Why are we in Japan?
Japan is a country of 127 million people with less than 1% knowing Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. 4,500 people will die in Japan today and enter eternal separation from God. These figures break the heart of our loving Heavenly Father and ours, so we have been called to take the Gospel to the Japanese people.
Modern Japanese are adrift on a sea of rapid social change, and society offers little hope. The suicide rate in Japan is the highest of any industrial nation. Alcoholism is so prevalent that it is the norm. Families are increasingly dysfunctional, with emotional and physical abuse on the rise each year. Traditional values and religion fail to answer the questions modern Japanese are asking about their own existence. The majority of Japanese young people believe they have little chance for happiness in life.
We believe that Jesus Christ is waiting to bless these people, and that living in a loving relationship with Him will bring True Life to the nation of Japan. It is our desire that through our witness and work the entire nation of Japan will be transformed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What exactly do we do in Japan?
We work alongside visionary Japanese pastors and congregations to help plant new churches throughout Japan. Our vision is to see already existing communities transformed into Christ-communities.
The disciples sent out by Jesus were to bring transformation. People already belonged to naturally occurring communities. A new disciple of Christ stayed in the community, seeking its transformation into a Christ-centered community through their presence.
With this same model, our ministry seeks to concretely support the transformation of new believers’ families, workplaces, human relationships, schools, cities, any venue where ‘community already exists’ into ‘Christ communities’ functioning on the principles of the Kingdom of God.
Additionally, we are constructing new Kingdom-based business and education models to see Kingdom expansion through being salt and light in our communities.
We do this on both the micro and macro levels. On the micro level, we are working to plant new, reproducing churches in regions of Japan. For example, from 1999-2003, we planted a church in Yamagata, a city six hours north of Tokyo. We are now planting a church in western Japan.
On the macro level, we are developing leaders and helping to foster a church planting movement. Our passion is not just for one church to be planted, but for a movement to spread that results in exponential church growth.
