Praying with Purpose for Japanese Hearts to Soften and the Gospel to Spread

“Tokyo is a very busy city, and crowded trains are to be expected,” said Trixie Brower*. “It gets hot and crowded and uncomfortable.”

Yet those cramped train rides have become times of purposeful prayer.

“I found my attitude greatly changed when I realized several years ago the amazing opportunity I was given to pray over every precious life riding on the train with me,” said Trixie, who has been in Japan for five years. “Now, when I ride the trains, I pray that all of my fellow passengers will come to know Jesus.”

Trixie, her husband, Daniel*, and the youngest of their three children live in Japan’s capital. The Browers have been on mission in East Asia for 18 years. They are International Mission Board cluster leaders for Japan, a country of 125.5 million people.

“The Japanese are the second-largest unreached people group (UPG) in the world,” Trixie said.

Shintoism and Buddhism are the predominant religions, but the biggest challenge is the cultural pressure to worry about what other people think about you, Trixie explained.

“There is constant pressure to do and say and believe in the Japanese way,” she said. “It is not culturally appropriate to discuss issues like religion or personal life in many settings. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to soften hearts and give open doors to share the gospel.”

The Browers pray . . . with purpose. They and others on mission walk through their neighborhood while praying. They pray together online twice weekly for missions work in Japan, nonbelievers, believers, and Japanese churches. Also, prayer encircles ministry preparations for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Trixie said God is answering prayer by opening doors for them to tell people about Jesus, study the Bible with new believers, partner with Japanese Baptist churches, and minister to individuals who were previously “too busy.”

Pray for opportunities for the Browers to tell neighbors about Jesus, for the missions team and Japanese believers to be unified in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in desire to tell Japan and the world about Jesus, for more missionaries from Japan to go into the world, and for Olympics-related ministries.

(*Names changed.)

Leigh Pritchett lives in the southeastern United States, a vast missions field.