[Exclusive Interview] Love Your Enemies as Your Neighbours: Young Christian Prepares 8 Years for Mission to Japan

Brother Huang, at age 33, has prepared himself sufficiently with foreign language proficiency (e.g. Japanese, Hebrew and Greek) and musical skills (e.g. piano and guitar) for his mission for future worship opportunities in Japan. 

Though his schedule is extremely packed due to the numerous classes he was taking, he felt a strong sense of motivation to press through the challenge. " My passion and vision have enabled me to break through all my vulnerabilities. I want to hold firmly to God's promise and travel on his direction. God has given direction and connects me closely to Him as well...," shared by Brother Huang with much conviction in his voice.  

First Encounter with the Gospel Through Radio Broadcast

While in university, Brother Huang often listened to the radio to brush up on his English skills and to cure his insomnia. One day, he heard the Gospel through the radio broadcast as he came across a Christian channel. 

Faith was an unfamiliar concept for him at that time. He just felt the programme was meaningful as it pushed for good virtues such as love and kindness. However, his atheist background stopped him from getting to know God. As such, he continued to listen to the channel and explored Christianity philosophically for the next three years. 

Throughout those three years, the seed of the Gospel began to take root in his heart. Brother Huang first started to ask himself this question for the first time,"Does God really exist?". It was then followed by questions such as "Does the Bible record fictional stories or authentic histories?" etc. In the midst of all these confusions, Huang decided to pray for a solution. He asked God," If your spirit is real, please show it to me so that I can know you." He then secretly asked God to bring to him a particular friend whom he had not met for a long time as a testimony of His power. 

Upon his prayer, he shockingly saw that friend whom he'd prayed for was standing near him! ". At that moment, I felt shaken by the power of my prayer. However, my stubborn and logical mind kept telling me that it is just another coincidence," shared by Brother Huang. 

Later on, he started to approve God's non-existence by listing down all the for & against arguments regarding God's existence. Ironically, the conclusion of his exercise eventually led him to the truth of God's existence. 

Upon believing in God's existence, he started to attend an English service in Guangzhou to further explore how God can lead him. He also started to experience a prayer-filled life by "praying in all circumstances". To break through his logical concerns, he decided to write down his prayers and God's blessings in his notebook.

Principle of "Love your Enemy" Ignites his Heart for Mission

He was once struck by the message of "Love your enemy" as shared in the radio programme. Since then, he started to set his heart to pray for Japan. 

This decision has not been easy for him. During 2002 World Cup, he was influenced by all his dorm mates who were making a big celebration over the Japanese team's defeat. After that occasion, Brother Huang was urged to have his unhealthy thought repented, which also prompted him to be more aware and persistent in his prayers for Japan. 

Interestingly, when Huang embarked on his first job upon graduation, three out of four of his clients are Japanese. He then prayed to God," if your will for me is to do mission work in Japan, please prepare me to grasp and understand the Japanese language." Thus, he quickly embarked on learning the Japanese language for his mission. Apart from learning the language, he found it necessary to grasp musical skills of playing a keyboard and guitar for worship. 

Prophetic dreams affirmed his heart for mission

During his mission trip in Nepal and Bhutan, a series of prophetic dreams have further confirmed his divine passion for mission in Japan.

Among these dreams, three of them are exceptionally prominent to him:

1. In the first dream, he was on the tour bus viewing a city's scenery. He saw words of bible verses in complex Mandarin all over the city," Jesus is the way, the truth and life."

2. In the second dream, a CEO was drawing many arrows on the map. All the arrows pointed from China to the rest of the world. However, he realized that no arrow was pointed towards Japan.

3. In the third dream, he saw a piano with 2 keys which were especially shiny. On the C chord, the "Do" key was marked with China and the "Re" key was marked with Japan.

In light of these three dreams, Brother Huang's heart became certain that his mission field is in Japan.

The packed schedule given to him caused his delight to increase and pointed his goal to build himself for God

After coming back from his short- term mission trips, Brother's Huang's heart was open to serve God wholeheartedly. He became a volunteer for a charity to serve the elderly and the physically impaired. He also joined a team serving an African group by teaching them to sing Chinese worship songs or inviting them to visit the elderly at retirement homes.

After 2 years, Huang's friend encouraged him to study in a bible school. In bible school, he got to learn interesting modules such as the Hebrew language. Though his schedule became really packed due to his part-time commitments to the modules and his many roles of service in church, he still held the passion and hope to continue in the midst of many commune members. When he felt exhausted, he would rely on 2 Corinthians 4:8 for God's support," "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;" Huang is deeply convicted that God's plan will never be shaken. While going through new struggles, God will equip him for his future mission in Japan.