Sunday, July 07, 2013

A taste of Christianity in Japan

image by Southworth Sailor
image, a photo by Southworth Sailor on Flickr.

It is estimated that less than 1 percent of Japan is Christian. In our travels so far we have seen very little evidence of Christianity. Maybe one church was spotted each day. Today we were given a glimpse into the Japan church. Most Japanese churches are very small - less than 50 people. Calvin had an important test (Japanese Language Proficiency) that he needed to take today, so we went to Sassa's church which was having a joint service with two other churches. The three Calvary Chapel churches met in a local park. After being picked up by someone from Sassa's church and seeing their facility, we were driven to the park with others from the church. The church supports itself by operating an all day preschool. The joint service was very enjoyable, worshipping with fellow believers from a different culture. The Japanese pastor preached and it was interpreted into English. The church was very welcoming and we met some great people. We ate lunch with them before heading off to Calvin's church. We said good bye to Markus as he left to get back to work Monday in Seattle. Jesus Lifehouse is a progressive Hillsong church in the heart of Tokyo. It is very energetic with a club like atmosphere. It has a strong sense of mission to reach the young urban professional. It was great to experience Calvin's place of worship, even though he couldn't be there. He finished up about the time we did, so we met at Shinjuku Station. Sassa joined us as we enjoyed a tonkatsu dinner, one more culinary experience to add to our trip.

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