We are developing Harvest Church Tokyo, our church plant, as a place for people to encounter Jesus Christ—and to experience the new life that He alone can bring.

Japan is a nation blending old customs and traditions with new ways of relating and connecting. Young people approach family, career and social belonging in a way that is vastly differently from previous generations. In this context our strategy is to create opportunities for people to grow in their relationships: for marriages to be strengthened, for parents to find encouragement and practical help, and for all to find a community that supports the relationships they care about most. As people who do not know Christ find this relationship help, we believe many will also discover the importance of the most important relationship of all -- to know and follow Jesus Christ.

We are building on the marriage and parenting ministries we have been leading for years, but know that these ministries alone are not enough. The average household size in Tokyo’s Nerima district is just 1.9 people. Many live alone. We pray that they, too, will find the church to be a place to make and grow in meaningful relationships.

It’s in this context that we want to see 1 Thessalonians 1:5 increasingly evident in our neighborhood: that the gospel will come “not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.”

We long to see many experiencing God’s power and responding to the gospel.