A letter from Thomas Goetz in Japan
Winter 2014
Dear friends,
Over the last year my ministry through the Ecumenical Offices of the United Church of Christ in Japan has lead me to three outstanding Japanese Christians whom I interviewed in my mission letters. All these people I met while at Hokusei Gakuen University, where I teach as a professor of English. Hokusei University is part of a larger network of schools dating back to the efforts of Presbyterian missionary women of the 19th century, most notably, Sarah C. Smith. The educational foundations laid at that time and the appropriation of the school's mission over the decades has produced one of northern Japan's finest private liberal arts universities and junior colleges. Hokusei is a place of hope, optimism, and thankfulness. And this is what I wish to share.
Chieko, a young woman who recently converted to Christianity, saw that by the time she had finished high school her life had been nothing but a string of failures. She needed a transformation. She had almost given up until she discovered the love of God in Christ both while in a hospital and then in church. Medication now is a daily reality for her, but she is living on her own, is gainfully employed, and is a joy to be around. "My life might seem quite tough, coming through a seven-year period of suffering, but I am very thankful that God has given me this experience. Now my dream is to become a missionary to tell the gospel to people all around the world and ease their hearts by listening to their sufferings and each life." When she was younger she had plans to enter the best university in Japan. But because of her struggles that was an impossibility. Having entered Hokusei University, she made new friends and found her footing.
Later I interviewed Hitomi, who focused on how Japanese look for answers in the wrong places. Popular Japanese spirituality is often best described as pantheistic and panentheistic, meaning that there is a plurality of gods that are expressed in nature. Here is an example. Among construction workers who dig tunnels it is commonly assumed as plain and blatant truth that all mountains have female gods. Such gods will not tolerate female construction workers, since they naturally prefer males. Therefore, for safety, it is best not to hire female workers to dig tunnels. This outlook is on the one hand trivial and can probably be explained away with a dismissal, but on the other hand indicates an uncritical ascension to an indigenous belief. In light of all the technology developed to make tunneling as safe as possible, still this belief lingers. When Japanese become Christians, they get beyond these beliefs. This is evident in Hitomi's conversion story: "When I became a Christian 10 years ago, I stopped turning to those (local gods) kami-sama and hotoke-sama and started to pray to God the Father of Jesus Christ. But, to be honest, I had often approached God just the way I approached those kami-sama and hotoke-sama when I was a kid. Then I came to realize the other day that there is one thing that makes God the Father of Christ Jesus radically different from all the other deities. God hears the prayers of those who are sincere in their hearts." Sincerity and honesty. Not running away.
In the last interview I did for 2013, I learned from the Rev. Ai Akers about the power of God's love and the new life it provides, especially among Japanese Christians. In Japan being a Japanese national and a Christian is a lot tougher than being a foreigner who is a Christian. With pressure to conform within a society that promotes itself in a popular sense that it is homogeneous, Japanese Christians often feel swallowed up. There is so much that we can learn by their example of daily living. "God gives us hope so that we may live with strength. When we have hope for the future, we can keep trying and we can keep going with God's help. When we know that someone expects us to be better, we can keep going another mile. God loves us, and he expects us to keep on trying toward higher ground today. Maybe it is hard for us to see what we can do in our future, but God can see better than we can what we are capable of doing. Let us trust God, who gives us hope and joy each day of our lives."
Please pray for Japan and all Christians here.
Tom
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity—Proverbs 17:17.
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 234
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