Japan Newsletter #6 - KCPC Missionaries

Today, I spent the morning exploring Ningyōchō, aka Doll Town, located in the Chuo ward of Tōkyō. I had a chance to visit CoCoICHI, a chain restaurant for curry, and after our meal my family was approached by a Japanese woman who spoke to us in Korean! She said she overheard us speaking in Korean and wanted to recommend a dessert store nearby. It was very kind of her, and I think it made my parent’s day to speak to someone in Korean haha. As we walked around, we also found dolls placed in front of stores and sidewalks. I was a little creeped out though, never was a big fan of dolls lol.

Before meeting Rachel and David for dinner, we had some time to visit other areas of Tōkyō. I was happy to find that from Ningyōchō Station, Higashi-ginza Station was only two stops away! There, we can find the biggest version of my favorite store HAHA. Uniqlo Ginza is the biggest Uniqlo in the world, with 12 floors and a café as well. I had a lot of fun looking at all the clothes I’ve seen a thousand times before, but this time from a much higher elevation ‘cause the men's section was 8 floors up loll. But yeah, there wasn’t much new for me to see, so after going up and down the floors for a bit I finally made my way to Rachel and David.

Wow, first I want to say what a blessing it was to spend time with them. They shared their stories of Japan, of what they’ve gone through and what life is like here. As I mentioned in the last newsletter, I felt regret for not being able to go deeper into Japan’s culture, so to hear from them was so fulfilling and eye-opening. If I wrote everything I heard, I would be writing for many pages haha. But something Pastor David shared really caught my attention. Currently 33% of pastors in Japan are 65 years or older. Many can’t retire because if they did, there wouldn’t be a pastor to replace them in their church. But what would happen to the churches if all 33% were gone? You could imagine, but it could be a reality for them here very soon. The situation is much more serious than we could have thought.

However, there isn’t a single answer that will solve all the problems here. If you ask for a prayer request, the answer would be “everything”. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t pray. That doesn’t mean we don’t do anything. Our God is a mighty God, who can cause mountains to move, storms to cease, heal the sick, and restore the brokenhearted. He does that through His people. People like you and me, who are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. As I continued to listen, a verse kept coming to mind.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

Psalm 42:1 ESV

King David in this passage thirsts for God, and looks for God, asking where He is. Yet as he writes, he still says he will praise and remember Him. The stories I heard of the missionaries here and those serving the Lord remind me of him in this passage. Seeking God, yet still praising and remembering His goodness. It’s so hard for them, but they still continue knowing God will sustain and provide. Let us support them in the mission, through prayer, financial provision, but most importantly, going. Japan is in dire need of people to represent Christ. If you are going into the mission field, pray and consider Japan. Introduce the idea of going to Japan to your churches, and others you know that are prayerfully considering missions as well.

Tomorrow, I will be spending the day with Pastor David, attending a graduation for a Christian school, and later on spend more time with him and Rachel before heading back to the hotel to pack for the flight home. It’s crazy to think my time here in Japan is almost over. I want to thank all of you who came on this journey with me through my newsletters, and I hope it brought a lot of light to what is going on here, and hopefully, it gave you the motivation to come one day to experience it yourself! One final newsletter from Japan coming up next.

With Peace and Love,

Hongki Lee