EOM (Evangelical Orient Mission)
Roots and history
Evangelical Orient Mission started under the name “The Norwegian China Mission” as a result of a visit to Norway in 1889 by Hudson Taylor, founder of China Inland Mission (CIM) After CIM missionaries were expelled from China in 1950, our mission became independent from CIM and emerged as “Evangelical Orient Mission” on the Eastern Coast of Japan.
Thirty-six missionaries, including short-termers, have been sent to northern Ibaraki Ken, Fukushima Ken, Miyako, Iwate Ken, and Tokorozawa Shi since 1951. Thirteen churches have been planted and handed over to Japanese pastors. Most of them have joined Doumei Kiristo Kyoudan, Japan Evangelical Alliance. Radio-work and a Christian Bookstore started at an early stage; later Iwaki City became the base of youth and children ministries through English Classes, camps and cafes.
Since 2009 we, Akira and Anniken Mori, are the only two EOM-missionaries left in Japan. Besides pastoring the independent Taira Christ Evangelical Church (“Global Mission Chapel”) in Iwaki and local work with English classes, art exhibitions and work for handicapped people, God has led especially Akira to work more and more internationally as a bridge between Japan and God’s servants from abroad. He has also been engaged throughout Japan to serve in “Prayer Summits” and the Church Planting Institute (CPI).
We are thankful to EOM for the freedom it has given us to minister wherever God leads us. Our Mission is engaged in many projects in China, North Korea and India with the motto of reaching the weakest and least reached.
Since the tsunami in 2011, our work has changed. In spite of being so close to the devastated reactors, Iwaki City, where we live, has fairly low radiation. We have around 30,000 refugees from the high-radiation areas, and 6000 of them still live in temporary housing.
One week before the disaster we had just finalized the purchase of a 3-story former pachinko parlor. Suddenly we found ourselves able to store and distribute a steady flow of supplies from our friends around Japan, and host an increasing number of volunteers from 40 countries.
In 2012 the NPO “Global Mission Japan” was established to help and encourage people affected by the disaster. We currently have six fulltime workers taking care of volunteers and visitors, serving the needs of the community, and refugees. Our “Cross Cafe” is open throughout the week.
Our church has 55 members. Our motto is to rejoice in the Lord and praise Him, to know the Lord and make Him known. The latest method of outreach has been Alpha-dinner meetings in our chapel. The course has finished, but now we have dinner follow-up meetings with seekers, before we start a new course.
We sense there is a new opening towards the Gospel in our area. Walls that were too high between the church and the world outside, have been torn down as have walls between different churches. We pray for His visitation and transformation among us to bring His life to so many in darkness and hopelessness.
More about our work:
http://www.globalmissionchapel.com