Nonetheless, the story tells of a Chinese gentleman whom Hudson was speaking to about Jesus while they were on a large fishing boat.

“You say you have heard the story of Jesus, and you think it sounds like a good teaching,” said Hudson Taylor. “But it is not enough to think on Jesus in your mind! You need Jesus in your heart, my friend.”
Tears stood in the eyes of the Chinese man. “I must have more time to think of these things,” he murmured. “I am not yet ready to decide. I will listen to you preach when we arrive at Sungkiang.”

In a short while, the man Hudson just witnessed to, fell overboard into the murky water. Apparently he did not know how to swim. Hudson, full of compassion and knowing that the man hadn’t received Jesus, surely thought he isn’t ready to die just yet. So, he dove into the murky water and frantically searched for him. When he resurfaced and still not finding the drowning man, he noticed a group of fishermen with nets. He thought that if they could cast the net where the drowning man was, they would be able to catch him in time.

“Hey!” he shouted, beckoning to the men on the fishing boat. “Come quickly and let down your net over this spot! There is a man drowning here!”
The Chinese fishermen stared at him.
“It’s not convenient,” one answered lazily.
“Don’t talk of convenience!” cried Hudson, horrified. “A man is drowning, I tell you!”
“We are busy fishing,” another man told him with a scowl. “We cannot come, we would lose a lot of time!”
“Never mind your fishing!” Hudson called desperately. “I will give you more money than many days’ fishing would bring. Only come quickly!”
“How much money will you give us?” a fisherman asked, interested at last.

After bargaining with the fishermen from $5 to cast the net and them asking for $20 and settling at $14 for that was all Hudson had, they finally let down their net. They caught the drowning man only to find out that it was too late. Hudson eventually paid them their money even though the man had already died. Hudson had a realization that

“…Those fishermen were guilty of a man’s death, he thought. All because they were too busy fishing! They would not leave their fishing even to save a life! In the stillness, a new thought came to Hudson Taylor. Those Chinese fishermen were cruel and heartless. But how many Christians are no better? How many Christians have no time to go tell others about Jesus? They will not try to save dying souls, because they are too busy with their own lives.., too busy fishing!

Hudson bowed his head. “Lord, help me,” he prayed. “Help me to bring the Gospel to as many Chinese people as I can, since You have called me to this country. I pray that You will speak to other Christians everywhere, that they must obey Your command to bring the Gospel to all!”

After hearing the story above from my daughter, I came to think of Japan and a conversation I’ve had with God:

Me: “And so, why Japan Lord?”

God: “Why not?”

Me: “But, there is nothing special about me or my family. I have nothing to offer them. I don’t know their language. I don’t know their culture. Surely, I love sushi and their cars, but what about the culture itself? My kids have allergies to seafood. How are we going to get there? What would be the avenue for us to get there? Where in Japan do we need to go?”

God: “You can’t say you don’t have anything to offer them…you have ME. Everything else will fall into place.”

The more we think of Japan, the more compassion we have for the country and how the statistics and the culture speaks for itself, from (http://www.omf.org/omf/us/peoples_and_places/countries/japan/japan):

Population: 127.5 million; Density: 340 per square km; 99% Japanese [the other 1% are mostly Korean]; Nearly 80 percent of people live in cities, so real density is much greater. About 30 million people live in and around Tokyo.

Religions: Buddhist/Shinto 69.9%; New religions 24.4%; Non-religious/other 4.3%; Christian 1.6%; Muslim 0.1%; Bahai 0.01%

¨ Shinto: 109 million
¨ Buddhist: 96 million
¨ Christian: 1.5 million
¨ Other: 10.5 million

The total of 217 millioin is greater than the population of Japan. This is because most Japanese peopple follow a combination of religions. Shinto is an indigenous religion based on ancestor and nature worship, with about 200 sects. Many families have either Buddhist family altars or Shinto god shelves at which they make offerings and pray for the spirits of their ancestors. Some families have both. But many Japanese in their day-to-day life have little to do with these religions, visiting Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines for special occasions such as funerals, blessings for babies and children, weddings and New Year festivities.
In the late 1800s Shinto was made a state religion, stressing worship of the emperor as a divinity and the racial superiority of the Japanese. This was suppressed after the Second World War.

Currently, the culture in Japan is centered primarily on self-reliance. So, the concept of relying on God is very foreign and even American to them. It is distinctly not Japanese. In short, Japan is definitely hard ground for Christians. But, on the other hand, Grace and I have realized that God couldn’t have created 126 million people to just end up in hell because they were not told of the Gospel. So, the outcry of 126 million souls for God has truly spoken into our hearts and compassion has welled up in our spirit to answer that call even if we feel unqualified, inept, and even unfamiliar with their culture. But, just like God was with Moses and Joshua, we are sure that He will equip us and be with us, wherever we go. We desire to go ONLY because He is calling us to tell them of the Good News and that their salvation is at hand. Just like Hudson Taylor’s realization, there are people dying, but are we too busy fishing?

All glory will belong to Him. In a way, God is truly shaking things up in Japan, both literally, and most importantly---spiritually to break up that hard ground.

My challenge to us all, where is God calling you? Let us all step out in faith…

Just following where He leads,