At my first prayer meeting at Hatogaya Evangelical Free Church, I was paired with Mr. Koda* to pray. He’s a small Japanese gentleman in his 80s, but his faith was anything but small. He told me about growing up during WWII with food rations, about his difficult work as a Japanese salary-man, and about now, in his retirement, caring for his aging wife. He looked me in the eyes and smiled broadly “Isn’t God so good? It’s all his grace.”
As we prayed, he thanked God for sending me all the way from America to be a missionary. He prayed blessings on my family back home, and that God would bear fruit through my work. I was moved to tears as I thought about how this brother in Christ had experienced war with my country, and yet we prayed together now, not as enemies but as family.
Hatogaya Church was planted 60 years ago by American Evangelical Free Church missionaries. They started with small English classes, grew through neighborhood evangelism, a preschool, and a thriving Sunday School ministry, and now have almost 150 attendees on a given Sunday.
All generations and family backgrounds cometogether to worship and serve here. Mr. Koda and several others in their seventies and eighties host a monthly community café for the elderly in the neighborhood. An elementary school music teacher comes with his young family and leads the church choir. A retired teacher and his wife host a tutoring time for local students struggling in school. And now the church is partnering with OMF to plant a new church in a neighboring city that has none.
In Japan, what we often see is the small percentage of the Christian population and the struggles of small churches. But Hatogaya Church reminds me that God has been and is still at work in Japan. He has raised up faithful believers who are seeking to impact their community for God. The church in Japan may be, like Mr. Koda, small in appearance. But their faith is big, and their faithfulness is seen and used by God. As Mr. Koda reminds me, “God is so good! It’s all grace.”
* Not his real name
By Morgan, an OMF missionary
