Graveyard for Missionaries

27 June 2010

 Dear Phyllis,

I wrote you last week from Laos telling of my meeting with the two men there. Very frankly it is hard not to be a little skeptical when I hear such astronomic numbers, but I can’t argue with the number of Bibles they are pleading for. I thought I knew both countries fairly well, but what they are talking about is way beyond anything I have observed. If only 50% is correct, that would still be huge church growth in Laos and Cambodia.

The only thing I know in Japan like that is Kichijoji. As you know, Japan is a graveyard for missionaries. It is one of the most resistant countries to the Gospel in the world. It is not that we don’t have a church in Japan, or that Japanese don’t make good Christians. I have greatly enjoyed working in Japan for 50 years, and have deep admiration for Japanese Christians. But it is like Japan is an nonflammable country.

Years ago I was helping a friend burn a field. We checked the direction of the wind and then lit a match at the lead end. Soon there was a wall of fire walking its way across that field. I marveled that one little match could start such a wide blaze. I wondered, “How did this happen?” Simple. Each stalk of grass ignited the stalk next to it. But in Japan we have thousands of little blazes going on all over the place, but they just don’t ignite anything around it.

Kichijoji is different. It is the only place I know in Japan where the Gospel has gone just like it is supposed to. From a small beginning 43 years ago in a house in west Tokyo, it has spread to the entire nation, and reached thousands of some of the finest Christians I have ever met. I know of no other denomination, or group, that has come within a fraction of what Kichijoji has produced. To explain this strange phenomenon is a great enigma.

 

Kichijoji was started by Gotthold Beck. He is a German missionary who came out with the Liebenzeller Mission in 1955. On his way to Japan he stopped briefly in Hong Kong. While there, he learned of the ministry of Watchman Nee and his group, Little Flock. He decided at that time when he got to Japan he would try to pattern his work after the example of Watchman Nee. For 12 years he tried to follow that example while working with Liebenzeller, but it was a running war the entire time. In 1967 he left Liebenzeller, and started having meetings in his home in the west Tokyo suburb of Kichijoji. I was a close friend of Gotthold’s from the very inception when there were 15 to 20 in a meeting. I have watched with amazement at its astronomic expansion.

Basically Kichijoji is Plymouth Brethren. In the early years Gotthold fellowshipped with the PB missionaries in Japan. Their style is the same. They don’t have pastors or a hierarchy organization. They are opposed to lady preachers or women speaking in the church. The sisters wear a doily head covering in a service. They have communion every Sunday. They don’t call themselves a church – they say “assembly”. All PB “churches” (assemblies) are identical. There is one major difference; Kichijoji is an elephant in a pen of mice. There are many PB fellowships all over Japan, but oddly enough, most of them are basically the same as every other denomination with about 20 in each assembly. Kichijoji is mega!

 In 1977 I was working with Jim Blocksom in the evenings and going to the local TEAM (Japanese) church in the morning. Both were very goods churches. Through our ministry at the Joy Corral we had seen a number of marvelous Japanese saved. A sister came down from Tokyo to live with us and had tremendous influence on several of the folks in our immediate circle of fellowship. Through her influence a number started going to the Kichijoji meetings in Kobe.

A dear sister had been saved in Tokyo 14 years before then and returned to her home in Kobe. She went to several traditional Japanese churches but wasn’t satisfied. Sister Koyama called Gotthold asking him what to do. He suggested, “Why don’t you start a meeting in your own home”. She rented a small apartment next to her own. As a lady she couldn’t talk in the meeting, so she contacted a couple of brethren to come over to have meetings for her. I attended some of those meetings when it was only 10 or 12 people jammed in a clothe closet. Man howdy, that was a small room!

 There was no leader, there was no piano or musical instrument, there was no preacher, the women were silent; but there was one indescribable feature – Jesus was there. I mean to tell you those meeting were different!  For one year I never attended a meeting that you didn’t look around the room and see tears pouring down Japanese faces. Our hearts burned together with intensity like I had never experienced – before or since. The Bible was alive like it was dynamite. People would break down in prayer and couldn’t continue. Singing traditional hymns was like speaking directly to God. People got saved like they were escaping from a hotel fire. Testimonies were like 4^th of July fireworks. Oh my goodness, those were the days! That little gathering in Sister Koyama’s apartment soon grew to over 100. Needless to say we were in another building by then. I never saw such a scriptural gathering in any place I had ever been.

One night I was attending a kate shukai (home meeting) in Miki, the back side of Kobe. A dear sister was sharing her testimony. She had been saved as a high school girl, and went straight to Bible school. There she met a fine young man, and they were married. She had been serving the Lord faithfully for 20 years in a church, but was wore out. She told the pastor, “Sensei, I have got to have a break. I just can’t go on any more.” He replied, “Sister, you are the pillar of the church. If you back out the house will collapse.” About that time a friend invited her to attend a Kichijoji ladies meeting. It was something like she had never seen before. It wasn’t religion – it was life. The reality of Jesus living in the heart of every lady there was dominant. It was like coming out of a smoke filled room to breathe fresh mountain air. At last she persuaded her husband to go to a Kichijoji meeting in Kobe one Sunday. They felt like Judas betraying the Lord when they missed going to their regular church to attend this “cult meeting”. But one time and they were hocked. This dear sister wept as she told how wore out they were with formalism and exterior Kirisuto kyo (Christianity). She said, “I had no relationship with the Lord. I was a Christian in name only and a terrible wife to my husband. Religion was killing us”. Now her heart was aflame with love for Jesus and they had a wonderful marriage.

After the meeting I went up to talk to her. I said, “Sister, I know hundreds of Christian all over this country just like you. Kirisuto kyo is a terrible drag. It takes a tough person to hang in there. But the difference isn’t yarikata (way of doing things). The difference is Jesus.” I was concerned that she would think that it was just because the type of service was different that there was such blessing. But she esthetically exclaimed, “Yes, yes, yes! It’s Jesus!”

 Hundreds of Christians were pouring out of traditional Japanese churches all over Japan fleeing to Kichijoji meetings. It was one of the most despised groups in Japan. But basically it was just a matter of scrawny sheep, who were starving to death, who found lush, rich, pasture on the other side of the fence. Ironically, nearly all PB assemblies have basically the same yarikata (type of service) as Kichijoji but the results are different.

What is the difference? That is one difficult question. The only explanation I know is that Gotthold Beck is the most self-sacrificing, aggressively loving, genuine missionary I know. Somehow he infused that same spirit in the hearts of his believers and it seemed everyone was possessed with the same spirit of passionately serving the Lord and helping others that characterized Gotthold. (And I like their yarikata.) Gotthold isn’t a perfect man. He has made unbelievable mistakes. He is not above criticism. But he has established a group of Christians in Japan that – to the best of my knowledge – have not the equal any place in the country. While other groups are barely holding their own, or at best seeing 10% increase, Kichijoji is growing exponentially.

When I was in China three weeks ago I asked the people I was meeting with about their style of worship. The fastest growing groups in China are the house church people. This is basically the Kichijoji method. I believe much of that can be traced back to Watchman Nee. Perhaps this is what is happening in Cambodia and Laos today. Apparently somebody is doing something right. It seems that the house church method is the most effective yarikata going today. I’m not sure that it is an infallible system. The PB brethren in Japan have proved that they can be just like everyone else. And the day may come when Kichijoji is the same. All I know is that the intense sense of presence of Jesus in a meeting makes quite a bit of difference.

Praise God, we had a very good meeting in Scott’s home Friday night. It was the best meeting in a year. The Word came alive with tremendous power. I thought I would explode as I went on for two hours. I don’t think anyone was tired when we quit at 9:00. But I am concerned that type of meeting does not become Bill Cook meeting. It would be much better if I could sit down and be quiet and allow the Holy Spirit to take over. But things like that are very unusual.

 

Lord Jesus, please step forward that we hear from You and not from man.

                                                                                                                                      bill