This year our church plant hosted a gathering of Conservative Baptist Churches in Iwate prefecture for our annual “Rengo Day” fellowship meeting. It was a time of fellowship, worship, prayer and considering together how we can commit to reaching our prefecture for Christ. Dave had the privilege of addressing the group to share about the history of our church plant and the ways God has been leading us to reach out to our community. Below is an English Translation of his speech.
Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to Miyako! We’re excited to be able to host Rengo day this year and spend the day with you. While Miyako Megumi Christ Church is a church plant of Morioka Bible Baptist Church, all of the churches in the Iwate Rengo have played a part in this work so far, and we have been incredibly blessed by your partnership and prayers. In a way this church plant is the fruit of the work that began when the churches in Iwate joined together to start the Iwate 3.11 Church Network, and to support relief work in this city, something that all of your churches have been a part of.
Today I want to share a little about how Christian relief work in Miyako led to the start of our church, and the ways that we as a church plant seek to meet the needs of the people in our community and lead them to Christ. I hope that by sharing the journey that this church plant as been on that you be an encouraged to consider the journey that your own church is on, and the ways that God might use you and your church to make a positive impact on your community.
In the years since the Tsunami, something truly amazing has begun to happen in Iwate. Almost every city that was effected by the Tsunami now has a new church being started in it. Right now on the Iwate coast there are new church plants in Ofunato, Kamaishi, OOtsuchi, Yamada, Miyako, and Iwaizumi. I believe this is a wonderful sign of God’s blessing and grace upon these cities, and reflects His heart to bring healing and relief to those who are suffering.
While I and my family began work in Miyako in 2018, more than 7 years after the Tsunami, I have heard that before the Tsunami people living in the coastal towns of Iwate were very suspicious of Christianity and other religious groups. As a missionary myself I was also sad to learn that when the Tsunami hit Iwate there were no missions organizations or missionaries who were doing any ministry in Iwate. It was said that Iwate was a prefecture that was too difficult to work in, and that there was too little fruit. However something changed when the disaster hit.
Japanese Christians, international Christians, and missionaries all began to come to Iwate to help with the desperately need relief work. Christians came not only from other prefectures, but from countries around the world to to partner with the Japanese Churches in Iwate and work together to serve the disaster victims. They worked to clean people’s houses, deliver supplies, and mourn and grieve with those who suffered the loss of homes, possessions and loved ones.
In the first months and years after the disaster there was no thought of starting new churches, or making new converts, rather Christians understood this to be a time of demonstrating Christ’s love in actions and service. Christians showed that they had come to serve the local people, and not to increase their own membership. Through this work many relationships were built and the work of Christ’s people served to elevate the reputation of Christ in the minds of the locals in these cities.
Miyako was one of the cities that the 3.11 Network sent teams, missionaries and volunteers to. Early on they established Shalom house, which became a base for international teams and national volunteers, including the Singapore EPJM teams. Additionally local Christians from Miyako who would later become founding members of our church plant also served as 3.11 Staff. Michio Nagata and Catherine Porter both made Miyako their base of ministry and spent many years in Miyako coordinating teams and helping to encourage survivors who had lost their homes. Together these faithful believers visited many the Kasetsu’s and ministered to survivors.
After years of relief work there came a time when the disaster relief needs had been met, and as a result secular volunteers slowly ceased to come. However while the survivors were placed into a stable situation physically, there remained many deep emotional needs. Rather than abandon those who were still suffering, Christians decided to continue hosting events and gatherings to meet the emotional needs of survivors. They sought to offer encouragement and to help them to form new relationships with their new neighbors.
As time went on Christian relief workers and Christian Churches in Iwate came to recognize the deep spiritual needs that these coastal cities faced. While Japan is a country with few Christians already, the cities on the coast of Iwate that were impacted by the Tsunami have among the smallest Christian populations of any place in Japan. Christians in Iwate began to be burdened for the spiritual needs of those they had been serving. They saw a need for new churches to be established to be a perpetual light in these places in the hopes that the residents of Miyako would find eternal salvation and peace through a new life with Christ. In 2017 Catherine Porter invited Morioka Bible Baptist Church to plant a new church in Miyako, and our family was sent from Morioka to work with Cat to begin the work of church planting.
The life of a church can go through various phases, but I think one of the most exciting phases is the planting phase. In the early life of a church there is an energy and a passion for evangelism that is unique. It is also a time when we have the chance to think about Christ’s purpose and vision for a church and consider how we can accomplish that vision. When Christ gave his disciples the great commission he commanded them to
Matthew 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This command of Christ forms the basis for our vision as a Church. We believe that as a church we are ultimately called make new disciples of Christ. This means that we must support and encourage the spiritual growth of our members, to meet the needs of those who are suffering in our community, and to proclaim the gospel, baptizing new believers and welcoming them into the fellowship of the church. And in the book of Acts we see yet another mission handed to the church which is to support the work of planting new churches in areas that need them.
Miyako Megumi Christ Church is a new church plant that is the fruit of Christ’s work in other churches that came before us. We are still too small to stand on our own, but by God’s grace in the future we will grow to maturity and become a church that participates in planting new churches. I believe that this cycle of churches growing to maturity and reproducing is a central part of God’s plan to share His salvation and love with the world.
My hope and prayer is to see not only our church grow in this way, but to see Christ bring this same growth to every church in Japan. I pray that each of you will share a vision that Christ can transform you and the members of your congregation into His likeness, fill you with the power of His Holy Spirit, and lead you out into your community to accomplish His mission. My prayer and hope is not only that you and your fellow church members will grow in love, wisdom and spiritual maturity, but that your churches will grow by seeing new believers baptized and joining you in the rich new life that comes through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
In closing I would like to share some of the ways that we have been seeking to carry out Christ’s mission here in Miyako by meeting the needs of those in our community, proclaiming the gospel, and humbly inviting people to consider all the blessings that God offers.
As we looked at how we might accomplish Christ’s work in Miyako, we were inspired by the way that God had already been working through the many Christian workers that had come before us. We saw the importance of building trust, sharing genuine love for others, and serving without any ulterior motives. By first demonstrating the truth and power of Christ through acts of love, we would hope to give people a reason to believe the message of the gospel.
To plan out our activities as a church we recognized a kind of path with a series of steps that a person might follow on their journey towards Christ.
The first step would be for someone to meet and befriend a Christian. Building relationships is something that each member of a church can do personally, by interacting with friends, neighbors and co-workers, and also something that the church can do together, by hosting events and programs that allow people to get to know the Christians in our church.
Whenever any non-Christian meets a Christian for the first time, whether they realize it or not, they have taken a step closer to meeting Christ, and I think that this is in itself a wonderful and amazing thing.
When we think of building relationships, we are not yet thinking about how we might share the gospel verbally, but instead simply looking to obey Christ’s commands and follow His example by loving our neighbors, serving them, and meeting their needs. Things that we have done as a church to build relationships include ministering to survivors of the 3.11 Tsunami, teaching English, and hosting cookie decorating classes. By simply identifying needs that people have, and lovingly and freely seeking to meet those needs we have been able to meet and befriend many people in Miyako and to show them through our lives that Christ loves them.
The second step we want to see people take is to have a chance to hear the gospel. Sometimes this chance comes up in personal conversations, when people ask questions or show an openness or a curiosity to hear about our faith or ask why we are doing what we are doing. Other times this happens by intentionally inviting people our non-Christian friends to church services and events that the Gospel will be shared at. We try to have at least four special church services a year where we make a special attempt to invite non-Christians and share the gospel. Two of these services are always Christmas and Easter. The other two may be days when we plan a special lunch, or a concert, or a team doing a special event.
Our hope is that by inviting people to these special events and sharing the gospel personally that we will be able to invite people to consider the third step, of attending church regularly. At this point we have had many people visit our church, but no seekers have begun to attend regularly, so we continue to focus on these first three steps.
In the future we hope to see people take additional steps on this path to Christ. We hope to see seekers place their faith in Christ, become a new Christian and be baptized. Next we would want to help that new Christian grow in their faith, and become equipped to participate in Christ’s mission. Lord willing we see others take these steps in the future.
In a minute Tomo will come to share some personal stories of people who have taken some of these earlier steps. But I also hope that as you hear this you’ll be encouraged to think about your own church, and people you might know who are on this path towards Christ, or who you hope will begin that journey towards Christ.
What ways can you work with your Pastor and fellow church members to build relationships in your community? How can you give your friends a chance to hear the gospel explained? Are there seekers in your church now that are attending? If so, how can you encourage them and help them to find peace in placing their faith in Christ? Has a new believer been baptized in your church? If so, how can you encourage them to grow in their faith?