Japan
Evangelical
Association

Japan Update

Autumn 2019 Number 77

Asher Ibaraki: Futsal Team of the Ibaraki Bible Church

Sports ministry: starting point for tomorrow
Hiroaki
Yonai
Senior Pastor,
Kokubunji
Baptist Church

InsideSports ministry: starting
point for tomorrow

1&3

Sports ministry at Ibaraki
Bible Church

Teach soccer and teach
Jesus

The brilliant path of a life
with Jesus

2

4

5

News and notes

6-7

Prayer/Editorial

8

Sports is said to reflect the times. In prioreras, sports brought liberation and hope,even in times of ethnic discrimination. Recently, sports have delivered hope to children
who have suffered from natural disasters.
Sports influence people, and at their best,
sports bring people together.
The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be heldin 12 cities throughout Japan in September.
This will be the first international rugby festival hosted in Asia. Rugby may not be wellknown in Japan, but the Rugby World Cup
is among three major global sporting events.
Upwards of 4 billion people will watch
these games worldwide. Next year, the 2020
Olympic and Paralympic Games will be heldin Tokyo. So in two consecutive years, Japan
will host two of three major global sporting
events.
Through God’s grace to the church inJapan, my colleagues and I launched JiSP in2014 to spread blessing through sports ministry. Please allow me to share our thoughts
on “Why sports ministry?” and “What does
Japan International Sports Partnership (JiSP)
bring?”
Why sports ministry?
(1) Because it is a point of contact.
According to the 2011 Social Life Basic
Survey from Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications, 72 million people(about 70%) of the population of Japan
participate in sports. This includes activities
from jogging for health to watching sporting
events. Sports are deeply relevant to Japanese people in their daily lives.
The participation rate of junior highschool and high school students is also very
high: 80.1% for junior high school boys and57.1% for junior high school girls; 65% forhigh school boys and 37% for high school
girls (reported by the Juvenile Education
Organization, 2016). With the exceptionof high school girls, these rates are rising
compared to 10 years ago. Many junior andsenior high school students are actively
involved in sports. Participation in sports
greatly impacts students because of the(continue to page 3)

http://jeanet.org/

Perspective

Sports ministry at Ibaraki Bible Church:
Finding your resources from within
Michito Kasagawa, Associate Pastor of Ibaraki Bible Church in Osaka“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine andthe wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into
new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 (NIV)
How can Japanese churches reach out to the young generation, especially those who are extremely involved in sport
activities?
Ibaraki Bible Church (IBC)
is an evangelical churchwith a 50-year history located in an Osaka suburb.
Even though the church
has extended much effort toreach out to youth throughprograms such as Sunday
school, ESL classes, andcamping ministries, young
people tend to stop attending church once they become involved in weekend sports clubs such as baseball, basketball,and soccer.
To overcome the high youth dropout rate, in 2016 westarted a futsal (indoor soccer) ministry. Before we started
this ministry, we already had a monthly futsal fellowshipfor years. However, the Lord had a plan to bring us to a newstage by having us start a registered futsal team. Surprisingly, a Christian business owner offered to become a sponsor by covering the entire cost to enroll in a futsal league.
After setting up the team—including getting approval at the
church’s general meeting to participate in Sunday matches—in March 2016 the team enrolled in Division 3 of the
Osaka Futsal Federation (OFF). In the beginning, elevenplayers signed up for the team including three nonbelievers.
We named the futsal team “Asher Ibaraki” from the Hebrew
word “blessed” in the book of Psalms.
In the first year, the team struggled to set up a teampolicy. As a pastor, I endeavored to keep nonbelievers on
the team. However, to win matches, our team needed to
select players who could regularly participate. Players who
did not get playing time quickly lost motivation and left theteam. We added five new players, but then six players left.
As a pastor who is committed to evangelism, I was reallydisappointed to lose these nonbelieving players. Throughthese experiences, we gradually developed a team culturethat focused on winning matches and cultivating strong relationships among the players. Toward this end, the church
played a great role by encouraging our members to attend
and support the team in the matches, and also to prepare
meals after the matches. As a result, our team players appreciated the church community and in turn the church
people loved the team as a part of the church.
In the second year, 2017, the team added new players andwon a title. As a result, we moved to the next level, Divi-

2

sion 2. This year, our fourth year, theteam continues to belong to Division
2 and aspires to move to Division 1.
We are currently fifteen players strong,
including nine nonbelievers. I believe
God has profoundly blessed this ministry with the baptism of two players. In
addition, other non-Christian members
have become more familiar with the
Pastor Kasagawa
church community and Christianity.
Sports ministry is not just a tool of evangelism to invite
people to the church. When the church is committed andparticipates in any serious sports ministry, both pre-evangelism and discipling flows into the team community. As they
are involved in training twice a week and share joys andsorrows as a team, young non-Christians are learning about
Jesus and his church through Asher Ibaraki. The team also
provides a place for church kids who love soccer. Throughour team, there is an opportunity to embrace young people
who Japanese churches cannot reach. Of course, it takes
time to see the harvest and a lot of work to keep this ministry going. But I see in Asher Ibaraki the hope that Japanesechurches can reach out to the young generation throughsports ministry.
What is the next challenge for us? In order to continue
this ministry for another five or ten years, we need to train
the next leaders. Following our futsal model, we could startanother sports team. We already have a basketball fellowship once a month. Some teen members have asked me if
the church can start a 3x3 (three-on-three) basketball teamin the near future.

Jesus said that we need new wineskins for new wine. My
hope is that this sports ministry model will prepare “newwineskins” for Japanese churches to receive, develop, andnurture “new wine”—an active, energetic, and hopeful new
young generation that loves sports.

Feature(continued from page 1)
significant time investment and life lessons gained.
Historically, Japanese churches have not embraced thisview. Please see the illustration below.

・The church in the upper left of the figure has notreached the people in the lower right.
・Many people do not come to the upper left church until
they stop playing sports.
・These people want to do sports even if they become
Christians
・The gap cannot be bridged without a paradigm shift byJapanese churches.
(2) Because through JiSP, we can share biblical values
and our desire to raise up the next generation.
Today’s world records leave ambitious targets for futurecompetitors. They encourage tomorrow’s athletes to aim
at and inevitably break them. Yet, history still notes eventhe most modest records. We must accept that we cannot
always break a world record; similarly in life, we need thecourage to face our limits.
Modern sports require rules and respect. In Japan, there
are ever-expanding gaps between theories relating to
the natural world and philosophies relating to the spirit.
Through sports, we can tangibly share biblical values. For
example, the Rugby Charter lists the following five values:“Integrity,” “Passion,” “Solidarity,” “Discipline,” and “Respect.” However you look at it, these values hold importance in raising the next generation in the Christian Church.
Some years ago, I held a baseball clinic to which I inviteda Christian professional baseball player and the generalmanager of my community Little League. Later the manager approached me and said, “I have taught baseball manytimes, but today I have learned good guidelines for lifethat apply to more than baseball.” Sports ministries allow
athletes, coaches, and churches to actively share biblicalvalues and raise new disciples of Jesus.

(3) Because the world and Japan are connected.
There are many sports missions in the world. Such outreaches cannot be done with only one church approaching
public schools or regional governments. Through sports
mission opportunities, it is possible for even a small church
to have international exchange programs. Successful sports
ministries develop connections so that ministry teams arewarmly welcomed as they return every year or so to thesame ministry destinations. Relationships and spiritual fruit
come from this kind of ministry little by little over a periodof years.
What does JiSP bring?
The importance of the JiSP experience is Legacy.
When we talk about the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics, people often think of event-based plans like a big
rally and a Taikai (tournament). This is wrong. The mostimportant thing for JiSP is what will be left in Japan after
the Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics haveconcluded. The legacy will be churches stretching their own
ministry limits through sports ministry and producing spiritual fruit in their communities.
To that end, JiSP is promoting “Vision2024”. This vision is a prayer that 10 times the blessing will be brought
to this country by 2024. It may seem impossible. Yet, inthe Bible, God answers even the most impossible of challenges. The servant Elisha asked for a double portion of theprophet Elijah’s spirit. Elijah answered, “You have asked
a difficult thing” (2 Kings 2:10 NIV). Nevertheless, Elisha
became a wonderful successor. The Bible is full of difficult
challenges. We, the members of JiSP, would like to serve
together as partners to develop a continuing sports ministry,building a network through hosting events around the 2019
Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic
Games. This Vision2024 will bring together a lasting teamof regional churches, who will support these ongoing sports
ministries together.
In conclusion
JiSP has four pillars: Church Sports, Community Sports(community festivals for every generation), In Sports (training of Christian athletes, coaches, and trainers) and Major
Sports Events (activities at the World Cup, the Olympics,etc.). Please join our prayer team, and let’s work together.

*Japan international Sports Partnership (JiSP) is a network that includes Japanese churches, Christian athletes,and coaches, etc., It works with the ISC (InternationalSports Coalition) to promote Vision 2024. Visit us at https://www.jisp2024.com

3ReportTeach soccer and teach Jesus
Keller Costa, Co-founder and coach, Shalom Sports Center
As missionaries, the word “suffering” means pretty muchnothing to my wife and I—now. But it wasn’t always like
that, and I’m not saying that because I feel strong all thetime or because we have something special compared toother people. It’s because we learned through God the true
meaning of faith and endurance.
My name is Keller Costa
and I’m the co-founder of
Shalom Sports Center. I’dlike to take this opportunity
to share with you a little ofour background so you canunderstand the greatness ofthe blessing that God has given us after having withstoodseveral trials and afflictions. I usually just tell my testimony
to really close friends, but now I feel it’s time to let
whoever wishes to be encouraged know about how amazing
God is to those who put their trust on Him.
I’m 34 years old. Both of my parents are Brazilian but
I was born on the mission field where my parents wereserving, in Lima, Peru. I lived there until I was 15, when
we moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, for my firstmissionary trip. Now I live in Ibaraki Prefecture together
with my wife Suzanye and our four-year-old daughter,
Miyuki.
The first time I came to Japan was in 2003, where I andmany of my friends worked in various places trying tosurvive—be it building concrete walls in construction sites,or assembling car pieces and carrying heavy tubes up anddown in cold factories in the winter and extreme heat in thesummertime. Well, after two years of “suffering,” I went
back to Brazil to study in a university in Minas Gerais, where
I graduated in the area of communications with a focus onadvertising. After graduating, in 2010 I decided to comeback to Japan—with no financial support—in order to help
my parents who had started another mission work here. Not
wanting to work in factories anymore, I put my complete
trust in God and left my future in His hands, trusting in His
promises. He has never let us down.
I remember very well that when I came in 2010, I prayed
to God and told Him, “Jesus, I’m here again, but as a
missionary now to do Your will, and I want to do exactly
what You brought me here to do.”Around that time, my father got very sick and as aconsequence half of his face was paralyzed. I couldn’t takehim to a normal hospital because my Japanese wasn’t goodenough. After praying, a Japanese friend, a pastor from anearby church, called me just to check up on us. I felt thehand of God then, because through that, he told me he knew
a doctor who spoke English, was near, and was a faithful4and loving Christian! So we rushed to his clinic. While wewere there with him and my dad was getting treatment,
Doctor Luke Hirokawa started talking to me and said:“What is your vision for your life in Japan?” I responded
sincerely with what I already felt strongly in my heart: “I
don’t know exactly what God wants me to do but I am here
willing to do whatever He tells me.” So he replied: “And
what is it you like to do?” “I love soccer!” I said. While asmile grew on his face he said: “And would you be willingto start a work with kids, teaching them soccer and about
the love of God?” As peace filled my heart I replied “Yes, I
would—whatever I can do for the glory of God.” Then hesaid “Hallelujah! I’ve been praying for almost 5 years for
God to bring either an Argentinian or a Brazilian person
willing to start something with me here to bless the kids inthe community!” And so we started a soccer school, withthe support of the local church, Saiwaichō Christ Church,which now is being taken care of by Pastor Ayumi Kurisaki,
the actual president of Shalom Sports Center.
As soon as we could, we started activities on a rented
space in a nearby park. We were able to gather 23 kids inour project, which then was named Golden Eagles Soccer
School.
After the big earthquake and tsunami of 2011, I lost mostof the kids because they either moved back to their home
towns or because just going out was really hard because
there was no food or gasoline to move around. I was having
practices with one kid only, so it felt more like a private
lesson.
Most of the foreigners started leaving the country and myparents asked me if I wanted to leave, too. While praying
about it, God sent a friend to one of our practices and hetold me during our time together: “You gotta do whatever
God tells you to do, even if it is for one person. The party
will be amazing in heaven when that one gets there!” I felt
so renewed by those words and decided to continue here
and be part of the process of healing and rebuilding thecommunity.
Some years later, Doctor Hirokawa decided to build
Shalom Sports Center so we could have our own home fieldand not rent fields around town anymore. We founded it on
April 4, 2015 and today we are working with more than 150
kids, teaching them all how to talk to God on a daily basis,to trust God more than anything, and to put Jesus’ teachings
first above anything else.
We offer our kids what they deserve—the biggest andbest dedication to their growth that we can provide. We
teach them not only high quality and advanced internationalsoccer techniques, but also “life quality changing” teaching,so that their morals can always be aligned with God’s moral
standards.
(continue to page 5)

Testimony

The brilliant path of a life with Jesus
Yoriko Okamoto, Pastor of Osaka Vision Church, Director of Dream Taekwondo School
While pursuing her athletic career in South Korea, thehome of taekwondo, one Korean teammate impressed
Yoriko Okamoto with his kindness to foreigners. When she
asked this younger teammate to be her coach, he agreed.
By the time he invited Yoriko to his church, she was readyto accept Jesus. That was in December of 2006.
“I want to win the world
championship of taekwondo!
Then finally I will be somebodyof value.” That’s what I used tothink.
To me, my value depended on
how much success I achieved. The
cycle of my life was to set a goal
and then to work hard to achieveit.
Winning a match would makeme happy for just a little while.
Whenever I lost a match, I would become anxious. I would
keep working hard nonetheless. Life was tough indeed.
However, on Christmas Eve 2006, I learned something
completely new. For the first time in my 35 years of life, I
heard something I had never imagined. I learned I was sovaluable that Jesus Christ, who is God, died for me on the
cross.
Until then, I had devoted myself entirely to taekwondo.
In my mind, being a successful taekwondo athlete was the
only way to prove my value. When I met Jesus, however, I
came to realize that I was valuable with or without successin taekwondo.
I used to be in a living hell, obsessed with winning inorder to prove my value. What bliss now to know that I
had been loved by God all along, just as I was! I began toworship the Lord with joy and thanksgiving. My athletic
career was transformed. I only had to do my best with thephysical and mental powers I had been given by God. I
still practiced hard, tried to recover my physical strength
as effectively as possible, and performed to the best of myability in matches, but without an obsession to win in orderto prove my value.
I am deeply thankful for having been born as my parents’daughter, as they were instrumental to bringing me to anunderstanding of the unconditional love of God. Until I
believed in God, I hadn't been aware of the power of being
loved and trusted. I am not from a noble family. My parents
were not wealthy or powerful in society. They were justordinary citizens. I used to dismiss them as not helpful at all
for my success.
When I realized, however, that all along my parents had
poured much love upon me and had always been supportiveof me, I accepted my upbringing as a precious gift that no
amount of money could buy. Getting to know Jesus opened
my eyes to the fact that the sense of being loved and trusted
draws the best performance out of me.
I used to think that winning a bronze medal at the Sydney
Olympic Games in 2000 was the luckiest thing in mylife. But the greatest “luck” I now see in my life is that I
was born of my parents, who showered true love on me.
Because of them, I grew up to be a healthy and hardworking
athlete who won an Olympic medal. I felt I lacked nothing.
I was able to focus on my athletic career without worries.
I have retired from my active career as an athlete. Today,
I live joyfully, relying on the day-to-day guidance of God's
Word. I love God, and I love my neighbors as I love myself.
Nothing can replace the joy I have. Before I knew God's
love, my life was tough. I was saved, thanks to the church
where Christians shared the gospel with me. I am loved andhave been forgiven by God. It is a great privilege for me
to be a member of a church, and to share about God who
is invisible, but real. My life now is full of amazement andexcitement.
By the grace of God, I have been ordained as a pastor. I
am so thankful every day for such a brilliant life that I am
willing to go wherever God sends me, and to do whatever
God tells me. I dedicate myself to building the kingdom ofGod. I receive in turn everlasting happiness that the world
can never give to me. My soul is fully content as I lookforward to an imperishable
crown.

(continued from page 4)
Today we work with five other staff members who havedecided to get on board this same train and move toward
growing in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If I can ask something of all of you, it would be thatplease, keep us in your prayers always. We need it so much,for our enemy is never happy with what we do. Praise theLord all the time!
Remember, “Never give up that which the Lord called you
to do—keep it up until the very end, when we are in His
Glory.” Grace and peace to all.

5

News and Notes
Lausanne East Asia Younger LeadersGathering
The Lausanne Movement (“Lausanne”), a global mission
movement, hosted the East Asia Younger Leaders Gathering(“EA YLG”) in Jeju Island, South Korea, on March 25–28,
2019. Over 220 younger leaders, mostly under 40, gathered
together from East Asian countries and areas, as well as 45
mentors and over 60 volunteers. Some 50 younger leaders and 6 mentors attended from Japan. Under the overall
theme “The essence of the gospel,” the participants pursued
the goals of “unity in diversity” and “a heart of sharing thegospel at all cost for the lost.”
Each participant was assigned to a shared interest small
group. A mentor was assigned to each group. The samegroup got together occasionally throughout the four-day
gathering for discussion and fellowship. Time was also allocated for each participant to meet one-on-one with theirgroup mentor.
In addition to the Bible expositions in the morning andplenary sessions in the evenings, a number of breakout sessions were offered in such areas as art, business, leadership,history, unity, evangelism, and theology. Even though many
sessions were available, time was generously allocated tomeals and free periods to stimulate spontaneous and organic
connections.
Plenary speakers
Michael Oh, the Global Executive Director and CEO of
Lausanne, took the podium on the first evening. He spoke
about the three keywords of connecting, convening, andcollaboration. As a movement of individual Christians,
Lausanne serves as a broad platform for convening andconnecting people. Michael noted that he often hears thephrase “I met . . .” at Lausanne meetings. He shared his
own story of how attending the Lausanne Global YLG in2006 dramatically expanded the sphere of his ministry. He
expressed his hope that EA YLG would spawn a number of“I met” stories. He also encouraged everyone to collaborate
in all areas of ministry toward building the kingdom of God
through listening to and learning from others.

The Bible exposition was provided each morning by Patrick Fung, General Director of OMF International. The firstmorning, he exhorted those in attendance from Acts 11:19–
26 to become disciples of Christ by upholding the importantqualities of humility, integrity, and simplicity. The second
morning, he spoke of unity in the gospel by looking at the
26 people mentioned in Romans 16. He noted how thosepeople came from a wide variety of backgrounds, and yet
were united in Jesus, even at the risk of their lives. The lastmorning’s exposition was entitled “Suffering for the gospel.” From Acts 4, Patrick declared that what can destroy
the Church is not persecution, but Christians’ own attitudeof diluting the gospel. He stressed repentance through experiencing forgiveness, sharing the gospel in words and deedsof sacrificial love, and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Kisung Yoo, Senior Pastor of Good Shepherd Methodist Church, preached from Galatians 2:20 on the second
evening. He showed the way of demonstrating Jesus who is
within us, through professing that we have died with Jesus
but are now alive with Jesus.
The third and final evening saw Jae Hoon Lee, Senior
Pastor of Onnuri Community Church, speaking from Ephesians 4:1–6. As a community of people who have beencalled to join the body of Christ, a church must keep Godgiven unity through humbleness, gentleness, generosity,
love, patience, and peace. Such unity within the church will
be a witness to the living life of God, Jae Hoon taught.
Regional presentations
At the beginning of each plenary session, testimonies andprayer requests were shared by participants from each area
or country represented at the gathering—Hong Kong, Mongolia, Japan, Taiwan, Macau, South Korea, and China. Following each presentation, all participants lifted up sharedprayer requests.
Planning teamSince 2017, a multi-national planning team of younger
leaders had been developing plans for EA YLG. JiYoung
Yoo from South Korea and Kohei Takeda from Japan cochaired the team, under the supervision of David Ro, Lausanne Regional Director for East Asia. On the final dayof the gathering, each of the two co-chairs testified of theunity that was nurtured within the planning team throughthe period of preparation leading up to the gathering. During his closing address, David Ro shared how his missional
ambitions had once been shattered. The experience madehim appreciate more than before the power of God and theessence of the gospel. Quoting 1 Corinthians 1:17–20, heoffered a closing prayer.

Articles selected from the Christian Shimbun—April to June 20196

News and Notesof the year 2020. While the government has suggested that
diluting and discharging the water into the ocean would be
the easiest and most inexpensive method of disposal, thelocal fishery association strongly opposes the idea as fatally
damaging to the fishing industry.

Participants and mentors from Japan

Japanese mentors
Six Japanese people, three men and three women, served
as mentors. They were glad to see cross-cultural and intergenerational connections grow at EA YLG. Masanori
Kurasawa, one of the mentors and Chair of the Japan
Lausanne Committee, hopes to see more collaborative connections born out of the Lausanne platform serving in thefrontlines of ministry.
Christian Shimbun, April 14, 28, and May 26, 2019
Translated and summarized by Atsuko Tateishi

Is there a future for Fukushima?
Eiji Sumiyoshi, pastor of Nakoso Gospel Christ Church
in Fukushima Prefecture, contributed his thoughts to Christian Shimbun. Excerpts follow.
In April 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Executive Committee ruled in favor of South Korea’s importban on fishery products from Fukushima and seven otherprefectures. The ban was introduced in the wake of the 2011
Fukushima nuclear disaster. In 2013, during the process ofluring the Olympic Games to Tokyo, Prime Minister Abe
declared that the contaminated water in Fukushima was“under control.” In light of the latest WTO ruling, I wonder
if it really is under control.
In the meantime, a lawsuit has been filed in a mandatory
indictment against three former members of the management of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), theoperator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant. The primary matters at issue are if 1) the defendants were capableof predicting large tsunami; 2) the government’s long-term
assessment about potential earthquakes was sufficiently reliable; and 3) advance measures would have prevented the2011 disaster.

The contaminated soil is also problematic. Even though
the government previously established a policy that it
would move all contaminated soil out of the prefecture by
March 2045, it is now trying to promote the reuse of soilthat is within a permissible level of contamination for public works projects in Fukushima Prefecture.
Obviously, all of these matters require a huge amountof money. According to a preliminary calculation by theprivate think tank Japan Center for Economic Research,
the total cost involved in the Fukushima nuclear disasterwould be in the range of 35–81 trillion yen (approximately
US$300–700 billion). The dismantling of the Fukushimaplant is expected to be completed sometime in 2041–51, but
the work has just begun, and the timeline is highly uncertain. The government nevertheless is aiming to increase thepercentage of nuclear power generation for Japan’s electricity supply to 20–22% by 2030. I wonder if nuclear power
generation is worth pursuing at all.
I am a resident of Iwaki City, where the population has
increased by 30,000 since the 2011 disaster. This is largely
due to people relocating from neighboring communities
within Fukushima Prefecture. On the other hand, in the ninecities where evacuation orders have been lifted, an averageof only 23% of the population has returned. In addition,
there are few children among those who have returned.
Some communities within those nine cities might disappear
altogether in a decade or two, when the elderly people havepassed away. So the circumstances vary even among thecities of Fukushima Prefecture.
How then should the Church work on renewal and restoration in the name of Christ in this region? The challenge isdaunting. It is about time for the Church to treat the energy
issue as a missional issue. We need to give thought to boththe economic and spiritual welfare of people. I believe thefuture of Fukushima depends on missional efforts by the
Church.
Christian Shimbun, May 5, 2019
Translated by Atsuko Tateishi

Another issue is the contaminated water that has been
kept in tanks on the premises of the nuclear plant. Storage
space is expected to reach maximum capacity by the end
Articles selected from the Christian Shimbun—April to June 20197

Please pray for Japan
1. As we are going to have the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic
Games in the summer of 2020, pray that Japanese Christianchurches will welcome all the Christian athletes and guests
from overseas and will testify Jesus to them so that God might
be glorified through the Olympic Games.
2. That the Holy Spirit will work through each of the sports ministries in Japan so that Japanese young athletes might come toJesus and grow their faith in Him.
3. That more “Kingdom-minded” collaborations will happen among different ethnic churches in Japan and Japanesechurches. There are many opportunities including ministry tochildren of mixed marriages and so on.
4. That God will raise up the next generation of Christ-centered,gospel-driven leaders among young Christians in Japan.

JEA related schedule
DATE		

EVENT

Nov. 4		Ethnic Ministry Network Meeting Tokyo

Nov. 7-12

WEA General Assembly

JakartaNov. 11-12

Kyushu Mission Forum

FukuokaDec. 13		JEA Religious Liberty Seminar

Tokyo

January 20
Feb. 1, 3Youth Commision NSD Summit

Tokyo

			

Autumn 2019 - Number 77
English Newsletter of theJapan Evangelical Association (JEA)
Chairman :Kaoru Hirose
General Secretary : Takahito Iwagami
Japan Update is pub­lished biannuallyby the JEA. Through Japan Update, the
JEA seeks to communicate how God is
at work in Japan and to foster prayer
and collaborative work for the advancement of God’s kingdom in Japan. Views
expressed by in­di­vi­dual auth­ors do notneces­sarily reflect offi­cial JEA posi­tions.
Japanese names appear in Wes­tern order(sur­name last).
Per­m is­s ion to reprint is gran­t ed, butplease give cre­dit and send one copy of
any pub­li­ca­tion con­tain­ing reprin­ted material to the edi­tor.

PLACE

The 6th Great East Japan Earthquake
International Theological Symposium Tokyo

Editorial
This April, I began work as General Secretary of the Japan Evangelical Association.
Since then I have been learning and thinking
about how JEA should serve the varieties ofevangelical churches not only in Japan, butalso in the world. One of the important tasks is to share JEA’s activities and prayer requests with Japan Update readers and ask themto pray for Japan. In this issue our focus is on sports ministries inJapan. As many of you know, Japan is going to host the Olympic
and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. I would like you to pray
for the Japanese churches and their sports ministries which will
work during the Olympic Games. Thank you.
Takahito Iwagami, Editor in Chief

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