Vision God spoke to me in a vision in the Spring of 2002. “There will be many conversions” was the response to my prayer for a word for our ministry in Japan. The vision came about after a session of worship and appeared slowly and gradually. Firstly I was shown a stadium from a distance which panned in to close up. I started asking the Lord questions; “Do you want me to hold huge mission events? Is our work to be sport related?..?” I began to focus on the players on the pitch and at first thought that they were playing American Football. I could just about make out the uprights at the end of the field. As I kept asking the Lord for greater clarity I realized that the sport was rugby and the distinctive “H” shaped posts could be seen clearly. From time to time I could hear cheers from the spectators packed into the stadium. I told the Lord that I still didn’t fully understand. As I payed closer attention to the uprights I realized that occasionally a rugby ball would fly over them resulting in a huge cheer. A question came to my spirit “What is happening?”. My mind made some connections “Uhh, It’s a rugby match…uhh, the crowd are cheering … I still wasn’t getting it. I can see balls going over the bar … “What’s that called?” Uhh, in rugby it’s a conversion… a CONVERSION! I couldn’t contain my joy as I realized that the number of balls passing over the uprights was increasing and at a rate much faster than before. There will be conversions in Japan… many, many conversions! Each time a ball was converted the crowd roared with elation – the heavenly host rejoicing over each soul that turns. There will be many conversions in Japan….. Mission Statement

“To know Christ and to make Him known” [to the Japanese]

The Church I See * The church I see is exciting and full of life. It’s a church that’s both numerically large and spiritually deep. It is non-religious, naturally supernatural, and fun to be in. It’s a church of renowned character and integrity. A church whose number one priority is to glorify God and bring his wonderful life to a lost world. The church I see is attractive, confident, victorious and overcoming. I see a church that equips, enables and releases ordinary people to live extraordinary lives. It is a deeply committed, loving, caring family where the lonely can find new hope and belonging. (* adapted from ALC Bradford)

General Vision We expect the church in Japan to grow: Numerically Spiritually Geographically The gospel emanated from Jerusalem, Judea, to Samaria and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. The question that we always have before us is ‘how can I deepen my friendships and enlarge my friendship circles?’ Jerusalem: Immediate family Judea: English class / neighbours / close friends Samaria The place in the natural we would rather not go (undefined) The uttermost parts Coast to Coast. From the Pacific to the Japan Sea and from Japan to

the world

Structural Vision We believe that the best way to facilitate the growth we expect and provide the best church management structure is the cell church model. As the number of members of Christ’s family increases we will look at the G12 format as an ideal. The principle we will act on is one of maximum congregational participation. Every believer must be a disciple who is simultaneously discipling someone else. Small groups is where the main ministry will take place week to week with the occasion of regular celebration meetings at a large independent venue for all the cells to unite. Church buildings can be a blessing and a burden We want to avoid sinking lots of cash in a building project (unless God should direct us otherwise) and plough resources into outreach.

A network of cells

Methodological Vision “By all means to win some” is our governing principle. But we know that we can’t possibly do everything and reach everybody on our own. For this reason we will focus our efforts on a limited group of people who will be most likely to regularly attend meetings for equipping and worship in our home. Overt outreach: Primarily the Japanese Alpha course Message and tracts at Christmas party Special events e.g. Passion of Christ movie Lifestyle evangelism: a) Being ‘good news’ for other people

b) Seeking and taking every opportunity to evangelize c) Prayer initiatives; prayer walks, fasting etc.

Various initiatives

We seek to harness the concepts of being Person led and purpose driven. In the mind of Luis Palau ‘You can check the pulse of any church by looking at its evangelistic efforts’. This is why we hope to develop a church that is defined by C.P.R. – the mnemonic taken from the ‘heart start’ technique.

C is for Challenge P is for Purpose R is for Responsibility

Goals Personal Prepare testimony in Japanese Be able to preach the Gospel in Japanese Be competent in contemporary Japanese worship style Practical Find a suitable base Accumulate excellent resources (presentation media, library) Develop discipleship training materials Pastoral Develop friendships Establish people management structure Start regular Japanese bible study / worship time Projected Timescale:

Testimony

I came to know the Lord on Good Friday 1997, at the age of twenty four. This was much to my shame however, as I had rejected the gospel message all of my life and I had known the importance Christ had in the lives of my believing parents. Rejecting God and rebelling against my parents in my early teens involved me joining a Heavy Metal group (just to annoy my mother!) and began to drink and smoke. Later, during my early twenties I started to read books on philosophy and prophecy and took an interest in radical political groups and experimented with Oriental methods of meditation. All of this was to satisfy the spiritual side of my nature although I was unaware of it at the time. As soon as I could afford to I started smoking cannabis every evening to get stoned, I enjoyed the sense of numbness of being monged and not having to think of anything except pleasure. Every weekend I would commonly take a mixture of speed and ecstasy at clubs and parties. I rarely overdid things and I genuinely felt in control of my habit, at least I wasn’t as bad as the smack heads (heroin users) I thought. I enjoyed my alternative lifestyle and actually felt sorry for people who had not experienced the highs of drug use and the fellowship of the drug scene.

On the Sunday before Easter I was set up on a blind date and was to meet a girl who said she would like to meet me. We met in a pub and got on better than I expected considering that she didn’t smoke hash or take pills, in fact she was vegetarian and so straight that she didn’t even drink tea or coffee! Miraculously we got on well and we saw each other throughout the week, I had told her about my drug use and she told me that her parents were Christians. This fact was something I could relate to and I asked if I could go with them all to a service on Good Friday. I thought that I would get to meet her parents and set a good example (by coming to church) at the same time, I would even take a Bible along for good measure. My intention was evil as I wanted to further the relationship and fool her parents. Something happened during that simple church service. I cannot say that I paid a lot of attention to the speaker but I felt that there was a spiritual battle going on above my head. I managed to behave myself but I had a lot to think about. I went home to my bedsit and I phoned my Mum and told her about the goings on. She told me that I needed to accept Christ into my life and turn away from my sin. I agreed, something was happening that was beyond my understanding and something drastic was required. I prayed. I asked Jesus to reveal Himself to me in a way that I would have no doubt that it was Him and not reaction to the drugs or any thing else. He honoured my prayer and I was baptised in the Holy Spirit that night. Since that time I have had many encounters with the living God and benefited from study of the Holy Scripture. I have worked for an organisation that leads the world in the rehabilitation of alcohol and drug addicts called Teen Challenge. Following that I became Associate Pastor at the Elim Church Eastbourne, married in December 2001 and sent as a missionary couple to Japan in June 2003.

FAQ Why Japan? We believe that God directed us to minister in Japan. Through scripture, internal witness of the spirit, favourable circumstances and consensus amongst Christian leaders we discerned the will of God. Besides this, Japan is a gospel needy nation with only about 1% of the population claiming to be Christian. Why Kobe?

It was our strong intent to be located near to Kayo’s family. By God’s grace we hope to influence them for Christ and so the decision to locate in Kobe was already made. The actual house we live in came about by direct answer to prayer. We had been believing for a detached house with a room large enough for gatherings. Simultaneously, a family in Japan (Kayo’s old friends from church) had been praying for church to be established in their home. About three months before we moved to Japan this family was instructed to move to another prefecture by the husbands company which put their house on the market. We learned of this and the same day as we arrived in Japan we viewed the property and put in a bid instantly. We are delighted with the house, location and community.

How long will you stay in Japan? Japan is our home. Our plan (DV) is to live in Japan for at least twenty years and quite likely much longer. My UK pension is transferable to Japan so it is possible that we will retire here. What contact will you have with other churches in Japan?

Although we would naturally want to fellowship with other believers we know that God would have us pioneer a church. For this reason our attendance at other meetings will be occasional. What support will you receive? We produce a quarterly news/prayer letter which is circulated by Elim UK. Our finance will be generated primarily through the ‘tent-making’ activity of English teaching. In addition to this, the Elim Church UK is covering my pension contributions