21 July 2023 - 30 July 2023 Summer
Missionaries: Timothy Toh Fuh Yun and Belleand children Etsuko and Nozomi.
Leader: ReverendWong Tuong Tou
Members: Male: Edwin Ngu, Jonah Wong, Terence Ting, Female: Esther Pang, IreneYong, Lillian Lau, Ma Nar.
Secondly, I would like to extend my utmost appreciation andgratitude towards all those who prayed for me including and not limited to the
Church, my family, Bible Cell Group, Ladies Fellowship, my 9.30am Sunday School
teachers and Saturday morning 5.30am prayer group led by Reverend Ling Yien who
prayed for me and this mission group to Kyoto Japan. Thank you to all of them
for their prayers. And not forgetting Pastor Timothy and Belle and children for
their hospitality, guidance, support and collaborations in this mission trip.
It was with great anticipation, a mixture of excitement and alsofear, to meet all those children (17 of them) who registered saying they wouldcome.
It was truly a miracle to see so many children registered and most of them turned up. God is a God of miracles: Jesus looked at them and said, “with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible” Matthew 19:26.
Excited we are going to meet with the children but fearful we would not be able
to interact with the children on the program. We finally met them and had a very fruitful time with the children of Japanese culture and language.
The children were able to grasp some English songs and English words. They had a
great time on English stories telling sessions. It was so great so see them participating in the sing and dance, reciting the poem and artwork activities and mingled with all the team members. Some of their mums remained in the class and the fathers turned up too on the final day. As I went through the days, I realized how important the Sunday Schools are for the young children.
When I knew I was going for this mission trip, I joined the Masland Methodist Church
Sunday Schools as part of my preparation. It was so helpful. It is also an venue to train up missionaries for mission work. It is an important set up.
We visited the Higashi Hongan-ji, Kiyomizu Temple, Fushimi InariShrine and Kyoto Imperial Palace.
These are all great temples with huge building structures (bigcolumns, high ceiling, huge roofs) and with great space. They are immenselygrand. From these temples and the many other temples, it just shows that the Japaneseknows there is a god, a superior being out there, that there is a desire orinclination to look for that almighty God. However, they may not know the trueGod yet or perhaps do not wish to know this true God?
Romans 1:20 “ For since the creation of the world God’s invisiblequalities - his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Yet despite all this, God is still merciful to the Japanese. HEraised Christian missionaries to serve in this nation. Pastor Timothy and family are there. Ms Kathy whom we visited in Osaka is there. And I heard of a missionary in Hokkaido is there too. I am sure there are other Christian organizations are there in Japan playing their respective roles in bringing the gospel to the Japanese.
The vision that came to my mind was the current missionaries are hammering and chiseling away slowing turning the hearts of stone of the Japanese into the hearts of flesh for them to know our true God,the Lord Jesus Christ. “ I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20. It is not an easy task but God is merciful and is waiting patiently for everyone to go back to HIM. We just need to do our parts. Gospel is so precious and important and we need to spread this gospel to the unbelievers.
We went to various eateries, supermarkets and also chemist shops.From there we also had a glimpse of the Japanese culture. Plastic bags in Supermarkets are not provided free. They had to be paid for in a way to discourage usage of plastic. Rubbish bins in the city are hardly available.
One has to take care of their own rubbish and segregate all the rubbish accordingly. People can be a bit indifferent towards each other. But then that is big city lifestyle.
It maybe the end of this particular mission trip but it is also anongoing process of God’s salvation plan for His people. There were so many other incidences and experiences during the trip and I am just so thankful that God was with me and us all the time, guiding us through and protecting us. All glory, honor, praises and blessing be unto our Heavenly Father. Amen.
