Day 5: Sunday 4 October
In the morning, we ministered at Hope Church Kagoshima.
Lester Sim led worship, again incorporating two singers from the local team. I preached on Psalm 121.
As I closed, I sensed that many were moved. One woman asked for prayer and cried throughout the time I prayed for her.
(Little did I know that even as I had shared that morning about a God who watches our coming and our going both now and forevemore – and the completeness of His protection – that my wife (who was back in Perth) would become a victim of a car accident later that afternoon, resulting in the car being written-off. I thank God that she came out of it with only some bruising and a sore neck. The Lord truly protected her!)
After the Sunday service, Jackie conducted a vocal workshop with four singers from the church. They were comfortable singing melody but had not sung harmony before, so the workshop focused on developing that skill. It ran for about 45 minutes. Jackie is keen to keep providing the training remotely.
We rested briefly before preparing for the evening gospel music concert.
There had been some initial miscommunication about the nature of the concert: we understood it to be a casual, cafe style outreach. Only on Tuesday 29 September, the day we left for Japan, did we learn that it was a concert with a potential audience of up to 100 people. This changed the preparation considerably and required a much more structured program.
The event was arranged by a network of churches led by Pastor Matsumoto, together with Shiori, and we expected both churchgoers and people without a church connection. It was an example of what coudld happen when the church and business got together!
We ensured that the program included a gospel presentation, which Samantha delivered. Kevin introduced a segment on “What is the Bible?”, and Chris and Samantha shared their favourite Bible verses.
Although we were initially intimidated by the scale of the event, Lester Sim reminded us that we were simply going to worship. That helped settle us. The event went well, and many people said that they were deeply moved or touched by the music.
The line between worship and performance was blurred as we ended the “concert” with Lester Sim leading the audience in singing “Praise”. Everyone stood up and clapped and danced to the music. We literally had both church and unchurched declaring “let everything that has breath praise the Lord!”.
One person Kevin had invited wanted to know more about the gospel. We hoped to talk to her more over dinner, but she was leaving for Singapore the next day for six months of backpacking. This nevertheless provided an opportunity for Kevin to connect her with Isabelle, a former missionary in Miyazaki who had returned to Singapore.
An employee from the Office of International Exchange also attended. Afterwards, she told Kevin that she had enjoyed the concert so much that she wanted to seek approval for next year’s event to become an official exchange event between Perth and Kagoshima.
Day 6: Monday 5 October
By Monday, the program had shifted towards taking the gospel into settings outside the church.
In the morning, we shared gospel music and the gospel with two groups at an elementary school, comprising children aged about eight (Year 2) and eleven (Year 5). Over 100 students attended.
We taught the simple children’s song “With Christ in the Vessel”.
Lester Sim then presented the gospel using a gacha machine as an illustration: Jesus had paid the price, represented by providing the coin, and we could receive the gift of eternal life, represented by turning the lever. We could see teachers nodding during the presentation.
We spent time in small groups so that students could ask us questions in English and practise through conversation. Each session ended with Oh Happy Day.
It was remarkable to have this opportunity to share the gospel at the school for a second year. Afterwards, we were invited into the principal’s office, where the principal personally thanked each team member.
Over lunch, we caught up with Shiori and learned that she had experienced a difficult year, including challenges within her family. She said that she had a steady life for 40 years before she became a Christian last year, and that this past year had been the most difficult yet.
I thought she might have associated coming to faith with the hardships that followed. Instead, she said that she was grateful to have found God just in time, before those difficulties came.
It was because of her faith that she had organised these outreach opportunities for us and she was determined to continue creating opportunities to share the gospel with her friends and community.
After lunch, we visited International Brilliance School, an English school for people of all ages, where Shiori had herself been a student.
We presented gospel music, followed by a gospel presentation from Lester Sim. His presentation prompted further questions about the gospel. Some students, who would need to give graduation speeches several months later, also asked how he spoke so confidently and powerfully.
About 33 people were in attendance.
The principal thanked us for the event, and to our surprise, mentioned that he was familiar with the gospel, having taught the Bible when he was a teacher in the USA (although he gave no indication that he himself was a Christian). Kevin mentioned that on another occasion, the principal had said that the best way to learn English was to read the Bible!
We stayed afterwards to talk with the students.
Several encouraging reports came out of this event. One person told me that she was interested in the gospel, although I did not have an opportunity to explore that further with her.
One lady shared that she felt something inside while listening to the singing and became curious to learn more about the songs we were singing. One person shared that during the songs, there were moments that she unexpectedly found herself in tears and was deeply moved. Another attendee said that the event made them feel that Christianity was beautiful. One person said she wondered if they were a sinner since they didn’t fully believe in God. Another person became curious about reading the Bible and bought themselves a copy and shared that the music soothed their everyday pain.
Another attendee said that she would begin attending church again, and Kevin intended to connect her with a church, possibly Hope Church Kagoshima.
I was reminded that ultimately, it’s all about God’s presence, which transcends language barriers and the intellect to minister deep to the individual’s area of need.
Day 7: Tuesday 6 October
The day began with breakfast at Pastor Toshiko’s house.
We then spent much of the day with Shiori, who wanted to bless us with brunch at a hotel buffet overlooking Kagoshima and Sakurajima, followed by an onsen visit.
Over brunch, we discussed the events she had hosted.
We also suggested to Shiori that she could use Bible study (using the Book of Mark, for example) as a means to teach English – particularly in light of what the principal of IBS has mentioned previously.
It was also clear that Shiori was willing to continue supporting gospel outreach in Kagoshima through her contacts as an English teacher.
Our time with her had been deeply meaningful. She said that, amid the challenges of the year, she had not felt able to be herself at home. With our team, however, she felt comfortable enough to share openly and cry with us.
We drove back to Fukuoka that evening and returned to Perth the following day, Wednesday 7 October.
It was a short trip, but utterly fufilling.
Conclusion
In the church, we talk about the connection between praise and God’s presence (Psalm 22:3). In our ministry in Japan, we saw this connection firsthand – not just in the church, but also outside the church.
The number of people’s comments that, even as we were performing (worshipping), they became deeply moved, sometimes to tears, tells me that the presence of God was moving during our “concerts”. Some of those would even say that deep pains were being dealt with through the music. Whilst they tried to articulate it some way in terminology known to them, I am convinced that the Holy Spirit was moving powerfully – even to convict hearts.
And we saw how God met one person a year ago – like the woman at the well in John 4 – and she began to tell her city “come see a Man who told me everything about me!”.
We saw worship and witness come together!
I am persuaded more than ever that this is God’s time for Japan and that as God continues to restore David’s fallen tent, the remnant of men will indeed seek His face. A time of unprecedented harvest is at hand!
