Long-term partnership in Japan
Posted on: 27th February 2021
Former CMS workers Graham and Cathy Smith served in Japan for many years, working with the Japanese student Bible group KGK. It takes years to develop good cross-cultural ministry partnerships, but it is worth investing in such relationships. This can be seen in the long–term relationship between CMS and KGK (キリスト者学生会) in Japan. As a university student interested in mission, I met the […]
Beautiful broken vessels: Checkpoint Autumn 2021
Posted on: 24th February 2021
CMS worker K is reaching out with the gospel to Japanese expatriates in the the Middle East. Before that she served in Japan for more than 20 years. Here she explains how Christ has worked in and through her as she has served long-term and relocated. There is a beautiful art form in Japan called […]
Two years in Japan: Challenges with a ‘but’
Posted on: 3rd February 2021
CMS missionaries Matt & Jen Lim, with their young boys Obi and Theo, have now been in Japan for just over two years. Here they recount their challenges—challenges that have always come with the blessing of God’s kindness. On our first night in Japan (September 2018), Typhoon Jebi woke us with violent winds and rain. The house was literally quaking. Remarkably only a few […]
A church for every kombini
Posted on: 7th November 2020
Helane Ramsay and her husband Adam have been serving in Japan with CMS since 2014. They are part of a church planting team in Chiba City. Japan needs Jesus On our days off we’ll occasionally take a drive, usually to the seaside. It’s refreshing to go through the country, but also discouraging. As we drive through village after village, there is always […]
Trapped in Japan, but ministering in the Middle East
Posted on: 2nd June 2020
K is a Japanese-speaking CMS worker in the Middle East who focuses on working with the Japanese diaspora community. The COVID-19 crisis has seen her caught in Japan, where she previously worked for many years. Here is a wide-ranging reflection on how God is using this time to both test her, and to give gospel opportunities online. This includes continuing to […]
Zooming in: our last letter to, or from, Japan
Posted on: 26th May 2020
CMS missionaries Brad & Michelle Jackson have been serving in Japan for over 13 years and have returned to Australia for their final Home Assignment. Here they speak about leaving Japan at short notice with both sadness and gospel joy. At the time of this posting, they are in quarantine in Sydney, before returning to Melbourne. Good news! COVID-19 has not stopped the ministry of the gospel. […]
Children on Mission
Posted on: 23rd March 2020
CMS missionaries Matt and Jen Lim are working in Japan. They find having children brings special opportunities for mission in their local community. It’s 5:30am and two year old Theo has woken the rest of us up. He is already running around our apartment with footsteps that probably sound like elephant thuds to our downstairs […]
Always With Me
Posted on: 11th September 2019
CMS missionaries Dave & Beck McIntyre share how they have seen God at work in their family, particularly as their children settled into school in Japan. This is an extended version of the article that appeared in Checkpoint Spring 2019. How will our children go at school? This question summed up one fear we held as […]
Thinking about contextualisation
Posted on: 29th October 2018
CMS missionary Kellie Nicholas is on study leave in 2018 to better prepare herself for continuing ministry to students in Japan. As part of her studies, she has been thinking about contextualisation, and shares here her understanding of the concept and principles for its application in ministry. Until I recently embarked on some study related […]
Finding tariki in Japan
Posted on: 28th May 2018
Tariki, meaning ‘outside help’, is an important concept in Japanese Buddhism. Former CMS missionary Phil Miles and CMS missionary Dave McIntyre (serving with his wife, Beck, in Nishinomiya) give two perspectives on bringing gospel tariki to Japan’s unique form of Buddhism. Phil Miles Untangling Japanese culture is like separating cake ingredients after baking the cake! […]
