GospelRest

In Japan, abuse at home, bullying at school, unemployment problems, drug addiction, and impulsive indiscriminate killings show the increasingly serious problems of society. Moreover, the political right is gaining strength, as can be seen in schools where the national anthem and the national flag are enforced, as well as in the movement to revise the pacifist Constitution. Therefore, mission in Japan is in the midst of severe circumstances. Church members are aging and the number of young people are decreasing. Some pastors are quitting under difficult situations. Some churches have no pastors or are being closed. The influence of cults and the occurrence of various kinds of harassment are intensifying in the church.

* From the Sapporo Declaration of the 5^th Japan Congress of Evangelism