This June, I gathered together with a group of pastors for a morning of ‘area cleaning’.
The venue was the former headquarters of the Sekai Fukuin Dendou Kai (SFDK) which directly translates to Worldwide Evangelisation Society. This is the name of the Japanese organisation that governs the 14 churches planted by WEC over its 76 years of history in Japan. Though not a denomination per say, the SFDK is a registered legal religious body and thus represents and loosely unites the churches.
The pastors meet once a month to give updates, plan annual events and share prayer points. But this June, the meeting was dedicated to fellowship and some physical labour.
The HQ is located in a very rural part of Shiga Prefecture in the village of Gokasho, where WEC Japan started mission work in 1950. Having been purchased by the first missionaries, for many years the place served as both an accommodation for new missionaries and a venue for evangelistic meetings.
However, as the work soon spread to other parts of the Kansai region, activities at the HQ were gradually wound down and no permanent occupants have been there for some time. Until the 2010s the place continued to be a meeting venue and WEC Japan would hold their annual conference there. It was a busy period as the missionaries would have to arrive one week earlier just to do cleaning and maintenance. Though some considered it to be quite exhausting, others found the time spent working together a blessing.
Last year, due to numerous factors, the SFDK made the decision to stop using the building and officially transferred the address for the HQ to one of the churches. Since then, the building has sat empty and unused.
Having not been to the place for almost 2 years, I was immediately shocked to see how overgrown the place had become by weeds. In some areas, they literally formed a carpet, waist high covering every inch of bare ground.
It was certainly hard work plucking weeds, piling them in trolley bins and then carting them to the compost heap outside the compound!
While many of us weeded, others trimmed branches off trees, rake leaves or just generally tidied the place. By the end we had only completed about two-thirds of the work and sadly with the rainy seasons starting, these weeds would soon sprout up all over again.
Later when we were having lunch together, one of the pastors told me that while the maintenance of the HQ is officially designated to the nearby church, many of the members are unable to tend to the place due to their age. Thus, the task of maintenance had fallen to the pastors.
Such is the lot of pastors in Japan in this current age, especially in the rural areas. Many see it as their primary goal to nurture the Lord’s people as this is why they were called to full-time ministry in the first place. Yet due to an aging church population, followed by a lack of manpower, pastors can end up doing all sorts of odd jobs that they would not be inclined to do otherwise. This further saps their time and energy from Pastoral care or planning activities within the church.
The Singaporean in me longs to ask, “Then why continue dedicating time and energy to maintain this building even though it isn’t being used?”
On the walls inside the former headquarters hang many aged photos of the missionaries who have come and gone through the years. Many of the SFDK pastors and church members became Christians right here after hearing the Gospel for the first time. Therefore, this place continues to hold a special place in their hearts. The dedication and care with which they clean and maintain it is an act of gratitude to what this place represents.
As I spent the morning buried knee deep in weeds, my body soaked in sweat I couldn’t help but be struck by what we had gathered to do. Working together that day, it harkened back to a time when all the Missionaries and Japanese Christians (whether pastors or lay persons) worked closely side by side doing the work in Shiga Prefecture. By continuing our cooperation, we honour the work of our predecessors and the memory of all they had done.
That is why we continue to dedicate time and energy to maintaining this building. So that the memory of all the Lord has accomplished here will continue.
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To my dear brothers in True Way. Thank you for always giving me a chance to share about our experiences in Japan. Please continue to pray for the Japanese church in Japan and those who labour to keep the work going! May the Lord Jesus bless you and keep you until we meet again.
