Konnichiwa minna-san! (Hello everyone!) Let me introduce you to the team from Independent Bible Church that will be traveling to Japan in the summer of 2004 (from June 21 to August 7) to minister God's gospel to the Japanese people.

The team consists of four people - myself, Team Leader Courtney Myers (24), and Team Members Maureen Miller (20), Laurel Henke (21), and Jeri Lausch (19). Short bios are linked under the pictures in the right-hand column.

We will be serving God in Japan to spread the news of His gospel over the course of six weeks this summer, working with Asian Access/LIFE Ministries. I attended Team Leader training in Los Angeles March 19-21 to finalize everything and deliver my team's final information, and gained a lot of information about all aspects of our ministry - from ministry opportunites, to English classes, to leadership training.

Japan is a fascinating, highly technological nation filled with wonderful, servant-hearted, intelligent people, but sadly, Christianity makes up only one half of 1% of the religious atmosphere. Churches are small, with only 25-30 members in the biggest gatherings. The nation is predominately Buddhist and Shinto. It is a nation lost in worldly, routine-filled religion and one that desperately needs Christ.

If you would like to support us through prayer (which is much needed!), please email us at japan2004@aveiceae.com. Thank you kindly and God bless!

We'll be in the city of Kaminoyama, which is in the Yamagata prefecture, about 2 hours north of Tokyo by shinkansen (bullet train). Kaminoyama is a city of 38,000 people - just a bit bigger than our hometown of 20,000 - surrounded by mountains. It is very famous for hot springs (5 of the nicest hot springs in Japan are in the area), skiing (Zao ski resort, one of the most popular, is here), horse racing (there's a racetrack right in the city), cherries, sake, a castle from 1535, and rice.

There is a bungee jumping festival July 13 in the surrounding reigon, an amusement park called Lina World, a sports park, a pool, a riding club, and a gym.

The church we'll be at is Kaminoyama Seisho (Bible) Baptist Church, a gathering of 38 members. It is one of 2 total churches in the city. There are no teens or college-age kids attending the church and they'd like that to change. Their focus is on expanding the youth ministry, attracting more students and kids, and starting more cell groups (like Bible studies). They will have a computer and internet access available to us (so I can update this page while we're there!) as well as a piano, a guitar, and music setups. We will most likely have our own housing during the summer, about a 20 minute walk from the church, which has a grocery store nearby - but no imported goods. We will have bicycles provided to us for transportation.

This particular area of Japan is unique from a religious aspect. From the book "Operation Japan":

Buddhism and Shintoism play an important part in people's lives, but another religious force is the mountain religion centered around the three big peaks in the area. It is an ancient religion called Sangaku Shukyo, and is so powerful in certain areas that not even Buddhism could penetrate it. Generally speaking, traditional Buddhism is considered the family religion and controls the community daily life. Folk religion with mediums, spells, and curses also is a part of community life. People in this region are conservative and strong in endurance. They also possess deep compassion and a firm sense of obligation, traits which make for strong faith when a person becomes a Christian. No matter how much the area becomes urbanized, there remains a deep-rooted village culture with its powerful personal relationship base. This creates a strong pressure against the Christian, pressure that is rarely experienced in larger cities.

What we'll do there