Ministry

Our Programs (partial list)

Reliable Biblical Training

We are creating theologically orthodox and biblically faithful Bible study curricula in order to equip the lay people who live in the city. We are currently planning 15 semesters worth of material (26 sessions each), covering subject matters such as authentic Christian living, Bible survey, foundational theology, and Christian worldview, etc. Some of the contributors include Dr. John Whitcomb, Dr. John Master, Dr. Thomas Edger, and Dr. Paul Enns, to name a few. This ministry is much needed because it is very difficult to find many easy-to-understand, yet comprehensive and professional, Christian educational resources suitable for developing the whole person in Christ.

Creative Arts

We need to help people to make new songs that can be used for worship in Japanese. The Bible commands all people to sing new songs to the Lord – “O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth” (Psalm 96:1). Globally speaking, singing is one of the most popular forms of worship. However, in Japan, most often the form of worshiping God through music is not fulfilling the biblical function of worship. In a nutshell, most of the songs that are used for worship today are theologically shallow, if not incorrect, or linguistically too difficult to be understood by today’s people. Often, the reasons for worship are detached from the result of worship, and thus, no longer fulfilling the function of authentic worship prescribed by the Bible. We are going to network with a group of Japanese Christian artists to write biblically true, yet musically and lyrically Japanese, songs which we can use to worship God.

Biblical Counseling

It is not a well-known fact that, according to the Japanese government report, around 20 % of those who live in Tokyo are suffering from a mental sickness. Furthermore, 9% of all elementary children living in Tokyo have been diagnosed with severe depression. Facing these issues, we are committed to teach people how to explore the wisdom and depth of the Bible and apply its grace-centered message to the problems of daily living. It is our deep conviction that God has chosen His Body, the church, as one of the foremost contexts for personal change. By asking deliberate questions that reveal the idols of our hearts and challenging people to turn to Christ by giving them reliable objects of faith, using the Scriptures, we are going to encourage real and lasting changes that can be brought about by God’s grace through faith. Not only are we going to encourage God’s people to experience Christ amid the challenges of city life, we are totally committed to equipping dedicated lay counselors to share the hope which we find in Christ to others through providing resources and competent training.

Multi-Cultural Ministries

Today you will find more than 350,000 foreigners (including 19,000 Americans) residing in Tokyo. Many of them are staying in Tokyo temporarily because of their company business, a foreign exchange student program, or military service. We want to become a church where we can provide a community where they can come and worship, but also provide an opportunity for them to serve God through our church by using their talents. We are already blessed with many bilingual – some trilingual – members who can help us with reaching out to those who may have given up on having a normal church life in Japan. We will continue to come up with effective strategies to allow our church to represent the whole of Tokyo.

Furthermore, not many people are aware that many more Japanese become believers while outside their country than those who remain in Japan! According to one source, nearly 80% of all Japanese who become Christians became Christians while they were overseas. The tragedy is that most Japanese Christians who return from abroad cannot reconcile the differences between Japanese Christian culture as it is being practiced today and what they were used to before their return. As a result, many of them give up on living for the Lord and conclude that Christianity cannot exist in Japan. With the conjunction of our multi-cultural ministry mentioned above, we want our church to be different so that our church can be a safe house for those who are used to Western style of Christianity. We also want to make sure that we train these returnees to slowly adjust to learn what it looks like to live in Japan as Christians, so that they can continue to live the same faith in another context with the same commitment.