Chinese ministry in Hokkaido
from "communication letter of OMF International - JapanDecember 2006
A large number of Chinese are presently showing an immediate and strong response to the Gospel, thanks to God who has opened wide their hearts and minds. However, there are merely 20 Chinese churches for those approximately half million Chinese living in Japan. To judge from this present state of mission for the Chinese, I would say there are so many to gather, yet we are terribly short of hands.
Missionary work for the Chinese at Sapporo International Church (SIC) began seriously in 2000 with ten Chinese attending the service and its cell meeting. Then, on December 12, 2004, SIC started a Chinese service on Sunday afternoons, which ignited our missionary work more quickly.
At the moment, the mission to the Chinese at SIC consists of the Chinese service, Discipleship Training and a Retreat for the Chinese in Hokkaido.
1) Chinese service: It has been 2 years since the Chinese service started at SIC. 50people, including ten children, are attending, and the number is steadily increasing. In particular, the make-up of those in atten-dance is shifting towards long-term dwellers compared to the early days when it centered around Chinese students studying in Japan.
2) Disciple ship Training: Discipleship training is essential to missionary work for the Chinese. Nine peo-ple have been trained in the past year, and they are now leaders of cell meetings and Bible studies.
3) Retreat for the Chinese in Hok-kaido: This retreat, which takes place every year in August, has been held twice so far. In 2005, 93 people attended and ten of them met Jesus, and this year 105 people attended and also ten of them met Jesus. The retreat is a strong spiri-tual environment where many get to hear the gospel and respond to Je-sus. We are praying that this annual retreat will grow to become a retreat for the Chinese in Japan, which we also hope will become a powerful opportunity for the half million Chi-nese in Japan to come back to the Lord.
The number of Chinese living in Hokkaido amounts to 8,400, but only about 300 people are estimated to have heard the Gospel, 70 of whom have become Christian. 「The Chinese in Japan are mostly living under difficult circumstances fi-nancially or spiritually. This is especially true for 1,400 who have since returned Japan as war orphans, left in China after the defeat of Japan in World War II. These war orphans have been returning to Japan for the past 20 years, but they are not adjusting to the Japanese society. Now is the time we should proclaim the gospel which will heal, restore and liberate those suffering. We give thanks to God who has allowed such opportunity for the Chinese. We have 30 returnees attending SIC at the moment, and it is such a blessing that they meet God, their real Father, through the gospel, and are recovering from their wounded memories.
In addition, there are about 1,200 Chinese students studying in Hokkaido, and this number is increasing. Most of them return to China after graduating, and start their career at university as a professor or at a big company, making up the influential middle class. If they receive Jesus and become his disciples, they will in turn build up the Chinese church and be of great help in carrying out missionary work.
Our mission for the Chinese at SIC is significant for the Japanese believers also. To begin with, the Japa-nese get to participate in the missionary work directly or indirectly. Many Japanese brothers and sisters who have a calling for mission to the Chinese are positively engaged in the work, and many Chinese have actually received the gospel, inspired by their sincere service. The Chinese and the Japanese are now be-coming brothers and sisters in Christ. Also the positive, passionate and self-sacrificing nature of the Chi-nese motivates and challenges the Japanese church.
Missionary work for the Chinese is a stepping stone for global missions in the second half of the 21st cen-tury as the Chinese church will gradually play a vital role in global missions. And, mission to the Chinese in Japan will do its part in that vital role.
Park Soo Min
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