[Japan] God Has Opened the Door for the Gospel in Japan through Mind Education

With the start of the New Year, there was a lecture on Mind Education led by Mind Education experts (Pastors Jaehong Kim, Huimoon Lee and Yangsoo Park) from the 19th to the 23rd of January. With the theme of ‘Self-Development for a Happier and Successful Life’, the event was held for three days in Tokyo and another 2 days is Osaka and Yamagata. The congregation in Japan felt strongly the need for Mind Education and the fact that happiness depends on the success and happiness of a person.

On the first day, speaker Jaehong Kim explained the reason why more developed countries have higher suicide percentages. He explained that the suicide occurs when a person’s heart is upset then that heart leads to it becoming unhealthy eventually resting on the topic of suicide. He added that although many people think that the hurting of the heart is all because of being treated with verbal abuse or the situations that they are placed in, it is actually because they have a weak heart. Using the example of tofu and a brick, he said that a tofu can easily be broken because it is weak but the brick cannot be affected as it is strong. He also spoke about the bullet proof glass and why it is bullet-proof. Just like how the film in between the glass makes it bullet proof, he emphasised that although people may have weak hearts, if they have the faith in God they will become stronger. All the people who attended the lecture were able to diagnose their own hearts after listening about the world of the heart.

Ohtata, who participated in the lecture after receiving a flyer stated, while having fellowship with the guest speaker, that although he had never heard about God, he was always interested in Mind Education such as this and also that he wanted to learn this in detail to spread it to the people around him. Also, another participant testified that if her son had heard this Mind Education last year, he would not have committed suicide. We were able to feel how deeply Japan needed Mind Education.

Moreover, 마리라, who participated in the World Camp in Japan last September, was someone who was doing a variety of charity works after moving from the Philippines 30 years ago. After hearing the lecture, she commented that it showed her directly the position of her heart and she also stated that she will work together to expand this Mind Education to all the regions of Japan that she has connections with.

In the morning of the 21st, Pastor Huimoon Lee explained about the contrast between the heart and the body under the title, ‘The Heart, Just Another World”. He elaborated saying that just as the body is regularly checked up on and receives treatment, the heart must also receive a diagnosis and treatment. He also mentioned that just as the body has many functions, the heart also has many functions meaning that it is important to learn these functions. It was a Mind Education Lecture that made the listeners fall into a trance as the speaker further mentioned that it is just as important to maintain a good health for the heart as it is for the body.

From the 22nd, the Mind Education lectures were run in two separate places, Osaka and Yamagata. Yuka, who was pregnant with her second born at the age of twenty, was suffering from shock following the divorce with her husband. As she attended the Mind Education on this occasion, she was able to gain great peace in her heart after having individual counseling with the guest Pastor.

All the participants were with one accord when saying that Japan truly needs this Mind Education in Japan because of the sheer number of people who mentally did not know where to go like Yuka.

Even the brothers and sisters testified that they had been living with the wrong hearts and said that they want to continue to receive this education. We felt that Mind Education was a great gift from God for the ministry in Japan In the lecture in Osaka church, a man named Ganemoto participated. This person had been working his whole life but had retired and was living a life in loneliness before he was invited for this lecture. At first, he only attended out of courtesy after being invited by one of the brothers in the church but as he was listening to the lecture, he was able to open his heart towards the Mind Education, which was something that he had encountered for the first time. He was planning to participate in only the first day but after hearing that the content is different every session, he also participated on the following day. While listening to the lecture, he began to open his heart and talk about himself. Usually, Japanese people think that keeping the expressions of the heart to oneself is a virtue, but as he heard during the lecture that true happiness in life comes when you are sharing the heart’s expressions, he began to express his own heart. He said that he wanted to continually change and relentlessly listen to the Mind Education. He added that he would like to participate in the Mind Education Specialist training in March and attend church to learn more about the world of the heart.

University student, brother Junho Park, also testifies about realising how important Mind Education is in life and stated that he would like to link the Mind Education to the curriculum that he is currently studying in order to heal people’s hearts and preach the Gospel.

During the seminars, Watanabe, who runs the 보란티아 group in Fukushima (the place of the nuclear accident), came and participated and while having fellowship with the Guest Pastor, he offered collaboration for such a lecture in Fukushima, saying how vital it is to have such a Mind Education Lecture there. A few of the brothers and sisters of the Saitama church have already been counselors at schools and while listening to their story Pastor Jaehong Kim, who came as a guest speaker said, “God has given us an open door. God has already prepared everything for the ME in Japan.” He also spoke with hope and faith saying, “Now if we train specialists and run the Mind Education in all of Japan, the way for the Gospel will be opened.”

How to approach the Japanese people, who are very reluctant with religion, with the gospel has been the main worry for the ministry in Japan and the majority of the brothers and sisters. In 2015, the New Year, God had had given the Japanese church a great gift. Essentially, it is planned that all the brothers and sisters in Japan will be trained as speakers from the 25th to the 27th of March. As we think about the ‘New Song of the Gospel’ in the whole of Japan, we are so hopeful. God had given us the New Year’s Message through His servant saying, ‘Let us sing a new song of the Gospel!’

#GoodNewsMission #Japan #MindLecture