JGPNetwork

On our trip to Niigata we drove through a mountainous area where many Japanese like to go and ski.  Our car rode up and down the mountains and through numberous tunnels. One tunnel stretched about 10 miles through the mountain!  Small towns were tucked in the valleys between the mountains. We talked about the fact that most of these towns have probably never heard the gospel!

We drove through valleys and reached the plains on the opposite side of the mountains.  Rice fields covered these farmlands.  Because it is the middle of summer the fields are bright green, lush and beautiful.  I learned that when the fields are ready for harvest, they will turn white.   Pray that the gospel would reach every mountain town and farming community. Pray for the harvest in Japan.

One of the things that I love the most about being in Japan is meeting Japanese. Part of the ministry of JGPNetwork is to distribute the Manga Bible, New Testaments, and the Hope DVD. During our day in the countryside we distributed the materials around a Buddhist temple. Shirley, a volunteer from Hawaii and I saw a group of seniors playing crockett. They each wore a hat and had a number pinned to their outfits. They were hesitant as we approached but as we began to speak with them in Japanese they opened up. They each readily accepted the Manga Bibles that we gave them. And they offered us Japanese tea.

As we continued our journey we came across a man cleaning out the incence basin in front of the temple. He accepted the Manga Bible but not without giving us a couple of hundred yen. He insisted. Sometimes it is hard for Japanese to receive a free gift. Pray that the seniors who received the Manga Bible, the man cleaning the temple, and others would receive the free gift of God; salvation in Christ!

Many people say that the Japanese are not a religious people, but traveling out to the village assured me once again that this statment is not true.  Japanese Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples dot the countryside.  They are found on hilltops, in neighborhoods, or tucked away in small yards.

On Shikoku, one of the four Japanese islands, a Buddhist priest who felt the people very sinful led them to build 88 temples.  It serves like a Mecca of Japan.  Whoever visits the 88 temples in his or her lifetime is assured a place in the Buddhist heaven.  Pray that the light of Jesus would shine in these dark places!

By Rachel Routt, summer intern missionary