As you read this, know that God might be calling you to go or to support this amazing ministry, either through prayer, giving or both. In 2024, TWR is organizing three donkey-tracting trips in Japan, the 2nd-largest unreached people group in the world. With 123 million people, only 1% are Christians. The evangelical growth rate is sadly negative. Several scriptures, including Revelations 7:9 make it clear that revival will come to Japan! You can play an important role, and what a blessing that would be.
Our group of 20, who worked in the Osaka and Kyoto area, was mostly from Singapore. Thankfully, their primary language is English. There was also a young couple from Malaysia, who spoke excellent English, three TWR Japan staff members and then me, the only American. No other Americans have participated since before Covid.
Over the course of seven days, we distributed 30k flyers in the communities surrounding five different churches. The church we operated out of was large by Japanese standards. They have 250 members, down from 500 before Covid. Some members attend online now. They have a sister church in Alabama, and one day while we were there, a youth group helped us distribute flyers in the area. The last church we served was in a very small building, but it has 115 members and a pre-school with 20 kids. The other three churches were very small—around 10 members or less.
Our work included many hours of preparing flyers. This was a special time of fellowship that everyone seemed to enjoy. There was one standard piece that included the Gospel, a TWR insert and then other local church-specific inserts, raising awareness for a pre-school or cafe, for example.
When we arrived at each church by van, we met the pastor, learned from them a little about the church and the community, had a devotion led by a different participant each day, and then went to work. Most of the volunteers were content to distribute the flyers. But I felt a calling to interact with the people we came across and to share the Gospel with them, when possible. It’s a credit to our excellent leadership, that they paired me with Junki, who translated and kept me from getting lost. The two of us led four schoolgirls to Christ and shared the Gospel with many others.
One thing that proved very helpful were the scriptures that I printed out (in large print) before departing for Japan. They included John 3:16-17 and Isaiah 53:5-6 in both English and Kanji (Japanese characters). After handing a flyer to someone and briefly explaining that it was about Yesu, the God who made this world and who has authority over all other gods, we asked them if they would like to read about Him. Many people read those scriptures while I held them so they could not take them to read later. We then asked if they would like to hear more about Yesu now, and if they answered yes, then we shared the Good News with them and invited them to respond.
I thank God for every personal interaction, but I also acknowledge that God can do amazing things through even the menial work we did out of obedience, in faith—placing flyers in thousands of mailboxes. The Holy Spirit brought to mind the story of Jericho. Surely, there were plenty of men who were eager to fight, but instead, God instructed the Israelites to walk around the city, and then He did something marvelous, for which He received the glory.
Let that be an encouragement to you, as it is to me, that every “little” act of obedience, in faith… whether it’s giving to a ministry, like TWR, praying for that ministry—for the workers and the people being reached, sharing your testimony and the Gospel with someone or simply inviting them to church… God can and will use it, powerfully. He deserves all the glory! Just to play a small role in His work is a wonderful blessing!