Seeking a Spiritual Awakening in Japan

Born and raised in South Korea, Pastor Park Sang Bum has spent the past 20 years pursuing his God-given vision of a spiritual awakening among the Japanese people. He now serves as TWR Asia's Japan ministry director. [Image courtesy of Pastor Park]

Park Sang Bum vividly remembers the first time he dedicated his life to serving the Lord.  

It was at a prayer meeting at his home church in Incheon, South Korea, in 1980. The then 10-year-old responded to an altar call at the end of the session. 

“We opened our eyes, and I was the only one with my hand up,” recounted Pastor Park, as many now call him. “Then the room burst into applause. Truth to be told, I didn’t quite grasp at the time the significance of my action. I soon forgot about it and went on with my life.” 

Despite his seeming naivety, this brief but pivotal moment would set the course for his future. 

The reminder 

Many years later, Pastor Park, now married, was at another church event when one of the speakers approached him. During their conversation, he recalled the commitment he had made years ago. 

“I began making some changes in my life,” he shared. “I discussed with my wife, and she agreed for me to enroll in seminary. She remained fully supportive of my decision even when money was tight.” 

While in seminary, God opened the door for him to serve as a music pastor at his home church.  

The call to Japan 

One day, his senior pastor at the time asked if he would consider serving in Japan, home to the world’s second-largest people group and a notoriously hard ground for the gospel. 

Pastor Park had never considered leaving South Korea for Japan. After all, he didn’t speak the language, and both countries share a complicated history. But after much prayer, the Lord placed a heavy burden on his heart for the Japanese people, igniting a desire for a spiritual awakening across their land. 

“Conflicts between men and countries may be great,” he said. “But God’s love is greater.” 

With their 5-year-old and 10-year-old in tow, the Park family landed in Japan on a cold winter’s day in January 2004. They settled in Nara prefecture, where Pastor Park led a church that had been without a pastor for some time. 

Breaking down language barriers 

On his first Sunday at the church, Pastor Park preached to a congregation of just eight members. With barely a grasp on the Japanese language, he spoke in Korean, while a church member translated the message into Japanese.  

“There were several times when that church member didn’t show up,” he recalled. “When that happened, most people couldn’t understand what I was saying. Since my church was small and had limited resources, we couldn’t afford to hire a professional translator.” 

To form relationships and share the Word more effectively with the locals, Pastor Park knew he had to speak their language. Every night, he got down on his knees to pray. 

“I would pray from midnight to 4 a.m. before the early morning prayer meeting at church,” he revealed. “For four hours I prayed, ‘Lord, you’ve brought me and my family to Japan, but I can’t speak the language. I want to build deep relationships with the people here, so please open my mouth.’” 

He also doubled down on his language learning efforts. 

“I had with me two Japanese-language textbooks that I studied on my own,” he shared. “I also practiced speaking with some local friends and started sprinkling into my conversations common Japanese greetings and phrases like 'ohayo gozaimasu' (which means 'good morning') and 'itadakimasu' (a phrase commonly said at the start of a meal to express one's appreciation for the food).”  

After 30 days, God answered his prayers, enabling him to address his congregation partially in Japanese. He gradually worked his way up to delivering an entire sermon in Japanese. 

“This is my testimony,” he declared. “It’s been 16 years since my family and I relocated away from Japan, but I still retain the language. Amazing, isn’t it?”  

Reaching beyond church walls 

Although he became increasingly proficient in Japanese, deep and meaningful connections did not happen overnight.  

There was an elderly man who lived across the street from the church. Pastor Park and his wife made countless attempts to befriend him, but the man never spoke a word. It was only after three years of persistent effort that he finally started to warm up. 

“Relationships take time to develop,” Pastor Park explained. “He was observing who I was and what I was doing there. When he saw that I would set out from the church every morning at 5 to fetch my church members for the prayer meeting, I eventually earned his trust.” 

At a much later time, the man revealed that he had a daughter who could speak Korean. 

“Had I known earlier, we could have bonded over that commonality sooner,” Pastor Park remarked. 

He also frequently opened the doors of his church to the public. From special Children’s Day programs to food bazaars at Thanksgiving, Pastor Park found unique and intentional ways to connect and share the good news with those around him. 

“At a Children’s Day event, I was doing the countdown for one of the games in Japanese, and I had skipped a number,” he shared. “But I didn’t realize it until my children pointed it out to me later. That was so embarrassing. But it’s OK; we all had a good time.” 

One by one, the Lord added to their number. On Pastor Park’s final Sunday at the church, the once eight-member congregation had grown to 80. 

Serving Japan from Singapore 

After four years of faithful service in Japan, God called Pastor Park and his family to a different ministry role in Singapore.  

Though he was no longer physically in Japan, his heart for her people remained. Every year, he made personal trips to connect with those he had met while living there.  

In 2016, the Lord led Pastor Park to serve with TWR Asia’s Japan ministry out of Singapore. 

With TWR being a global organization, Pastor Park often finds himself sharing about TWR’s media ministry to Japan with churches and Christians of various denominations both in Singapore and beyond.  

“I used to ask why God sent me to Singapore,” he revealed. “But now I realize that serving at TWR allows me to become an ‘international man,’ extending the vision of Japan’s spiritual revival to the world. On any given day, I could have calls with people in the U.S., Germany or other countries.” 

Once a month, he facilitates an online and in-person prayer meeting to intercede for Japan’s revival. 

He also mobilizes believers to get involved with the work on the ground via TWR’s short-term mission trips called “Donkey Tracting," or DT. Inspired by the prophecy of Jesus riding on a donkey to save the lost (Zechariah 9:9), the DT trips provide believers an opportunity to support Japanese churches in spreading the good news by distributing tracts. 

The global body of Christ 

Through the many DT trips he has led, Pastor Park has witnessed life-changing transformations take place, especially among Japanese pastors who often bear the full weight of their responsibilities alone. 

One of these pastors is Mitsugu Matsumoto, whose church on Japan’s Kyushu Island has been a valuable partner for the DT trips. After more than a decade in full-time ministry, he felt discouraged and burned out. The excitement he once had as a new pastor had worn out. 

But things changed for the better when he experienced his first DT trip in 2017. It reminded Matsumoto of his membership in the global body of Christ and that there are numerous believers worldwide who are praying and rallying alongside him for the salvation of his people. 

Reflecting on this experience, Matsumoto shared, “I was so touched by the fellowship during the DT trip and by the participants’ genuine love for God and for Japan. … TWR has opened my spiritual eyes to see the world, including Japan, from a different perspective. I learned the importance of serving not just one church, but churches.” 

Japan’s time is now 

Pastor Park senses that the Lord is doing something significant in Japan.  

In May, he went on a vision trip to Japan alongside about 150 pastors and leaders from 70 churches and organizations across Singapore and Japan. 

Representing different nationalities and denominations, they were united by their shared desire for a spiritual awakening in the Land of the Rising Sun. Numerous stories about God’s powerful work in Japan were shared on the trip, demonstrating that the harvest field is ripe. 

“I believe God wants to use Japan for world missions,” Pastor Park declared. “One day many countries will know Jesus through Japan.” 

He draws a parallel between the mission field in Japan and the fall of Jericho. Just as the walls of Jericho appeared impenetrable, the idea of the gospel flourishing on Japan’s hard ground might seem impossible. But such are the thoughts of man, he explained. 

“God is still working,” he added. “Even though we can’t see it, he is still searching for his people, for his lost sheep.” 

Will you reach Japan for Christ? 

Exciting times are upon Japan. As Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Is God calling you to help produce lasting fruit in this beloved land? 

TWR is seeking a missions-minded individual who can serve as a digital media ministry specialist for our ministry to Japan. If you have a heart for the Japanese people, along with a knack for developing engaging online content, we would love to talk. 

As a full-time missionary, Pastor Park knows a thing or two about acting in faith. 

“It's in our human nature to want all the details before committing to something big,” he shared. “But God works differently. He first wants to see our faith. I look back on my life and I can attest to his faithfulness. I didn’t always know everything from the start, but God always provided for me and my family along the way. I believe that when God opens a door, he will give us everything we need.” 

To learn more about the role, visit twr.org/japan-digital-specialist. 

Images: (top, right) The Park family. From left to right: Pastor Park, his wife, Hee Sook, daughter Ye Won and son Ye Chan; (middle, left) Pastor Park leads an early-morning prayer meeting at his church in Nara prefecture, Japan; (middle, right) children from the community gather at the church for a special Children's Day celebration; (bottom, left) alongside other DT participants, Pastor Park and Mitsugu Matsumoto — far right — partner with Church of the Nazarene in Nagasaki to distribute gospel tracts to the community; (bottom, right) during a vision trip to Japan, Pastor Park and several others travel to Kyushu to connect and strengthen friendships with pastors there. [Images courtesy of Pastor Park]