CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Angel37 wrote:WOW! How amazing! I'm actually looking into becoming a missionary to Japan myself. Is there a great need there for missionaries? I'm a college freshman at Trinity College working towards my missions degree. Is there anything you can suggest?
And welcome to the nuthouse!

SP1 wrote:Watch Haibane Renmei. That's a good one. Not that I'm biased or anything (see the sig).

himura_KAORU wrote:If u don't mind, this is a topic very close to my heart and I have a lot to share if u don't mind reading it all ^^

The Missionary board we are with, SEND International, was formed shortly after WWII when American soldiers who had been stationed in Japan were burdened with the need to share the Gospel with the Japanese people. Currently, SEND has about 60 missionaries to Japan, mostly in the Tokyo region (which is where we will be going). They have had a lot of success compared to other missionary efforts to Japan but the response of the Japanese people to Christianity is VERY minimal.

The Japanese view Christianity as a "Western" religion and when a Japanese person converts to Christianity it is almost as if they cease to be "Japanese." That is how they feel, at least. Japan has it's own religion which is a mixture of Shintoism and Buddhism and is reflected in the many cultural festivals, rituals, etc prevalent in Japanese culture.

My husband and I went on a month long missionary trip in 2001 to a fairly rural area of Kyuushu. We went to confirm our call to missions. What we saw in that short time was the depth of despair of these dear people who have little or no hope in their lives.

One girl we met had recently accepted Jesus and was preparing to be baptized. Her parents did not think she was serious about Christianity until she told them of her decision to be baptized. Her parents were extremely upset and even told her "Who will pray for us after we die?" because she was an only child. Her family was devastated. It is often a struggle for Japanese Christians.

So, the need for missionaries in Japan is great and there is no better time than now. We recently received the results of a Gallup (Christian research group) survey concerning the popularity and acceptance of Christianity withing certain age groups in Japan.

Less than 1% of the population of Japan considers themselves Christian. That figure has remained constant for many years, but for the first time we are seeing a trend towards young Japanese having a much more positive view of Christianity and even calling themselves Christian. According to the survey, 7% of Japanese teens identify themselves as Christian! This figure was so impressive that even Dr. Gallup himself noted in the survey results that this was an "historic moment of opportunity to ‘]www.TellJapan.com[/url] , check out our newsletters and learn about SEND International as well^^ We are ready to go and we cannot wait to finally get to Japan and start sharing the Good News!

Angel37 wrote:I am beginning to wonder if my passion for the Japanese people is not something to be shunned but embaced as sent by God himself.

himura_KAORU wrote:This is exactly how God spoke to me and gave me a passion for reaching the Japanese people. I had always been drawn to the Japanese culture, even as a child. It grew stronger over time until I strongly felt prompted to tell God that I would go into Missions wherever He would lead me. A few years later I married my hubby and I literally woke up one morning and knew that God wanted me to start studying Japanese. I can't explain it, but I went out that day and bought a Japanese Grammar book and have been actively studying since then! Shortly after, we took that missions trip to Japan and we both knew with confidence that God wants us in Japan.

I WILL pray for you! Maybe we will meet each other in Japan some day soon ^.^ Thanks for praying for my family and I! We know it will never happen without many people praying for us.

Raven wrote:welcom gosh this gonna be confusing we have another himura_kaoru but the "kaoru' isn't in all caps