Going To Church In Japan!

Going to church in Japan has been quite different for us. The two biggest challenges that we've had is the small number of people and the language barrier. It's quite something to come from a church that is 10,000+ people and then become a part of a church that has about 30 people! Let us tell you that the accountability is very strong! When we first came to Japan and didn't go to church one Sunday. Everyone was so worried that something bad had happened to us....needless to say that we got a few phone calls that day!

This picture is what the average attendance of Sunday worship looks like, at least one side of the room. If you will notice, there are quite a number of men in this picture. Our church has a relatively large number of men. The typical Japanese church is made up of mainly women. Much of this stems from the Japanese culture being a very matriarchal society. A large percent of women that get married quit their jobs and stay home to be a wife/mother. Therefore there are a lot of housewives that have more time available to try new things, like learning English and attending Bible studies, and becoming Christians.

The style of worship in Japanese churches vary as much as any place. However, I would venture to say that there are more "contemporary" style churches in Tokyo than in any other place in Japan. Where we live, on the the island of Kyushu, is considered the country side. So, most churches in our area are more traditional in the sense that using Hymnals are widely used instead of songs projected on a screen. The Kitakyushu church has transitioned from Hymnals to a projector just since we've been here. People dress up more and there are definitely "official ways" of doing things. The best advice that we got early on was to learn the two easiest Japanese alphabets called Hiragana and Katakana. If we did this, then we could at least follow along with the songs and even sing some of them! Since then, we can sing almost every song during the service. Although, we don't always know what it is we're saying! We are blessed to be in a church that sings both Japanese and English songs. So, we're not totally lost all the time!

Listening to the message is another story. Our church has a rotation of men that give the message each Sunday. Most of the time it is given by the Japanese men. But, sometimes it is given in English by Nick or some of the other Americans. This picture is of Nick giving a message in English and it is being translated into Japanese by our good friend Rocky Ayatsuka. Thank goodness we have others in our church that usually translate the Japanese messages into English for us. It's pretty normal for us to sit in the back on any given Sunday and have someone whispering translation in our ears from the seat behind.

And probably you've never seen this barefoot sight in a church worship service before! As you probably know, shoes are usually taken off when entering a home in Japan. Sometimes this custom includes hospitals and other kinds of buildings. Some churches in Japan practice this custom and so you worship with your shoes off....many times slippers are provided! Our church happens to be a shoe wearing facility. Boy, I'm glad of that!

Another unfamiliar sight in a Japanese church is the baptistery. There is a lack of space in Japan for anything. So, it takes a lot of creativity for a church members to decide where to place the baptistery. Some churches place it in a kind of closet, others simply don't have one and go to the ocean or a river, our church placed in the floor of the building. The picture above shows the one that is on our building underneath two platforms that serve as the stage.

And then there is tea time! We learned quickly that if you live in Japan you HAVE to learn to drink tea or coffee. After every Sunday worship we have tea time and snacks and fellowship. This is not only the case at church, but at almost any social gathering there is a time afterwards for tea time. Again, the lack of space is an issue. We just rearrange the chairs from service and add a few tables and vwala! Basically that's what we do for our Cafe on Fridays too.

The Kitakyushu Bible Church is a growing international church. Including us there are three other Americans. We also have two Korean families and a Taiwanese. Often there are Chinese college students that visit. It's atmosphere is friendly and open. But, like any church there are challenges and growing pains. We have loved being a part of this church for the past two years and will miss all of our friends terribly! This church and all the Christians in Japan need our prayers!

PRAY for this church's first Japanese pastor that was recently chosen by our church members.

PRAY for them as it will be the first time there will not be TEAM missionaries present after we go back to the states.

PRAY that these Christians will feel empowered as strong leaders and motivated to continue their outreach to nonbelievers.

PRAY that an improved children's program will be put into place as the number of them are growing.

PRAY for more missionaries to come to Japan and share God's love with these wonderful people.

PRAY that more Japanese Christians will evangelize their own people.