“Japan? Erm… ok.”

by Dawei & Jeen - Singaporean missionaries in Japan.

That was the reply I got from a friend when we told him of our intention to serve in Japan. There was an uneasy silence, then he retorted: “But why Japan?” We were not at all surprised at his remark. In fact, we could have seen that line coming a mile away. Truth be told, this friend was not the only one. We received similar incredulous looks from other people. It seemed puzzling to them why someone would travel so far to an amazingly affluent nation to spread the Good news when they easily could have gotten it off the Internet?

Admittedly, Japan is not the first place that comes to mind when you think of missions. Most people will think of China, Thailand or Cambodia among the other third world countries. We were not an exception. Many years ago, when we felt called to devote some time to God in missions, we thought it would be in any of these places. The Lord apparently had other plans for us, and He chose to reveal it to us over the past three years.

Both of us were interested in missions in our youth and went on several mission trips. Dawei had been to Papua New Guinea, China and Japan, while Jeen went to Thailand a few times. We got married in 2004, and later that same year joined our church mission team to Japan. We visited a missionary couple in Hokkaido, and another serving in Nagano. As a couple, we were very touched and ministered by the work that we saw while we were there. Yet, there is still so much work to be done in that country. It was there we realized that the number of Christians in Japan compared to its population is very insignificant (0.3% evangelicals in 127 million people). God started to place a burden in our hearts for the people of Japan ever since.

We were keen to pursue missions as a couple and enrolled for a missions camp organized by our sending organisation the following year. In prayer we asked the Lord to confirm our calling to Japan if He chooses to lead us there. We thank God for affirming us as He provided another couple who had been serving in Japan for over 15 years, to mentor us during the camp. As they shared about the work that they were doing in Japan, God deepened our burden for country and its people.

After much prayer, we decided to put this burden into action and started our preparations to go to Japan. We made arrangements to meet our church missions board and began the application process with our organisation. During this preparation period, the Lord has taught us countless invaluable lessons. We had also encountered some hiccups along the way but that had further strengthened our faith and trust in the Lord. God is infinitely good, and we will keep on looking to Him as we make our way to Japan.

We are now in Japan as associates to support the youth and church planting work in the Kanto region around Tokyo for an initial period of two years. We are excited about what God has in store for us as we adapt to the culture, language and people. Though there may be challenges to face and tough lessons to learn, we are convinced that God is by our side in all things, to the very end. Please pray for us as we embark on this wonderful adventure...