[/floatl]CBN: Japan: Filling the God Vacuum
Contrary to popular belief, Japan is far from being a "reached" country with a growing, vibrant church. In fact, Japan has fewer baptized believers in Jesus Christ than some Muslim countries. Christianity in Japan has faced an uphill battle for hundreds of years...As recent as World War II the emperor called himself god, demanding the worship of his country. After Hiroshima and surrender, the call went out for 1,000 missionaries. U.S. General Douglas MacArthur called Japan a spiritual vacuum. Sixty years later, it still remains leaving a state of confusion. Many have looked to the economy to fill their 'God vacuum.' But recently it's been faltering, and many jaded Japanese have lost hope. One Japanese, called Kiku, explained, "But now we have everything, but what is lacking is purpose. Why are we here? We can't answer the question 'who are you?' unless we know the Creator God -- then everything makes sense." "There is what you might call a 'dark night of the soul' to use that phrase to describe the Japanese right now," said renowned researcher George Gallup, Jr. In fact, Gallup found that 11 percent of the Japanese wish they had never even been born. That's reflected in the country's unusually high suicide rate. But a new survey by Gallup says that might be changing. When asked about their religion, four percent of adults and seven percent of teenagers checked "Christian," out of a list of many different religions...Pastor Hosoi Makoto leads a congregation in Tokyo. He said, "From our point of view, the sense we have that the percentage suddenly went from under one percent to maybe five times that is, uh, unimaginable -- and we don't get the feeling that that has actually happened"...One of the reasons why so many Japanese feel they can associate themselves with Christianity is the popularity of Western or Christian-style weddings. Gallup said, "It's the element of joy that comes through in the Christian weddings that appeals to the Japanese." Beyond that, the Japanese love affair with all things Western means a growing number of them are trading in the traditional kimono for the big white dress and tux. Another reason the Japanese are softening up to the message of the Bible is the incredible phenomenon of black Gospel music. Believe it or not, the reserved Japanese love the toe-tapping, finger-snapping, always swaying music...more...
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Zheng He coulda been running YB west, then bringing exotic animals of another sort back to the Emperor.
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