Newsletter #23 – 21-10-2025

Dear family and friends,

We have great news for you! The location for our next term in Japan has now been officially decided and announced. God willing, we will return to Hokkaido in March 2026 and begin working in the Nagayama church in Asahikawa after a three-month language refresher course. Our exact ministries are still to be discussed, but we will definitely be supporting the pastor of the church in local evangelism in the Nagayama district, as well as helping with a church plant in Nayoro, a city about an hour north of Asahikawa. The proximity to Kitami also gives us the opportunity to continue our already established discipleship relationships.

Asahikawa is the second largest city in Hokkaido with a population of about 322,000 and is located in the center of the island, surrounded by high mountains. In terms of climate, it is notorious for combining the snowfall of Sapporo with the winter cold of Kitami. But the famous Asahikawa ramen, a rich noodle soup, and the numerous onsen bathhouses provide warmth even in the cold half of the year.

Asahikawa also has a long Christian history. It is the hometown of the well-known Christian writer Ayako Miura (1922-1999), whom we mentioned in our Newsletter #12, and it was also the place of ministry for the Pierson missionary couple, known from Newsletter #17, who experienced great revivals there between 1901 and 1914. Today, there are at least 24 Christian churches of various denominations in Asahikawa.

Thank God for His work in Asahikawa so far and for His future work, in which He also wants us to participate.

Please pray for all the preparations that are still necessary for our departure in March, such as medical examinations.

We were able to enjoy the Ligurian sun until mid-October.

Home assignment – second half

With the end of our vacation in September and October, the second half of our home assignment began. Freshly rested, we were able to get back to work. First, we went to Gummersbach, where we held a youth evening at the Evangeliums-Christen Church on October 17 and gave a mission report during the worship service on October 19. We also spent the morning of the day in between with people from the church youth group, who asked us lots of questions from morning until noon. We were able to have so many deep conversations about discipleship, trusting God, and heart transformation! We are so grateful to God for using our experiences in Japan to encourage and challenge Christians in Germany as well.

The following week, on October 25 and 26, OMF Germany's Autumn Mission Festival 2025 will take place in Mücke. Under the motto “World in Transition – God at Work,” we want to discover together how God is creating something new in times of upheaval – in Asia, in Germany, and in our personal lives. We are particularly delighted that the General Director of OMF International, Dr. Joseph Chang from Taiwan, will be speaking at the festival this time. We had the opportunity to meet him last year during our time at the OMF headquarters in Singapore. We will be participating in the workshop “God at Work in Cambodia and Japan” on both days. You are warmly invited to join us! You can register for one or both days via the link above.

After the Autumn Mission Festival, we will continue directly to the Netherlands, where we will give a presentation about our experiences in the mission field at our former Bible school, Cornerstone, on October 27 and answer questions from the Bible students. Until November 1, we will visit supporters in the Netherlands and the Rhineland, and on November 2, we will give a mission report with a sermon in the morning at the Evangelical Free Church in Kleve and in the afternoon at a church plant in Aachen.

Thank God for the wonderful events before and after our vacation at the EFG Hüttenberg-Hochelheim, the EFG Bayreuth, Haus Schomer in Speichersdorf, and this weekend in Gummersbach. Each time, the Holy Spirit worked in a very special way and glorified God's greatness and faithfulness through us.

Please pray that the OMF Fall Mission Festival will be a great success and that many people will be infected with God's enthusiasm for His mission. Also pray for good encounters and protection on our long drive afterwards.

129th Alliance Conference in Bad Blankenburg

Working at the OMF stand at the Alliance Conference with Japanese games and chopstick challenge.

As it unfortunately did not fit into the last newsletter, we would like to follow up with a short report on the Alliance Conference in August.

Even though the focus of the Alliance Conference itself has been more on questions of spiritual life since its inception 139 years ago – this year it was about applications from the Epistle to the Colossians – the spirit of the worldwide “Evangelical Alliance” was clearly noticeable. Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission (now OMF), often spoke of this spirit, such as in his calls for Christians from different evangelical denominations to join together in prayer and cooperation in following their common head, Jesus Christ, and participating in His mission.

In December 1889, he wrote in his mission newsletter China's Millions: “In view of Jesus' biblical command to ‘preach the gospel to every creature,’ what can we do to bring the precious message of Jesus to every family in China at least once as soon as possible?” His answer was: “Come together as Christians from all churches and congregations on the basis of the Evangelical Alliance and pray, pray, pray! Pray for 1,000 missionaries for China!” This call sparked the first German missionaries to set out in 1890 to work with Taylor in the interior of China.

It was very exciting for us to learn about this historical background and the unity in the body of Christ itself across the borders of the nation states of that time, and also about the fact that Hudson Taylor himself participated in the Alliance Conference in 1896 (see photo).

Hudson Taylor at the 11th Alliance Conference in 1896.

We are very grateful for the many encounters at the Alliance Conference, especially during our workshop on the theme “Jesus is the head of the church – also in Japan” based on Colossians 1:18.