Japan Day 2 - Chiba City

Hello! Nice to meet you if I don't know you already~ I’m Esther and I will be sharing about day two in Chiba City.

It is with so much joy to greet you as you’ve come across this blog post. I truly pray that this would move your heart to prayer for Japan and missions, and also lead you to consider how you, personally, are obeying the Great Commission.

If you’ve read the post from yesterday, you may have some context on what it was like for us! Yesterday was a super packed day full of sweetness and lots of joy interacting with different students and meeting with missionaries. However, jet lag hit us all pretty hard heh. BUT today was different. A lot of us woke up past 4:30 A.M. and felt more energized for the day.

This was helpful because today was a transition day and we had to move out of CCSI to our next housing location. So, this looked like a lot of walking with our luggage— at least for the beginning and end of the day when it wasn’t stored away. It was an experience to thank God for because it was uncomfortable, and it really is humbling to be in that position (it’s not one that we have as often back at home), and also funny (but not so funny) stories came from this experience.

The majority of our day was spent in Chiba City. I would say that the prayer walk left all of us deeply saddened for the people of Japan. We began this prayer walk at the red-light district of Chiba. For some background, the missionaries shared with us how this area is more impoverished and cheaper than others, so international people (middle-aged men who are business owners) mostly occupy the space there. We learned that these men are highly susceptible to this terrible act due to different factors; such factors may be that Japan has many broken marriages, over 50% of spouses have affairs (and this is normal) and a lot of Japanese people are overworked and fall into fulfilling their fleshly desires through sexual means. It’s heartbreaking how human trafficking, and prostitution in this area is so common and overlooked by the government. And although prostitution is illegal, the act of prostitution and human trafficking very much exists and is left unaddressed— soap houses, karaoke businesses, and massage parlors are where it may take place. All of which were scattered throughout this district. Furthermore, the targeted group of women who are scouted are older high school students. I think what broke my heart was the fact that the same road, the very same sidewalk that I was stepping on was the ground countless girls have walked upon and taken advantage of.

Please join me in prayer for healing, for justice, and for the love of God to come upon this red-light district. Please pray that all of these people would come to know God who satisfies them, and can forgive them for their sins. Please pray for churches that desire to do mercy ministry in the future but need to have certain things established before like a healthy church, servant leaders, and resources.

The second place where I felt the spiritual darkness of Japan was at the Chiba Shrine. As we entered the shrine the first thing that I noticed were these two cars that were parked in front of a priest, who did a ritual to bless the cars. A Japanese couple paid the priest to do this ritual for their newly bought car which I struggled to understand. The second thing that grabbed my attention was this practice of people clapping their hands about two times to wake up their god. This really was heart-wrenching to see because they do this to get their gods' attention. It was a sorrowful image to witness because it was so different from our God. Immediately the verse from Psalm 121 came to mind:

“My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.”

Our God, our Heavenly Father, Creator of the universe, Our King, and Good Shepherd does not slumber nor sleep. This was completely opposite of what the people at the shrine believed.

There was a story that Missionary Rachel shared that I won’t forget. It was about a man she saw who was praying at every single house for each of the different gods, and he was almost on the verge of crying. This imagery was so countercultural to Japan because in Japan people don’t show their true emotions. It is usually masked to look very put together, as honor and shame play a big role in society. However, this man, possibly due to his circumstance was desperately praying to multiple gods without knowing these gods do not exist and cannot answer his prayers. It made me think about what it would be like if this man knew the One True God, the Living God.

Please join me in prayer for spiritual awakening in Japan. Please pray that the Lord would bring about people to share the gospel and that lives would be transformed, and they would know what it is like to pray to a Gracious Father who loves them and cares for them. Without needing to come before Him with money in their hands, without clapping, and without writing on tablets to get their prayers answered.

Although it was heavy and dark, I was thankful for the opportunity to pray for what I learned and saw. Being able to see for myself the testimonies of different missionaries who have shared about these places before I was brought to tears. I trust that the Lord is present and working and hears our prayers for the people of Japan. I earnestly ask that you continue to join me in prayer.

May God bless you and soften your heart for the unreached people groups, who have never spoken or heard of the name of Our God.

Esther

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Konichiwa! (Hello!) This is Eric and I am very excited as I’ll be sharing with you guys about our second day in Chiba City!

Quick Update:

The past two days (not considering travel day) in Japan have been the most intense yet eventful days. We were all physically drained due to jet lag and having the busiest day on our first day but seeing the children praise, worship and play was so life-giving. The smiles and laughter were so genuine and precious.

Summary of Day 2:

As we moved onto the second day, thinking it wouldn’t be as intense as the first day, we were hit with intense physical training first thing in the morning. We had to carry about 20+ pieces of luggage and backpacks from the church we stayed at to the train station. It was really an amazing experience haha...

After all the hassle, we arrived at Chiba city to do a prayer walk with Missionary Matt around the red light district where a lot of prostitution/sex trafficking occurs, and around a shrine where they pray to a dead god for wealth and prosperity. We prayed over both areas and continued to pray as we walked back.

After the prayer walk, we met with a Japanese pastor, O-Chan, and visited his house to hear about his church plant and the ministry he is doing in Chiba. It was so encouraging and thankful to know that there is someone so faithful and dedicated to serving the Lord in the midst of all the difficulties and discouragement that happen in Japan.

The rest of the night we wandered around Chiba some more, visited Chiba University, got dinner, and had our team debrief to talk about our thoughts and feelings about the day.

Personal Takeaway:

It was just so eye-opening to see how beautiful Japan is on the outside but how dark and corrupt it is on the inside. Japan is so spiritually oppressed and is in so much need of prayer. One common thing when we asked the staff, leaders, missionaries, and pastors for their prayer requests, it was that they are desperately in need of prayers and human resources. Doesn’t have to be pastors or missionaries, just people with a heart to serve. Seeing the urgency in person is really so different from just hearing it over in the US.

So, brothers and sisters, I please encourage you to visit Japan at least once to really grasp the reality of the spiritual brokenness in Japan. It really did not hit me until I saw the people praying to gods in the shrine and trying to receive their blessing through transactional relationships. They spend so much time, energy, and money on a dead God. What really saddened me was parents teaching and guiding their children about the rituals. Not knowing that they’re guiding them to eternal fire.

Prayer Request:

Please pray for people in Japan and for revival to spread across Japan.

With all that said I appreciate every single one of you for your time and prayers. God bless you.

Eric