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Rising Tide Film Project

After hundreds of years of missionary efforts in the spiritually hard soil of Japan, there are new glimpses that the kingdom of God is advancing among the world’s second largest unreached people group (less than 0.5% evangelical Christian). Even as the evangelical church in Japan is in decline (due in part to the aging of pastors and loss of missionaries), a fresh wind of the Spirit is giving rise to several Indigenous church planting movements.

Impetus

As Dr. John Mehn writes in Multiplying Church in Japanese Soil, several effective models of reproducing churches have been identified in Japan. Examples among these include: Oyumino Chapel (Chiba: Dan Iverson, MTW); Grace City Church (Tokyo: Makoto Fukuda, City to City); and the Mustard Seed Network (several cities in Japan: Jay Greer, MSN). There is an unique opportunity to capture and tell their stories to a wider audience, bringing an inspirational and strategic boost to gospel expansion throughout Japan and the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

In the Fall of 2019, Hunt Valley Church (PCA) began preparing to send a short-term missions team to Japan in conjunction with an MTW Vision Trip scheduled for May 2020. Among those planning to go were several filmmakers of Accent Interactive, a creative agency based in Baltimore, MD. They were looking to capture stories and craft a documentary about the emerging gospel ecosystem that birthed several indigenous church-planting efforts and associated gospel-oriented ministries.

With the onset of Covid-19 in 2020, strategic and tactical plans changed, but the vision to capture and tell the story of what God is doing in Japan remained. Utilizing first Zoom, and then a team of filmmakers in both the USA and Japan, interviews were conducted, translated and compiled. The result is the video documentary series called Rising Tide. It will soon be publicly released with six of the eight videos envisioned completed thus far.

Contents

Episode One – Spiritual Formation
Episode Two – Preparing to Plant
Episode Three – First Fruits
Episode Four – Gospel Transformation
Episode Five – Servant Leadership
Episode Six – Vision for Church Multiplication (future episode)
Episode Seven – Network Effect
Episode Eight– Beyond the Pandemic (in post production)

Dedication

With gratitude to God for the leadership of Jay Kyle, David Lu, Pastor Kajikawa, Pastor Hirohashi Sr. and other faithful servants of Christ whose lives proved to be part of the Rising Tide of God’s Kingdom in Japan.

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.” Prov. 11:30

Why Tokyo?

My sense of call to vocational ministry was ignited while I was a college student attending Wallace Presbyterian Church.  Dr. Glenn Knecht preached a sermon on why Paul felt compelled to go to Rome, though he knew of the challenges that awaited him, for the sake of the gospel.  I was counseled to be faithful in serving Christ where I was, and to be open to wherever the Lord might lead.  Though seminary training came years later, I naturally gravitated towards urban ministry and diverse ministry contexts out of a love for Christ and belief in the power of the gospel to change people’s hearts and lives. Over the years, I have sensed an increasing desire to proclaim Christ where “He is not known” (Romans 15:20).  Tokyo is the Rome of the twenty-first century.

At this point in my life I want to be involved in supporting church planting efforts through personal encouragement of missionaries, team and leadership development, preaching and teaching, getting to know people through hospitality and networking with business professionals.  I prefer to work under leadership that is vision oriented as well as relationally focused, where delegation and trust are high.  This style of leadership too in some ways suits a missionary calling.

We are excited to be working with Daniel Iverson III, the MTW Japan country director as well as serving among the congregation of Grace City Church in downtown Tokyo. Their pastor, Rev. Makoto Fukuda, was the first Japanese church planter supported by City to City.

God has naturally wired me to be a learner through observation, interaction, collaboration, interviewing and reflection.  As a leader I have learned from the joy of great experiences, but also from the suffering that comes with difficult ones.  I learned to trust God and be content in all circumstances.  I learned the importance of peacemaking skills in the midst of conflict. I learned about the power of forgiveness.  I learned to surrender to God my reputation in the face of false allegations.  I have learned that God’s strength is revealed in my weakness, though I do not like to be seen as weak.

But the greatest lesson I have learned is my need to be a vital part of a team committed to each other’s growth in grace as well as offering relational support and encouragement.  Our time in Japan will be challenging in terms of learning the culture, adapting to minister effectively to those God places around us, and leaning into and accepting our limitations. We look forward to serving with Mission to the World in Tokyo, Japan.

Our Connection to Japan

In many ways, Japan found us.  In 2010, while serving at Westminster Presbyterian Church, I became keenly aware of the spiritual need of Japan.  In March 2011, a powerful earthquake and devastating tsunami hit Japan, followed by a nuclear disaster.  By way of response, the missions committee began relationally connecting with those God had called to serve as the next wave of career missionaries through MTW.  It was my privilege and responsibility to arrange their coming to speak to the missions committee and the church.  Little did I know at the time, how God was orchestrating these encounters.

In January 2015, at the urging of Bob Drews, a retired Naval officer and volunteer MTW missionary, I went with Park Cities PCA of Dallas, TX on an MTW vision trip to Japan.   I was struck by two things — the despair and lostness of the Japanese people, and the number of missionaries I already had a connection with.  Two of the oldest missionary prayer cards on my parent’s refrigerator are of Craig and Ree Coulbourne (Craig was a former high school history student of my father) and Linda Karner (at CCSI in Chiba).  God was beginning to reveal something.

In following up my interest, Dan Iverson encouraged Barbara and me to pray about God’s leading.  We agreed to become involved in the MTW Japan Partnership (the network of churches having a long term commitment to the ministry in Japan).  I prayerfully maintained contact with those I knew and had met on the field.  We attended the annual MTW Japan Partnership conferences in various parts of the US.  In January 2017, at the request of Dan Iverson, Barbara and I spent a week together with the MTW team in Tokyo.  We returned to the US, both sensing a call to be involved in serving with MTW Japan in whatever capacity was deemed best by those on the field.

We went through the rigorous MTW application process and in March 2018 were accepted and invited to join the field serving as an assistant to Dan Iverson, the country director, and participating with the congregation of Grace City Church in Tokyo. 

Our sense of calling to Japan, and Tokyo specifically, has been affirmed by my parents, siblings, some friends, and members of our home church already thinking of us as being on the field, having heard us share our experiences and heart for Japan.  We appreciate our families, but have lived at a distance most of our married lives.  We recognize that we will need to sacrifice time with extended family if we are to serve in Japan.  Two years ago, we intentionally downsized to a two bedroom apartment – wanting to be as mobile as possible, and getting used to living with less space and disposable income.

We are on a steep learning curve as we prepare to engage Japan with the hope of the gospel.  Yet, God has already been at work to prepare us culturally along the way. One of my college textbooks was “A Pattern Language” and a study of Japanese architecture.  In business school, I studied the way Japan pursued competitive advantage, and developed the process of continuous improvement known as Kaizen (the two characters “kai” and “zen” meaning change for good).  Barbara’s network of friends has naturally included internationals.  She is a “safe” person, polite, hospitable, and a trusted confidant. We are now engaged in raising the annual support needed to reside in Japan for up to eleven months a year, for the next five to seven years, as the Lord provides and our health allows.

God’s Grace and Calling

Through the church planting efforts of a Presbyterian elder, God’s work of grace began in the life of my family and my life as I grew up as a boy in the Baltimore area.  My parents met while my father was stationed in Germany as part of Allied occupational forces at the end of World War II.  Wanting to be married, my mother left everything to come to America.  Life was challenging, living in a strange place and in time becoming a young mother of four children.  Through the faithful witnessing efforts of the elder, my mother surrendered her life to Christ and her life was transformed by the gospel.

The earliest memories I have of my mother are her prayers for her children. An invitation by a neighbor for my older sister and I to attend a Good News Club (CEF) led to my coming to faith in Christ between the ages of four and five.  The small church my family attended had a profound impact on my life.  The bi-vocational pastor was a businessman and man of vision.  One of the lay leaders was a carpenter and craftsman by trade, whose life was characterized by anonymous service.  My Sunday School teachers faithfully taught and demonstrated the Word of God in their lives.

Through my participation in the Christian Service Brigade program of another local church, I was influenced by several men as to what it really meant to be a servant leader.  Their godly lifestyle influenced and challenged me.  While in Brigade, I also participated in my first missions conference and at the age of fourteen made a commitment to serve Christ wherever He might lead.  It was in Brigade that my I discovered my love for the outdoors and organized camping.  I first served on a summer camp staff for one week while in junior high school.  I continued to serve every year thereafter, culminating with five years of summer ministry at Hemlock Wilderness Brigade Camp in WV.  My first opportunity to preach was at an outdoor service for staff and families staying over a weekend.

My three sisters and I all went to the same local elementary school.  But my junior and senior high school years were spent at a predominantly Jewish public school, where I received a world-class education and served as a student government officer.  While a senior in high school, our local church joined the RPCES denomination, which merged with the PCA in 1982.  During this time, my father became an ordained Elder and I began to study the doctrine and confessions of the church, and embraced the Reformed perspective as my own.  My acceptance in the School of Architecture at the University of Maryland, College Park moved me to the Washington DC area in the fall of 1979.

As a freshman, I started attending Wallace Memorial Presbyterian Church.  The Wallace family has played a significant role in my life.  I was befriended, encouraged, counseled, taken care of, discipled and supported in ministry efforts.  I am grateful for the lasting influence of the godly pastors and Elders of Wallace Church.  They faithfully taught God’s Word and modeled Christlikeness.  The eleven years in the Washington DC area forced me to grow up and mature.  I changed my major to Industrial Education and earned my undergraduate degree in 1984, while also gaining valuable work experience with Giant Food.  Upon graduation, I went to work for AT&T until the fall of 1987, when the Lord provided the opportunity and means to pursue an M.B.A. in Human Resource Management.  I was the first graduate assistant employed by the University’s Department of Physical Plant to design their Apprenticeship Training Program.

While in graduate school, I began to realize more fully God’s calling on my life.  During the summer of 1989, I served as an intern at Ridge Haven Conference Center which introduced me to the PCA and to Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS).  I finished up my MBA and accepted a position as an assistant camp director at a Christian camp in northcentral Pennsylvania.  While serving on the staff, I met Barbara, who was working as a 4H agent at the time in Williamsport, PA.  Sensing God’s direction, I returned to Baltimore with the goal of pursuing a theological education. With the endorsement of the Elders of Wallace Church, I became a ministerial candidate under care of Potomac Presbytery.  With their support, I began classes at RTS Jackson in the fall of 1991.  Nothing with the Lord is wasted.  While at RTS, I began teaching as an adjunct instructor in the business department at Belhaven College, ultimately focusing on the capstone course, Ethics in the Marketplace.

Barbara and I were married in June 1992 and began attending Trinity Presbyterian Church.  I had the privilege of interning and serving on the staff at Trinity while in seminary. I am grateful for the godly professors and mentors I had at RTS, but especially those at Trinity.  Dr. Michael Ross and Dr. Ligon Duncan III influenced my desire to be involved with church revitalization and cross-cultural missions.  While at Trinity, I led two short-term mission trips aimed at assisting church planters.

The Lord has given Barbara and me a vision for church vitality in an urban environment.  I raised support to serve in a multi-ethnic ministry in Baltimore and was ordained as a PCA Teaching Elder in 1997.  While serving in Baltimore, we adopted Tyler, our bi-racial son.  During this time, my mother was reunited with her birthmother after over fifty years of separation.  My grandmother’s subsequent visit to the US, to meet the family she never knew she had, led to her coming to faith in Christ.  God’s covenant promises are true! 

All of our ministry assignments from the Lord have been challenging.  Each involved serving in a context different from that in which we grew up.  We are grateful to have seen people come to know Christ and be discipled within the context of the local church. We stepped out of church supported vocation in June 2014 to let ourselves heal and also to attend to our son’s psychological needs. The people of Gospel Fellowship PCA have been a real encouragement as we spent several years learning how best to help our son.  We are grateful for the Lord’s grace at work in all of our lives.  Currently, Tyler is living on his own in Pittsburgh and working at a music studio doing sound engineering. We pray daily for God’s grace to draw us into a deeper relationship with Himself.

We have also prayed for the Lord to show us His will, wanting to steward well His calling on our lives.  We underwent vocational counseling that enabled us to discern how God has put the pieces of our lives together.  To summarize:  Most of my life has been spent in cross-cultural contexts. As a teenager I went to public schools that were 95% Jewish, in college I worked with urban kids in Washington DC from five differing ethnic groups, and my extended family is international in scope.  By God’s providence, I have the experience of being a minority and a heart for being a Christian in a differing cultural context.