“This evening, I heard the cries of Macedonia. I felt the responsibility to go back to my country, Japan, to share the last day message. However, I do not have any experience in evangelism. Will somebody please come to Japan with me?”
On June 1894, at the evening worship at Healdsburg College in the United States, young Teruhiko Okohira cried for help. Seeing him appeal with earnest tears, Elder William Grainger and his wife answered the call with faith. As a result, the General Conference (GC) officially appointed them as missionaries to Japan. Elder Grainger chose the path of Japan mission full of challenges rather than a comfortable, secure job as a college president.
On November 19, 1896, Elder William Grainger accompanied young Okohira Teruhiko and arrived at Yokohama Harbor on a ship named “Coptic” to mark the first step of mission in Japan. Life as a missionary was financially very challenging. In order to manage the small living expense budget, they had to buy 1/5 liter of lamp oil at a time.
In 1899, Elder Grainger passed away at the age of 55. Before he died, realizing his end was near, he spoke his last words to his beloved disciple, Pastor Kuniya Shu, who was taking care of him at his bedside.
“Do you love your fellow men?” asked Elder Grainger.
“Yes! I love my fellow men,” answered Pastor Kuniya.
Hearing his beloved disciple’s faithful reply, Elder Grainger smiled with relief and spoke his last words to his beloved disciple. “I came to Japan to fulfill the mission; however, I was not able to complete it. I am now about to leave this world. I have walked the path of faith. I want you to be faithful as well, and let us reunite in heaven.”
Since the beginning of missionary efforts in Japan, 120 years have passed. Many seeds of the gospel have been spread by faithful Adventist pioneers in Japan. As a result, the church has grown. However, the mission to prepare and warn all the people in Japan for the Second Coming has not been completed.
Evangelism in Japan grew steadily until the 1980s. However, perhaps due to secularization, every year evangelism has become more and more difficult. This is not a problem just for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In fact, more than100 Protestant churches in Japan are closing down each year. Truly, Christianity as a whole is facing a severe winter season of evangelism.
In order to defeat this severe winter season, the Japan Union Conference (JUC) has been aiming for the goal of 500 baptisms by the year 2015 for the pastfive years. Last year was the culmination of the “All Japan 2015” project. On January 13 at the JUC General Session, we discussed and reflected onthe past five years. Elder Masumi Shimada was reelected as the JUC president along with a new leadership team to start a new beginning of Japan mission.
The following Sabbath right after the General Session, we held the “Japan Mission 120th Anniversary Program” to reflect upon the passionate mission spirit of the pioneers and recommit our lives to evangelism. Together with the delegates from the general session, more than1,000 people gathered at the Yachiyo Community Convention Center in Chiba Prefecture to have a special worship service.
During Sabbath school time, students majoring in theology, who will be carrying the future of mission in Japan, were in charge. During the worship service, Michael Ryan, GC assistant to the president, preached a message entitled “Arise and Walk!” Introducing the lives of our pioneers Abram La Rue and Stephen Haskell, he appealed to those in attendance that “we must not forget the faith, courage, and passion that these pioneers of Japan Mission demonstrated in the beginning.”
Furthermore, he preached about the story of the paralytic from Luke chapter 5 and said the following:“The Bible prophecies promise us that we will have a great harvest like never before in the last days. In order to receive the promises, we must be faithful. We must stand up, take up the work, and walk. The words that Christ spoke are being spoken to our hearts even now. Jesus Christ is coming soon. We must warn and share the gospel to people who need messages of hope.”
A special joint choir formed by Kitaura Junior High School and Saniku College provided special music during the worship service, giving us hope for the next generation of Japan mission leaders.
In the afternoon, after Jairyong Lee, president of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD), gave us a short message, we watched a slide show of baptisms that had taken place all around Japan in the year 2015. During the slide show, three new converts shared their baptism testimony.
Next, the Korean musical group Sulammi performed the act “Moses.” Actually, due to the change in the meeting locations, the musical performance was almost cancelled because of difficulties for them. However, they replied, “We have already decided to go to Japan. We will donate all our transportation fees. We will donate all our practice times. We will donate our talent for Japan, so please invite us to perform.” Their strong faith and passion were clearly demonstrated through the performance and were a huge inspiration to all of the attendees.
Following the Sulammi performance, JUC president Shimada spoke about the importance of dedication in relation to the theme of Sulammi’s performance. “In order to complete the mission, we must sacrifice. To walk the path revealed by God is not always easy.
Often, the path revealed by God is a path of trials and challenges. At the JUC General Session, several people have answered the call from God to walk the path. Each of the leaders has purposed in their hearts to carry a heavy cross. Each of them understands that many sacrifices must be made to fulfill their calling.” Then, he introduced the seven newly elected JUC leaders who had answered God’s call.
Lastly, President Shimada faced the audience and said, “Today, each of you here is a 21st century Moses. God is calling each one of you. Don’t you want to go and help your fellow men who are losing purpose in life as they suffer life as a slave? Stand up, Moses! Stand up! Go and help your fellow men whoneed help and salvation.” President Shimada challenged each one of us to re-dedicate our lives to the calling of God.
The program closed with a special prayer of dedication and blessings by President Shimada. As we held up the JUC motto, “Arise! Shine! Jesus Is Coming!” we faced a new beginning. Dear readers, please continue to pray for evangelism in Japan.
*You can watch the 120thanniversary program videos at the Hope Channel – Japan website（http://www.hopechannel.jp/）
Norihiko Hanada, Media Publishing Ministry Director