I sat in awe during the Sunday service as I listened to Pastor Okita of the Midorino Chapel in Japan preach his message to his congregation.  Listening via a translator through headphones, I quickly discovered that Pastor Okita was preaching on the exact same topic and challenging his church in the exact same way I had with my church right before I left!  His message was taken from Acts 13, and he exhorted his small congregation to engage in missional living right where they live.  I could hardly contain myself.  A fellow pastor 6000 miles away, speaking a completely different language, and living in an entirely different culture was giving the same exact message to his congregation that I had just given to mine!  I was blown away.

The Keisen Church Network

Midorino Chapel is one of the more established churches in a network of churches called the Keisen Church Network.  The network had its humble beginnings 50 years ago when a man named Pastor Chida started a small church in the northern part of Japan.  He had a missional mindset and a vision for church planting.  Some 25 years later, he sent one of his star disciples, Masahiro Okita, south to plant a church in the Tokyo metropolitan area.  Pastor Okita, along with his son, Masatoshi (pictured above), now lead a vibrant congregation consisting mostly of first generation believers, many of who came to faith in Christ through the missional living of church members.

Michelle and I went to Japan just at the right time as the entire Keisen Church Network met for their annual festival and were celebrating 50 years of God’s faithfulness.  Over 300 believers representing the ten churches in the network gathered in the mountains of northern Japan at Pastor Chida’s church for two days of celebration, prayer, encouragement, and vision.

Everything was graciously translated for me and Michelle during the festival, so we were able to celebrate and pray along with them.  I was even invited to speak for a few minutes and was able to share how much my church (Foothills Fellowship) and the churches in the Keisen Church Network had in common the focus of missional living.  I closed my comments praying that God would make the words of Acts 11:21 true for them: And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. Please pray this for them as well as the network desires to  expand in order to bring God’s Kingdom to new Japanese communities.

Japanese Believers

Michelle and I were struck by how much our hearts meshed with the believers we met in such a short period of time.  We discovered that even though we live thousands of miles apart and speak different languages, we have much in common.  Maybe this is due to the fact that they are wrestling with the realities of living missionally in their local culture just like we are.  Maybe it’s due to the fact that they are people just like us struggling to live lives of holiness in a spiritually dark culture.  Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that the same Holy Spirit that resides in them resides in us!  Whatever the case, our hearts were moved by the brothers and sisters we met there.  Especially dear to us were the times of worship we experienced with them.  Knowing the difficult journey each one has taken to come to the place of surrendering their hearts to the Lord, to see them raising their hands in worship and singing their hearts out to the Lord was moving.

During our stay, two young believers approached me and Michelle to thank us for the ministry we’re doing in the states.  Both of them came to faith in Christ while visiting the states and wanted to let us know how much they appreciate the work of the church in the U.S.  This was so encouraging to us, and reignited my passion to continue to develop the ministry of Foothills Fellowship to the international students that come to Albuquerque each semester.

Highlights of Our Interaction with the Japanese Church

Interacting and worshiping with the Japanese church was such a rich experience for both me and Michelle.  Three highlights stand out in my mind:

1. At the close of the Keisen Church Network Festival, a choir consisting of members from all ten churches sang a powerful rendition of  “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”  They sang in Japanese, and Michelle and I sang along with them in English.  It was beautiful, moving, and heaven-like.

2. Michelle and I were able to meet several of the pastors from the other churches in the network.  In addition to meeting the founding pastor, Pastor Chida (first picture), we were also able to meet some of the younger pastors in the movement as well.  The man in the middle of the second picture is a pastor in the network who has a heart for taking the gospel from Japan to “the ends of the earth.”  He reported at the festival on the trip he and some of his church members took to Nepal.  How cool is it that the young and growing Japanese church is already going global?!

3.  The Hills invited me and Michelle to their home for lunch with Pastor Okita and his wife.  I had met Pastor Okita years ago when Leon brought him to Foothills but had never “talked ministry” with him.  We spent about three hours exploring the concept of our two churches partnering together in the years to come.  Both of us are unsure what this looks like, but it may involve members of Foothills going to Japan for short or mid-term trips and members of Midorino Chapel coming here to assist us with our ministry to international students.  Not sure, but the prospect of partnering is something that excites both of us.  Please pray for God to make clear what he would have us to do.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about the incredible ministry the Hills have in Japan, including the ministry God gave them 14 years ago to an unbelieving family that is still having a powerful impact today.