- What is it like as a missionary in Japan?
- Testimony of John R. Himes
- Testimony of Patty Himes
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What is it like as a missionary in Japan?
By John R. Himes
Japan has four very large main islands, and thousands of small ones. Our location is the northern main island of Hokkaido. This is a very cold and snowy area, much like Siberia. We live in the city of Asahikawa (pop. 360,000), which has the records for the most snow and the coldest temperature in Japan. It also has incredible natural beauty, since we are surrounded by 360 degrees of mountains, with many rivers flowing through the city. I am the founding pastor of the Victory Baptist Church, and the dean of the Asahikawa Bible Research Institute.
We are often asked if the people are receptive to the Gospel. No they are not. We can get out as many as 10,000 tracts before we have one response. There are many reasons for this. The Japanese religions are Buddhism and Shintoism, which are barriers to the Gospel. However, the Japanese are also very materialistic, and that is a hindrance. They do not think very much about spiritual things, so the average Japanese is not even a good Buddhist or Shintoist. However, God loves them, and we are able to win some precious Japanese to Christ, though not in great numbers like some countries.
Sometimes we are asked if it was hard to get into the country. Actually, Japan is a close ally of the US, so it is easy to enter the country. We have a three-year visa for religious activity. Also, though it is difficult to win Japanese to Jesus, we have complete freedom here to preach the Gospel. There is no overt persecution, because Japan's constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
The lifestyle of the Japanese people is very similar to that of Americans. They were American style clothing except for special events such as a Shinto wedding or a traditional festival, when they wear the traditional kimono. They eat many western foods, and we have in our town: MacDonald's, KFC, Mr. Donut, Pizza Hut and many other American style restaurants. However, they still enjoy their traditional foods too, especially many kinds of seafood, including the famous sushi and sashimi raw fish dishes.
Some have asked us what the greatest obstacle to the Gospel in Japan is, and I believe one reason is their materialism. Japanese people love money and things, especially brand name European and American goods. They think much more about money, food, clothing, houses and cars than where they will spend eternity or the meaning of life. Therefore, even after 130 years of Protestant and Baptist missions, Japan is still less than 1% Christian, even including the Catholics and such cults as the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.
Another obstacle for the Gospel here is that Japan horribly persecuted Catholic Christianity in the 17th century, killing many tens of thousands of Catholics. This aimed the direction of the country 180 degrees away from true Christianity.
As for what Christians are doing to overcome the obstacles, they can pray. There have been revivals in Japan before with many thousands saved, and we pray for those days again. Also, twice--the Meiji Restoration and the time immediately after World War Two– the entire Japanese society has changed directions. We pray that some day that will once again happen and many Japanese will turn to Christ. In the meantime, we thank God for every precious Japanese soul He has used us to win to Christ.
I was born in Oklahoma and grew up in a pastor’s home. I was saved at age four while my father was away in an evangelistic meeting. I remember definite conviction of sin while lying in my bed considering the merits of becoming an old man and having a death bed” conversion. I felt that I wanted my way all my life, but still wanted to go to Heaven. However, I finally went to my mother and told her I wanted to be saved. She led me to the Lord using John 3:16, which I had memorized.
I dedicated my life to the Lord at 16. When I was a senior in high school the Lord called me to preach. The call to be a missionary came as a sophomore at Tennessee Temple University during the annual missionary at Highland Park Baptist Church. As a missionary from Japan spoke the Lord seemed to be saying, “Would you go to Tokyo, Japan, if I asked you to?” A weeklong struggle culminated in a further surrender to the will of God, wherever it may take me. After graduation in 1976, God confirmed the missionary call to be to Japan through veteran missionary Jim Norton and His Word in Romans 15:20-21, “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand."
I met my wife while on deputation to go to Japan under Baptist World Mission. The members of the candidate committee that she went before encouraged us to write each other. We wrote and dated until she accepted my proposal of marriage in January of 1979. Patty had prayed that, if it were God’s will, we would be married on May 5. Though I set the date without her saying anything other than that she wanted a spring wedding, we were married on May 5, 1979.
Upon completing deputation we left for Japan on May 4 of 1981. After two years of language school, we moved to Yokohama, where I founded and pastored the Konandai Baptist Church (later Joy Baptist). From 1987 to 1996 I taught at the Grace Baptist Bible School in Tokyo.
In October of 1996 we moved to the northern island of Hokkaido, where I founded the Victory Baptist Church and helped start the Asahikawa Bible Research Institute. We also are active in a literature ministry.
I was raised in a Christian home. When I was ten years old my church went to a city wide crusade. During one of the invitations, I raised my hand that I wanted to be saved. I walked to the front of the civic auditorium and someone took me backstage. I remember that person showing me some verses, but I don’t remember asking Jesus to save me.
I was a leader in the teen group at my church during my teen years and even led people to the Lord. When I graduated from high school I went to a Southern Baptist college so that I could take the nursing program. After a year and a half, when I was twenty years old, I returned home very unhappy and decided not to return to that school. One day at my home church there was an evangelist and he spoke on hell. From the moment that he started speaking I know that the Holy Spirit was working on my heart. The message scared me. I cried during the entire message. I knew that I had to go forward and confess to everyone that I wasn’t really saved. Satan kept telling me that I couldn’t go forward because everyone thought I was saved, but I knew that I had to, and when the invitation came I went forward, took my pastor’s hand and told him that I wasn’t really saved. My pastor’s wife took me aside and showed me all the verses that I had showed others when I led them to the Lord. After I read the verses I bowed my head and asked the Lord to save me from my sins and take me to Heaven when I die. From that moment till now I have never doubted my salvation. Some people try to tell me that I was saved when I was ten years old. I just reply that I don’t care when I actually got saved, I just know that I am saved!
I finished my college education at Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan. I took Joshua 1: 8-9 as my life verses. In my senior year I surrendered to be a missionary, but I didn’t know at that time where the Lord was leading me. After graduation, I applied to Baptist World Mission. After I met with them, they suggested to John Himes that he should write to me. We wrote for about three months, met, continued to write and fell in love. When John asked me to marry him I knew why I hadn’t known before where the Lord was leading me; He had someone special for me to go with. We were married on May 5, 1979. Our only child, Paul, was born in June of 1980, and we left for Japan in May of 1981 where we’ve been serving the Lord ever since.
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