by Callina Situka and C. McKee

Although fewer than one percent of Japanese people are Christian, Japan was the best-represented country after the US in the International Students Track at Urbana 09. The ministry Japanese students received and the gifts they offered continued a vision started by their countrymen a generation ago.

“It is always a moving experience to be with other Japanese believers,” said Nori, a Japanese student currently in seminary in the US.

At Urbana 09, about 20 students came directly from Japan to St. Louis, and some spoke very little English. Thanks to the Japanese Christian Fellowship Network (JCFN), these students received interpretation of the main Urbana sessions, and, along with Japanese international students, were equipped for ministry in the nightly Japanese Country Prayer Group as part of the Track.

For Nori, there were mixed feelings about the need for Japanese to travel across the world to attend Urbana. “I was exceptionally blessed to see them come; that says something about the passion for God they have,” he said. “At the same time, it made me think about the scarcity of resources for Christian growth in Japan.”

Corryn Burgess, an American student from California, also attended the prayer times, which fueled her love for the Japanese people. “To be among Japanese believers my own age was like a dream come true. As I worshiped with the Japanese Christians, I was moved. I have never been in the midst of believers of another nation, but I sensed that we really are one in the Spirit.”

The rich history of the JCFN goes back 20 years to a group of passionate students attending Urbana.

During Urbana 90, a group of Japanese students attended a seminar desiring to learn how to minister to their families back home. Realizing the lack of community for Japanese believers, they set out to start an interest group for Christian Japanese students and invited anyone they thought would be interested in coming. Thirty Japanese InterVarsity students, missionaries and missionary kids came to that original meeting.

From that meeting, the students planned to organize a network to support each other as they returned to Japan. That year, the Japanese Christian Fellowship Network was born. As students returned home over the Christmas break, they began inviting friends to join JCFN. Soon, 30 members became 300.

Out of this group emerged Setsu Kuroda, now the international director for JCFN. She oversees all aspects of JCFN, whose mission statement is to minister in North America and prepare Japanese international students for life when they return home. Future returnees are encouraged to prepare those behind them, thereby establishing “a network, providing a place where students can come and share what God is doing and edify each other,” Setsu said.

New Japanese believers often return home without guidance and Christian community. Setsu shared with students the sobering statistic that 70 percent of Japanese Christians backslide after two to three years. The JCFN aims to challenge students at Urbana and equip them fight these odds.

The JCFN also works heavily in Japan. The network helps form small groups, offering a safe place for returning students. “It is difficult for them to go to a Japanese church. The language and the music [are] different… Church in Japan doesn’t look like anything they’ve experienced. They also know the difficulty is part of their reverse culture shock, but they still need support,” said Setsu. These small groups provide a community where returnees can form relationships and take those relationships to churches in Japan. There are now 30 small groups in Japan, most held in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo.

The JCFN’s latest and largest venture is to extend its networks worldwide. The organization realized there are Japanese people all over the globe, so reaching these brothers and sisters is as important as reaching students in North America. “[The] re-entry process is similar no matter where you are,” Setsu explained.

Setsu and the JCFN were eager to serve at the latest Urbana conference, the source of the network’s beginning. They have also partnered with local churches in St. Louis, some of whom have provided food and music equipment to give the Japanese participants a full experience.

This prayer time equipped by JCFN and local churches affected students in many ways.

Nori, the student mentioned above, noted, “The opportunity to meet and worship together gave a sense of unity to us. This is very important, because walls between denominations are high in Japan. When Japanese Christians come together while abroad, they get to know people from other denominations and traditions they would have not known otherwise.”

The JCFN gave practical equipping to students in the prayer group. Nori said that he is planning to return to Japan this year to work in campus ministry there to returnees and international students. “Re-connecting with Setsu and the JCFN encouraged me and confirmed my current direction,” Nori said.

For Corryn, connecting with the group at Urbana helped her clarify the motivations behind her strong desire to serve in Japan.

“Through the Japanese prayer group, I realized my reason for going to Japan would be to live as a light for Christ and serve God among the Japanese,” she said. “I am not exactly sure how God would like me to serve once I'm there, but for now the things I do in my life will be pointing for the future goal of long term missions in Japan.”

Throughout the past 20 years, Urbana has birthed so much hope, stability and fruit for Japanese students in North America and across the ocean. “I want to encourage the students and let them realize what we can do with the resources God has given to us,” Setsu said.

Click here to see other stories and media from the Urbana 09 International Students Track