October 2023 RCMI Newsletter

Japan -- Notes on the Old Testament

RCMI's Vision for Japan Mission -- Revival Christian Church in Osaka, Japan -- Thirty Years of Mission and Church Planting in Japan.

Christians comprise less than 1% of the population of the beautiful island nation of Japan. For many years, missionaries from many lands came preaching the Gospel; and when they fell, others stepped in immediately to replace them. Japan is a nation that places great importance on tradition and offerings to ancestors. Those who accept the message of the Gospel have been, and are, subject to the pressure of negative opinion, both from home and society at large. Suicide has long been a marked social problem throughout the country. In 2014, 70 Japanese committed suicide every day, on average -- most of them men. From the beginning, Japan has been known as 'hard ground' for the Gospel!

Revival Christian Church, Osaka, Japan

Pastor Ruth Pong will return to Hong Kong from October 24 to November 4, 2023. We welcome RCC members and all other brothers and sisters in Hong Kong to come for fellowship and sharing. Pastor Ruth Pong's Newsletter To all our coworkers in the Lord, Brothers and Sisters, Greetings of peace from Osaka, Japan! In May of this year, just as many other governments did, Japan's loosened its pandemic measures and people returned to their prior ways, not wearing masks, going about as they please. But for the economy to return to its prior levels ... of course it's too early to say anything! Also the Japanese yen's exchange rate is still falling, and the confused policies of the government are making an optimistic outlook impossible. Despite these things, and especially because the yen's value is down, quite a few tourists have been induced to visit Japan. So ... at least some business opportunities have emerged for the tourism industry! Due to Japan's chronic manpower shortage and its trend of skilled workers' emigration, in recent years the government has adjusted their immigration policy numerous times in order to attract more overseas talent, incrementally relaxing strict policies. So especially since about two years ago, quite a few Hong Kong citizens have come to Japan to try to live here. Although the number of Hong Kong citizens emigrating to Japan has shown a marked increase in the last few years, still it is far fewer than the number who emigrate to Europe, America, and other countries. But we can see the needs of those arriving in Japan -- their need to hear the Gospel or to receive pastoring. Of course, coming for tourism and immigrating to Japan are two completely different matters ... The ones moving here, besides needing to learn Japanese language and culture, also have worries and uncertainties about restarting work or even career and working out a stable life in this new environment. Recently our church has come in contact with some Hong Kong people who plan to move to Japan, among whom are Christians. Besides our desire to help and encourage them with the love of Christ, our hope is that Gospel seeds planted in their hearts will sprout and grow so that they can be saved and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Only He can be their constant help, the One who brings true peace to our hearts! "(This Gospel) is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Rom 1:16 In Him, Pastor Ruth Pong

Revival Christian Church Worship Team, Osaka, Japan

Revival Christian Church, Hong Kong, Visits Osaka

The Local Church -- RCC Rhema -- Pastor Bill Lee's Newsletter

The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2019 greatly affected all the meetings and activities of the church globally. Not until mid-2022 did Hong Kong begin, step by step, to return to normal; and our church also is gradually getting back to normal joint worship. Now it is 2023 and many churches are still working hard to get back to their meetings and activities as before the pandemic. We ourselves conducted an all-day camp in February, a Sunday of outdoor worship followed by other activities. After lunch, brothers and sisters joined in different activities including archery, shooting air rifles, balloon soccer, some made-up games, hiking, different ball games, etc. About a hundred people participated. Then in August we held an evening dinner that we called "Love Workshop." Through games, testimonies, and sharing from special guests, we learned about loving and relating in marriage -- that to love, we need to work hard and put into practice what we have heard in our training time. The dinner was held at a restaurant and was attended by about seventy people.

Love Workshop" Dinner

Archery at the "Love Workshop" Dinner

Recalling what everyone was feeling during the pandemic ... People were trembling with fear, not knowing how the situation might change (for the worse) again tomorrow. At that time, it seemed that everything just stopped; but now that we've gotten through it, it seems we went through it in the blink of an eye. And looking a little farther back, RCC Rhema was founded in 2004 -- so next year we will be twenty years old! Twenty years is not a short period of time; looking back, having been able to go through these twenty years -- of course there have been highs and lows -- but we always have to thank God for His Grace! Planting or growing a church is not about holding big meetings or having spiritual training/motivational conferences, even though these kinds of meetings have their value! But in the church, pastoring and teaching means working steadily and surely day by day, training people to preach the Gospel, nurturing young people for many years -- this is the work that renews, changes, and brings growth. I sum these things up in four words: evangelizing, teaching, preaching, and counseling. In this process I have discovered that what I focus on is not how many places I've been to or how much ministry I've done but whether I see people growing -- and when I'm helping people to grow, I myself am also growing. From one perspective, these twenty years have been like watching my children go through school -- first they did three or four years of preschool, then six years of elementary school, then six years of secondary school, and finally four years of university. Now that they've studied for about 20 years, they are finally mature adults; and after graduating from university, they are now ready to enter a new stage of life. But having been these children's teacher is actually different from having taught in most schools, as most teachers don't progress along with their students but teach the same grade year after year. Only the students move up from grade to grade; teachers have different students year after year but teach the same material. They don't have to teach anything new; they just teach different students. But in the church, for twenty years the teachers and pastors have been together with the students the whole time (although of course there are always some new people and some who leave), year after year, growing together and reaching higher levels year by year. We teachers can't teach the same things we did before -- we must grow along with the students. A final point is that what teachers want most of all is to see that they've trained up a group of students who will graduate one day and become mature, who are developing into adults that can face the future with confidence and live the abundant life that Jesus spoke of. So in seemingly the blink of an eye, twenty years have passed; and some years into the future, the teachers will retire. My expectation is that before that day, there will be people who purposefully accept this calling -- those who will carry on, pass the torch of this vital work to the next generation, and continue to make more generations of disciples for our Lord! Pastor Bill Lee, RCC Rhema