Presenting the gospel to contemporary Japanese young people : an analysis with a particular examination of the missiological strategies of the UK Assemblies of God missionaries in the post-war and contemporary periods

Abstract

This thesis explores the challenge facing contemporary UK Assemblies of God
(AoG) missionaries in reaching Japanese young people with the gospel. The thesis is divided into two sections. It commences with a historical section, which examines how Christianity has been propagated in Japan since its arrival to
immediately after the Second World War. The second section provides a thorough investigation of the context of ministry in contemporary Japan. Utilising a substantial amount of empirical data of both a qualitative and quantitative nature, the concluding chapters provide an assessment of how to best present the gospel to young people in a nation experiencing transformations.
In the first section, the methodology uses case studies of UK AoG missionaries
working in Japan in the immediate post-war period, and incorporates the analysis
of semi-structured interviews, primary sources such as diaries, unpublished
autobiographies, letters, periodicals, the minutes of AoG Overseas Missionary
Council meetings, plus Japanese primary sources and interviews conducted in
Japanese with the national workers who ministered alongside the post-war
m1ssionanes. In the second section, the implementation of SPSS statistical
analysis software package provided the basis for a thorough investigation of an
extensive original survey of over 1,000 Japanese university students on their values, life perspectives in time and religious life perspectives. Direct and indirect observation of the missionaries of the contemporary era combined with
semi-structured interviews conducted with the missionaries and their disciples
yielded a vast amount of qualitative data that was analysed using MAXQDA
2007 computer assisted qualitative data analysis programme.
Making reference to cultural studies, the conclusions of the thesis could provide
a model for ministry for missionaries working in Japan with young people and
university students. It could be a valuable tool in reaching the current generation
of young people and also stimulate a wider discussion among missionary personnel on how to continue to ensure that their missiological strategies remain
relevant in the face of the unprecedented transformations taking place in
contemporary Japan.

Date of Award	Apr 2011
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Bangor University