I am sssoooooooooo sorry that I have not been so faithful to post blogs as I was last year. Due to time and internet access contraints, it has been difficult to post as often or as in depth. But, perhaps this post will give you a glimpse into how this project is going! First of all, thank you to those of you who have prayed for me to be able to sleep! God is good, and I have slept every night for the past week, and I am so thankful.
Okay... where to begin. Last year, I feel like I saw mostly the surface of Japan. It is an exciting place to be, completely opposite from America, and there are so many people here that need to hear about Jesus. But this year, I feel like I'm seeing what God sees when he looks at Japan... in other words, I'm seeing what is really behind the good-looking surface of Japan. Let me tell you about some of my reading sessions to explain.
I have a jr. high student, Kumiko, whom I read with. She is an extremely smart girl and speaks very good English. I was talking to her about school, and I asked her what her favorite subject is. She said, "social studies." And so I asked, "why?" She said, "it is very interesting, because we started by learning about how monkeys turned into people, and then about all the different emperors and periods after that." In the school systems here, they literally teach that evolution is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Countless readers have told me now that they believe the earth began and people were created by macro evolution. Of course, when they tell me that is what they believe, I don't say no that's not true, but I simply start asking them questions. For example, could an airplane be created out of a junkyard over time? What about the fact that there are males and females? What about the complexity and variety of life? Is it really just chance? It is amazing really, to see them starting to think and question what they have always believed to be the truth.
Last week, Oishi-san asked me, "what do you think about the Japanese religious situation?" I told him I thought it was sad. He asked why, and I told him that Buddhism and Shintoism are very conflicting religious beliefs, and that it must be confusing to have to adhere to both at the same time. Then he told me, "well, Buddhism is more just a way of life. We do not really read the book of Buddha, but we just use the Buddhist way for funerals and festivals." So I asked him what he thought of all the Shinto gods, and he said, "well, I like Amaterasu Omikami and Tsukuyomi, and Jesus..." And I said, "well, it's not really important which gods you like. The only god worth worshipping is one who is real." He said, "well, I don't know how to know which god is real."
Last Saturday, my readers Misaki and Hikari, (8 and 6 year old little girls), were showing me pictures of the swimming lessons they take in school. In one picture, there was a man wrapped in a white robe, with a crown of leaves on his head. I asked them who the man was, and they said he was the water god, and they prayed to him for safety before they started class. It is absolutely amazing to me that a priest dresses up like a god and the little children are told to pray to him in school.
There are two other things that are very difficult about this culture. The first is the overwhelming group mentality. A Japanese person should not rock the boat. For example, if 3 friends go out for lunch together, and one wants Chinese food and the other 2 want hamburgers, then they will all go out and get Italian food, even though none of them want it. It is almost impossible socially to do your own thing here. So if a person wants to become a Christian, it causes an extreme uproar in the family, because they are parting from the traditions of family and country.
The second is that any problems a person has or a family have must be hidden. If you have breast cancer and recover from it, then you lock yourself up at home, never come out, and never see your friends again. If you have depression, then you don't tell anyone, and many choose to commit suicide instead of seeking help (Japan is the country with the highest suicide rate in the world). It's so sad.
Of course, I am in no way saying that American society is perfect and that Japanese society is flawed. On the contrary, both countries have problems unique to the culture. However, these are the things I am seeing that make it so difficult for a Japanese person to become a Christian.
Here's the interesting thing, though. Many of our readers are searching for something more and something deeper. They see no hope where they currently are. For example, one of Lauren's readers, Yuko, came with us to Tokyo on our day off. We went to Asakusa, a famous Buddhist temple. There we saw many men chanting with a priest. We asked her about what they were doing and she pointed to a booth right next to us. Above the booth were sticks, some longer and others shorter. On them were written different amounts of money. She explained that in order to pray with the priest, you must buy a stick. The more expensive the stick, the more likely your prayers were to get answered. Then she said, "that is why I don't like this god, because you have to pay him to listen to you."
When we went to Tokyo, we had the opportunity to attend a church called International Bible Fellowship in Chiba. It has 120 members and has grown exponentially in the last year. They are loving on people, helping in the community, and as a result, many people have chosen to follow Jesus.
It is a slow process in Japan to share the gospel. Before you ask a person if they want to follow Jesus and be baptized, you must be sure that they fully understand the cost. It means no more ancestor worship, no more Buddhist funerals, and no more prayers at Buddhist shrines. It means changing their whole lives, and whole way of thinking. But I suppose that is how it is for anyone who chooses to follow Jesus... he asks us all to carry our cross daily. The statues that people pray to here do not ask anything of those who pray to them. But, in return they also give nothing back. Contrast that with the God who loves us unconditionally, who gives us eternal life, and who answers our prayers daily. So many people here need hope. And there is only one God who can give them hope.
"The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, "Why, it's just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a church of wood?... He is trusting something that can give him no help at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, "Is this thing, this idol that I'm holding in my hand, a lie?" ~Isaiah 44:19-20
"The LORD, your Redeemer and Creator, says: "I am the LORD, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. By myself I made the earth and everything in it." ~Isaiah 44:24
Thank you for your support and your prayers. The team is doing great, we all just wish we had more time with these wonderful people who continue coming to learn more about Jesus. Please continue praying for them to have understanding, and for their hearts to be open.
Love in Christ,
Marabeth
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