Friday, August 28, 2009

Why Tokyo??

When God led us to Japan and specifically to this trip in Tokyo we asked the same question, "Why Tokyo?" Japan has one of the largest unchurched people groups in the world. With over 127 million people living in a country smaller than the state of California, only a handful profess Christ as their Savior. The city of Tokyo has over 33.5 million people living in it and of those only .05% know Jesus Christ. Japan is known as the land of 8 million gods however the Japanese find themselves in twined in humanism and materialism more so than other main stream religions such as Buddhism or Shintoism. The job that is facing Christian missionaries serving in Japan is tremendous. With roughly only 30-35 full time missionaries in the Tokyo area, that leaves each missionary to reach about 1 million people each. One of the most difficult aspects of this task is that the Japanese equate becoming a Christian with forsaking their heritage. With Tokyo boasting a high suicide rate of approximately 100 per day, many Japanese have a feeling of hopelessness. These are just some of the facts about the lostness that exists in Japan and specifically in Tokyo. To get a better understanding of this, I encourage you to visit IMB Tokyo's website and view this video:



http://www.imbtokyo.org/resources/FGT2009_264/05intern2008-FGT2009.mov



We invite you all to not only pray for us to bodly proclaim the Gospel message to the Japanese, but that the Japanese begin to respond to offer of forgiveness being presented to them.

2 comments:

  1. The numbers are staggering. But we serve a powerful God who wills that none should perish. It will be an incredible journey for you both. We are praying for you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was stationed in Japan, not too far from Tokyo, for a few years back in the '90s. I am still in love with that country, and I hope for the best as you try to reach them!

    ReplyDelete