David Robison, a local missionary with Japan Evangelical Missions Society and a friend of A3, says, “Immediately after the earthquake, we started hearing the tsunami sirens going throughout the city.”

A warning system of sirens and public announcements alerted coastal residents to evacuate. The earthquake caused little damage, but it revived memories of the 2011 quake and tsunami, disasters that devastated the region and killed nearly 20,000 people.

“Every time something like this happens, it does reawaken a lot of trauma. People have been through a lot in the last tsunami, and there are people who lost houses, who lost family members, jobs,” says Robison.

Wave (Photo courtesy of Mikhail Nilov via Pexels)

That tragedy nevertheless opened doors to the gospel.

Though Japan’s Christian roots run deep, believers are few. “There are very few people who know anything about the Christian churches or what they do,” adds Robison.

But after the 2011 earthquake, life in the affected areas changed for many. International Christian missions partnered with local believers, and their practical aid — paired with biblical encouragement — brought real hope to communities desperate for help.

As a result, Robison’s home church, along with other missions agencies and denominations, recognized the need and began launching new church plants.

“There’s been, I believe, a new church plant in almost every city in Iwate prefecture that was hit by the tsunami,” he says.

Fourteen years later, Monday’s earthquake comes just weeks before Christmas. Robison says, “Our whole focus right now is to introduce people to the Prince of Peace and to offer the hope and peace they need,” underscoring how fitting Jesus’ title is for this fearful season.

Pray for safety from stronger earthquake waves and any tsunamis. “The big concern right now is that there will be another larger earthquake in the next week. So that’s what everybody’s worried about,” says Robison.

Pray for the Christmas outreach of Japanese believers and local missionaries amid the uncertainty of the weeks ahead. 

Header photo: Japan (Photo courtesy of Faycal Ken via Unsplash).

Asian Access had planned to send ministry teams into this massive crowd. Joe Handley says, “We’ve completely shifted the approach to virtual, short-term mission trips. The ongoing preparation since September has been focused on these kinds of virtual experiences. You get to know the country, and you get to see what’s happening on the ground. We connect you with people that can advise culturally. And then you get to engage.” You can learn more about these trips and register here.

A new season for the Church

These trips reflect a pivot in Japan towards virtual churches during the pandemic. Believers have made good use of digital technology to stay connected.

Handley says Japanese Christians see the Olympics as a springboard for what God will do next through the Church there. “I think that this whole pandemic has given new realities to the life of the global Church, and how we’re going to do ministry in the future. Fascinatingly enough, it comes in this cherry blossom season, when new life can be birthed.”

Pray the Japanese church can fulfill its incredible vision of planting 50 thousand churches in the country. Handley says, “I think it’s gonna take an entrepreneurial spirit, that new wineskin approach to life and ministry.”

The header photo shows cherry blossoms in Japan. (Photo courtesy of Kanenori on Pixabay)

Takeshi Takazawa of Asian Access says, “We want to think, ‘That was it. We went through hardship enough. So until Jesus comes back, this will be the end. We just continue without earthquakes or any disaster or suffering.’ But it was a wake-up call that this can happen anyplace, anytime, to anybody.”

Japanese Christians

But God works in a mysterious new way in the world, Takazawa says. And He doesn’t stop in times of pain and hardship. “The global Church came together as one and came alongside the part that was hurting. We felt [their love] not just theological reflection. We saw it, we touched, and we smelled it. We tasted the global Church.”

The disaster also taught Japanese Christians to move towards areas of disaster and hardship, not away from them. “Of course, an evacuation was needed for the moment. But where they live, the Church must be established, raising leaders for the harvest, from the harvest.” Pray God will bless their continuing ministry in a country that still bears scars from this catastrophe.

The header image shows a small town in Japan abandoned after the triple disaster. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Saturday, the region suffered an aftershock of the 2011 quake, according to the Japanese Meteorological Society. Aftershocks can continue for years after a major earthquake. In fact, this isn’t the first major earthquake to hit the region since the disaster.

An inspection of the Fukushima area in 2012 (Photo courtesy of Global 2000 via Flickr)

Thankfully, no casualties were reported this time, and nuclear power plants in the area showed no sign of damage or abnormalities. Joe Handley of Asian Access says, “I’m hearing people are safe, but the anxiety levels are high. The shaking was so bad that books were thrown across rooms, glass was broken. It was a pretty severe shake. I believe I’m hearing it was about 7.1 on the Richter scale.”

Lingering anxiety

The Fukushima disaster remains one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. The Japanese government will continue cleaning up sites contaminated by radioactive materials for decades. Several areas still exude higher than normal amounts of radiation. Many people have never returned to their homes in Fukushima.

This new earthquake has further unsettled people living nearby. Handley says local Christians want to embody the hope of Jesus in an anxious time. “It’s in moments like these that we the Church can rise above. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, Japanese leaders in that region, and missionaries that we work with, as they try to come in and be a presence for Jesus. If they can be that light of Christ and be His hands and feet in the midst of what’s happening, I think it’s a great encouragement to the people.”

Pray the Holy Spirit will empower Japanese believers in this work.

The header photo shows a radiation hotspot near Fukushima in 2012. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Many have referred to the April uptick as a second wave, the first happening in March, but Takeshi Takazawa of Asian Access views it as a delayed wave. Up until the beginning of April, Japan had not seen many cases, even though the virus first arrived in January. Read our full COVID-19 coverage here.

Takazawa says of active cases, “I think the number has been steadily growing. But our country decided to limit the PCR test to see [if people were] positive or negative.” Like most countries, Japan doesn’t currently have the hospital infrastructure to deal with an out-of-control coronavirus outbreak. The country has declared a nationwide state of emergency until May 6.

Near-empty streets in Japan. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons)

Japan’s social distancing measures had also been lax. Takazawa says, “It’s been very difficult in dense cities like Tokyo or Osaka. We’re trying to do it. In the downtown business area, traffic has been reduced significantly. But in the residential area people are still walking around. Of course, we were a highly mask-wearing culture even before this COVID-19 situation, so people are wearing masks.”

As more and more people started exhibiting symptoms, Takazawa says, the Japanese government had to start testing more people. As they did, the number of confirmed cases went up, simulating a “second wave.”

Impacts to ministry

Asian Access works to unify the Church in Japan and other parts of Asia. Takazawa says, “This situation took away that luxury of being together as a community. So we have to change our strategy from face to face to distant connectedness. So, we’ve been shifting almost everything online at this moment.”

Poster from Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

How can ministry be done without physical presence? That is a philosophical shift the Church is going through, Takazawa says. One thing is certain; the love of the Holy Spirit casts out fear. That is needed in Japan and all over the world.

Pray for Japan

Christians in the United States are united with Christians in Japan through the Holy Spirit. Pray for your brothers and sisters in Japan as they face the increased social distancing measures for the first time. Pray that they will not panic but will encourage others through their fearless commitment to Christ.

And remember that Christians in Japan are doing the same thing. Takazawa says, “We are remembering other countries, like New York’s situation and other states that [have] increasing cases. We are praying for the leaders, medical staff, and all these brothers and sisters in North America.”

For the PrayerCast coronavirus video, click here.

Novel Coronavirus Expert meeting in Japan. This was the first meeting on February 16. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

We spoke to Gary Bauman of Asian Access about changes taking place in the evangelical Japanese Church.

Leadership from within

Photo courtesy By そらみみ (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. (http://goo.gl/msD7iD)

Bauman says, “In Japan, the Church is so small that there just aren’t very many people to come up into leadership.”

The existing leaders are older, many of them having started in ministry after WWII. The younger generation of men is more concerned about their careers in the business world.

Pastors and leaders are saying there is a different future for how leadership is raised for the Church–one that will help the Church ultimately grow.

When Bauman met with the general director of the Japan Evangelical Association, the director said, “The leaders of the Church community in Japan need to come outside of the Church community.”

When Bauman asked him what he meant, the general director explained that leaders coming from the outside not only provide more possibilities, but they would also have the potential to bring the outside community in to the Church.

Japan is seeing some interesting trends outside of the Church that go against centuries of tradition, says Bauman.

“Japan has built right into the culture the whole sense of apprenticeship, and historically in the working world there would be an understudy.”

While this still takes place within the church, many younger leaders are taking charge in the workplace, in relief efforts, and the like.

Dangers of the Christian subculture

If new leaders are not found for the existing churches in Japan, growth could halt. There is also a disconnect between the Church and the world around them. While it’s true Christians are called to be set apart from the world, they are also called to go and make disciples and share the Good News of Jesus. They can’t effectively do that if they are not involved in their community.

Bauman puts it this way: “We need the new leaders coming in from outside because there is very definitely a Christian subculture in Japan. In many cases, it can be disjointed from what’s happening in the general Japanese world.”

This disconnect has forced a sort of paradigm shift when it comes to the way new leaders are found.

Many churches are realizing the benefits of getting involved in community events.

Bauman says there are some dangers of getting in a strong groove within the church.

“As a Christian community, we become comfortable with each other, and we start losing connections to people that we knew and enjoyed and had a lot of good times with before we became a Christian.”

If people could stay more connected in an effort to share the new life they’ve found, it could in effect bring many more people to Christ. After all, as Bauman reminds us, often new Christians are the most effective evangelists.

Background on A2 training in Japan

For the first year of their pastoral ministry, pastors meet up with a network of pastors every three months for a few days to discuss relevant topics and ways to implement useful knowledge.

These meetings are a seminar-workshop combination.

Throughout every area of their ministry, Asian Access is very careful about one thing. Bauman says, “The key thing is that we aren’t coming in as an outside organization telling the Japanese churches and pastors what to do.” He says the motto of Asian Access today is that of the ministry’s founder almost 50 years ago: “My vision is to help you fulfill your vision.”

In other words, “In partnership, we serve together,” Bauman says.

Asian Access therefore becomes a catalyst, not an organization asking churches to be modeled in western styles.

Bauman says the greatest challenge for them in Japan is learning patience. When new ideas are brought up, there is usually a long period of discussion and re-discussion. He says this can be frustrating for a westerner accustomed to fast-paced decision making.

How should we pray? “The main way to pray is that there would really be a movement of God to impress upon any younger people within the church the need to do Kingdom work– to be involved in full-time ministry, so to speak, and to really commit themselves to that.”