I’ve been on a bit of a quest of late. After almost twenty years of missionary service in Japan, I’m rethinking about contexulization. This journey began when I started getting more opportunities to preach, and found myself falling back on the same old explanations and illustrations for the Gospel, stuff that, on reflection, is very much a product of Western Christianity and may not resonate with Japanese listeners, especially those not already familiar with Christianity.
So I’ve been doing a lot of reading, looking for fresh ways to express the Gospel in a Japanese context. I thought I’d share some of what I’m reading about here on the blog, as I way to be more intentional about processing and retaining what I’m learning, not just reading.
First up: The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures, by Jayson Georges.
The 3D Gospel was on my Amazon wish list for a long time, having been recommended to me by a fellow missionary a few years ago. I finally bought it last year, and read it twice because it was a such a short but impactful book. I wish I’d read it a long time ago, and would highly recommend it for Western Christians ministering in non-Western contexts. In fact, if I have any say, it will be required reading for new members of our team at GP Japan.
Actually, even if you’re not doing cross-cultural missions work, I think The 3D Gospel is worth reading, because it will expand your understanding and deepen your appreciation of what Jesus accomplished through his incarnation, death and resurrection. It’s literally changed how I read Scripture, making me see things that were there all along but I hadn’t noticed or thought about before.
So what’s it about? I’ll let Amazon’s description tell you:
To enhance your ministry among the nations, learn how the Bible speaks to cultures of guilt, shame, and fear. Western theology emphasizes forgiveness of sins, but people in the Majority World seek honor or spiritual power. In today’s globalized world, Christians need a three-dimensional gospel of God’s innocence, honor, and power. Is your gospel 3D?
Japan is widely known to be a honour-shame culture. But I can also see power-fear dynamics at play in the Shinto-Buddhist traditions of Japan. This book has been helpful in understanding more clearly what these cultural characteristics mean, while also showing me how the Bible speaks to them.
Here’s some of what the author has to say about these different kinds of cultures (emphasis mine):
“Removing shame requires more than forgiveness. Shame produces feelings of humiliation, disapproval, and abandonment. Shame means inadequacy of the entire person. While guilt says, ‘I made a mistake’; shame says, ‘I am a mistake.’ (p. 23)
“Also, cultural expressions of honor and shame can appear contradictory. For example, Middle Eastern cultures aggressively compete for honor. Conflict is viewed as win-lose or lose-win. So they may resort to honor killings or even terrorism to avoid shame and restore honor. But far Eastern cultures, such as Japan and Korea, strive for harmony. Conflict is a win-win or lose-lose game. So East Asians respond to shame by withdrawing or even committing suicide. Though the outward expressions contrast, both cultural blocs are deeply rooted in shame-honor values.” (p. 24)
“In fear-based cultures, it is not important to genuinely believe in certain truths or follow ethical standards. Rather, methods that placate the spiritual powers define acceptable human behavior.” (p. 25)
“The moral logic of fear-power cultures says: do something in the seen world to manipulate the unseen world into helping you.” (p. 26)
And a word about how the Word, especially the Gospel, speaks to ALL of these cultures:
“In Acts 26:18, Paul describes his mission to the Gentiles in 3D terms—‘to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God (power), so that they might receive the forgiveness of sins (innocence) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith (honor) in Jesus.’” (p. 60)
I could go on, but you should just read the book for yourself. Seriously.
I’m still looking for the perfect Gospel presentation for the Japanese context. But in closing let me leave you with a video Georges recommends, that shows what a contextualized “plan of salvation” might look like in some honour-shame cultures:
Hope your summer is getting off to a good start! In Ishikawa, it looks like we’re just entering the rainy season. Thank you for your prayers this past month. Here are some updates and prayer requests for June:
1. Thank you for praying for our ministries at the Immanuel churches in Fukui and Komatsu last month. God lead, protected and blessed us!
2. We are now attending Immanuel Kanazawa Church as our “home church.” This is an attempt to centre our ministry closer to where we live. There are actually two Immanuel churches in Kanazawa, and both have asked us to work with their young people (mostly university students). This Sunday we went to an adventure park with some of them! Please pray for God’s leading in our church life and local ministries.
3. In June, we are planning to host a team from The Well in Christchurch, New Zealand. This is a Wesleyan-Methodist Church with a heart for Japan and a desire to partner with our work here. This visit is a vision trip with the purpose of learning more about the needs and opportunities in Japan. Please pray for a God’s blessing on this trip.
4. Also in June, I (Robin) am scheduled to spend two weeks in the Philippines attending a Leadership Matters Course. With new workers (Lord willing) coming soon, GP has named me mission director for Japan and recommended this class to me as part of my preparation.
5. Our new missionary Mickey Veach is making good progress in his support raising. We are planning for his arrival in October. Meanwhile he continues to engage with us remotely as one of the writers for our online manga series Waypoints. The latest story is one Mickey wrote, and is scheduled to go online this Friday! Please pray for this ministry, and for Mickey’s continuing partnership development.
As our busy season begins and we have lots on our minds, we’re thankful for partners like you who hold us up in prayer and support the mission in Japan. Thank you for being on our team!
Hope you had a happy Easter! We spent Easter weekend in Nagoya again this year, doing an English outreach event that Sunday afternoon. We were grateful for a good turnout, and that several of my former English students joined the event and got to hear an Easter message.
Please PRAY that God will continue to work in the lives of my former students in Nagoya!
Meanwhile, we uploaded a new Easter-themed Waypoints manga and did some paid promo on Instagram to try and get some more views. Thankfully we had a pretty big spike in website traffic, though it’s hard to measure the impact.
Please PRAY with us that God will use this project to sow seeds of salvation and draw people to faith in Christ!
This coming Sunday (5/4) we’re at Immanuel Fukui Church again, where I’m scheduled to preach and Yoko to lead worship. The following week we’re back at Immanuel Komatsu Church for music and worship ministry. The rest of the month is fairly quiet, but we’ve got lots to keep us busy as we prepare more Waypoints content and work ahead before a very busy June.
Please PRAY for these ministries and behind-the-scenes projects, and that God will give us vision and direction to move the mission forward in Japan.
Thank you for being a part of our team through your prayers and giving!
At IGM annual conference in Yokohama, with WGM missionaries, their director Dan Schafer (who was guest speaker) and his wife, and IGM’s president Rev. Iwagami.
Hi everyone,
Thank you for your prayers for us, our ministry, and Japan!
This past weekend, we attended the annual conference of Immanuel General Mission (IGM), our partner denomination in Japan. Earlier in the month, I preached, and Yoko led worship at Immanuel Fukui Church; and we led worship together in Immanuel Komatsu Church. We’re grateful for our church connections and partnerships in Japan!
Please pray for IGM pastors, churches, and families going through transitions right now as this is pastoral change season. And pray for us, too, as we explore new church connections and partnership possibilities in the months to come.
Also in March, we released a new manga (The Pool) at Waypoints. This month, we’re posting a new Easter-themed Waypoints manga, and doing some extra online promo and outreach. Pray that God will help us connect with new readers and point them to Jesus.
And speaking of Easter, we’re scheduled to do another English ministry reunion at our former church in Nagoya on Easter Sunday, April 20. Please pray that we’ll have a good turnout, especially from people who don’t normally go to the church, and that we can effectively share with them about the hope we have in Christ.
Thank you for your prayers throughout February! It was quite a month… Here’s some of what’s been happening (or in some cases not happening) this past month:
1. We wrapped up our manga collaboration withZOE Japan, finishing the English translation. ZOE now has both Japanese and English versions in print (as seen in the above photo) to distribute across Japan as they connect with young people and do anti-trafficking education.
2. Early in February, I got the flu, so we had to cancel our trip to Sapporo, and I had several unproductive days at home. Fortunately I’m better now and Yoko somehow managed to not get sick.
3. I traveled solo to Tokyo for a missionary gathering, promoted Drawbridge and had an encouraging time learning and networking with the JEMA community.
4. We’ve been working with three different artists on new manga stories for Waypoints. We’ve also been working on some “next steps” for website visitors who may be open to learning more about Jesus.
5. This past Sunday we were in Fukui (a 1.5 hour drive from us) for church. Yoko led worship, I preached and we closed with a song together. This is a small church that is currently without a full-time pastor, so we’ve been asked to help out and are scheduled to do church there three more times throughout this year.
Some Prayer Points:
1. Please pray that Waypoints will reach a broader audience and be an effective online outreach as we launch into a new season of manga this month.
2. We’re scheduled to lead worship a Komatsu Immanuel Church on 3/16.
3. Immanuel General Mission (our partner denomination) is holding their annual conference this month (3/28-30). This is where church business is discussed and pastors receive their assignments for the next year. This year is also the 80th anniversary of IGM!
4. Please continue praying for us as we explore some next steps for local ministry and prepare to grow our missionary team.
Hope 2025 is off to a good start for you. This month for our update we’ve got a video for you. This was recorded in the US last year, but between editing and then a busy year end, we’re just getting around to sharing it now. Please take a look!
Meanwhile, here are some current updates and prayer points:
My big goal for January was redesigning the Waypoints website, and on the final day of the month it was done, thanks to some help from a friend we met in Michigan last year. Please pray for us as we work with artists and writers to prepare new manga for 2025.
We’ve also been exploring and praying about some new local church partnerships and community involvement. Please pray for direction!
February is shaping up to be a busy month, with guests visiting as well as trips to Sapporo and Tokyo. On February 9, in Sapporo, we’re scheduled to do Drawbridge promo, preaching and music ministry. Please pray for safe travels, energy and effective ministry!
Mount Hakusan as seen from Hakusan City Hall this past Sunday
Happy New Year from Ishikawa, Japan!
For us, it was a quiet new year — especially compared to last year — and we’re thankful. Now we’re getting back into the swing of things after a bit of a break. Here’s some of what’s going on…
Creating new Waypoints manga, with a goal of posting 5 or 6 this year.
An English version of the manga we did with ZOE Japan.
Leading worship at Immanuel Komatsu Church this coming Sunday (1/12).
Praying and seeking God’s direction for how we can better serve local churches and our community.
Preparing to expand our missionary team.
On that last note, we’d like to introduce you to our new teammate, Mickey Veach. Mickey has been appointed by Global Partners as a missionary to Japan, and visited us last February. We also got to connect with him in the US during the summer.
Mickey is now in the middle of support raising and training, with the hope of joining us full-time here this fall. You can check out his first newsletter (and subscribe) HERE. I’m sure Mickey would appreciate your prayers!
Thank you for your continuing prayers and partnership with our mission in Japan! Here’s to a great 2025!
With Mickey at a Japanese garden in Michigan last summer
Thank you for praying for our busy season of travels, connections, and ministry! We just returned earlier this week from GP’s Asia-Pacific conference in Australia. We’re thankful for a good time of re-connecting with our fellow Global Partners missionaries in the area.
And now it’s the Christmas season! Christmas is a big opportunity for outreach at Japanese churches. Our Waypoints manga booklets will be distributed by various churches and ministries throughout Japan, so please pray that they will be effective. Please pray, too, for us as we do Christmas preaching and music ministry the next two Sundays at the Immanuel churches in Kanazawa (12/15) and Komatsu (12/22).
As we approach the end of the year, we want to say a special THANK YOU for being a part of our lives; for keeping us in your prayers; and for your giving which allows us to be a part of God’s mission in Japan.
Hope your fall is going well. As we near the end of the year, it’s time for another big semi-annual JapanLog newsletter. Please follow the link below to view/download the PDF:
Thank you for your continuing prayers! It’s been just over a month since we got back to Japan from our partnership development time in North America. It’s been a time of settling in, finding our rhythm again, and getting back to work.
On the Drawbridge Creations front, after some fresh promotion, we’ve been getting quite a few orders from missionaries and churches for our Waypoints manga resources in the lead-up to the Christmas outreach season, and have had to order more copies of the booklets from the printers.
Our schedule for the rest of the year is looking pretty busy, with travel and conferences and special ministry opportunities. We’d appreciate your prayers for health, safety and readiness!
Here are some dates to keep in your prayers:
11/10 – Preaching and music ministry at Immanuel Komatsu Church.
11/13-15 – Renown Conference (in Shizuoka), where we’re promoting Drawbridge Creations.
11/16-19 – In Yokohama for meetings with missionaries and church leaders.
11/24 – Preaching/music ministry at Immanuel Fukui Church.
11/29-12/9 – Global Partners Asia-Pacific missionary Conference in Australia.
Thank you as always for your prayers and partnership!
PS – In case you missed it, please check out the latest Drawbridge Dispatch HERE.
