2024 Holy Work in Japan

The world has been violently turbulent in recent years under the extreme “weather” caused by wars, earthquakes, and climate change. It staggers like a drunken man. Believers in Japan have not personally met with the cruelty of the Russo-Ukrainian War, nor were they affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake at the beginning of the year. Yet the rising costs, currency depreciation, and fiercely competitive social environment, which seem to be irrelevant to faith, have an invisible impact on believers in the true church. Believers who live in this environment are like salmon trying to swim upstream in a torrent. Inevitably, their faith will collide with the torrent. They can only overcome by relying on the guidance of the Lord. 

Through the care of many coworkers at home and abroad, as well as the unswerving support of the International Assembly and Taiwan General Assembly, the holy work in Japan has been gradually established. 

This year, 

  • a new deacon was ordained (April 20th);
  • the Kansai House of Prayer was established as the Osaka Ikuno Church (May 5th);
  • the Yokohama Church established Koyasu House of Prayer (May 11th);
  • Spring Spiritual Convocations were held at various local churches and houses of prayer (end of April through the beginning of May);
  • the Japan Coordination Center organized a hymnal fellowship and invited teachers and students from the Taiwan Theological Program who were visiting Japan to participate in the event (June 16th);
  • Fall Spiritual Convocations were held at each local church and house of prayer (September). 
  • Various church construction tasks were gradually completed at Sumida Church in Tokyo, and Tokyo Church’s Oyama Family Service is actively seeking for a chapel.

Thanks to the Lord’s guidance and care, the holy work in various places has prospered and developed. 

However, there are still many issues facing the churches in Japan, such as evangelism, the faith of the youth, and the succession of holy work. As the holy work carries on and the workers continue to follow up, they cannot help but sigh, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” The concept  “evangelize to drive pastoral care” compels us to make a breakthrough in preaching the gospel. We hope to enter a realm we have never entered before, and imagine the scenery behind that door to be full of wonderful grace. Hope gives us the motivation to strive forward; looking to the Lord Jesus Christ gives us the courage to do so. “I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following…” (Lk 13:33). 

The True Jesus Church in Japan must move forward.