Japan
Evangelical
Association

Japan Update

Spring 2021 Number 80

Online gathering, Aburayama Shalom Chapel

The good result of
online youth group fellowship
Ken
MatsuoKGK Staff,
Kyushu Region

Inside
The good result of online

youth group fellowship 1&3
Hospitality to foreigners

amidst the pandemic

2

TCU's 30th anniversary andstudent ministry in the "newnormal"4&7

More than just a boarding house
5

News and notes

6-7

Prayer/Editorial

8

When God completed the creation of
the world, he saw all he had made andwas pleased, as it was very good (Genesis 1:31). However, in this sinless, very
good world, there was one thing God
considered not good—that man wasalone (Genesis 2:18). From the beginning of creation, God meant for humans
to have fellowship. Fellowship means
not only relationship between humans
and God, but also among humans. Just
as God created Eve for Adam, God created humans as beings in need of fellowship with others. God saw fellowship asvery good.
The COVID-19 pandemic has deprived us of many face-to-face communication opportunities. Even so, the fact
remains that we humans need fellow-

ship. In line with this, in 2020 during the
pandemic the youth group at Aburayama
Shalom Chapel in Fukuoka City began
to meet online. The group consists ofboth college students and other young
adults. Right after the worship service
on Sundays, they meet on Zoom for 30
minutes to share with each other whatfrom the Scripture passages inspiredthem during the service.
This online fellowship involved someawkwardness at first. Over time, however, it has produced good results. The firstgood result is that some of the students
who had not been able to attend faceto-face have joined the weekly online
meeting. Meeting online allows busy
students to attend from home. Limiting
the fellowship to half an hour seems justright. When a person wishes they could
have met for a longer period of time,they are eager to come back for more thefollowing week.
The second good result is that thegroup members have come to a deeper
understanding of the Bible. At ourchurch, some attend worship physically,
while others watch the livestreamed
video. Unlike a face-to-face gathering,

http://jeanet.org/(continue to page 3)

Perspective

Hospitality to foreigners amidst the pandemic:
Ministry to international students in Japan
Yasu Kamata, National Coordinator of International Student Ministries, KGK
Why Ministry to International Students in Japan?
You probably have heard manytimes that Japanese people are oneof the most unreached people groups
in the world. Therefore, for many, I
would guess ministry to international students in Japan does not standout as an immediate priority.
I can certainly relate to that, despite
being a firm believer in international
student ministry (ISM). Growing up in Japan, I was
saved during graduate studies in the United States. In
order to fulfill my seminary internship requirement, I
served two years with InterVarsity USA as ISM staff.
Upon graduation, I returned to Japan and joined KGK(Kirisutosha Gakusei Kai) to develop a ministry tointernational students. This has been my main responsibility for the last eight years.
Given my story, I was convinced of the necessity of
ISM in Japan. Yet as I was confronted by the immense
need and the limited amount of resources for ministry
to locals, I had to seek God over and over again fordeeper conviction.
Here are some things that keep me going:
1. KGK is a ministry to all students, which includes
internationals. In 2019, there were 208,901 international students studying in Japanese tertiary
institutions.*1 Roughly one student out of every
17 is an international.*2
2. God calls his people to show hospitality to foreigners. I think especially of Deuteronomy 10:18–
19 and Hebrews 13:2. In 2019, out of the 1,466
students regularly involved with KGK, 115 wereinternational students.*3 I’m grateful for the welcoming attitude of Japanese students behind thesenumbers.
3. Internationals can become catalysts. While Kristine, from Guam, was studying in Tokyo, shestarted two English Bible studies and a morning
devotion time for her campus KGK group. Her
language ability allowed her to communicate wellwith the Japanese members, and being a foreigner
helped her be bold in ways difficult for locals.*4
4. ISM in Japan is key to reaching the world. The
top three student-sending countries are China,
Vietnam, and Nepal, countries with restrictions on
Christian witness. One Japanese seminary professor said that Japan currently might be the mostopen country in Asia.*5
COVID-19 and beyond
As you would imagine, COVID-19 has had a profound impact on international students. I’ve talked

2with students who had their study programs cancelled,
who couldn’t re-enter, who lost their part-time jobs,
who were separated from their spouses, and so on.
With everything being remote, new students are struggling to develop meaningful relationships. The sameis even more true for internationals. In 2020, KGK asa whole saw a 19% decrease in regularly involved students; internationals decreased by 55%.
This pandemic is challenging us to grow in welcoming students into authentic Christ-centered relationships. At KGK’s staff conference, we reaffirmed thenecessity of small groups and one-to-one meetings.
We shared the importance of reaching out consistently
and creating places of belonging.
There are glimpses of God’s grace. On one campus,
internationals and local students used to have separate
Bible studies, but thanks to Zoom, they now meet
together as one big group. Our Tokyo internationalgroup is meeting online, and we are finding that it isserving both current and former students, scatteredacross Japan and around the globe.
The overall number of international students has
declined due to COVID-19. Yet, it is likely they will
come back to pre-pandemic levels in a few years.*6
Changes in international politics can alter student
destinations. In God’s sovereignty, we might see evenmore international students in Japan, making ISM increase in its strategic significance.*7
To all readers of Japan Update, I praise God for yourheart for Japan, and thank you for your continued investment in God’s work in Japan. I would ask that you
add to your prayers international students in Japan andthose ministering to them, for the sake of the Japanese, world mission, and God’s global glory.

*1 https://www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/statistics/zaiseki/data/2019.
html. Last accessed February 19, 2021.
*2 https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/toukei/chousa01/kihon/kekka/
k_detail/1419591_00001.htm. Last accessed: February 19, 2021.
*3 Regularly involved is defined as attending more than three
events or attending more than one overnight event.
*4 You can read more about Kristine’s story here.
https://ifesworld.org/en/blog/mission-minded-internationalstudents-in-japan. Last accessed February 19, 2021.
*5 Professor Masanori Kurasawa of Tokyo Christian University,
informal conversation.
*6 This projection was shared at the Lausanne ISM Consultationin November 2020.
*7 Japan was the ninth most popular international student destination in 2019. https://p.widencdn.net/8wejr7/Project-Atlas2019-graphics Retrieved 29 February 2020.

Feature(continued from page 1)

attending a worship service online at home involves
temptations. When a person is in the familiar, comfortable setting of their own room, they can easily
get distracted. With nobody around, they might dosomething else while giving only partial attention to
the worship service. When they know, however, there
will be an online youth group meeting afterward, they
become motivated to focus on God’s Word, even ifthey’re alone. If they missed something or did notquite understand some parts of the sermon, they can
ask during the meeting, and thus are led to a deeper
understanding of Scripture.

The third good result is that meeting once a week
has nurtured more friendship among the group members than before. The youth group used to meetmonthly. Then, when a person was asked what they
had been up to during the last month, they were hard
put to remember anything. There had been some trials
for sure, but by meeting time they had been long overcome. So the monthly fellowship meetings would often feel forced. Now, when meeting weekly, attendees
can share their prayer requests in a more timely manner. Students who do not naturally open up can learn
week by week how to share their personal challenges.
Little by little, the meeting has become an intimate
time of sharing among friends of the same age group.
By talking about what may be some undramatic stuff
that happened during the past week, the group members have gotten to know each other better. They havegrown more appreciative that others are praying forthem.
It is true that the online weekly meeting has somedrawbacks. If a person misses the fellowship for several weeks in a row, they might feel more guilty aseach week passes. They might even feel intimidated
about going back to the fellowship. Another challenge
is the fact that some are not too excited about online
meetings in the first place.
Therefore, it is important for other church members
to support youth attendance. Some students just needan adult member’s reminder and encouragement tojoin the youth group. In addition, regular members of
the youth group need to be recognized properly withloving appreciation. Specific guidance must be provided regarding how to lead the online fellowship.
In fact, it takes the whole church to keep encouraging the youth so that the greatest possible number ofstudents can stay in the fellowship with its disciplines
from Scripture.
Having worked for nine years for KGK, an intervarsity organization in Japan, I have become convincedof one thing—the Scriptures are powerful! I have seen
many times simple fellowship rooted in Scripture
clearly transforming the lives of students. This is why
I am committed to organizing fellowship centered on
Scripture.
God created humans as beings to have fellowship,
but why? I believe it is for humans to be fruitful, tomultiply, and to fill this world, which God pronounced
to be very good (Genesis 1:28).
During the pandemic, we often keep track of what
we are not allowed to do. Our world is now affectedby sin. There are, however, many things that we,
adults and students, can do for God. Right where weare placed, we can expand, even today, the scope of
the world that is pleasing in God’s eyes.
We are committed to continuing fellowship so that
we never lose the believer’s perspective on everyday
life. Today, more than ever, we must live by faith inorder to share the gospel with people around us.
Translated by Atsuko Tateishi

3

Feature

TCU's 30th anniversary and student ministry
in the "new normal"
Shohei Yamato, Provost, Tokyo Christian University

Tokyo Christian University(TCU) was established in 1990
with an undergraduate Schoolof Theology consisting of two
departments: Theological Studies
and International ChristianStudies. The school is founded
upon historical Protestantevangelical theology with an aim to train Christian
men and women as pastors, evangelists, missionaries,
and Christian servants. In 2008, TCU added a major
in Social Work to the major in International ChristianStudies, and the department was renamed International
Christian Studies and Social Work. From the Spring
2021 term, TCU will integrate these two majors into asingle Theological Studies Department.
This gives me the opportunity to review the 30-year
history of Tokyo Christian University. It should be
remembered that, at the beginning, the establishmentof TCU was delayed for one year. At that time, Japan’s
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology recommended the establishment of an
English Language Department in addition to the
Theological Studies Department we had planned. But
instead of an English Language Department, TCU
made plans for an International Christian Studies
Department. This revised plan for two departments—
Theological Studies and International ChristianStudies within a single Undergraduate School of
Theology—was approved by the Japanese government
the following year. This set the basic direction of
TCU’s Undergraduate School of Theology. Since
its founding, TCU has emphasized in both ofthese departments a liberal arts education basedon a Christian worldview, along with specialized
theological education for our new globalized era. This
led us to establish the Asian Christian TheologicalStudies for English Speakers Program (ACTS-ES) in
2001. We have subsequently established partnershipagreements with more than a dozen Christian colleges
and universities in North America and one schoolin Hungary. Through the ACTS-ES program and by
hosting short-term study abroad programs for ourpartner schools, TCU has become a global campus
with international students consisting of up to onefourth of our student body.
In the newly restructured Theological Studies
Department, our English language degree track

4(ACTS-ES) will become deeply integrated with theJapanese language degree track, allowing students
to study more freely in both English and Japanese. A
special feature of this program is that it will enable
students to pursue an individualized course of studies
in English and Japanese according to their developing
language skills and interests.
Learning about Japan and the world calls for aholistic perspective committed to the welfare ofindividuals and communities. The 2021 integration of
the department of International Christian Studies andSocial Work into a single department of TheologicalStudies within the School of Theology is the fruit,in an important sense, of TCU’s aim over the past
30 years—namely, to offer an integrated theologicaleducation. In the restructured program, students will
declare a major at the beginning of their third year,
choosing from among five majors: Church Ministry,
Global Studies, Youth Studies, Christian Social Work,and Theological Studies. In this way, TCU will beable to strengthen its role as a School of Theology.
TCU has worked hard to respond to the newcoronavirus pandemic throughout the 2020 academic
year. Under normal circumstances, we are a fully
residential college with three trimesters per year. For
the 2020 spring term, however, we decided to offer
all classes online. Our faculty and staff were trained
to use Zoom video conferencing, and we somehow
managed to do so. When we began teaching via
Zoom, we found the sense of distance between faculty
and students to be far less than expected. We also
found that professors as well as students were able
to concentrate on their studies. On the downside,
however, we found that students tired more easily
both physically and mentally due to the long periodsof screen time, and that faculty tended to give moreassignments than usual. We have made efforts touse breakout sessions more regularly to encourageinteraction among students, as well as more active
interactions between students and their professors.
Through all this, I realized that a university learning
community desperately needs live fellowship that
includes getting to know one another through casual
and what may seem to be meaningless conversations.
I was reminded that the way Christ trained his 12
disciples in the course of daily life is essential for
education.
(continue to page 7)

Interview

More than just a boarding house
Shion Kobayashi, Tokyo Tyrannus Hall
Tokyo Tyrannus Hall (TTH) started in 1959 as a
Christian boarding house for male college students
in Tokyo. Having become co-ed some 20 years ago,
TTH housed three female and two male students at thetime of this interview in November 2020, along with
one associate supervisor. In addition, one supervisingcouple lives next door to TTH. Shion Kobayashi, ajunior at a private women's college, and the assistantleader of the boarders, shared with Japan Update thechallenges and blessings of the life at TTH during the
pandemic. Excerpts follow.
Japan Update (JU): What has been the mostsignificant way the coronavirus pandemic has
impacted the way of life at TTH?
Shion (S): Life at TTH revolves around four pillars—
activities that all boarders must participate in: 1) the
in-house communal morning devotions three times
a week; 2) what we call “The Layman School,” a
study session with an invited lecturer on Wednesday
evenings; 3) a week-long mission trip in the summer;and 4) physical exercise—at least two hours a week
for men and one hour a week for women.

The Layman School with a lecturer connecting online

We were able to continue numbers 1 and 4, as they
did not involve people from outside TTH. As fornumber 2, in lieu of inviting a lecturer, the boarders
and staff members got together for Bible study from
April through August 2020. This turned out to be agreat blessing, because we got to know each otherin many new and meaningful ways as we shared ourthoughts.
Regarding number 3, we normally would split into
two or three groups, each group going to a different
city to help a local church for one week. Last summer,
we gave up on traveling. As there were only fourboarders at that time, we acted as one group, andhelped a local church youth camp remotely. We shareda pre-recorded video that included hymn singing andplaying the violin. One of us livestreamed a sermon

and another a testimony. It was not as fulfilling of anexperience as we had hoped, but we are thankful we
could do what we did.
JU: I assume the college courses went online last
spring, at least for a time. How did you and the otherboarders cope with the new situation?
S: Naturally, we spent most of our time in our
respective rooms. Other than that, however, our wayof life does not seem to have been affected so much.
Breakfast and dinner are served on weekdays, and we
eat in the dining hall during the assigned times. There
was no change in this practice, except that a bottle ofdisinfectant showed up in the dining hall last spring.
In many ways, we are like one big family.
JU: What blessings have you received from God
during the pandemic?
S: I have come to appreciate the normal things that
I used to take for granted. Going to school is one,getting together with friends is another. Some of
my friends who live by themselves express theirloneliness. Not me. Living at TTH and having
Christian friends around all the time, I never feellonely. I have to be considerate of the others living
in close quarters, but that is just a small trade-off for
freedom from loneliness.
JU: How about your campus activities?
S: I lead a Christian group on campus. Our group
activities went online last spring, which opened thedoor for alumni to get more involved with us students.
Some out-of-town alumni now join our Bible study
and Thursday worship services, even during theirlunch hour at work. The alumni sometimes give atestimony and deliver a sermon for us. It is a huge
blessing to be able to enjoy greater fellowship withthe alumni women.
JU: How can we pray for TTH?
S: We have been praying for freshman students whowill be coming to TTH in 2021 for the next school
year. Please pray that God will guide the ministry of
TTH.

Sharing a meal at TTH. Shion at far right5

News and Notes
Pastor Eiji Koyama and his recovery fromCOVID-19
In July 2020, whenC O V I D -19 w a s
spreading from theTokyo metropolitan
area across Japan,
Eiji Koyama, pastor of Sakae Shalom
Church, Independent
Pentecostal Church
Fellowship (Tanritsu
Pentecoste Kyōkai Ferōshippu—TPKF—https://tpkf.
org), in Sakae-ku, Yokohama, was infected with thecoronavirus. On July 17, he received a PCR test. It
was found to be positive and he was taken to the hospital the same day. At one point during his stay, his
condition deteriorated drastically and he was transferred to an ICU. (Both of his lungs were completely
white and he could not breath without a respirator.)
He gradually recovered and returned home in August, after 19 days of hospitalization. We interviewed
Koyama about his experience during his fight withthis disease.
Q. Do you have any idea about the route of infection?
A. No idea. I tried to wear a mask, wash my hands,
disinfect with alcohol, avoid the 3 Cs [closed spaces,
crowded places, and close contact], move about without using public transportation, and not go into Tokyo.
Q. You felt sick on Friday, July 17.
A. On that day, at a clinic near my place, I got an Xray. I was taken directly to a hospital for moderate patients by ambulance. Later, when my oxygen concentration suddenly dropped dangerously low, I was sent
to the ICU of an emergency hospital for the criticallyill.
Q. We heard that the prayers for your recovery
helped you a lot. What were you thinking about inyour hospital bed?
A. That the medical staff had been working very
hard, but that this disease was still unknown and themethod of treatment had not yet been established. I
wasn’t able to think clearly, but I knew my condition
was critical. Meanwhile, I saw many people responding to my wife’s prayer requests on our Facebook
page. Some people sent me emails and some posted
the prayer requests for me on their own sites. These
prayers surrounded me like waves, and convinced me,“I will be all right.” In my lonely ICU bed, hearing thewords “I am praying for you” gave me such power.
Q. What did you learn throughout this experience? Do you have any special Bible passages that6

supported you?
A. I saw how hard it is for a medical institution totake care of one infected patient. We must thank medical staff, who are always at risk of infection, for their
devoted work for patients. It’s also important to lift up
intercessory prayer for medical institutions. My wife
said she had been given the words “So do not fear, for
I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you
with my righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10). She wrote
them on all the tissue boxes at my bedside. WheneverI seriously suffered, I was supported by these words.
While in the ICU, I personally was given the passage,“Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You haveheard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end
intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). This made me
believe that if I endured this pain, I would get Job’s
blessings. Eugene Peterson explains, “That’s because
God cares, cares right down to the last detail.” Godcares even for a person like me. I praise the name ofJesus.
Q. Your experience must concern all of us. Do you
have any message to churches as they continue under
the threat of COVID-19?
A. Our church did not have a cluster, but we had toclose the church building. I appreciate that we havebeen able to have online worship with the cooperationof many people. No matter how many measures andprecautions you take, this new coronavirus may cause
infection. However, when we pray for each other andput the love of Jesus into practice, the world will beable to know Jesus Christ. For me, the quarantine wasa good time of fellowship with Jesus.
When the number of infections started increasing,
my wife started worrying whether we would needto restrain our church activities again. So she asked
God, “How long will it last?” Then God clearlyanswered, “Until people submit to me.” I would liketo tell everyone not to fight with COVID-19, but justaccept God and submit to God. Since God cares for
us, I firmly believe that eventually we will have Job’s
blessings.
Christian Shimbun, August 30, 2020
Translated and summarized by Tomoko Kato

Prayer transcends dismay andhelplessness: Seventy Japanese pastors
unite to pray for Hong Kong
At a time when the freedom of speech and faithof the people of Hong Kong is under threat, andwhere there is disconnection and conflict amongst

News and Notes
the citizens, seventy Japanese pastors from various
denominations united online to meet and pray for thepeople of Hong Kong. The event took place on October 31, 2020.
A sermon was delivered by Yōsuke Matsutani, pastor of the United Church of Christ in Japan, and chaplain of Kinjō Gakuin University. He went to seminary
in Hong Kong, so as someone who had lived there andknew people living there, he was deeply saddened byrecent news. (In June 2020, he was invited as a guest
speaker for an online prayer meeting organized by
KGK and a student group based in Hong Kong. Even
though he felt helpless at not being able to be there
physically, he realized at that time he could still pray.)During his sermon, Matsutani said, “Prayer is whatgives us hope. It enables us to step forward instead ofbeing immersed in helplessness, dismay, and fear.”He then shared some words from one of his previous sermons. “Japan and Hong Kong may seem nearin one way, but also far. Despite the distance, however, we are all warriors in the same faith. We are allmembers of the Church and live in God’s Kingdom.”
After his June sermon, he had led communion andsaid “the sharing of the bread that is Christ’s body, andthe blood that is the cup of the covenant, is somethingthat transcends language, ethnic groups and bitter
legacies—such as the occupation [of Hong Kong] by
the Japanese army.” At that time, Matsutani asked for
prayer for Japan, and promised to pray for the peopleof Hong Kong.

At thecurrent
event, Matsutani said
he “would
like tofulfill thatpromisen o w . ”
Quotingfrom Romans 1:8–15, he said, “Just as Paul longed tomeet the people from the church of Rome, I long toworship together with my brothers and sisters in HongKong. I would like to visit Hong Kong and meet faceto-face, not by myself, but with other Japanese people,
and say to the people of Hong Kong, ‘We have always
kept you in our prayers.’”
In closing, Matsutani said, “Although it is important
to raise our voices against various challenges we seearound the world, there are certain things only we as
followers of Christ can do. Many would say, ‘Sing
the national anthem,’ ‘Raise the flag for your nation,’or ‘the prosperity of our nation must grow and our
military must be strengthened,’ but I say we shouldsing songs of God’s Kingdom, and raise the flag for
Christ.”Christian Shimbun, November 22, 2020
Translated and summarized by Grace Koshino(continued from page 4)

From the 2020 fall term, we allowed a small number of students to return to the dorms, and we tested a
new hybrid form of teaching in a very small numberof classes. In a “hybrid class,” the professor offers inperson instruction for students in the classroom and, atthe same time, online instruction for students remaining at home. In the winter term, we allowed a few
more students back into the dorms, and we increased
the number of hybrid classes. However, things remain
unpredictable for 2021 due to the newly declared stateof emergency in January.
Though we will begin our new curriculum in April,
we still cannot allow all of our students to live in theon-campus dorms. Whereas the singles dormitories
typically house two students to a room, we must keepthem to one student per room for at least the coming term. But thankfully vaccinations have begun inJapan, so TCU is making preparations in the hope that
all our students can return to on-campus living thiscoming fall term.

Now that all of our faculty members are able toteach online, this past winter term we opened up a
few of our hybrid and online classes to non-degree
students (both for credit and for non-credit auditors).
This means we are able to offer theological education
far beyond any geographical limitations. Beginning
this 2021 academic year, we are excited to kick off a
new online program and offer several courses of study
that people can take from anywhere in the world foruniversity credit. We have long wanted to provide
online continuing education for pastors, evangelists,and lay people in the field. It took a pandemic to be
the catalyst, but we are now ready to make it happen. Wherever a person may be, he or she can enroll in TCU classes offered in Japanese, and soon in
English as well. We will all continue to face difficult
circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic. Let
us, therefore, continue to walk with trust in God, whoworks for the good of those who love Him.

7

Please pray for Japan
1. Christian churches and Japanese society are still affected by the
spread of the coronavirus all over Japan and throughout theworld. Keep praying that Japanese churches will stand firm instrong faith and that God will protect all the countries affectedby the infection.
2. Pray that the Holy Spirit will work through foreigner-friendly
ministries in Japan so that Japanese churches and ethnic
churches in Japan might be united in the bond of love.
3. Pray 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, etc.

Japan Update
Spring 2021 - Number 80
English Newsletter of theJapan Evangelical Association (JEA)
Chairman :Toshinori Ishida
General Secretary : Takahito Iwagami

4. Pray for young Christians and pray that God will raise up thenext generation of Christ-centered, gospel-driven leadersamong young Christians in Japan.

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).

JEA related schedulePer­m is­s ion to reprint is gran­t ed, butplease give cre­dit and send one copy of
any pub­li­ca­tion con­tain­ing reprin­ted material to the edi­tor.

DATE		

EVENT

PLACE

April 12			

JEA Denominational Leaders’SummitOnlineJapan Update Staff

April 15			

JEA Women’s Gathering“Katariba”

OnlineApril 19JEA Board Meeting

OnlineJune 7-9

JEA Annual Plenary

Kakegawa

Editor in Chief
Takahito Iwagami
Asst. Editor
Atsuko Tateishi
Translation Editor
Gary Bauman
Translation Staff             Tomoko Kato		       Grace Koshino                                        Hiromi Kiuchi

July 23-Aug. 8
			Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gamesand Related Ministries

Editorial

Tokyo

It’s been over a year since the outbreakof the coronavirus (COVID-19). The wholeworld has been changed. Japanese evangelical churches are still struggling with gathering for worship and prayer. Many churches
have shifted from physical gathering to online gathering. We arefacing essential theological questions, such as: what is the church,what is worship and holy communion, and so forth. We are also
facing many challenges, especially on evangelism and mission.
Due to social distancing, it is getting difficult for Christians toshare the good news of Jesus face to face. Please keep praying
for Japanese churches and Christians.
Takahito Iwagami, Editor in Chief

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