Current Ministries
Area: West Tokyo
In 2020, God saw us through a move from Kawasaki to West Tokyo. This part of Tokyo is the more suburban area for workers in downtown Tokyo, so there are many young families. These towns are a mix of homes, apartments, farms, parks and even a few lakes. People of all ages live in these towns, and one of them is the town Maki grew up in. Another nearby town was Jon’s first home as a missionary in Japan back in 2007.
Church Planting Assistant in West Toyo
In 2019 Kodaira Chapel’s daughter church plant was dedicated in the next town to the West, Josui House of Grace. This house church was built by our co-worker missionaries as their own residence, but designed with a large common area in their living room that serves as a worship and meeting area. Regular services have begun on Sunday afternoons, and we look forward to working there as well.
Some of the outreach activities include English Cafe, Bible Cafe (Sunday afternoon service), Mom&Tots Music, Praise Night, seasonal events, individual Bible Studies and more.
Jon preaches monthly, and Maki enjoys fellowship with seekers, non-believers, and Christian ladies. We’ve both been helping with seasonal programs.
Keisen Christ Church Group
Two churches nearby that are affiliated with our fellow missionaries are part of the Keisen Christ Church Network. The Keisen network is a network of churches that has a vision to spread all over Japan. They hope to see as many churches in Japan as convenience stores! About 15 years ago, they developed a vision to reach the West Tokyo area, and planted Kodaira Chapel.
Kodaira Chapel, the mother church, and other Keisen church in the area, was planted 12 years ago by a missionary couple.
Perhaps one of the reasons the church is so small in Japan (>1%), is that the gospel sounds foreign to Japanese people. In order to reach the 99% unchurched Japanese, we need to better contextualize the gospel. We’ve recently started some ministries to that end.
JCATS
JCATS – Japanese Contextual and Theological Studies is a podcast that Jon launched in 2022. The program’s purpose is to introduce Japanese expressions of the gospel and Christianity to missionaries in Japan. By introducing Japanese expressions of the gospel and focusing on the felt needs of Japanese people, we hope to equip missionaries to share the gospel in a more natural way for Japanese hearts and minds.
JEMA
JEMA – This year Jon began collaborating with JEMA (Japanese Evangelical Missionary Association). JEMA is a networking and equipping group with around 1000 members (most of the evangelical missionaries in Japan). Jon will be working on a new project to help missionaries network for more effective ministry across Japan, as well as explore better ways to help missionaries partner with Japanese pastors.
Japanese Christian blog
There are very few Japanese Christian blogs. Many Japanese begin their journey exploring Christianity online, so reliably orthodox content is a great resource for seekers and Christian moms alike. Maki has been sensing God’s lead in this arena and continues to work on a web magazine project.
She hopes to let Japanese women know (in their own tongue) that Christianity isn’t about looking good, but following God in faith even with the bumps in the road.
Maki’s vision is to share devotional content from her daily Christian life, in order to reach people through social networks that could lead to online Bible studies and/or prayer meetings for non-Christians.
Camp ministry is a great outreach in Japan, as many Japanese have been saved at camp where people feel free from the pressures of society, so we’re happy to be involved! Joy Bible Camp is a camp in Tokyo’s western mountain range where Elementary and Middle School students play, eat, sing and listen to the gospel for 2 weeks in summer.
Ramen and Jesus is a monthly Middle Schooler club that we started with some other Christian friends a few years ago. This is especially helpful, as most churches don’t have Middle School programs in Japan.
God has blessed us with so many local non-Christian friends through youth sports activities, PTA and pre-school mom friendships since we moved to West Tokyo in 2020.
We are glad to share our lives together with local families and hope to nurture friendships with them long-term to see as many as possible finally come to Jesus!
Through our time with these ‘regular Japanese people’, we have adjusted our ministry to think how we can reach the 99% of Japanese that don’t hang out in churches.
OUR VISION
to reach the unreached 99% in Japan
How can we support local churches?
How can Christianity take root in Japan over a hundred years of evangelism?
3 Core Ministries
Church Planting Assistance
We have always been committed to Church Planting. We are currently assisting our second church plant, Josui House of Grace, in cooperation with a Japanese denomination and other missionaries.
Inter-Church Local Fellowship
With churches being so small, and pastors being so few, better cooperation between churches would be a vital boost. We have been considering ways to encourage greater local cooperation between churches for fellowship, as well as ways to introduce Christianity to people who are favorable to Christianity but nervous about the established church.
Japanese Christianity
In order to reach the 99% unchurched Japanese, we need to better contextualize the gospel. Jon continues to work on a contextualization podcast called JCATS, and is researching other ways to present a more natural Gospel for the Japanese, and Maki has been writing Christian content for Japanese moms, both Christian and ‘Christian sympathizers’ on her blog.
Inter-Church Local Fellowship and Outreach: With small (and shrinking) congregations and inadequate staff, most churches are unable to provide more than a Sunday morning worship service, and sometimes a Wednesday evening prayer meeting. But what if local churches of different associations and denominations could set aside minor differences and have shared Bible Studies, barbecues, church fellowships, parenting classes, etc? The Joshua Project, a missions data service, recommends that 2% of a country’s population is needed to hit critical mass in order to evangelize itself. Japan’s Christian church population is less than 1% and almost all those Christians are in 10-30 person churches that act as islands cut off from other Christians!
Working with the House of Grace church plant in our neighboring town, we’ve seen the benefits of building a custom house with space for group meetings. Our current apartment prohibits hosting religious events or other programs like kids’ English. Also, by having a permanent home in the community we can join the HOA and be recognized by friends as ‘lifers’ in our town. This is especially helpful when people consider long-term friendships with foreign or mixed families.
We are calling this project Makiba House, Makiba is Japanese for pasture (found in Psalm 23:2), as we want our home to be a place that Japanese can be nourished in God’s word. This will allow us to hold Bible studies, hangouts, seasonal events, even English conversation classes that friends have repeatedly asked for.
Makiba House, our planned home plus meeting space, will be a place for people to come and explore Christianity freely and learn what it’s like to live as Christians before deciding to go to church. We see it like a stepping stone toward the full Christian life.
This will be a big, 2-3 year project. We are praying for God’s leading and provision. Your prayerful consideration of a donation for this project is appreciated!
With the MAKIBA HOUSE, we could have…
Local Outreach Activities
Fellowship Meals, Coffee gatherings, Seasonal events, English Class, Parenting class, and Bible Studies!
Inter-Church Fellowship
Local clergy luncheons, inter-church fellowships and other programs could lead to better coordination for evangelism in our city!
Online Ministry Studio
The JCATS Podcast / youtube program, Maki’s Christian Life blog, and other multi-media projects are aimed at helping the missionary community present a more natural gospel for Japan, as well as presenting that natural gospel to Japanese seekers online.