Interdependence
Thank you for your prayers for us at the Japan Lutheran Brethren Church. I offer this greeting on behalf of 26 churches and 20 pastors.
You, LBIM/CLB, sent Paul and Alexa Fraser and their family to Japan in 2023. For God chose, called, and sent the Frasers. Praise be to the name of our Lord.
This marks the first time in 34 years that the JLBC has welcomed new long-term missionaries (since Dean and Linda Bengtson in 1989). In preparation for this, LBIM and JLBC entered into a new partnership agreement in 2023. In the previous agreement (1979), we agreed to work together as one Church in Christ and as one umbrella religious corporation. The new agreement takes a more ambitious and strategic view of our shared purpose and relationship as partners working together. Yes, we at JLBC are pleased to have you as our mission partners.
Since LBIM began its mission in Japan in 1949, we at JLBC have received the blessing of the gospel through many missionaries. Together with these missionaries, the Japanese Church has built its foundation. Behind the Church’s remarkable growth, missionaries have always been present. We recognize the immense charm and contributions of missionaries. Therefore, we may have become somewhat dependent on them.
On the other hand, Japanese pastors may have felt the need for, and sought, independence in their missionary
strategies. They may have felt that breaking away from missionary dependence was the next step in growth. They may have thought that doing so would be a way of “repaying the favor” they received from the CLB, much like a child becoming independent from their parents. The Japanese people tend to have a mentality that considers it shameful to depend on others.
However, in entering into this partnership agreement, we have returned to the biblical order of mission. It was not a shift from dependence to independence. Rather, it was an order of mutual interdependence. It was not a relationship that fades through independence, but one that deepens through interdependence. It is a relationship in which we complement, influence, and transform each other. I believe the Lord of Mission works among us as we are interdependent. I believe our Triune God allows us to look forward to mission and its fruit amid the blessing of abundant fellowship.
I believe that through JLBC’s partnership with missionaries, Japanese churches can step out of the comfortable environments they have built and enter unreached areas. We will preach the gospel to unreached people. I hope that churches will take on challenges, embrace change and enjoy it. We will become new disciples of the Lord Jesus. We will not fear failure or blame others, but will encourage believers and inspire them in our missionary mandate.
Naturally, there are language and cultural barriers between us. At times, it can be difficult. We may, at times, wonder whether certain cultural practices are biblically problematic. But I am hopeful. The Spirit of wisdom will reveal Christ to us. At that moment, we will experience that this work is the Lord’s work, God’s mission.
In the blessings of such mutually beneficial partnerships, may Christ be witnessed in the unreached areas of Japan, may his kingdom expand, and may God be glorified.
Fumiyuki Wakamatsu is the President of Japan Lutheran Brethren Church.