Tokyo Partnership
We at Onward have a heart for local ministry in Auburn, but we believe also that we are called to go and make disciples of all nations.
When we started this ministry, we knew that international missions would be a large part of what we do. In the summer of 2020 we began praying and seeking council on where our international partnership would be located. Through a series of divinely ordained meetings and events, we landed on Japan and connected with a few local pastors in Tokyo. It wasn’t until September of 2022 that Japan was open for tourist travel, so until then we prayed. Following the borders opening, we got a chance to visit Japan. We were praying for three things: a church to partner with, a university on which to do college ministry, and a place for our team to live for a summer. In four days, the Lord answered all of those prayers, and in the Summer of 2023 we sent our first team to Japan.
Our team consisted of 9 students and 6 staff members. We stayed for 5 weeks, learning about the culture, serving the local church, and befriending and evangelizing Japanese college students. Our friends at Bread of Life Church in Waseda, Tokyo, and the students we met at Waseda University were an enormous answer to prayer.
By the end of the trip, our team had befriended and was praying for 45 Japanese college students, and the Lord blessed us with the opportunity to even see salvation fruit. We got to connect many students to the local church, where we are praying that they grow for the rest of their lives.
We are planning on returning to Tokyo in the Summer of 2024 for our second summer project, and if it be the Lord’s will we will be sending teams to Japan for decades to come.
Please pray for the continued growth of the students our team shared the Gospel with last summer. Please also pray for our team for the summer of 2024, that the Lord would use them mightily to make disciples in Japan. We would also love to have the chance to send teams for a year, two years, or more, but we have not yet solidified that opportunity. Please pray for the Lord to build up long-term missionaries from this partnership.
If you would like to donate to our Tokyo Summer Project, please click the button below, where you will be redirected to our short-term missions donation software. Donations will go towards helping our team fundraise and cultivating the partnership with Bread of Life.
For more information on Onward’s Partnership in Tokyo, Japan, contact Charlie Gross - charlie.gross@followonward.org
See below a slideshow that Bread of Life Church made of our team’s trip!
See below a gallery from our 2023 Summer Project to Tokyo, Japan.
