MY EXPERIENCE IN A CHINESE CHURCH IN JAPAN
Han Huimin
I was hopeful that my family would plan a long trip to a place beyond our usual KL getaway for my last poly semester break. I did end up far away but alone for 4 weeks; my sister joined me for the remaining 2½ weeks. I flew to Japan on 29th August to stay with family friends Pastor and Mrs Shao. Pastor Shao is Pastor of the Japan Chinese Church in Fukuoka, Japan.
Pastor and Mrs Shao
Pastor and Mrs Shao live in Fukuoka, Japan. They were married in China and obtained their master’s degrees in Japan. Pastor Shao later read for his PhD while his wife taught Chinese in a government high school in Japan. The gospel seed was planted in them in China, and it was only in Japan that they accepted Christ as their Saviour. They worshipped at the Kashii Baptist Church in Fukuoka. My parents, older sister and elder brother attended this Church when my father was studying in Fukuoka from 2002 to 2003. Pastor and Mrs Shao (who were semi-retired and active members of the Kashii Baptist Church) helped translate the sermon from Japanese to Chinese every week.
Pastor and Mrs Shao had applied to study at Chinese Bible seminaries in Canada and the US but their applications were rejected following the events of September 11, 2001. They were surprised to learn from my parents that our late Pastor, Rev Timothy Tow, was converted during Dr John Sung’s Asian Awakening in 1935, as were thousands of others in Southeast Asia. They knew about Dr John Sung’s work in China but were not familiar with what he did outside China.
About a year later, Pastor and Mrs Shao visited Singapore and met Rev Tow and Rev Jeffrey Khoo at True Life. As they were not fluent in English, Rev Khoo recommended that they enrol at the Chin Lien Bible Seminary. During this trip, they also met Rev Zhang Shi En, then-Principal of Chin Lien. They return to Singapore to study at Chin Lien after their student passes were approved. Rev Zhang arranged for them to stay in the same room that Dr John Sung occupied when he was in Singapore in 1935. The old house has since been demolished when Chin Lien was renovated around 2010. After graduation, they returned to Japan to serve in the Kashii Baptist Church.
Japan Chinese Church
Through the support of Rev Zhang and Chin Lien Bible Seminary, Pastor and Mrs Shao set up a house church in 2010 to minister to the large Chinese community in Fukuoka. This was how the Japan Chinese Church in East Fukuoka was established. The adult service has a congregation of about 25; the children’s service has about the same number.
The Lord has blessed the Church and they will open another house church in West Fukuoka in November 2023. Pastor and Mrs Shao will move to West Fukuoka to reach out to the Chinese community there (Mark 16:15; Hebrews 6:10), while a new pastor from Canada will take over the existing house church.
The Church Brethren
The church members were warm and friendly. Church service on Sunday and other weekday activities felt like family gatherings. We were also treated like part of the family. They brought us out to explore the city, for meals, helped plan our sightseeing trips, etc. One church member even bought train tickets for us to travel to another prefecture, snacks for the train ride, and fetched us to the train station. The hospitality was heartwarming. They explained that they are obliged to treat us with such hospitality because we are all one family – brothers and sisters in Christ (John 15:12). I enjoyed the warm fellowship very much.
Serving in the Church
When my sister arrived, we toured the city together. Before that, I followed Pastor and Mrs Shao as they went about their pastoral duties. My sister made a 2 minute 41 second video for the church, capturing events during a Sunday service. I played the piano during several church services, shared my testimony, presented a praise item with the choir, and small duties such as preparing the Lord’s Supper and setting up for the service.
I am not fluent in Chinese. I thank God that prior to this trip, I did a 6-month internship in a company where the main language spoken was Chinese. This prepared me for the trip. Throughout the trip, I was able to have conversations in Chinese. As the weeks passed, I found it easier to communicate with the daily Chinese language oral practice! Pastor and Mrs Shao tasked me to share my testimony. My testimony was prepared and shared in Chinese. I shared after the church service on the third Sunday I was there.
Pastor and Mrs Shao introduced me as a Singaporean who will be learning from them and serving in the church for 6½ weeks – like a missionary intern. I was asked a few questions by the church members, such as “How should I raise my children?” and “How should I be teaching for junior worship?”. While I felt ill-equipped to answer the questions, I thank God I was able to provide appropriate answers. I also introduced them to FEBC online classes, taught in Chinese by Rev Jianwei.
I also taught the small group choir a revised arrangement of “Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us”. The choir members have no formal music training and can only sing with number notations. Some of them learnt music by ear. Hence, I revised the arrangement of the hymn by keeping the song in the same key and removing the transpositions. I also wrote out the number notation music score with Mrs Shao and changed the English lyrics to Chinese. We had practices on 2 Sundays. My hope was that this praise item would encourage the congregation to always lean onto Christ, knowing that He loves us and will always be there for us even though we are undeserving of it. The item was presented on the last Sunday of the trip. Before the presentation, an 18-year-old member helped to express this hope and read Psalm 23. It is believed that this hymn was composed with reference to Psalms 23. The choir sang while I accompanied on the piano.
Challenges and Solutions
According to a 2018 Japan government survey, only 1.5% of the Japanese population practice Christianity. The majority of the Japanese people are idol-worshippers. The house church in West Fukuoka is at the foot of a mountain. A cat shrine can be found on the mountain. Visitors are attracted to this shrine daily, making offerings in exchange for blessings. They faithfully keep the premises clean. Across Japan, there are many shrines and temples. The younger generation grow up in an environment where there is strong belief in the spirit world and superstition abound. While the Japanese people are civic minded and considerate, it is difficult to witness to them. Church buildings are large but members are few. We need more to minister in Japan. The growing Chinese church in Fukuoka is a good witness for the Lord!
God does not need us to serve; it is our duty to serve. We owe our life to Him, and we ought to submit to Him and serve Him (Ephesians 2:8; Mark 12:30). I should start to attend FEBC classes soon.
WORD OF LIFE IN CAMBODIA
Tann Heng
Word of Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (WOLBPC) is located at Kampong Kraeng Village, Kampong Kraeng Commune, in Kampot province, Cambodia. It was started more than three years ago. Praise the Lord for a place to worship Him every Lord’s Day. The service starts at 9 am. Sunday School starts at 3 pm. Children living around the missions church come to church every week by walking to church.
There is a Sunday School outreach to Kampong Chen Village, Stueng Kaev Commune about 18 km from the missions church. It is held from 1 to 2 pm. Praise the Lord for more children. I plan to conduct Bible study for the parents of these children.
Thank God for His provision for WOLBPC. Thank God for True Life BPC in Singapore for supporting us with prayer and love-gifts toward missions work in Cambodia. Thank God for giving me the privilege to serve Him.
Please pray for the children’ salvation, and that God will call some of them to fulltime service for the next generation of Cambodian people, for Sunday school materials (flash cards) to teach them God’s Word, for a computer laptop for church office usage, for a church van which will be useful for the ministry.
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5).
[Update: “Thank God for Session’s love gift to purchase new laptop.” Tann Heng.]
