Japan is recognized for its technological advancements and rich history but most people are not religious and less than one percent are Christian

After decades of evangelisation by foreign missionaries, the church in Japan is still very small, with an average attendance of about 30 people at Sunday services. Many cities and towns in Japan still have only one church or no church at all.  Many of the existing churches are struggling to survive; this is especially true in the countryside where you will often find churches with only four to ten believers.

Another major challenge for the church today is ageing pastors, with few or no successors. It is said that the average age of all Japanese pastors is between 60 and 70 years old. Since many of them are now retiring, the number of churches without pastors is increasing, and there are fewer young people willing to take the challenge of becoming pastors. Bible schools are closing due to lack of students. There is a great need to encourage and mobilise young Christians to be involved in ministry.

OM’s ministry in Japan started in the 1970s when a few Japanese Christians joined the OM Ships. Then, in 1992, OM opened an office in Japan with the goal of sending more Japanese into world missions. In recent years the OM Japan team has been growing. We have started to see more and more foreign workers come to Japan and help us in the enormous task of reaching out to the Japanese people.

OM Japan wants to help strengthen the generally weak churches in Japan. We would like to see them growing and establishing fruitful ministries. Sending out Japanese to the mission field in an encouragement for the churches across Japan to be involved in the Great Commission. After returning from the mission field, these potential future church leaders have matured in faith, gained cross-cultural experience and received training for their service in the Japanese church.

We’re also committed to work within and alongside existing churches. Our ministry focus are churches in the Hokuriku area in Western Japan, but we also have a team in Miyagi prefecture that ministers to communities which have been affected by the tsunami cause by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake.