July 2022
An exciting July 2022 update on the Tsukuba Express Discipleship Station Building Project!
July 2022
vision
Something Needs to Change
Missionaries have been planting churches in Japan for 400 years, yet the Japanese people remain the world’s second largest unreached people group. Something needs to change! We need to do something different! And God has given us a vision to do just that.
vision
Something Big and Bold
Instead of starting small struggling churches with a handful of missionaries, God has asked us to do something big and bold. He has called us to plant 20 churches that start from day one with a congregation of 100, and a missionary pastoral staff of ten.
The Holy Spirit’s Leading
Beyond the question of “how?”, the Holy Spirit has also led us with regard to the “where?” We are starting in Tsukuba where God is already blessing and growing a vibrant bilingual church that is attracting the lost and seeing them saved—Tsukuba International Christian Assembly (TICA).
Planting 20 Churches
Tsukuba is strategic because of its train: The Tsukuba Express (TX). This train line begins near TICA and ends in the heart of Tokyo at the world famous technology district of Akihabara (秋葉原). As it runs through the most densely populated section of planet earth, the TX stops 20 times. And, we will plant a church at each of these stops.
The Tsukuba Express Line
An Audacious Dream
In the history of missions in Japan, this is one of the most audacious projects ever dreamed. And, it will require a team of unprecedented size: 200 missionaries and their families. We’re going to need a tool to recruit and train them—The Tsukuba Express Disciple Station.
2,000 Interns…
Over the past three years, more than 100 individuals have joined us in Japan to serve with us and seek God. Of those, God has called nine people to join our church planting team. At this rate, we need to receive more than 2000 interns and short-term volunteers to see our vision of 200 team members become a reality. But, we have to have a place to house them, train them, and launch the new ministries of which they will be a part. And, God has placed the perfect building to do this just 20 feet away from our church (TICA).
