Where Everybody's Crazy

Damn, I missed it again! Yesterday was the feast day of St Nikolai Kasatkin, Enlightener of Japan, one of the most important unsung figures of Japanese missiology.

Unsung in our tradition, of course; within the Orthodox community he is very much sung:

O holy Saint Nicholas, the Enlightener of Japan,
You share the dignity and the throne of the Apostles:
You are a wise and faithful servant of Christ,
A temple chosen by the Divine Spirit,
A vessel overflowing with the love of Christ.
O hierarch equal to the Apostles,
Pray to the life-creating Trinity
For all your flock and for the whole world.

We don't tend to that sort of thing for our folk. But then, St Nikolai is a very special case. He has been called "the greatest missionary of the modern era"; a bishop of the Episcopalian church called him "one of the most outstanding Christian missionaries." But if you pick up a book on mission to Japan, you will be lucky to find a mention of him.

Let's give a quick summary of Nikolai's achievements before we look at why he's so important. If we remember that Nikolai arrived in Japan in 1860, then two quotes should suffice:

By 1900 the church had trained 376 Japanese clergy and 25,698 members.

Mark Mullins, Christianity Made in Japan

Indeed, there were never more than four foreigners in the work during the entire history of the Orthodox church in Japan.

Jim Stamoolis, An Examination of Contemporary Eastern Orthodox Missiology

Four missionaries, forty years, twenty five thousand converts, and a self-sustaining church fellowship. These days we are happy if four missionaries work for forty years to get twenty five converts. Perhaps the reason we don't talk about Nikolai so much is because we know what kind of position he puts us in.

Oh, and by the way, I was being a bit modest on Nikolai's behalf. When I said "twenty five thousand converts and a self-sustaining church fellowship", I meant twenty five thousand converts, a translation of the Bible into Japanese, along with a translation of all the Holy Liturgy and some other theological literature, a cathedral, a seminary, a library and at least six schools. All of which are still functioning today. Nikolai achieved in forty years what the entirety of the Protestant mission could not achieve after nearly two hundred.

You see, anyone who tells me that Japan is a "very hard country to reach" doesn't know their history. (That's OK, though; lots of people don't know their history.) We have bought into the idea that Japan is "resistant to the Gospel", and we have adjusted our expectations accordingly.

Now let's look at how St Nikolai achieved all this. (This is not a recipe, of course!)

First, he threw himself wholeheartedly into understanding the language and culture. When he was found reading non-Japanese books, his Archbishop rebuked him, and he resolved to only read Japanese literature. He got out into the community and listened to Buddhist and Shinto storytellers and preachers. He researched the history of Japan. He knew it better than most Japanese.

Second, he took the long view. He spent eight years researching the Japanese language and culture. His first convert came after four years of study. Taking the long view also means delegation. In 1869 - five years after the first convert! - he handed over his congregation to another missioner. Having established one congregation, he moved to Tokyo to set up another. This pattern of establishing, delegating and moving on marked his ministry.

Third, he understood the people. His first convert was a samurai called Sawabe. Takuma Sawabe was an ultra-nationalist - one of the kinds of people in the black minivans that we would shy away from these days - who regarded the Russian Consulate as symbolic of all of the problems of opening up the country to foreigners. When Sawabe came to the Consulate, sword drawn, ready to kill Nikolai, Nikolai knew to appeal to his samurai nature:

"Why are you angry at me?" Fr. Nicholas asked Sawabe.

"All you foreigners must die. You have come here to spy on our country and even worse, you are harming Japan with your preaching," answered Sawabe.

"But do you know what I preach?"

"No, I don'™t," he answered.

"Then how can you judge, much less condemn something you know nothing about? Is it just to defame something you do not know? First listen to me, and then judge. If what you hear is bad, then throw us out."

Sawabe did listen to him, and was persuaded through his words and through the Holy Spirit working in him. Nikolai knew how to make Sawabe listen. How many of us today can honestly say that we know how to make Japanese people listen to us and our message?

Fourth, he was committed to his people. This is a matter of integrity. He needed the Japanese people to know that he was on their side. Many missionaries take the option of relying on their home countries when things get tough, but Nikolai was absolutely sold out for Japan, and his congregation knew his love through his dedication to them. When Japan and Russia went to war, many of his own congregation urged him to go back home. (Remember that he came to Japan under the auspices of the Russian Consulate in Japan.) But he refused; he needed to serve and be with his people. At the same time, he found ways to minister to Russian prisoners of war in Japan.

Finally, he was quick to delegate, as we have already alluded to. When Paul Sawabe begun to believe, he brought three friends along to hear Nikolai's preaching. Nikolai left the four original believers to go and do their own discipleship, and one year later there were 12 baptised, and 25 of what we would now call "seekers". Fifteen years after this, the church was four thousand strong. To make this work would require yet further delegation, and so he began the process of ordaining Japanese clergy. By the time he came to celebrate fifty years of his mission, there were 43 clergy ordained and 121 lay preachers. And let's remember that five years after having a church of one, he passed it on and moved on to Tokyo. He knew that if he was going to reach the whole of Japan, he could not confine himself to one area for the whole of his missionary life.

He was a man who wanted to bring the Gospel to the whole of Japan. Within one lifetime, and with the help of up to three other missioners who mainly returned home exhausted, he built an entire communion of churches.

St Nikolai Kasatkin was by far the single most successful missionary in Japan, ever. Perhaps one day our histories of Japanese mission will reflect this.