disaster relief ministries as an area where Japanese Christians and missionaries had been able to cooperate well. “My hope is that the same sort of cooperation can take place in the field that we call mission.”

In all of this, missionaries really need to learn Japanese as well as they can so that their efforts bear fruit. “I know that missionaries can really struggle with language learning. But if you can’t speak Japanese, you won’t be able to open the door to Japanese people’s hearts,” Pastor Sakamoto said.

Have you been encouraged by a missionary? If so, in what way?

Almost all the pastors had personal connections with missionaries who were part of their Christian formation.

“I myself believed because a Swedish missionary brought the gospel. They led me to become a pastor. I was able to plant a church with missionaries, and they helped me grow so that I could fight alongside them,” Pastor Ariga recalled. “I am so thankful.” Pastor Kanemoto was baptised as an infant by a missionary and then encouraged to grow by several others. He said, “I’m here today because of the guidance I received from many missionaries.”

Pastor Yokota remembers how one of his teachers at seminary was a missionary who took time to fellowship with him. “The personal fellowship that happened when they opened their house to me is something that I want Japanese people to imitate more because it really shows Christian love,” said Pastor Yokota. “That I was able to see it and experience it was a really big thing for me.”

Pastor Sakamoto continues to benefit from the help of missionaries and feels like the load he carries is significantly lightened. “They understand my heart’s burdens. They pray for me, work alongside me, and appreciate me,” he said. “At times, they remind me that I need to rest. I would be really glad if I could help the missionaries in the same way.”

All photos submitted by authors