We sat down with Aya Noel, a young Japanese Christian with a desire to see the people of her country find God {and she wants to find a husband too}.
New Identity Magazine: Where were you born?
Aya Noel: I was born in Tokyo, Japan. It’s a big city.
NIM: In what year?
Noel: 1976, I’m 32.
NIM: And how long have you been a Christian?
Noel: Since I was 10 years old. So 22 years. NIM: How did that come about? Noel: There was a big evangelistic concert and at the time I was just, you know, my heart was really opened to receive Christ because I was inspired by the preaching. And Jesus needed help, you know, Jesus needed disciples to go to the world. So I was 10 years old and was really pure and I loved Jesus, so I just said yes. And received Christ.
NIM: And where was this concert? Did your parents bring you or did you go with friends?
Noel: Well, I grew up in a Southern Baptist church in Tokyo called Oui Baptist Church, my home church. My parents are still there. But the preacher was an American missionary from the United States, and since I was a little kid I’ve been interested in different cultures. So maybe the American missionary opened my heart to receive Christ.
NIM: Is it rare to grow up in a Christian church in Japan?
Noel: Yes, it’s very rare. The Christian population in Japan is only less than one percent of the population. But the really active Christians are maybe only 20 percent of that 1 percent. … [M]aking a Christian home is so hard because a lot of women are Christian but not men, so it’s hard to get married to Christian guys …that’s why creating a Christian family is so difficult.
NIM: When did you come to the U.S.?
Noel: July 2002, 6 years ago. NIM: Why did you come? Noel: At the time, I was working at the YWCA, the Young Women’s Christian Association in Tokyo. … I was a foreign student advisor and volunteer organizer, and I loved the work. Since I was a kid I loved to dance, but the work was so busy that I couldn’t dance at all while I was working at the YWCA. So that’s why I decided to come to the U.S. to get a Master’s Degree in Dance Therapy in Boston. But my brother was in Los Angeles, and I needed a certificate of dance and psychology degree at a community college, so I just came to Los Angeles first to get some dance credit before going to Boston.
NIM: [Joking] So you didn’t come here to find a husband?
Noel: [Laughs] I hope so. NIM: How often do you go home to Japan? Noel: Like once a year or twice a year; ’cause of my age, my friends have weddings a lot in Japan, so I have to go back to Japan for their weddings.
NIM: Does it seem different each time you go back? How does it differ now with regards to your community and relationship with God or home church?
Noel: I used to really have the feeling, the commitment to be with my home church in Japan. … [G]radually my heart of commitment and the feeling of belonging to the church is becoming less. So, each time I go back to Japan, I feel kind of like an outsider … like a stranger in my home church.
NIM: Here in the U.S. you have a big heart for the Japanese. What made you decide to share God’s love for the Japanese population in Los Angeles versus your native Japan?
Noel: Japanese people here are more open to Christianity, I think, because in Japan there are a lot of other religions and cults, and it’s really hard to find Christians in Japan. But here we can meet many Christians, you know, just in normal life. Like maybe if you go to the grocery store you can meet a Christian cashier [laughs] or…
NIM: You have more support.
Noel: Yeah, from the community. NIM: Right. Noel: And also TV and radio; here we have Christian stations, but in Japan we don’t have Christian stations. And also we can see many churches here, but not in Japan.
NIM: They’re few and far between.
Noel: Yeah, and also the artist and musicians, the Christian artists and musicians are of real influence on Japanese people here because many Japanese people from Japan want to get musical skills; that’s why they came. … [T]hey want to be actors, dancers or musicians—artists. But you know we have a lot of opportunity to meet Christian artists here, so that’s why they meet. And they get Christianity through their lifestyle and friends.
NIM: So do the Japanese view Christians as ‘cool’ in general?
Noel: That’s kind of a hard question. But in Japan recently the black gospel choir is really popular, and they really want to sing gospel in a gospel choir. And not only Christians, but non-Christians provide the opportunity to sing in a choir, in a community. Like at art schools; they provide a lot of gospel choir classes for Japanese people, so they think it’s kind of cool. … [A]lso, … there are a lot of Christian schools in Japan, mostly high school and university, … founded by missionaries from the United States, and it’s good status for the Japanese people to enter …[a] Christian school. So it’s kind of cool to have a good reputation in the community; St. Paul’s School, St. Peter’s School, or something like that, sounds cool to Japanese people. And they usually have a morning service before classes.
NIM: So being that there are so few Christians in Japan do you feel an spiritual difference when you go there?
Noel: It’s kind of sad each time I go back to Japan; I can see real darkness. Not only in the non-Christian community but also the Christian community, because they’re so struggling. …[I]n the Japanese community, there is drinking a lot and smoking, so [even] as a Christian, it’s hard to avoid that value as [a] Japanese. So if people are … judgmental, they cannot survive there. It happens in the church also, so if you want to be really pure and holy it’s really hard… to be really pure and holy in Japan. But I grew up there, so I’m not shocked from those things anymore. … [W]e need more power to reach out, and we need more wisdom to reach out and [about] how to reach out. Like Paul said for the church, I’m Jewish for the Jews, Gentile for the Gentiles, like that—flexibility to be anything is what we need for Christians in Japan.
NIM: What are your plans for the future in the U.S. to share God’s love with the Japanese?
Noel: Like Paul, I want to have a community-based event, to listen to the community’s voice. To have an event with my church and invite more people from the community. Not only pure and holy people, but normal people from the community to have an event. And through our support and love to the community, I want them to realize the love of God through the atmosphere and the conversation with the church people. So, consistently I want to get such an event for the community to invite more community people to come to the church.
NIM: Our readers may be Christians or non-Christians; what would you want to say to the Japanese and others who are seeking God, or who may not know God?
Noel: Without Christ, without love, people can enjoy life. But knowing the truth is a totally different experience from such a joy. So I just want people to seek the truth and the life and to get a really meaningful life. Because your life is only one time, so you should know the truth in your life.
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