Project: Japan
ACEMBRAS – Brazilian
Christian & Missionary Alliance (National Church)
Missions Department
1 – Introduction
“Project: Japan” is a missionary project of the Brazilian Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, elaborated to send a missionary couple to the city of Yamato, in the province of Kanagawa, Japan. Its primary purpose is to evangelize the Brazil-born, descendents of Japanese, called “nikkeis”, with a long-range goal of reaching native-born Japanese, also.
2 – History of the
People-group to be Reached
2.1 – Brazilian
Nikkeis in Japan (*)
The history of the descendents of Japanese (nikkeis) in
Brazil begins on June 18, 1908, when the first immigrants aboard the ship
“Kasato-Maru” arrived at the port of Santos.
Their purpose was to work on the coffee plantations in the interior of
the states of São Paulo and Paraná.
In 1914 14,886 Japanese immigrants had entered the
country. Fifty years later, the
Japanese community has 430,000 people.
Today, more than 80 years later, Brazil is home to the largest
population of Japanese and their descendents, outside of Japan. According to estimates, there is a community
of nearly 1.4 million people, among whom can be found even some in the fifth
generation born in Brazil.
The Japanese participated in the installation and
development of an industrial base in Brazil.
This participation was motivated by a model of substituting imported
products and of the “economic miracle”.
The recession that marked the beginning of the 80’s took away some of
the enthusiasm.
Beginning in 1986, these descendents of immigrants began
to take the “homeward bound” route, returning to the homeland of their family
in “search of the new Eldorado.” This
movement earned the name as the “Dekassegui Phenomenon”, where “de” means
“leave home” and “kassegui” means “to work”.
This means “one who leaves home to work” or “one who goes to another
country to work”. Our compatriots have
sought work, finding the only work available being industrial labor which is
not specialized and even temporary.
Other areas of work available are in the work force, in areas considered
in Japan as “3K” -- Kitsui (heavy),
Kitanai (dirty), and Kiken (dangerous).
Most of these workers have accepted a work-day of 12 hours or more, in
order to accumulate a substantial savings.
At this current time, it is estimated that there are
about 250,000 Brazilian nikkeis in Japan.
This is about 12% of the population of the Japanese colony in
Brazil.
At the beginning of the 90’s, the number of Brazilian
nikkeis going to Japan increased greatly (with the largest number going to
Japan in 1991). Among the reasons for
this increase were the factors in Brazil of high inflation, low salaries, and
the resulting lack of professional future, as well as factors in Japan of
relative ease of employment and of obtaining resident visas there.
The result of this influx of Brazilian nikkeis to Japan
was their concentration in the large industrial centers. Among these immigrants were dozens of
believing Christians, who initially sought to maintain themselves spiritually
through Bible study meetings or through shyly becoming involved in local
Japanese churches.
The language and cultural barriers, together with the
lengthening stays of these Brazilian nikkeis in Japan, brought about the
spontaneous formation of larger and more structured groups of Brazilian
Christians. One of these groups is called “Communidade Sal da Terra” (Salt of
the Earth Community) in the city of Yamato. Through the ministry of Pr. Luis Ueda of the Brazilian Alliance
Church in Rudge Ramos, in the city of São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil,
this group has become firmly planted. This ministry is the proposed focus of
this Project Japan.
2.2 – “Comunidade Sal
da Terra” (Salt of the Earth Community)
Sent by the Brazilian Alliance Church in Rudge Ramos, in
December of 1997, Pr. Luis Hideki Ueda went to Japan, specifically to the city
of Yamato, located in the province of Kanagawa, in the Tokyo region. His objective was to evangelize Brazilian
nikkeis, in large part made up of “dekasseguis” who are these contracted worked
in temporary positions, in industrial businesses, as routine laborers.
On his arrival in Yamato, Pr. Luis Ueda found a group of
evangelical Christians about 15 in number, called “Comunidade Sal da
Terra”. This was the foundation for his
ministry during these last few years.
In historical perspective, the “Comunidade Sal da Terra”
was founded by Pr. Jurandir Itizo Yanagihara in 1989, during a period of
studies in Japan. This period coincided
with the beginning of a mass exodus of the nikkei community in Brazil, going to
Japan in search of better living conditions.
Recognizing that Yamato was an industrial center, at that time, which
attracted many Brazilian nikkeis, and the fact of their own inner felt-needs,
due to the adaptation to a new culture, the evangelistic work of the
“Comunidade Sal da Terra” yielded much fruit in the beginning years. Even after the return of Pr. Jurandir
Yanagihara to Brazil, due to finishing his theological and engineering doctoral
studies, the Comunidade continued to grow to the point of having approximately
150 adherents. However, due to the lack
of pastoral care and leadership, doctrinal tensions grew, leading to a division
of the group in several smaller ones.
One of these groups formed the base of Pr. Luis’s ministry when he was
sent to Japan in 1997.
His first ministry concentrated on the restoration of
those people who were affected by the previous incidents. He also worked to form a new doctrinal
identity for the group, with resulted in the association of the Comunidade with
the Brazilian Christian & Missionary Alliance, as a congregation in Japan
of the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church in Rudge Ramos, São Bernardo
do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil.
3 – Justifications for the
Project Japan
Despite the current economic crisis in Japan, there are
still many Brazilians spread throughout the neighboring cities to Yamato. Yokohama is one of the large metropolises within
the province of Kanagawa, with its 8 million inhabitants, located to the west
of the Bay of Tokyo. To the east of the
Bay of Tokyo is the province of Chiba, which is in rapid development and should
attract new workers in the future.
The Comunidade has been able to take advantage of the
excellent physical plant, made available by the Presbyterian Church of Kooza,
which occupies all of a city block. The
facilities offer seating for about 600 people, which is a real privilege,
considering the Japanese reality, today.
From this base, we see the work in Yamato as the foundation for building
a strategy to “pollenate” the region with cell groups. We have seen this to be viable, because of
the wide-reaching and efficient system of rail transport throughout the
country.
With the passage of these ten years of the “dekassegui”
movement to Japan, many of these Brazilians have made Japan their home, and
settled in, establishing families and having children there. They have adjusted to the life in Japan, and
its language and culture. With the
changes in the Brazilian economy, many think about staying in Japan
definitively. We realize that there is
a tremendous opportunity to reach the “dekasseguis” and on the long-range, to
reach the Japanese themselves. The fact
is that this long-range possibility is beginning to take place. We have heard that the Comunidade Sal da
Terra already has seen fruit come from among the Japanese. We have been thinking that from the very
start, we need to think about infiltrating into the Japanese culture and
society.
4 – Objectives
--Consolidation of the
current congregation toward becoming a church.
--Planting of new
churches.
--Pastoral care of
other evangelical groups in interdenominational cooperation.
--Pastoral assistance
for the Brazilian workers.
5 – Strategies to be Adopted
The strategy will be based on the Cell Church model. In the beginning, the plan is to provide a systematic training of future leaders, and the stimulation of forming new cell groups with a vision of multiplication. At medium range, the plan is to form a network of cells, supervised by a team of lay leaders and sustained through a network for discipleship, continuous training, pastoral care and mentoring. On the long range, the plan is expand the network of cell groups (both in number and in geographical coverage), to be supervised by a full-time pastoral staff. At this final stage, there would be an expansion into the Japanese community on a large scale. The birth and development of new churches could take place through the congregation of several cell groups that are concentrated in a specific geographic area.
6 -- Financial and Personnel
Resources
6.2 – Financial Projection –
Estimated Costs (including ministry expenses)
Expense Estimate
(Y)
Light/Electric 8,000
Gas 10,000
Telephone 13,000
Mobile Phone 7,000
Water 5,000
Rent 100,000
Food 90,000
Car Tax 35,000
Tolls 30,000
Gasoline 18,000
Medical Expenses 8,000
School Expenses 8,000
Total 332,000 (US$ 3,018.18)
(*) Adapted from
dissertation “Nascimento de uma Igreja Nikkei Brasileiro no Japão” (The Birth
of a Brazilian Nikkei Church in Japan), written by Carlos Seiji Kavano e
Atsushi Miyajima, for course work at the Seminário Servo de Cristo da América
do Sul, São Paulo, Brazil.