Missionaries in Asia
Part of a Panel Discussion at Urbana 67by Akira Hatori
"The Lord is giving Japan remarkable wants to use Japan for his glory."
We need missionaries in Asia and Japan for at least three reasons. First, we have many people, many un-evangelized people in Asia and Japan. And we need your help. If you come to Tokyo and try to get on the morning rush-hour train, you will know what I mean by many people. Japan's national labor company hires hundreds of thousands of people, young, strong people, just to push or pull people in or out of rush trains. My secretary is a vocational missionary from America. When she arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, her first remark was, "Are these all Japanese? Are we going to evangelize them all?" Yes, we have to evangelize them all.
Now, twenty years since the war ended, have almost everything--cars, refrigerators, color television, bowling alleys, go-go dancers, and even the Japanese version of hippies—and spiritual barrenness.
The other day a news item shocked me very much. One parent locked two of his own children in one small room and left them without food until they died of utter starvation. Not because the parents didn’t have any food, not because they didn’t have any money or clothing, but because they had no love. No purpose in life. No energy to live. What we need in Japan is the gospel, the love of God, the forgiveness of sins, purity of life and purpose of life in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, we have Christians and Christian workers in Japan, but look at these multitudes. They’re fainting. Jesus said, “More laborers, so few men.” And I must cry the same cry to you. In Japan, missionaries planted almost all churches that were opened after the war. Still four-fifths of our 9,000 towns and villages have no Christian witness at all. And I should say that almost all of the farmers, fishermen and merchants are yet untouched people in Japan.
Missionaries have come from abroad with vision, prayer backing, time, money and ability. Most of all, they have carried strangeness and distinctiveness and holiness which attracted us very much. So after the war, the missionaries were the most effective Christian workers in Japan. And now I must cry another Macedonian call to you—we need more missionaries in Japan.
Second, we feel the urgency of concentrating on evangelism in Asia and Japan now. In the church history of Japan there have been two or three extraordinary chances for evangelism. But Japanese Christians missed them because of their lack of vision, lack of sound theology, the lack of training of lay Christians and witnesses and the resulting lack of a simple and direct communication of the gospel.
Now I feel that we are facing another extraordinary opportunity for evangelism in Japan and in Asia. The Holy Spirit is moving over our nation. The Holy Spirit is working in our hearts. The other day after 9 p.m., one seventy-three-year-old man came to see me. He said “I want to know the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be saved.” And he got saved.
We had Billy Graham crusade two months ago in Tokyo. When Billy had finished the first crusade meeting message, which I was interpreting, one of the bodyguards, a policeman, came to me, ran to me, and said, “Teacher, be my counselor. I want to be saved.” And he was saved. Of the fifteen thousand decisions made for Christ throughout these crusade meetings, the majority were from the nineteen to twenty-nine-year-old age group. In Japan, not only the children, but also the young people, the mature, deep-thinking youth are seeking truth.
After we broadcast three television messages, fifteen thousand letters came in, and many pastors were awakened after 11 p.m. by seekers who had watched these programs. They wanted to be saved. So you know there is a hunger in the hearts of the people of Japan and Asia. This is the time to put every energy into evangelism so that we can cover the nation with the gospel, penetrate the nation with the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Third, we know that Japanese and Asians themselves have great potential to become useful witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, we can become missionary-sending countries in the near future if we have the right kind of guidance. The Lord is giving Japan remarkable wants to use Japan for his glory.
If Japan keeps her selfish way any longer, I’m sure her days of prosperity are numbered. In Japan there has been the tendency of isolationism; the Japanese church—just for Japanese, by Japanese, to Japanese. Instead of the “going out” structure, the Japanese church has been built on the “come” structure. We have to be going out to preach the gospel. We have to be the witnesses of the Lord. Going out—going forth anywhere and everywhere to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I feel that the American missionaries can come to Japan and give us the vision and the missionary training. You can come and become our comrades in world evangelization. Japanese young people are ready to have your help, to have your companionship, to have your comradeship.
Jesus said, “Many people, and few laborers.” He is looking for men, missionaries to send. Before us there is the great missionary example of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came down, and his crown of thorns was exchanged for the crown of glory. He bled and died on the cross in exchange for the lives of many in the new world. So you can come to Japan and to Asia as your Missionary Example did.
Also, you have the missionary right because Jesus said, “All power is given to me in heaven and on earth.” Maybe some of the national Japanese Christian leaders say, “No more American missionaries; we want your money, but no missionaries.” And many of the Japanese young people, those who are rioting and demonstrating and crying, “Yankee go home,” may say, “No more missionaries.” But you have the right to come because Jesus your sender said, “I have all power in heave and on earth.” Regardless of what people may say, if he has sent you, you have the right to come.
Before you there is a missionary might. You can come with heavenly might because Jesus said, “I have the power, all the power in heaven and on earth, given to me,” and he said, “I will go with you.” You can come to Japan with the power of love. You can come to Japan with the power of direct and simple preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ’s gospel, which is matchless, which is transforming power. You can come to Japan with humility, which Jesus took when he came down to this earth.
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