Taste Japan – the details

OM finds its origin in the United States, fruits of the prayers of an elder woman. During fifteen long years, she prayed for the students of her city, asking God to save them and send them on mission.

One day, she posts the Gospel of John to one of them, George Verwer. Three years later, he gave his life to Christ.

In 1957, George and two of his friends went to Mexico, bringing along 15 000 copies of John’s Gospel in Spanish. Their prayers for Christian bookstores, radio programs and a full-time Mexican associate are soon answered.

In the beginning of the 60’s, George moved to Spain. That’s where the vision of an international ministry of evangelization and training was born. It spreads to Europe, the Middle East and South Asia, emphasizing on the presence of national leaders working together with other missions or local churches. Today, OM continues to offer short-term missionary service opportunities, while also including an increasing number of long-term missionaries. OM still wants to take new opportunities to bring the Gospel to the world. Opération Mobilisation works now in more than 110 countries, in close connection with the local churches. OM France (member of the CNEF), is part of it.

OM’s role in the Church is to mobilize Christians so they can bring Jesus to others and share His love with everyone, without any distinction of age or nationality.

“We want to be shaped by Christ, to have a transformative impact on the world, in our personal lives and in the lives of others, through sustainable training and leadership initiatives.”

OM missions associate with local churches to bring to all the life in Jesus, mobilizing, equipping and discipling people to glorify God to the ends of the earth.

Main areas of action

1) Partnership with the Church

2) Mobilize for the Gospel

3) Caring for the marginalized

4) Equip children and youth

 

OM core values:

1) To know and glorify God

2) To live submitted to His Word

3) To live in integrity and grace

4) To serve with a spirit of sacrifice

5) To love and value people

6) To evangelize the world

7) To reflect the diversity of Christ’s body

8) To pray for the world

9) To value and respect the Church.

 

TASTE JAPAN program

With this program, participants will explore the different ministries of OM Japan, the Japanese culture and language, and taste daily life in Japan, enabling them to picture what it is to live and serve in Japan, and so contemplate on practical facts the possibility of becoming long-term missionaries.

OM’s wish is foremost for participants to “taste” Japan, not immediately engaging full-time in ministry. But we will have the opportunity to engage in their different ministries to a certain extend. They have regular ministries once or twice a week, but we don’t have to join them all. OM strongly believes that this time is for our family to figure out if we could be part of OM Japan, and if we serve in Japan, what kind of ministry we would be passionate about, what would our family life look like if we move there.

We would be based in Tome, Miyagi prefecture, where the tsunami hit seven years ago. This team plants churches, pray for the sick and the community, cares for and disciples the new believers, offers Bible studies and English courses. We could also visit other teams of OM Japan in other prefectures, if the donations collected allow it.

1. Miyagi team: this team is made up of 3 families (4 kids) and of the new comers in Japan. This is the “entry point” to OM Japan. Not only do they train the new comers, but they also have a passion for evangelization, discipleship and church planting. Their dream is to see a network of simple churches spread throughout Japan, starting with them! For this dream to come true, they focus on 4 things: pray intensely, sow widely, train the new believers and create small communities/churches.

The Miyagi team also engaged in teaching English, and in OM matters like leadership, training, IT and mobilization.

2. Mie team: this team is made up of 3 members (and 3 kids). The team leader is pleased to see people of their city, unreached by the Gospel so far, becoming Jesus’ disciples. They also focus on church planting, offer a weekly family chapel, inviting friends and people interested to join their gatherings.

The Mie team is also involved in other OM matters, like media and communication, mobilization and staff issues.

3. Kanagawa team: this team is also made up of 3 members (and 3 kids). They engage in two church plantings. One is already established, but still small in size. In addition to their regular Sunday services, they organize monthly events in cafes, Bible studies and children events. The other church planting is a new church in the heart of Yokohama city, where they evangelize, pray and study the Bible in small groups.

The Kanagawa team is also engaged in OM matters like the relationships with ex-OMers.

4. Toyama team: this team is made up of 1 family (4 kids). They work together with a Japanese pastor to plant a church in Tonami city. Part of their outreach work is to benevolently teach English and mathematics to children, inviting people to barbecues, Christmas parties and other events all year long.

The Toyama team is also involved in the OM ministry finances.

5. Ishikawa team: this is the biggest team, with 12 members (and 7 kids). The main goals of this team are to serve in Japanese local churches and to reach out to university students. Some of OM members are pastors or assistants to pastors, some others lead weekly an international group in a local university, trusting God to open more doors on differents campuses.

The Ishikawa team is also involved in OM ministry finances, staff, IT and administrative tasks.

 

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