Hello.  My name  is 阿部頼義 Yoriyoshi Abe, a pastor in Japan.  This is not the first newsletter I wrote though, especially for some of you who have received our past updates. Allow me to introduce myself a little bit more because I  learned that I have gotten to know a lot of new people lately who are interested in Japan mission work since when we started a church planting ministry. I’m a husband to my wife Emiko and father of three daughters. I was born and raised in Japan where the Christian population is less than 1%. By God’s grace my parents were 1st generation Christians who led me to Christian faith. Growing up in Christian home is very rare case here in Japan. For instance, in my school days I never had Christian friends at school. I didn’t belong to youth group either since the church I went to was not big enough to have one. But by God’s grace I got baptized and later came to have confidence that God called me to ministry to share the gospel with people in Japan. I’d like to share more details but I have decided to write them in the next letter. Now, I’d like to move on to report how God has worked in Japan through our ministries. 

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I and my wife Emiko have served in three different ways to reach out to people in Japan. 

① Evangelism through Church Planting.   In 2016, we started Grace Garden Church in Ebina City, a bedroom community outside of Tokyo.  At that time, our pastor friends said, “Why do you guys want to start a new church? Do yo know that these days there are many existing churches that don’t have their own pastors?”  “Oh, it’s not a good time to start church planting because the population itself has declined.” So we got many discouragements not to start. But during that time I read a quote by Tim Keller and he says, “The continual planting of new congregations is the most crucial strategy for the growth of the body of Christ.” We were not sure if the quote was applicable in Japan, but made a baby step toward church planting with faith. It has not been an easy task to create a new church community but God has providentially brought Christians and non believers into our church. We have been able to reach out to more new people in our area.  But sadly, not so many people respond to the gospel message – that is one of the biggest challenges we face. 

② Evangelism through Networks in the Greater Tokyo Area.  Besides church planting, I work with an organization called Ochanomizu Christian Center (OCC) in Tokyo. The center building is considered as a hub for Evangelical churches. So there are many mission organizations’ offices in the building, such as Wycliff, Gideons, Intervarsity Christ Fellowship(IVCF), Japan Evangelical Association (JEA) and so on. My role at OCC is coordinating seminars and trainings for church leaders in Tokyo area which entails contacting more than 1,000 churches. It’s a privilege to have such networks and work together for God’s kingdom. 

③ Evangelism through Social Justice ministry.  Other ministry God led me to pursue is a relatively new refugee relief ministry in Japan called, “Refugees Medical Support Group – PLESION”. This Christian volunteer group focuses on refugees’ medical care. (The situation relating to refugees in Japan is different from the one in the U.S. since Japan recognizes very few applicants as refugees, 40-100/year). As Jesus says, “Go and do likewise”, we visit refugees who have medical needs and assist them by taking them to hospitals, where we serve as translator. It is often the case that language and cultural barriers prevent them from receiving medical care, since there are few people who can speak English proficiently in Japan. This ministry gives us opportunities to share the gospel. For instance, we speak at Christian schools and conferences.  Also Christian media groups have interviewed us and published reports about our deepest motivation, that is Christ’s love. Sometimes the Holy Spirit leads us to naturally bring up spiritual conversations with social workers at hospitals, lawyers who support refugees, and medical doctors. God has opened doors for us in this way to reach out to non-Christian groups in Japan that we did not think was possible!

  These are the brief explanations of what we do for God’s kingdom work in Japan. I will report more details in the next newsletter.  Finally, I’d like to thank our supporters. Your partnership for World Missions allows us to continue our ministry involvements  in Japan. May God bless you abundantly.

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 About Yoriyoshi Abe : He studied at Evangelical Seminary (M.Div), Myerstown PA. Pastoral intern at Grace Community Church of Willow Street. He owns a black belt in Judo.

About Emiko Abe: She studied at Covenant Seminary of Tokyo (Seikei Shingakkou). She leads worship by vocal and the keyboard, also enjoys writing worship songs.