Report from Japan
by Steve Wheeler

At the end of the report there is a video of an interview with Pastor Tomio Oohashi.

I arrived in Japan on Saturday, April 11 and was met by our missionary representative on the KDK Committee. We drove to Otawara to visit Otawara Christian Church pastored by Tomio Ohashi. I was able to celebrate Easter services with their church and enjoyed great fellowship with Pastor Ohashi. He is committed to teaching the Word of God and focuses his Sunday services on the worship of the Lord. This is the second church that Pastor Ohashi has planted. The first was in the city of Fukushima. He expressed that the church in Otawara has reached a level of maturity in just five years compared to the nearly 15 years it took his first church. He attributed this to the prayer and financial support of White Fields.

After the service, I had a wonderful time of fellowship with the congregation. We shared in a tasty Japanese potluck. Several members of the congregation could speak English, which allowed the opportunity for me to hear their testimonies and of their involvement in the church. There is a healthy mix of ages at this nationally diverse church, including families, youth and elderly members.

I had the chance to observe Pastor Ohashi’s interaction with his congregation as he ministered to the members during the fellowship meal. I was encouraged to see a vibrant congregation with zeal to share the gospel with their community. The strategy they use has produced an average attendance of 50 people.

After the potluck, Pastor Ohashi and I took a brief walk through a local park to see some of the cherry blossoms. These parks were full of people and reminded me of the many people in Japan who need to hear the gospel. Following the walk, we drove about an hour to the city of Nasu, where we met with a group of ten believers who are the core of Pastor Ohashi’s new church plant. These believers have a passion for spreading the gospel and reaching their neighbors for Christ.

Monday through Wednesday were spent at the 16th conference of the Japanese Committee for pastors. This year marked the 50th anniversary of White Fields partnership with Japan. Two of the pastors present, Pastor Sataki and Pastor Izuta, worked with Bert Poole in the beginning of the ministry.

Our Prayer Facts translator, Honda, shared in the delivery of my sermon by translating for me. Some of the pastors could speak English, but most are fluent only in Japanese. It was encouraging to talk with so many missionaries and pastors who were bilingual. This made mealtimes with our pastors very productive as I heard of their appreciation for the prayer support through our ministry.

With the help of one of the KDK committee members, I presented the gift from the White Fields Board to Pastor Izuta, the Chairman of the Japanese Committee. There was an audible “aaahhh” from the audience when the wrapping was removed.

I believe the gift was greatly appreciated by all the committee members. Our missionary representative expressed that there is an office used by the committee for meetings at one of the Kings Garden Assisted Living facilities managed by Pastor Izuta. He expressed that it would be hung on the wall where they will be reminded of our partnership with them.

Following the conference I traveled to Chita City where I visited the work of Pastor Masaaki Higashi. The eldest son of the pastor, Ken, speaks English and is a 2006 graduate of Prairie Bible Institute in Canada. While he was there, he met Sandra and Wanda at a Japanese Camp; they told him about White Fields. Now he is thrilled that his father is being supported by White Fields to plant a church. Having graduated from Prairie, Ken is currently taking seminary classes from some pastors in Nagoya, Japan. Throughout my time with the Higashi family, I sensed the passion they have to reach Japan with the gospel. They conveyed several times their concern for the areas surrounding their city—“There is a community with 80,000 people, but no church.”

The Higashis drove me to Toyohashi City to visit with Pastor Hideyuki Matsui. This young pastor has found an opportunity to reach his community through his first and third grade sons. They invite their sons’ school friends to visit special events at the church, such as Rice Cake Making, Bread Baking and Pizza Making. Through these events they have broken down the barriers first presented to them in the community. Now they have found that not only the children come, but the young mothers also visit and enjoy the fellowship. At each event, Pastor Matsui is able to share more about the gospel. Slowly they have begun to respond positively to the God’s Word.

We shared a small lunch with some ladies from the church, along with Mrs. Matsui. They have a weekly Bible study together. I was also able to share in a Bible study with Pastor Higashi’s midweek prayer group. In each of these visits with members of the churches, I was able to clearly communicate that there are people praying for them. I showed them the English version of their prayer reports. They were deeply moved to know that we would care about their churches and would take the time to pray for them, and they were very encouraged to hear that they are not alone in their church planting work.

Throughout the trip, I was reminded of our need to continue supporting the ministry of church planting in Japan. I had lunch with the editor of a national Christian newspaper in Japan and he asked whether we, like so many other mission agencies, were going to withdraw from Japan. I told him we would not withdraw. He then asked me why we would stay. I replied, “Because planting churches in Japan is hard. We like to support ministries that take hard work.”

 

Video Interview with Pastor Tomio Oohashi