OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship)
In June 1865, Hudson Taylor stood on a beach in Brighton and asked the Lord for 24 willing, skillful workers to take the gospel to the inland provinces of China. As God answered that prayer, the China Inland Mission (CIM) was born. In 1950, however, after the communist take-over in China, the decision was reluctantly reached to withdraw all CIM missionaries.
Discovering great pockets of need in the countries surrounding China, CIM decided God wanted them to move forward and the mission began again in East Asia, establishing headquarters in Singapore. The first workers arrived in Japan in 1951. In 1964 the new name of Overseas Missionary Fellowship was adopted, then changed again in 1993 to OMF International.
With around 130 missionaries from 18 different sending countries, the Japan Field is one of the larger fields in OMF. We currently work in Hokkaido, Tohoku (Aomori, Iwate and Sendai), and the Greater Tokyo area, with our Japan headquarters in Ichikawa City in Chiba Prefecture.
OMF Japan’s mission is, “To glorify God by the urgent evangelization and discipleship of the people of Japan.” Our vision is that “by God’s grace we aim to see biblical churches with roots in their communities, bearing fruit and reaching out in mission.” Although each region has its own strategy, the overall OMF Strategy Focus contains three elements:
- Planting Churches,
- Pioneering Ministries to reach Neglected Frontiers, and
- Partnering and Networking with like-minded churches and organisations.
OMF Japan’s identity is found in six core values:
- We depend on God
- We share Christ in word and deed
- We desire fruitfulness
- We serve in community
- We provide member care and development
- We use our resources wisely
Church Planting
OMF engages in pioneer church planting as well as cooperating in church planting with the Japanese Church. Some church plants are more traditional in style whereas others embrace different approaches including gospel music and a house church network. Our church work involves evangelism and discipleship.
Pioneering
Our pioneering ministries aim not only at unreached geographical areas but also unreached sectors of society. We have ministry and outreach to dancers, the homeless, businessmen, and students. Some ministries use music and sports as ways in for the gospel. Others engage in counselling ministries.
Partnership
Although we partner mainly with JECA (Japan Evangelical Churches Association), OMF also has missionaries serving with other churches in Japan. We have increasing links to and cooperation with KGK (Kirisutoshya Gakusei Kai – a university student ministry). Some members also serve in theological education and at CAJ (Christian Academy in Japan).
Member Care and Development
We have a strong emphasis on our missionaries developing good language and cultural understanding and have our own language and culture centre in Sapporo. Continued learning and development is something we value and encourage through various in-house workshops. Through Fellowship Groups we support one another, and this is something we are aiming to develop further in the near future. We also have some members in specialist support roles ranging from Finance to Medical and TCK (Third Culture Kid) services.
OMF Japan has a prayer vision to see 30 workers in Tohoku by the end of 2015. This will mainly be in Aomori and Iwate as well as Sendai, where we aim to place more missionaries for a focus on student work and church planting. We want to continue to develop the work in Hokkaido and Kanto, while also being open to the possibilities to work in other areas of Japan. We are thankful that the Lord continues to send workers to Japan so that we can partner with the Japanese church in proclaiming the gospel to the Japanese people.
Learn more about our work here: www.omf.org/jp
