After a year or so, I felt that Naoko-san and I were friends. She was one of my most advanced English students. She was in her early thirties and an intelligent person.

I don’t remember how the conversation started but before I knew it, I was asking her about her belief in the origins of humankind. She explained to me how man evolved from ape-like ancestors who themselves evolved from lower life forms. Most Japanese people share the same belief. With interest, I listened to her explanation. Then I asked her where these lower life forms came from. “We don’t know,” she said, “Maybe some storm or something.” Of course, she knew I was a Christian. Our English school in Yokohama was held inside our church.

I then asked her how the Japanese could believe in evolution—the absence of supernatural or divine intervention for humankind’s origin and development—but also faithfully practice and participate in Buddhist and Shinto religious activities. Her response surprised me. She laughed and said, “I don’t know.” She agreed that it was strange to be so confident in a teaching so void of God or the supernatural but also practice so many religious traditions throughout the year.

I learned that the Japanese are taught in school that evolution explains humankind’s origins. The teaching of creation from the Bible is very foreign to them. But they are also taught by family and society to follow religious traditions. Evolution and religious tradition are an apparent contradiction that somehow blends in Japan.

Conversations like these have motivated me to return to Japan with the gospel truth. I believe that missionaries can help many Japanese abandon certain contradictions and accept the harmony of the Bible. Please pray for God’s Spirit to be poured out on Japan, and please prayerfully consider partnering with our mission project.

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