Calvary Chapel Osaka

Aaron DeLeon came to Osaka in the summer of 2003 to begin preparations to plant a Calvary Chapel church here. He is starting very simple - not a big chunk of money or a team of church planters, but just him living and working here, and an occasional short-term team from another Calvary Chapel visiting for a few days to a couple weeks. He attends OIC often for his own spiritual encouragement (and Dan even asked him to guest-preach - see photo), and gets together with us also on a regular basis. He didn't know where in town he wanted to start having meetings, and it turns out that GCC's Abeno Room is only a short bicycle ride from his apartment, so we decided to offer him the use of the facility as a starting point. Beginning April 4, 2004, he is having a simple Calvary Chapel style Bible study on Sunday afternoons at Abeno Room, with an offering jar for people to contribute as desired toward the rent. Praise the Lord that we can help other churches get started - Osaka can use as many churches as can be planted!

Pastor Suematsu and Shin-Osaka Chapel

Pastor Suematsu has a small church in his home, as many Japanese pastors do. But his vision is bigger - he has longed to have a cell church structure but hasn't been able to make it happen. When we met him, he caught our vision immediately, and happily partners with us. First he invited Dan to share a testimony at a youth outreach he held. Then he came to our dedication service and brought several young members of his church. He has encouraged members of his church who work on Sunday to come to our services, has loaned us his church's drum set for two concerts we had (even bringing it from the other side of town in his van). When OSM (see 2003 English Outreach and Other) asked us to accept more than one pair of English teachers, Pastor Suematsu saw the opportunity and took on the second pair of teachers, and we even combined a print run for advertising and split the cost. To the right you can see him (second from left) and his niece (second from right) at our first International Coffee Time event in June 2003. It is a joy to cooperate with a Japanese pastor who is so enthusiastic about reaching the lost and who is understands what we are trying to do.

hi-b.a. - "High School Born-Againers"

At six or eight locations around town, high school kids who are either Christians or seekers meet weekly for fellowship, Bible study, and encouragement. The groups also get together for a "rally" once or twice a year, a great chance to see kids who are on fire for Jesus! High school is a hard age to minister to in Japan, because the kids are very busy with extra studying to prepare for college entrance exams, which in this educational system are the pivotal moment that will shape their futures. But a staff of four (two Japanese, two missionaries) keep this ministry exciting enough that these kids carve out the time in their busy schedules. We have been invited to rallies, and have also brought short-termers (especially high-school-aged ones) to their various meetings to encourage them and share testimonies. A DVD that Karen made of one of their rallies was also popular. (In case you're wondering, you can find Dan on the very left of the photo, partially behind another head.)

Homeless Ministry

Pastor So is a Korean missionary who came to Osaka to plant a church. But God would not let him be ordinary. His regular church plant did not flourish, but at the same time the Lord showed him the hundreds of thousands of homeless people who have congregated in central Osaka, living in parks, under bridges, etc. He began to reach out to them, and the Lord said, "This is your church!" Currently he holds four worship services a week, three in parks and one in a community center. He does feed those who attend (his wife leads a team that cooks hot meals for all of them every week), but many of them come for spiritual food as well. With an average attendance of about 1000 each week, I think he has the largest church in Osaka by far! Periodically he calls Dan and asks him to preach at one of his meetings, like in the photo to the left and the very bottom (I know when it's Pastor So on the phone, because the first word he says is "Hallelujah!"), and our short-termers have done music and/or testimonies there as well (like the photo above right), a great experience for both the homeless men and for the short-termers. Also, we feel that an important function of a church is to support missions, so for several years Grapevine Cell Church gave monthly to Mukuge no Kai to help them buy rice and other supplies for this important ministry.