TEAM envisions a reproducing church planting movement in an area that is .02% evangelical. The vision is to multiply healthy churches so that 1% of the residents of Central Nagano will be devoted Christ-followers.
Nagano is a prefecture north-west of Tokyo that is known as the “roof of Japan”—where Japan’s northern, southern, and central alps converge. It is famous for hosting the 1998 Winter Olympics and for crafting household shrines.
Past church-planting attempts in Nagano have frequently failed, or are weak and irrelevant to Japanese society. The cultural realities include the use of idols, ignorance of the Gospel, and pastor centered churches that do not engage Japanese society.
TEAM is seeing new church-planting momentum in Nagano. God is working in ways that can affect the whole of Japan: a healthy, vibrant church in the area wants to reproduce itself, its Japanese pastor has a vision for partnering in church-planting, a Bible school is training laymen to teach and reach their people, and a Bible bookstore is providing Christian materials. The church is growing in this difficult part of Japan with new opportunities to serve the community in the name of Christ.
Our vision is to see Bible-based churches with authentic love for the Lord that train up disciples in Christ and that relate to the surrounding culture. The goal is that these churches will continue to reproduce and birth new believers.
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