A young Japanese man who studied Vietnamese as an undergraduate was sent by his company to work in Ho Chi Minh City. Almost 50 years later, now a pastor in his home country, he was persuaded to join a group visiting Vietnam to discover more of the country and its spiritual needs – and to pray along the way.
God has been at work raising awareness of the more than 634,000 Vietnamese people now living and working in Japan. As Japan’s population ages and the birth rate falls, the country faces a huge need to increase its workforce. At the same time, Vietnamese people are looking to find work overseas, to earn more than they can at home. The two needs have intersected in a significant way over the last 20 years, during which time, Vietnamese people have become the second-largest immigrant group in Japan. For a country that for so long has been monocultural, this has been a huge shift.
After their visit to Vietnam, the Japanese group began to meet to pray for the country of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people around them in Japan. The Japanese pastor has translated a number of evangelistic tracts, wanting to put resources in the hands of Japanese Christians to reach out to the Vietnamese people around them. Those serving in convenience stores are particularly visible. One or two of these are bilingual in both Japanese and Vietnamese.
While the church in both Japan and Vietnam is small, God’s heart is to see all people have the opportunity to know of his great love and
respond to it.
Of the 634,000 Vietnamese people in Japan, about a third are technical intern trainees. Another sixth are there with specific skills to meet the labour shortages in a variety of industries. A similar number are there as professionals. Vietnamese people are now also one of the top groups of foreign students in Japan.
One of those students came to faith through a Chinese classmate while studying for her Master’s degree. A shared video of the Bible’s story led to her purchasing a Bible for herself and over time, to trust in the Lord and get baptised in the Japanese church she was attending. Now, having spent time studying the Bible in seminary and working with a Japanese church, she is looking to reach out to some of the many Vietnamese people struggling with life in Japan, which in many ways is very different to Vietnam.
Anne-Marie Prescott
Beyond Borders worker
With co-authors
