[Even to the Remotest Part of the Earth] Japanese Archipelagoes Under Siege by God's Power
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August 17, 2008 |
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With 12 overseas crusades, handkerchief crusades in many nations, the Global Christian Network (GCN), and literary mission, Manmin Central Church has accomplished approximately 7,800 branch churches and made every effort to the salvation of that one last soul. At a time in history when the spreading of the Gospel is achieved even to the remotest part of the earth, we have examined in Manmin's mission work in Japan. [Editor]
 Current Status of the Mission Work in Japan
Ida Manmin Church (Rev. Seung-Gil Ryu)
Nagoya Manmin Church (Pastor Miyako Tokikuni)
Beppu Manmin Church (Rev. Isao Kato)
Yamagata Manmin Church (Rev. Gang-Sup Jang)
Asahikawa Manmin Church (Pastor Miki Komatsu)
Osaka Manmin Church / Maizuru Manmin Church (Rev. Marco Gun-Tae Kim)
Tokyo Tabata Manmin Church (Rev. Kyeongtae Jung)
Matsumoto Manmin Church (Rev. Masaaki Ito)
Kawasaki Manmin Church (Pastor Sang-Soo Kim)
Okayama Manmin Church (Rev. Yasuhiro Tokikuni)
Yachiyo Manmin Church (Rev. Hisanao Aoki)
Hokota Manmin Church (Bro. Masaru Iitsuka)
Tokyo Manmin Church (Pastor Byung-Ran Choi)
Even though Japan is a country with a history of more than 460 years of Roman Catholicism and 146 years of Christianity and abounding with the blood of the martyrs, it is a spiritually corrupt nation filled with idol worshipping and pantheism, which annually give birth to over 100 such heretical and new religious as Aum Shinrikyo and the Unification Church.
 8 million gods in Japan?
In Japan, religion is more of a pattern of life than faith, and it is said that there are "8 million gods" in this country. Yet, the figure "8 million" symbolizes infinity. Anything and everything, such as the Sun, the Moon, animals, dolls, and even dogs, can be gods. Drenched in polytheism, people in Japan do not bind themselves to a specific religion and say they can believe in the Emperor of their nation, Buddha, and God altogether alike. Some even establish churches within shrines built for their ancestors. They are also very much focused on the present life and are thus not too interested in the afterlife. They place a heavy emphasis on prosperity and blessings in this world.
Manmin branch churches in Japan on a highway to growth
It is not easy for such people of Japan to accept Christianity; most consider Christianity as a religion based in the United States or as a current of Western culture. For that reason, many older Japanese insist on holding fast to their national religion Shintoism or Buddhism, an Asian religion. Perhaps that is one of the reasons the population of Christians in Japan does not 1% of the whole population. The reality is that many Christians who do attend church still have Buddhist altars or kamidanas (a type of miniature shrine for ancestors and the like, placed or hung high on a wall in Japanese homes).
Despite such conditions, the United Holiness Church of Jesus Christ of Japan (Rev. Seung-Gil Ryu, Chairman) is actively carrying out mission work with 14 branch and associate churches, including Ida Manmin Church, distributed throughout the Japanese archipelagoes (please refer to the "Mission Work in Japan" map).
Ida Manmin Church, founded in 1994 and serving as a foundation of mission work in Japan, has grown to become a congregation of 120 registered members as of July 2008 (in Japan, a congregation a size of 100 or more is considered a "large" church). In addition, Ida Manmin has also established Tokyo Mission Center with such programs as pastors' seminars and "IT Mission" for a systematic spread of the Gospel.
Driving force? The gospel of sanctification and manifestation of God's power
It is easy to associate "mission work" with providing relief and aid to people in need. In Japan's case, however, a conversion and diversification of concepts that transform perspectives on mission work are required. While it is one of the most economically prosperous nations in the world, in Japan the "rich-get-richer and the poor-get-poorer" condition is very obvious and thus many people live without any hope. Also in this spiritually corrupt nation, a staggering 40,000 people choose suicide each year.
The focus of mission work lies in affirming the life-transforming messages and manifesting the living God to those who are worshipping idols and spiritually wandering.
The United Holiness Church of Jesus Christ of Japan's secret to revival is found in the gospel of sanctification and the manifestation of God's power through handkerchiefs.
At "The Nagoya Miracle Convention with Rev. Dr. Jaerock Lee" in September 2000, a wondrous incident in which 7 of the 13 deaf-mutes in attendance began to hear and speak by the prayer of Dr. Lee and such works of God are evident in the background in which branch churches have been founded.
When a married couple who was unable to conceive for 5 years received a blessing of pregnancy after they received prayer from Dr. Jaerock Lee, another infertile couple received his prayer and became pregnant, and this was how Yamagata Manmin Church was founded in January 1998.
In June 2005, Maizuru Manmin Church was founded by devoted efforts of Ms. Akiyo Hirouchi (66), whose 3-month-old granddaughter had been diagnosed with an atrial septal defect with a 4.5-mm puncture in her heart but was healed by Dr. Jaerock Lee's prayer that transcended time and space. Mr. Iitsuka (65), who had long been desperately searching for the true Gospel, was evangelized through a copy of Manmin News and healed of anthropophobia and founded Hokota Manmin Church in October 2007.
Taking place many monthly or occasionally at Manmin branch churches are handkerchief meetings. Through the handkerchiefs on which Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee prayed, many brothers and sisters in Christ in Japan have received God's answers to their prayer and healing of a variety of diseases. This is a very important aspect of mission work in Japan that plainly attests to the works of the living God to most churches in Japan that deny the works of the Holy Spirit.
Until the day all of Japan rises up by the gospel of sanctification, we expect the toils of missionaries to bear great fruit.
 Volunteers' Association: A Cradle of Community Service
For a Japanese people who are mostly unfamiliar with Christianity, Ida Manmin Church established the Volunteers' Association in 1998, an opportunity for natural spread of the Gospel through community service.
The Church has spread the Gospel by engaging in a wide range of activities including puppet shows, worship performances, and charity events for the welfare of the elderly and proper guidance of the youth.
When such charity events were covered by mass media, Ida Manmin Church received a citation of thanks from the Ida City Government and this led to many souls' receiving of the Lord.
Volunteers' Association is currently expanding its community service activities to the youth and Ida citizens at large and at the request of the Ida City Community Welfare Committee, it is working towards the operation of a welfare facility for the elderly.
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